#it's like building a reverse puzzle

[anxso]

@ygoc-week day 3!

YU-GI-OH! 5D’s — RAIN ORICHALCUM

DECKS! Rain once had her archetype of choice countered in tournament, so she swaps decks often thanks to the lingering paranoia.

I mainly did it so I could give a lot of variety to the duels and give love to both 5D’s era and older decks that don’t get to appear in the anime! There are a handful of original cards, but I’ll go over those later. First, introducing a nice collage of ace monsters/cards representing her archetypal decks!

She uses a Blue-Eyes mixed with good dragon cards as her “primary” deck and I ABSOLUTELY made an original line of Synchros: Orichalcos Dragon/Orichalcos Deuteros Dragon/Orichalcos Tritos Dragon :o) Also, because she has the anime-esque Timaeus, Hermos, and Critias cards, we get to see a lot of neat fusions! Like Hermos + Exploder Dragon, for example, making an equip spell that prevents destruction by battle, destroys the monster it battled with, but prevents battle damage

The Crimson Dragon card didn’t exist when I wrote my series, so I made my own 😂 YES they get attack and effect names! YES the characters yell them out! YES I had so much fun with this The Crimson Dragon 8-Star, LIGHT Attribute [Dragon/Synchro/Effect] [2500 ATK / 2000 DEF] 1 LIGHT Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monster(s) When this card is Special Summoned: you can target one of your opponent’s monsters. As long as this card is on the field, that monster’s effect is negated. (Ability Name: Crimson Masquerade) When this card battles a monster targeted by this effect, during the Damage Step only, this card gains ATK equal to the ATK of the targeted monster. (Ability Name: Crimson Star Flight) At your End Phase, you can send this card to the graveyard; special summon it during your next Standby Phase. (Ability Name: Crimson Molting) and a good old season 2 leveled up version of him! Akakiryu of the Sacred Flame 12-Star, LIGHT Attribute [Dragon/Synchro/Effect] [3000 ATK / 2500 DEF] 1 LIGHT Tuner + 2 or more non-Tuner monsters When this card is Synchro Summoned: You can destroy all Spell and Trap Cards your opponent controls. [Ability Name: Ignite the Sacred Flame] Once per turn, if this card is targeted by your opponent's card effect (Quick Effect): you can negate and banish that card. [Ability Name: Sacred Cinder Disarmament] Once per turn, you can deduct 1000 ATK from this card to target one monster on the field; banish that target. During your next Standby Phase, this card's ATK becomes its original (printed) ATK. [Ability Name: To Sacred Ashes]

AND NOW a fun excerpt from the fic with Akakiryu because I adore fire descriptions my friends. (From Jack's POV, and you will see Beelzeus here, I be giving the enemies some OP cards too haha)

--------------------

Rain tossed her head back. A crack of lightning lit her grin.

“I am not running.”

Fire blazed to life. Orange sparks licked the air. Water hissed against flame, and steam flooded the ground. I shielded my eyes from the blaze with my forearm. The flames spurted from the earth itself and raced around the port in a circle. I shouted, “Rain!”

“No use,” Syd said. “She’s gotta be burning alive by now, and thanks to her own psychic powers.”

My brow furrowed. The way the fire had come to life was similar to a night of war several months ago. This blaze wasn’t causing destruction, though. The memory gave birth to a mad idea.

I stretched my arm towards the flames. Fire licked my fingers. Instead of raw pain, a kind warmth found me – one I had known before. I glanced out from the awning and up to the sky. The red flare reflected against the black clouds: the full glyph of the Crimson Dragon.

Rain dropped to her knees among the flames. They clung to her skin, hair, and clothes without leaving scars. Maroon marks on her pale face, shoulders, and arms pulsed with a bright, red glow like a slow heartbeat. Fangs protruded from her kind smile. Her hands clasped together. Rain said, “White Stone of Legend tunes with Horus LV8 and Exploder Dragon. With one LIGHT tuner and two monsters, I call upon the legendary power of old.”

The flames leapt from the ground and spiraled into a pillar from her place of prayer. Cinders sparkled around her, leapt towards her duel disk, and formed a white-hot rectangle. A trio of humongous green rings formed as a column towards the sky. Their color tinged red. Rain’s eyes shot open, and their irises shifted to crimson. Her whisper echoed across the bay like the shouts of thousands. “Synchro Summon: Akakiryu of the Sacred Flame.”

A tornado of pure flames ripped to life on the pier. Gold and red blended like a blazing autumn. Black clouds scattered, and rainwater evaporated. Fiery wings extended from the twister. A lengthy, skinny tail whipped from the phenomena, and the fire scattered from the dragon’s body. Akakiryu opened its mouth, revealing a bright, yellow tongue matching the startling color of its eyes.

Rain pushed to her feet, reached out her fist, and lifted her index finger. “Ability one. Upon summoning, all of your spells and traps are destroyed. Ignite the Sacred Flame!”

The blaze returned to the earth, tearing through Syd’s backline. The remaining Block Dugout and Nightmare Wheel shattered. Rain’s Blue-Eyes White Dragon was freed from its torture. Syd said, “So what? A fancy light show don’t mean nothin’. You got 3000 attack, which don’t match up. Even if it did, Beelzeus here can’t be destroyed.”

Rain extended her middle finger. “Ability two. By deducting 1000 attack from Akakiryu, I banish one monster on the field. Beelzeus is judged not fit for this world by the strength of a god.”

“Not so fast!” Syd said. “I discard Effect Veiler from my hand to negate your monster’s abilities!”

Rain’s ring finger popped up. “Ability three. Once per turn, I negate an ability that targets Akakiryu and banish the offender. Sacred Cinder Disarmament!”

Akakiryu spit a flare into the sky. It landed on the ghostly Effect Veiler, locking it in a fiery bubble. The sphere closed to crush the monster. Rain said, “Ability two continues! To Sacred Ashes!”

Beelzeus shied back from the intense heat of Akakiryu. The dragon flapped its wings forward. A pair of flame tornadoes approached Beelzeus. The twisters spun around the black dragon. Beelzeus attempted to flee the encroaching fire to no avail. The tornadoes captured Syd’s Synchro. Their ferocity enticed a pained roar from Beelzeus. Akakiryu’s attack spiraled faster before dissipating with nary a whisper.

“Shit,” Syd said, “the hell kinda card is that?”

I found the strength to stand. “A dragon who does not lose.”

“Akakiryu’s current attack is 2000,” Rain said, “equal to your remaining life points. Direct attack! Blazing Crimson Flight!”

Akakiryu unfurled its wings. A golden flare danced to the tips. The dragon’s cry deafened the quaking thunder. Akakiryu dove onto Syd and skimmed the ground, leaving the bay ablaze. His holler could barely be heard over the roar of the flames.

A slice caught my attention. Akakiryu cut down my runner and held it in his two claws. He lowered it to sit on its wheel beside Rain and curled around her. Black ashes from the destroyed monsters clung to her sweaty skin. Her criminal mark glowed with the golden reflection of Akakiryu’s light through the dirt.

Rain beamed at the glowing monster. She leapt towards its snout and wrapped her arms around it. I was taken aback. Instead of worshipper and god, she embraced Akakiryu like a daughter to a father. Much to my surprise, the dragon shut its eyes and leaned into it.

With a chuckle, I said, “Welcome home.”

--------------- From Ch. 76, "Prayer from a Heart of Roaring Flames" (Again, just a writer - image credit for header in alt text!)

#yugioh oc week 23 #5ds #ygo fanfiction #yugioh oc #crimson dragon #akakiryu #unironically i love writing duels #it's like building a reverse puzzle

[kifkay]

Winx and their Favourite Literary Tropes

Bloom: Found Family. The girl is queer, most likely a fan fiction enjoyer, if not a writer, and has been bullied. She is THE target demographic for this trope.

(plus, she literally went on and created her very own family of Winx)

Musa: Other than the very obvious choice of Your Crush is Mean to Everyone but You (ahem, ahem, Riven), Musa would love the Soulmates trope. It’s very comforting, to believe that there exists a person cosmically tied to you — someone who will have to love you, in spite of your flaws and hurts. Belong to you fully.

Aisha: although Aisha is usually a very calm and compassionate person, I think she would find Revenge narratives cathartic. Let the girlie read about a vengeful princess cutting down her past abusers, she deserves it!

Stella: definitely a romance girlie. I could see her either obsessing over a litany of romantic cliches (Prince in Shining Armour, only One Bed, nursing each other’s wounds (but only in theory, blood is disgusting), forced proximity, enemies to lovers, etc) OR hating them all due to how predictable they are. BUT she would definitely despise any toxic romance tropes Musa seems to love: the Mafia ones, the sunshine x grumpy, the “he’s cold but actually cares”. If both people are not whole-heartedly into each other, she’s not into it.

Flora: she is definitely a fantasy girlie (what is even fantasy for the society of Magix?). Particularly, she loves world-building and lore, brimming with their own unique biomes and freaky little creatures. She also likes Anti-Heroes or Misunderstood Villains. They play on all of her emotional strings.

Tecna: contrary to what you may expect, I don’t think Tecna would like sci-fi very much. What is sci-fi to the majority of the universe, to Zenith is reality. She would most likely find fantastical elements of these books cheesy or over-the-top. Tecna would like Heists: dynamic, fast-paced, high stakes. Puzzle pieces coming together to form a brilliant plan, complete with witty banter and colourful characters.

(I also think she would like Dysfunctional Families. Her parents interacted with her only when necessary; she was an only child. She would be fascinated by messy and tragic interactions between people who should walk away, but just can’t part with each other.)

some other characters I thought of:

Roxy: Supernatural, Talking Animal Companion.

Brandon: Hopelessly Devoted, Mutual Pining, Martyr.

Sky: Reverse Damsel in Distress/Distressed Dude? (the heroine saves his captured ass; he’s into girls that can snap him in half).

Nabu: the Chosen One, the Robin Hood, switch-and-bait.

Helia: long journeys as metaphors for a soul search; tending to the other person’s wounds; cosmic or eldritch horror.

Riven: the Princess and the Peasant, Hero saves the Day, Grumpy Mentor who cares.

Timmy: the Headquarters, Secret World, outsmarting your enemies.

Mirta: a fellow enjoyer of Doomed by the narrative, bonus points if it’s sapphic.

#winx club #winx headcanons #winx #winx bloom #winx brandon #winx flora #winx riven #winx sky #winx specialists #winx stella #winx musa #enchantix #winx rewrite #winx aisha #winx tecna #winx layla #winx helia #winx nabu #winx timmy

[leonawriter]

All that thinking about Golden Retriever Hakuba has me thinking of an AU where he's born a werewolf. Maybe his mother is too.

Ideas building mostly around:

Usually, Saguru has something he can hold the transformation back with, but it gets forgotten and he shifts in the middle of a heist and the wolf just goes half "hunt? Hunt!" and half "pack wants to play chase!!" so there's suddenly a very big "dog" chasing Kid that no one's seen before, Kid manages to get the glider working, and Saguru was about to leap and pounce and catch but then his human hindbrain goes "if I do that we'll fall and I might survive but at this height Kuroba-Kid might not" and twists his body at the last moment which results in him getting a sprained shoulder instead.

Kaito notices Hakuba's injured the next day despite "not having been there" and pokes a bit, mostly out of curious confusion and a bit of concern.

Next heist, or just plain another time, there are proper introductions of the Big Dog. Kaito finds that said dog isn't amused by the usual "good boy!" talk but likes being called clever. This gets him in the ass later when he realises belatedly that the dog isn't a dog at all, when he says "Clever boy, you found me," because "Saguru" has the same root meaning.

Other idea attached is that right as he's realising that, Saguru's growling, snarling, and Kaito is assuming that he's in danger and he's gonna get mauled to death, when actually Saguru goes shooting past him at someone else, who'd been smelling of gunpowder and blood and aiming at Kaito.

Also- them talking later and Saguru pointing out that while yes, he technically has proof since in wolf form he can smell that Kaito and Kid are the exact same, it's not like that's the kind of evidence that'd hold up in court, now is it? "Yes, your honour, I can prove it by turning into a wolf. Why no, that isn't a completely made up story."

Edit: this would affect how he solves cases, too! If he can sniff out a killer or culprit, then questions like "who is it" and "is someone dead" don't mean as much. But the mystery of "how" is a reverse puzzle to be solved, as is "why did you do that?"

#dcmk #magic kaito #kuroba kaito #hakuba saguru #golden retriever saguru

[talonabraxas]

The Sator Square (or the Rotas-Sator Square, or the Templar Magic Square)

Sator square, early Latin word puzzle or cryptogram. It is the most well-known example of a lettered magic square, with 25 letters that make up a five-by-five grid of acrostic Latin palindromes. The words found in a sator square are SATOR (“sower” or “planter”), AREPO (an unknown word, possibly a name), TENET (“to hold”), OPERA (“work” or “care”), and ROTAS (“wheels”). These words are often arranged in this order, but examples have also been found beginning with ROTAS and ending with SATOR; this variant is called a rotas square.

When the five words of a sator square are read horizontally, vertically, forward, in reverse, from bottom to top, or from top to bottom, they form a sentence: sator arepo tenet opera rotas. This sentence has been translated in numerous ways, with the most commonly cited being “The sower, Arepo, works (or holds) the wheels with care.” If read boustrophedon (Greek: “to turn like oxen”; zigzag) with the central word repeating, it can be read as sator opera tenet, tenet opera sator, which has been translated as “as you sow, so you shall reap” and, with a more religious bent, “the Creator preserves his works.” Such a reading has the advantage of eliminating the obscure AREPO, which occurs nowhere else in Latin. (Few of these readings apply to the rotas square.)

The oldest complete example of this cryptogram was a rotas square found in the ruins of Pompeii in 1936. This finding, carved into a column of Pompeii’s Palestra Grande, can be dated to before 62 CE, when an earthquake destroyed the structure. (A fragmentary rotas square was found at Pompeii in 1925.) Other rotas squares have been found throughout the Roman world, from Manchester, England, to the border city of Dura-Europos (now in Syria).

After the fall of Rome and the spread of Christianity throughout Europe, the rotas square was supplanted by the sator square, possibly because the square then began with sator (“sower”), referring to the parable of the sower in Matthew 13. Another Christian connotation was that the grid’s middle word, both vertically and horizontally, is always TENET, which can be read as the two arms of a hidden cross.

The sator square’s origin as a Latin puzzle became increasingly irrelevant as the symbol took on magical properties in European folklore. In the 12th century it could be found in medical books, often as a cure for rabies and fever. Sufferers were advised to carve the square’s words into the crusts of bread before ingesting it. The sator square was also often used as a charm for good fortune in medieval times. In the centuries following, it was adopted as a ward against fires; it was inscribed on the walls of German buildings to prevent their destruction. Sator squares accompanied European settlers to the Western Hemisphere, proliferating throughout North and South America in the 18th and 19th centuries. In the Allegheny and northern Appalachian mountains, German settlers continued to use sator squares as magic cures and prophylactics into the 20th century.

Beginning in the 19th century, Christian thinkers and puzzle enthusiasts tried to decode possible hidden meanings in the sator square. Perhaps the most popular was the Pater Noster theory, which finds the Latin name of the Lord’s Prayer, Pater Noster, written twice in cross form as well as four residual letters (two each of the letters a and o), which can be read as alpha and omega, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet and how God identifies himself in the Book of Revelation. Independently proposed in the mid-1920s by three separate authors, the Pater Noster theory fell into disfavour with the discovery of the Pompeii rotas squares. Some academics have found a basis for the square’s origin as a Jewish symbol, pointing to the Hebrew letter tau as the central symbol rather than the cross. They also point to the large population of Jews who settled in Pompeii prior to and during the 1st century. Another theory places the square’s origins in Pythagoreanism and Stoicism. Others have argued it is a gnostic symbol developed from Egyptian words and imagery. Many such arguments hinge on tenuous theories about the meaning of AREPO, and no theory of the square’s origins has been widely accepted. It has even been noted that another magic square (ROMA-OLIM-MILO-AMOR), which does not form a sentence, was found at Pompeii, and, thus, the 1st-century Romans possibly just found magic squares to be fun.

[centrally-unplanned]

The implied "theory of history" of the latest Fantasy RPGMaker "Kingdom Ruling" games I have been playing is always pretty consistent, even if its something of an emergent phenomenon. These games are a narrative, a narrative where the player "inserts" into the story, which means its gonna be a narrative of progress in some form (even if it has ups and downs). The player will "win", and you need a reason why they win and others lose - but in real life people rarely "win" at rulership to the extent these characters do. So how do they pull it off, and what is the implied model?

Good vs Bad People: Very commonly, the duke of this or that duchy is either a good person or a bad person - loyal & virtuous, or corrupt & venial. The problem the kingdom has is that too many unvirtuous folk have risen to the ranks of power.

Note while the above is often explicitly stated, it is also used as a sort of narrative shorthand - have a subplot about illicit slave markets in the capitol city? Replace the implicated mayor with someone you narratively know is good, and so the problem is gone, and you can now ignore it. You can walk away without feeling like you walked away, since Good Person is there to handle it.

Power of Friendship: So where do all of these good people come from? Sometimes its just things like visual coding, we all know what a "good" and "bad" character looks like in a JRPG. But the bread-and-butter is that as the main character you build up a group of friends. Classmates from the Magic Academy, childhood friends, a random barbaric wildchild you seduce with sweets, w/e. You play as them sometimes, they have cute scenes together, become friends, and so on. You get exposed to their personalities and humanity and generally the narrative constructs them as being emotionally invested in the protagonist & plot. And then they & their own families and friends (who get trust by association) can populate out the "bureaucracy" of your country when these problems come up. Obviously they won't take that opportunity to simply pursue their own interest, friends don't do that.

And in particular these aren't regular friends: they are nakama, a band of brothers, forged in the fire of battle and bound by the steel of the sword.

Also sometimes you are boning all of them.

Crisis = Opportunity: And the final piece of the puzzle is the hammer that makes any piece fit: copious amounts of violence! These stories are almost always war stories; primarily of course because in fiction "war is awesome" and it provides a big narrative throughline and all that, but also because that is the justification for the scale & pace of change. You could just take a peaceful-but-corrupt country and start beheading civil servants & nobles, but its a tough sell morally and realism-wise. But have those same people engaging in rebellion, raiding, or other forms of violence, and now they can die on the battlefield - and be undone by clever schemes and the abilities of the heroes as opposed to idk IRS investigations of tax irregularities. It also justifies that nakama as mentioned above, you need a reason to fight and therefore bond. And it confirms one's morality; war is a mirror that shows you the true self; coward, hero, villain, martyr, etc.

On top of that it provides an excuse in reverse, as to why the country had so many "bad" figures in the first place. It was peacetime, they played their game "inside the system" and you can't purge them without breaking the peace.

---

Okay, so what all that sums to is that this genre's median "theory of history" is that societies decay over time as Bad People populate the ranks of power, and things like crime, poverty, etc come from that decay. Good people could purge that, but too many lost the Game of Politics to the Bads. Eventually of course some crises comes along that breaks the weakened system. This allows for people of talent and good moral virtue to rise to the top again, purge the bad elements, and the arc of combat forges a class of moral leaders who will rule justly into the future.

Now obviously I do criticize the realism of this model - most societal problems are structural, emerging independently of the moral stance of the leaders in question and not amendable to HR reshuffles. It is stridently anti-materialist in a way I must object to. However, its a game, its not trying to be history, I'm not here to bash on that. It is a coherent model - it works! It explains history and its cycles and ebbs in a narratively satisfying way. (and ofc I am simplifying strongly here, it has more elements).

What I do find funny is how intensely Romance of the Three Kingdoms it is. Its an extremely specific outlook on what makes the mettle of a kingdom, how virtue flows from the top, how nations rise and fall in cycles based on that. Which isn't surprising - they are universal-enough themes of course, but the genre is "Japan"-RPGs for a reason. They may all be mainly styled after western fantasy aesthetics but their storytelling conventions come from Japan's own historical fiction literary tradition, which is intensely derived from China's.

But of course this is now a global tradition, most of these games don't come from that ecology of 1980's-1990's JRPG makers clustered around Tokyo & Osaka anymore. The legacy of that influence endures though, due to both a deep cultural history of how these things evolved ("genre staples") and also because the ludology of these games implies certain narrative directions. At this point its what audiences for these games all over "want".

Which, as always, is neat!

[highly-important]

Thoughts on the Venture Bros Movie

I absolutely love this series and periodically get obsessed with it. The last two seasons were especially some of my favorites. I enjoyed the movie, it really felt like an episode. Any complaints I have are really in the "I loved it but the portions are too small" category.

I love that Shoreleave and Dr. Girlfriend are friends. I think this was kind of established earlier. It just makes sense.

I like how Brock - who knows Rusty better than anybody for better or worse- went to the bat defending Rusty to the OSI. And that Brock's shining moment isn't him being super kill guy.

Along those lines, I like how Rusty's entire arc this show is realizing to some degree or another that he isn't a failure. His father was able to present an idealized image of himself to the public, and it meant Rusty growing up under a shadow he could never live up to. But the reality is Rusty isn't as incapable as he or others believe he is.

We’ve kind of gotten this growth with Rusty during the show so we don’t need it as much in the movie. But it’s very interesting that he can use his brother’s robot to save not only the building but “restore” the destroyed Venture compound. I think it’s Rusty really earning his own legacy.

Plus his attempt to build something Jonas Jr-ish just made something super Science-y. Maybe he’s returning to his true calling

I like how the movie represents Dr. Girlfriend's powers. Yes, she is good at fighting, and is intelligent enough to build super science tech, but her strength is also in her diplomacy and the loyal connections she builds. Part of that is that when she is in trouble, others come to her aid. And her challenge in the movie is a test of her negotiation and diplomacy. I like that the movie takes time to give her this moment.

You can really see how Hank got a lot of his personality from Debra.

Debra’s tech was really cool and I love the scene on the train platform. Its a little frustrating that we don’t get more, but I think Venture Bros is very good at building expectations and then letting your imagination fill in the gaps.

I think this is partially because Venture Bros often ends at the climax and skips over the resolution. The building tension makes you want answers. And often the end-credit sequence gives us the pieces to put the puzzle together without handing it to us. It creates a sandbox and asks you to play in it.

Gary is just living his best life. He got a grappling gun and got to co-pilot a giant robot.

Hank's multiple personalities was never something I'd imagine getting conclusion on, but I'm glad they did. It kind of reminds me of Return to Oz, where at the beginning Ozma is free to wander around the real word, but is trapped in a mirror in Oz. And at the end that reverses. Hank doesn’t destroy these pieces of himself, he just puts them in a place where they can’t control him.

Dean's plot was kind of interesting, there was rumor that one of the brothers would be a protag and one would become an arch. Dean is so worried that his negative life experiences are going to ruin him and prevent him from having the type of life he wants to have. But sometimes things aren't as bad as we think they are. And I think it suggests he can stay with his brother and not be damaged by the experience

Hank and Dean are both controlled by vivid imaginations in different ways. Hank imagines how good things could be, and Dean imagines how bad things could be. Meeting his mother is never going to be as good or cathartic or as healing as Hank imagines it, just as reality isn’t as horrible as Dean imagines it.

I really like the story structure of this show where an emphasis is put on something - like who is the mother - and then the mystery is eventually dropped. But the reality is that who is their mother isn't as important. Hank didn't need to find his mom, and finding her wont give him what he wants. He needed to reconnect with his brother. But it’s also fun that we can solve this puzzle on our own, it’s just not the point.

Of course, I think it does mean Dean is heir to the guild.

I wasn't expecting the twist with the Monarch at all, and in retrospect I think I should have ? Its really interesting how well it fits with Rusty's arc the entire show. Rusty turns his hatred inwards and blames himself for not being his dad. Now that Malcolm understands his unconscious thoughts, it shifts his relationship to arching from an impulse to a choice.

#venture bros #the venture bros #radiant is the blood of the baboon

[wisteria-lodge]

A question for you: would you sort a living person with whom you are not in communication, and without her express consent, but whose words and deeds are very much on public display? Specifically: J.K. Rowling sure thinks of herself as a heroic Lion Primary; what’s your call?

I have spent a long time thinking about this lady. Possibly too long. But here's what I've got.

She's a Bird. She *likes* Lion primaries, and she likes them in that way a lot of Birds do - Lions feel magical and moral and easy and good. That's why Gryffindor is her good-guy house, and that's why Gryffindors always get a pass when they do shady things. They were always doing it for good reasons, because that's just how Lion primaries are. They know what's good, just by kind of feeling it.

(obviously this isn't at all how it feels to be a Lion primary, but it can SEEM that way, if you're outside looking in.)

And so she likes Lion primaries, and surrounds herself with Lion primaries. And over time, seems to have filtered for the most fiery, if-you're-not-with-me-you're-my-enemy Exploded Lions imaginable. This could also be why she's not interrogating emotional pings when she really should. Like it's heartbreaking to read some of her essays - like, no JKR, that's not a reason, that's a trauma response you ought to be getting help for. But she thinks there's inherent goodness with going with your heart over your head.

Which is also probably why, for the last two decades, she's been slowly surrounding herself only with people who agree with her - effectively Exploding her own Bird primary. She is notoriously stubborn and difficult to work with, and I have that from first hand accounts... but just think how much better an editor could have made books 4-7. Or the Fantastic Beasts films. Or the Cursed Child (we all sort of collectively forgot about the Cursed Child.)

But I see the Bird! I see the Idealism, I see the mind that likes puzzles, and systems, and mysteries. And then I see her just kinda... be lazy about it. Not think though the implications. Be happy with only a very surface-level understanding. Not edit, or update, or interrogate her system. (We know that her worldbuilding is sloppy. We know she grabs existing problematic tropes and then kind of uses them as-is.)

The more I dig into to her, the more I'll come across bits of her system that just seem very... young. They'll be things like 'Good people have kids, or if they can't, then they take care of kids.' Or 'People with mobility aids are good.' That's one's so weird I just have to bring it up. It's very consistent, and comes with the reverse - 'People who use mobility aids they don't need are evil.' Barty Crouch jr. is the HP example, but that situation comes up like - a weird amount in her mystery novels.

(also, I can't prove it, but I think Lucius Malfoy got a much more sympathetic edit after Jason Isaacs started playing him with a cane. Of course that could also be just because... he has a kid... so he can't be BAD.)

Harry Potter, the character, is also very much a Bird Primary. When he acts on really strong emotions it's because they're - yep, trauma responses. Mostly he's trying to figure out his world, synthesize everything Dumbledore and the Weasleys and Hagrid and Sirius tell him, in order to build his own system.

And he's a really loud Lion secondary, the way I suspect JKR is too. Her response to all of this has just been to double down, do MORE, be LOUDER. If her royalties, or the reputation of her IP take a hit, she honestly does not seem to care.

She's not stupid and she's not evil. Hermione was a complicated, fascinating female lead. JKR has an incredible knack for side characters. The books have good stuff to stay about grief, and depression, and I know it gets memed now, but it was a big deal (for me) when she said Dumbledore was gay. But this is how I think you can get someone who starts out in a reasonable place, and gets more and more out of touch, and harmful and wrong and dangerous - when locked into one way of seeing the world, and no one with the ability to contradict you.

#jk rowling #jkr #anti jkr #sortinghatchats #tangentially #shc #exploded bird primary #lion secondary #bird primary vs lion primary.

[creachureboy]

Gk charas' google history headcanons

Shiraishi

He definitely has gambling websites open, and you know he knows what he's doing when you find "gambling.com/this-is-not-a-scam-website-xoxo/".

Which is then followed by dozens of searches along the lines of "scammed by gambling website", "how to get money back after scam", "how to report gambling website".

Also various paid corn sites, good for him

He uses Quora and Yahoo Answers as a reputable source of information.

So many goddamn 9GAG pages.

Vasily

Tons of links on social media of art by his favourite artists.

And Twitch, he probably watches vtubers while he draws.

There are also lots of vids in his history of first person shooters.

Random wikipedia articles of highly specific phenomena that piqued his interest.

And drawing references. His search history even seems suspicious out of context with the poses he searches.

Saichi

Travel and tourism vlogs, followed by google maps searches.

Also, recipe blogs and videos.

He has compilation vids all over his watch history, whether its compilations of "Funny Fails 🤣🤣😂 LOL LMAO #TRENDING" or just a compliation of moments from a show or a game, even if he doesnt play the game or watch the show.

Random trivia google searches, mainly because he mightve seen something he didn't know and ended up googling it.

And then he falls down a rabbit hole of random trivia, ending up excitedly telling Asirpa all about it.

Asirpa

Definitely watches animal fail videos.

Probably gets addicted to Wordle.

Does Not Use Keywords When Googling to point it's a miracle that google can even interpret what she's saying. Who tf searches like "I put my shirt in the dryer and now it shrunk and now I want to know if I can reverse it".

Watches educational youtube channels about literally anything. She'll fall dowm that rabbit hole.

Secretly loves those online flash games but would never admit to it.

Ogata

It's fucking wiped clean, almost nothing is there.

He mostly just does typical ogata stuff like searching up really specific facts that could get the average person arrested for knowing.

And also cat videos :)

Oh and he most certainly does not use google, he opts for browsers that keep you super secure.

He probably has reddit just to spread misinformation honestly.

Koito

Tons of beauty guru channels definitely.

He also has a channel of his own which is also in his search history a lot.

Search history completely unorganized. Youll see pictures and vids he finds funny, links to online shopping sites, wikipedia articles on military icons and tactics, etc.

He also loves reading travel blogs and watching vlogs.

Is really fucking good at Wordle, Asirpa hates him for always being able to get it right.

Tsukishima

also has koitos yt channel in his search history.

Lots of miscellaneous journals and artciles open for him to read.

He has perused a lot through online libraries too.

Does crossword puzzles online.

Reads the fucking. News. Every day.

Tanigaki

Ngl probably wouldnt google many things, and if anything his search history would be few and far in between.

But when he does search its things its so normal ?? Like "XXL clothing store near me" and "How to repair a broken air conditioning unit".

Gym websites and workout routine stuff. He maintains his build and I gotta respect that.

Also has facebook to check in on how his family and friends are doing.

And also baking and cooking videos.

#golden kamuy #sugimoto saichi #headcanons #ogata hyakunosuke #asirpa #shiraishi yoshitake #tanigaki genjirou #koito otonoshin #tsukishima hajime #vasily pavlichenko #golden kamuy headcanons

[thewatercolours]

PART NINE - Replaying King's Quest, Chapter Three (2016)

Sire, if you're so cold at the top of that tower, considering rolling down your sleeves.

I wonder what happened to the clock face that clearly used to be on Hagatha's tower.

Hagatha really loves theme colouring. Not only did she provide the princesses with lots of wall hangings and belongings that match their outfits, but she's doen the same with her pink hangings, blanket, cushions, etc. that match the dress she's wearing in her younger portrait.

It's only Graham's first night in the castle, and Hagatha has already done a mini arts and crafts project so he can have a little clothespin doll in his colours too.

Though it's not consistent across the board, it seems like transformation magic is extremely difficult to change/reverse in this world. There are times when it's relatively easy (Graham's wizard's duel with Mordack in classic KQ5), but the cases of Hagatha and Manannan's transformations suggest it's difficult to alter once you've done it, or done it enough. This is something I'm leaning into in Rippling Consequences. It's not that there's no way out from a transformation, but it's serious stuff to try to shake it off.

I understand they were probably starting to run low on money at this point, and there are reasons not to have other rooms in the tower to explore, but I still like to dream that, given its height, it could be so cool to have other tower rooms that play into the plot, create inventory puzzles, and so on.

I wonder who fashioned the tower's jointed wooden legs! Why did they want to create a walking tower? If it had real bird legs like in Baba Yaga, I would assume the tower was really a sort of creature t hat had hatched that way. But I'm more inclined to think this is more of a magical automaton that someone put together.

I doubt this was intentional on the Stantons' part, but I'm going to be extra here. The music during the scene where Graham sees the girls struggling with their broken items and realizes he could use some advice from his friends in town to figure out which lady and how to make a connection is the same music from the "how to get across the river" scene puzzle in Chapter One. Thus we may make the connection that Graham is here pondering how to come across, and how to build bridges. ;-)

Presumable typo that no one caught before the recording session: "Too bad I couldn't just jot over to the town square." Presumably the script was meant to say "jog," not "jot." Graham, I am a writer. if I want to, I can "jot" you over to the town square, but I doubt it's something you can do for yourself.

#revisiting chapter three

[ohanny]

dangerous romance: main couple mania ep. 1

so i love how sailom's instroduction is this is a budgeting king, in debt eating stolen rice porridge. he has a very pre-kinn broke ass porsche-chay dynamic with his brother (?) which is very sweet and also means it won't last five minutes.

oh okay so we get this ship sailing with a wall slam and a classic "do you understand my father funds your scholarship you poor piece of trash" and alksdflkfj

i know i am supposed to see sailom as the victim but he is like full on pete-ing this. he never breaks eye contact. he is like daring kanghan to escalate with his entire body and kanghan did not just go full "since you're my class mate i will be generous and forgive you if you get down on your knees" like that is a) spicy as fuck what the hell and b) going to backfire so hard

HE DID NOT JUST BOW 90 DEGREES JUST TO SPIT ON KANGHAN'S SHOES AND WALK AWAY WITH A SMIRK

he is puzzled by both sailom's actions and by what is happening inside his uniform shorts

honestly, kanghan is the villain here but i struggle to take him seriously as the bad guy because perth a) always looks like he is about five seconds away from bursting into tears and b) has bangs that form a literal heart. no matter how nasty kanghan tries to be - and he tries a lot - the inherent bitch baby-ness just shines through.

literal heart bangs what did i say

this entire car shop sequence is just pure gold for so many reasons. 1. kanghan shows up in his business leather pants looking like he walked off the set of enhypen's blessed-cursed music video and he's driving a mercedes. like honestly, with all that talk i was expecting a lamborghini. 2. sailom's boss actually like... needing some evidence instead of just bending over backwards to please a rich client 3. sailom fucking uno reversing that credit card sneak and humiliating kanghan with the smuggest lil good boy smile and THAT is why chimon is the ultimate snake-cat like he has a face made for scheming.

i am really loving sailom because he keeps his head, is really resourceful and will not take any shit. boy does not hesitate to drag this bastard for filth every chance he gets, beating kanghan in his own game without ever stepping down from the high road.

ooh, we are meeting kanghan's family and they are... both not as trash but also as trash as i expected? like i kinda thought more mafia vibes but if laws of attraction - and real life - has taught me anything it is that politicians are garbage.

on the surface his dad seems almost a jolly good fellow but the conversation with this random girl just confirmed there is something so much darker lurking under the surface. as much as it hurts to have a hyper critical parent, having one who has seemingly completely given up on you can be just as bad.

he's basically been called stupid twice in under five minutes. someone save him.

sailom will not be fooled by a shady ass phone call and neither will he leave a friend behind. this boy will not be distracted by tits with a side of toast. he is a man on a mission.

the way i gasped when i saw this court set up and i have so many questions. do the students just have a cardboard gotham in the basement or - based by the fact we see loose boxes and a shopping cart - did kanghan build this just to prove how big his dick is to sailom ???

chimon's acting is honestly a+ and he is carrying this show. the tension! the absolute rage that is bleeding through! the way he doesn't have to go big with gestures and expressions to convey everything sailom is feeling perfectly - and not just that. you know what sailom is feeling AND you can see his brain working.

kanghan, sweetie, you might want to take a moment and reflect on your obsession with getting this boy out of his clothes and making him kneel.

not gonna lie, i kinda saw this move coming because tropes but god was it satisfying :D the reactions of kanghan and sailom's friends are hilarious (10/10 i am evil tea, he totally ships it) and then the camera pans and you can see all these bystanders just standing stock still, filming giving major horror movie vibes and aaaaaaah

side notes:

i love how his best friend is just "auto." like his parents were "we are poor, naming the kid a vehicle will be fine. no need to bring brands into it."

auto's mom is an actual queen

the teachers are so fucking infuriating but also, that is kind of a sad truth? even when it's not like RICH rich people involved. like for too many adults, it is easier to it off as kids being kids and boys being boys over having to deal with the why and the parents and the drama of it all.

i was bullied in school so like this bubble tea waterboarding makes me feel some type of way? like some of the bullying is very oof-spicy-trope but a lot of it is actually cruel and i really wouldn't recommend this show to anyone who gets triggered by stuff like school violence.

#dangerous romance #dangerous romance ep 1 #kanghan x sailom #episode recap reaction whatever #this show is gonna become a guilty pleasure i can tell #can't wait to witness kanghan's journey into being pathetic

[artemis-red-hotd]

a lucemond a/b/o curse + arranged marriage concept

(mostly sfw. cw: loss of primary genders, loss of fertility, potential body dysphoria but non explicit)

A flip + exploration of the fics I've liked where someone from non-omegaverse finds themselves in omegaverse and suddenly presents & has to adapt to having an a/b/o gender. This is the reverse idea, where in an a/b/o universe, everyone loses their primary gender hormones and most people become an intersex beta essentially, with male/female reproductive capabilities becoming dominant. I had a world-building brainrot going but a chunk of it will be hand waved. ====

Westeros is in omegaverse. Lucemond have been married for a year and have been told to have a child to remove the still lingering tension between the two sides of the family due to the conflicted relationship between Lucerys and Aemond. It would be good for the realm if two of its princes' were not on the brink of murder at every turn. Queen Rhaenyra, as an alpha, took power mostly uncontested.

Then, one day, a magical curse sweeps over the land, and people lose their a/b/o gender. Those who were carrying a pregnancy make it to term, but have to watch the world change around them, knowing that a ticking clock will catch up to them once they give birth.

Lucerys and Aemond have been sharing the marriage bed, but have not had a child after a year as they have been taking moon tea in secret, not wanting to be parents so early into the marriage. But, following this curse upon the lands, they, and everyone else, finds themselves to be betas. Or something close.

Their mating bites no longer tingle, the heats and ruts no longer bond alpha and omega. Their primary gender hormones have stopped producing. There is no more slick to ease the way, and no more knots to keep mated pairs tightly bound together, murmuring to each other in the moonlight after their passions were consummated. The world shifts. Their second gender hormones kick in, bringing upon slight changes in their physiology. It is a struggle for all, but no one is going through it alone. The betas guide them through the change, being in the best position to lend their expertise.

It will take a while for people to understand that secondary genders now dominate and determine who can carry children. Female alphas find themselves unable to breed their female omega lovers. Male omegas find themselves able to impregnate others.

Lucerys and Aemond navigate this new world, in horror, knowing that a civil war between the Queen and Otto would be the last thing the realm needs right now, as Queen Rhaenyra’s reign goes on, formerly unquestioned as she was an alpha. What changes now that she's essentially a beta?

Since everyone is a beta, people thankfully look up to the Queen, as she goes through the same event as everyone else.

Lucerys, in secret, prays for his omega to return, so that his husband may feel the mating pull towards him again. So that he has a reason to spend the nights with him.

Aemond, in secret, misses the scenting most of all, misses the honey and ash scent of his omega. It's different, being around him, without their fated bond keeping them together. Sex doesn't feel the same. It requires lubrication now.

That is one industry that booms after this curse.

Its more than politics. They have mated. Quite happily, for the most part. They were compatible, as alpha and omega. Passionate.

But without their scents intermingling, without their bodies slotting together easily like puzzle pieces, without that mating bite chaining them to eachother, its just different.

They look at each other across the table, as they listen to their Queen talk about how things have changed across the Realm. The maesters have concluded that male pairs, regardless of their previous genders, cannot have children with each other. It is a shock to the system. No combination of former primary genders with the secondary male gender can have children?  How bizarre, to lose all of those pairing combinations. To have this one trait dominate.

Jace, a beta, is the only one unperturbed at the news. Aegon, his ex-omega, already has two children, so they may remain together for their family. Lucerys eyes his brother’s exhale of relief in jealousy, glancing across the table.

Aemond would surely want to be remarried to a female now, so that he may continue his line. It would make their alliance more tenuous, they were the biggest danger to the family, after all. Lucerys took his eye, earning his ire, and Aemond attacked him with Vhagar, killing Arrax. The pair was at each other's throats, unable to be in the same room together, before they were betrothed to marry to avoid war between their families.

But that was two years ago. Lucerys curses himself for taking moon tea in that first year now, before the thought of carrying Aemond’s child didn’t turn both of their stomachs in disgust. Things had been different, recently. But then the curse stole their alpha and omega.

But the Queen wants them both to be released from their forced marriage. They should have a chance at children, if they so wished, she says.

The Queen had never been opposed marriages between infertile pairs before the magic came of course. With so many combinations of genders, how could it matter, when the hormones and mating bites brought people together regardless?

Two beta males were always allowed to marry of course, though it was a rare match, almost unheard of. There weren't that many betas to begin with. Why marry if you have no inherent hormonal compatibility, no scents to attract each other, no mating bite pulling you together even against your will?

Marriage between female and male betas had been more common due to the chance of pregnancy. Lucerys had tried to imagine how different it must feel to be a beta. Definitely more free time, without the heats and ruts. But he enjoyed those moments of unending passion with his husband. Now, he knows.

What would be left, between them? Lucerys feels tears well in his eyes. He could still have children, if he remarried. As their alpha sire-… no. Their father. A strange thought. He could try. But he would have to separate from Aemond.

“No, sister,” says Aemond, cutting through the terse silence at the dining table. He hastily corrects himself. “Your Grace.”

“You do not wish to remarry, Aemond?” says Rhaenyra.

“What of the alliance, your Grace,” says Lucerys. He was never one to be quiet about politics, even with the omega hormones in his system, making him sweet and submissive to his alpha. Only for his alpha.

That was one of the biggest changes. He had argued with Aemond the night before, and they were not able to scent each other to calm down. They had slept in separate rooms instead. It had stung.

“I release you two from it. I trust our family has healed enough for this. That you are both wiser now. The realm does not need your marriage,” says the Queen. “Besides, keeping you together without the mating bond and the chance to sire children… it might make things worse.”

Lucerys swallows the lump in his throat, watching Aemond take in her words across from him, only an arm’s length away. He wants to grab him. Pull him close into a hold like a cage. Afraid, suddenly.

“It would set a bad precedent,” says Aemond carefully “to immediately disintegrate a marriage alliance just because our secondary genders have overtaken our primary ones. What of the stability of the realm? Of the lords? The curse might reverse itself yet. I believe it is best to keep our marriage alliance, as an example. When the realm is stable again, considerations may be made for future weddings.”

Lucerys exhales, in relief, watching Aemond’s eye as it stays fixed on his mother, not looking at him. The only tell is that Aemond’s hand is trembling, just a bit, on the table top. Lucerys feels his heart swell in hope.

“Lucerys,” says the Queen, eyeing her half brother in suspicion. “You should also have a chance to remarry and sire children if you so wish, as your secondary gender allows it. Your former alpha should not have the only say in the matter.”

Lucerys can feel Aemond’s eye, the one he had left him with, bore into the side of his neck, where his fading mating bites are imprinted. The hormonal possessiveness is taking longer to fade in the former alpha, it seems. Lucerys wonders why.

“What Aemond says is true. We need to set an example. Do you want all alphas to put away their omega spouses, when our society has afforded different roles to omegas and alphas their whole lives? Different expectations and opportunities? Even if you have fought against it, mother. It would be chaos. No, we must do this slowly. Aemond and I should remain married to show that stability and harmony can remain, even amongst former alpha and omega pairs,” says Luke.

Everyone at the table stares.

“We heard the shouting, last night,” says Jace, breaking the silence. “It generally devolves into mating, but this time wasn’t the case. We are worried that you two will kill each other some day. And we assumed you would prefer to separate, given the chance. You are both Targaryens. You may do as you wish.”

“I have made my wishes clear,” says Aemond, finality in his voice. He ignores the looks of disappointment from his mother and grand sire.

“And I, mine,” says Lucerys.

That is the end of it. Lucerys feels sick with relief, but he isn’t sure why.

He and Aemond's politics were in agreement. But Lucerys' motivations had been personal. He was no longer compatible with Aemond, in the way fated alpha and omega pairs were. Their pull was different. But…

But.

That night, they layed in their bedchambers, side by side, speaking softly to each other in the dark space between them, hands roaming over flesh, gently, as they had always done, back when they had to wait for Aemond’s knot to deflate.

Aemond presses his face into Lucerys’ chest, and Luke feels a tug on his heart, as if they were mated once again. But it wasn’t that same pull, it was a different one, present before but muted under the inferno of need that was their primary gender hormones.

Lucerys lets his fingers comb through Aemond’s hair, and whispers into the crook of his ear, telling him about the future they could still share together. A different one. They would have to adopt their children, but they could do that, they were not in line for the throne. Aemond tightens his hold around Lucerys’ waist, telling him that he would like that. He still wanted that one day. He just wanted Lucerys.

When they kiss in the darkness of the room that night, illuminated only by the soft moonlight dancing across their bare skin, they whisper reassuring words into the space between them. Some things were different. But they would make it work. They were meant to be together. They would fight for it, when the time came.

When their bodies meet and their hearts swell for each other, singing the same song that has always existed between them, they hear it clearly, even without the haze of heat or rut fueling the intimacy between them.

A song without words that they both know the melody of: no matter how much their world changes, in every universe, as long as its the two of them, some things will always be the same.

#lucemond #aemond x lucerys #omegaverse #a/b/o dynamics #lucerys x aemond #tw:fertility issues #tw:potential body dysphoria #it's a weird concept within the omegaverse universe #I like flipping worldbuilding around #I imagine that if there are 21 gender pairings (a/b/o+m/f) combos possible people are less hung out about it overall #and the loss of a/b/o instincts would be very confusing to people #my stuff

[autisticempathydaemon]

If you're still doing the matchups 👁

Rn I'm fixated on Twist the knife by that handsome devil but I obsess over a new song every week

My enneagram type is 4 (apparently) and I'm an infp

I love video essays. Basically anything Kennie JD makes is delectable

My childhood imaginary friend was literally just pinkie pie and rainbow dash I'm not kidding

Go to way to fall asleep is either warm milk with honey and lavender or nothing at all. I pass out when the universe allows me to

I would like my legal name to be either Sojourner (Journey)or Cupid.

Favorite video is either Caelum's sleep aid, Guy's reverse comfort sick audio, or the one where Ollie got his listener to eat after hearing they didn't eat lunch

Vega does nothing for me I don't get it 💔💔

I know every mlp episode up to season 5 by heart

Out of all the guys, I'd say I'm platonically attracted to either Cam or Brachium

Go to rambling topic for me is mythology but nine times outta ten it's gonna be Greek mythology and how much modern interpretations of Hades and Persephone PISS ME OFF/LH

Go to gas station snack is green tea Arizona (or pink lemonade) with Pringles

My favorite playlist rn is my lovecore playlist. It's very important to me

Idk it's not really a guilty pleasure but I like playing pastel girl it's cute and simple💕

Extra shit: my favorite color is pink, I'm an Aquarius, favorite animals are cats and bunnies, I love sweets and spicy food and I currently need more room on my bed for more plushies

Type Fours and INFPs are defined as thoughtful, sensitive, creative masterminds with whole worlds inside their heads. That makes you a great match with our one and only dreamwalking boy, Elliott.

Like, literally, you two could share the creative worlds in your heads; that’s what y’all as a pair is so cool. He’d love crafting pink, fluffy places for you, always striving to make them more realistic and fun and innovative. I know you’re also an artist, so Elliott could bring your drawings to life in dreams. Who needs references or models when you have a top notch dreamwalker as a boyfriend?

Overall, your relationship would be just so cute. Elliott’s friends to lovers shaped, so I can imagine him having absorbed your MLP knowledge, if he hasn’t seen it, through pure osmosis. He always has little pops of bright, “girlier” colors: tie dye shirts you bought him, pink hair ties on his wrist, a pink beanie he stole from you and never gave back. You go out to eat together, and you laugh when he’s a spicy food wimp because he never managed to build a tolerance.

Song:

Now, baby, I believe this is real/ So take a chance and don't ever look back, don't ever look back/ We drove to Cali and got drunk on the beach/ Got a motel and built a fort out of sheets/ I finally found you, my missing puzzle piece/ I'm complete

This isn’t That Handsome Devil, it’s nowhere close, but I will not apologize, okay. Your submission is giving cute, it’s giving girly pop, it’s giving bubblegum. I go where the words lead me, and they are leading me to the cheesy Katy Perry classic bop about dreams and falling in love that Elliott, without a doubt, as a creature of taste, knows all the words to.

Runner-Ups:

Okay, so Sam is a runner-up because it’s basically canon he wears the same, cowboy shit all the time, and I think your colors and style would be a cute contrast to his. Regulus is a runner-up, my favorite one, because you could spin him as the Hades to your Persephone any which way, and I WILL.

note: rant to me anytime about Hades and Persephone I love Greek mythology shit tell me how you feel about Hadestown

Read this post and send me an ask if you’d like a match-up of your own! 💌

#redactedasmr #redactedverse #redacted asmr #redactedaudio #redacted audio #redacted #busybee matches

[leftduck9986]

The Missing Bridges of The Song is The Clue

Which song? "You know which one," says Shax. The one, the only, A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square.

Why is this song The Clue? Because of the gaps - that's right, plural - the missing BRIDGES, specifically these two, as performed by Elsie Carlisle:

For clarity, I know that I could be incorrectly labeling the song structure, however this is my understanding, having once-upon-a-time performed a barbershop arrangement of it, back when I had no emotional connection to the song and was just there to hear the chords ring. Of course I'm in love with the song now!

My memory of the sheet music began with an Introduction (not performed here: "When true two lovers meet in Mayfair...") Then all stanzas we are familiar with in the Tori Amos recording are the Verses ending with Refrain/Chorus(song title).

The structure for the Elsie Carlisle recording: 1st Verse | 2nd Verse | 1st Bridge | 3rd Verse | Instrumental Verse | 2nd Bridge | 4th Verse | Coda.

Tori Amos' performance includes an Instrumental break - not an Instrumental Verse, but an Instrumental BRIDGE, in place of the real First Bridge. Singing along recently, I found myself adding it back in and making connections, not to 1941, but to the 25 Lazarii miracle:

1st Bridge:

The moon that lingered over London town

Poor puzzled moon, he wore a frown

The grandfather clock in the east corner of the bookshop, with the moon dial - it appears to be frowning with the wind-up thingamajig, if that's what it is, which is nothing new, but because the moon dial seems to be stuck in the same approximate "third quarter" position, (even in 1941, though that could be a coincidence), together with the glitching behaviour of the clock hands - this clock/these clocks are simply untrustworthy for most of the time, though by the final episode, both have only just normalised/re-aligned before seeming to jump forward together, for perhaps an entirely different reason to what I'm about to put forward.

I thought another possibility for "frowning" would be if the moon phase was either waxing or waning crescent, whichever presents as a frown in the northern hemisphere's London sky.

Does the turnip become a crescent moon in the opening credits title sequence?

However, I want to believe that The Arrival & 25 Lazarii miracle "happened" on Thursday 31st August 2023, - not a crescent moon at all, but a "blue moon" AND Super Full Moon.

How could he know we two were so in love

The whole darned world seemed up-side-down

Notice the moment everything briefly turns/rotates up-side-down in the opening credits title sequence.

∢ ∢ ∢ ∢ ∢ ∢ ∢

What would happen if the world actually turned up-side-down?

Here's a fun video (https://youtu.be/BLEAjyD5ncU?si=hbHh2O7pGUB8Bsfv) discussing/hypothesising what could happen if the axis remained at its current tilt; if the world was simply flipped up-side-down.

I feel "yeah-nah" about that, especially since the display globe in Heaven appears unchanged as Saraqael locates and zooms in on The Plume Of Miraculous Activity. What seems more likely, (where there could be changes that interfere with gravity and stuff around the world's analogue clocks) is:

What Would Happen if the Magnetic North and South Poles Reversed?

A quick search took me to this website, https://www.livescience.com/18426-earth-magnetic-poles-flip.html An interesting read, but here are several quotes that may be relevant to the GO universe:

"… Earth's magnetic field takes between 1,000 and 10,000 years to reverse, and in the process, it greatly diminishes before it re-aligns. "It's not a sudden flip, but a slow process, during which the field strength becomes weak, very probably the field becomes more complex and might show more than two poles for a while, [see image provided by NASA on website] and then builds up in strength and [aligns] in the opposite direction," … "

"… we cannot see or feel the presence of the geomagnetic field now, we most likely would not notice any significant change from a reversal…"

"… Our technology definitely would be in danger, however. Even now, solar storms can damage satellites, cause power outages and interrupt radio communications… "

"… One additional worry is that a weakening and eventual reversal in the field would disorient all those species that rely on geomagnetism for navigation, including bees, salmon, turtles, whales, bacteria and pigeons. There is no scientific consensus on how those creatures would cope…"

"… The reversal might happen, or it might be aborted - Earth is too complex a system for scientists to know which outcome to expect…"

∢ ∢ ∢ ∢ ∢ ∢ ∢

Now Furfur says, "Well, well, well! What have we here?"

Maybe some humans, who are like bees, also become disoriented, occasionally appearing to walk back and forth multiple times in the background on Whickber Street.

Maybe poor old Leviathan becomes a little disoriented too. (As well as lonely... go on Crowley, make them a whale friend!)

We've been shown the days following the urgent 25 Lazarii miracle - was there a similar build-up in the days leading up to it? Or with just two poles to reverse it would have all gone unnoticed anyway, unless...

Is Gabriel's presence The Tempest (or the fly with who knows how many things inside), causing a temporary third magnetic pole to form? Could Crowley's lightning bolt have contributed?

∢ ∢ ∢ ∢ ∢ ∢ ∢

What about how, in the opening credit title sequence, the world turns up-side-down, but one bridge ALSO joins up with another? Consider the lyrics of the

2nd Bridge:

When dawn came steeling up all gold and blue

Note the approaching dawn over Soho in the title sequence, once the world has righted itself (an aborted magnetic pole reversal?). Then how The Bentley drives away, splashing up water (left behind after a disoriented Leviathan is attracted to a third magnetic pole?). Is this why Crowley and Aziraphale are chilling out together on the roof?

To interrupt our rendezvous

I still remember how you smiled and said,

Was that a dream, or was it true?

Likely how Aziraphale "helps" to decrease human suffering of the mind, "best forget all about it" or in season 1, "you will wake, having had a lovely dream about whatever you like best." Was this his final contribution to the 25 Lazarii miracle? A variation could be not to forget, but to remember whatever happened during the 25 Lazarii miracle as a dream - that would be good news for Nina and Maggie, if you believe the image on their vintage playlist is of a scene already filmed.

∢ ∢ ∢ ∢ ∢ ∢ ∢

In season 2 episode 2, "present day", Aziraphale is deep in thought, perhaps reflecting on the urgent miracle from the night before, as he glances up and out of the bookshops' North-West front window.

Even though the east-corner clock reads thirty-five past ten, three bells sound - is that coming from the west-corner clock? (making it a "striking clock" rather than a "chiming/tubular bells clock"?) These sound exactly like the three bells Anathema acknowledges before telling Adam that she needs to get "back to work."

Aziraphale then returns to his shop-front desk to resume reading from an open pile of 3-4 books nestled into each others' spines. I wonder if they are books on science, on geomagnetism.

Please remember, DO NOT ASK OR TAG NEIL GAIMAN ON FAN THEORY.

#The Missing Bridges of The Song is The Clue #Good Omens 2 #Good Omens 2 Theory #Good Omens 2 Opening Title Sequence #A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square #Elsie Carlisle #geomagnetism in the Good Omens universe #a temporary 3rd magnetic pole? #If you haven"t yet studied a close up image of what Saraqael sees surrounding The Plume of Miraculous Activity do it NOW

[curuniel]

Reverse unpopular opinion ask: what do you think famed TTRPG Dungeons & Dragons 5e does right (in terms of the rules)?

It's a combat simulator, and I don't actually mean that in a derogatory way? D&D in general, to me, has the kind of goals of a tabletop skirmish game or a combat video game - decide what you want to play, emotionally invest in your little guys, and then try to use the tools you've picked to overcome an obstacle or opponent. When people, including myself, say it's most/only good for combat, we're often being dismissive. However, I do think D&D is premised on having combat at its centre. You are adventurers: this is a thing that exists in this world, people who travel and fight against dangers on behalf of everyone else. You can do plenty of other things, but a lot about D&D rests on that core assumption. What you are skilled in is adventuring. That includes solving puzzles, ferreting out information, surviving the wilderness... but there's a reason that a failure on any of those fronts usually results in combat, and it's that this is what your characters are built for. Literally their job.

If you think about this as a game about collaborative emotional storytelling, it will probably fall flat for you but you're probably not being that fair. If you go into it as an action-adventure simulator where you get story segments customised to your characters and their choices to link each action scene, it's great at that! (honestly I kind of like importing Through the Breach's concept of 'dramatic time' and 'narrative time' as opposed to combat/non-combat time)

Something else D&D does well is hook into a whole lot of fantasy literature tropes and then create a whole lot more, so that you have heaps of structure around which to create said little guy and build on what the book says to inspire your storytelling and contextualise your use of abilities. There's plenty of space to be different to the book lore if you want to, in 5th edition very little of it is absolute, but you can work in conversation with it which makes it easy to throw stuff together without needing a whole original concept when you start and I actually think that's very valuable. When I think of D&D 5e as a good game for beginners it's not because the game system is simple, it's because I can say "it's fantasy adventure with elves and swords and magic" and a new RPG player immediately knows enough to start just from cultural exposure.

#ask game

[haggishlyhagging]

In times when feminism is at a low ebb, women assume the reactive role—privately and most often covertly struggling to assert themselves against the dominant cultural tide. But when feminism itself becomes the tide, the opposition doesn't simply go along with the reversal: it digs in its heels, brandishes its fists, builds walls and dams. And its resistance creates countercurrents and treacherous undertows.

The force and furor of the backlash churn beneath the surface, largely invisible to the public eye. On occasion in the last decade, they have burst into view. We have seen New Right politicians condemn women's independence, antiabortion protesters firebomb women's clinics, fundamentalist preachers damn feminists as "whores" and "witches." Other signs of the backlash's wrath, by their sheer brutality, can push their way into public consciousness for a time—the sharp increase in rape, for example, or the rise in pornography that depicts extreme violence against women.

More subtle indicators in popular culture may receive momentary, and often bemused, media notice, then quickly slip from social awareness: A report, for instance, that the image of women on prime-time TV shows has suddenly degenerated. A survey of mystery fiction finding the numbers of female characters tortured and mutilated mysteriously multiplying. The puzzling news that, as one commentator put it, "So many hit songs have the B-word [bitch] to refer to women that some rap music seems to be veering toward rape music." The ascendancy of virulently misogynist comics like Andrew Dice Clay—who called women "pigs" and "sluts" and strutted in films in which women were beaten, tortured, and blown up—or radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh, whose broadsides against "femi-Nazi" feminists made his syndicated program the most popular radio talk show in the nation. Or word that in 1987, the American Women in Radio & Television couldn't award its annual prize for ads that feature women positively: it could find no ad that qualified.

These phenomena are all related, but that doesn't mean they are somehow coordinated. The backlash is not a conspiracy, with a council dispatching agents from some central control room, nor are the people who serve its ends often aware of their role; some even consider themselves feminists. For the most part, its workings are encoded and internalized, diffuse and chameleonic. Not all of the manifestations of the backlash are of equal weight or significance either; some are mere ephemera, generated by a culture machine that is always scrounging for a “fresh” angle. Taken as a whole, however, these codes and cajolings, these whispers and threats and myths, move overwhelmingly in one direction: they try to push women back into their "acceptable" roles—whether as Daddy's girl or fluttery romantic, active nester or passive love object.

Although the backlash is not an organized movement, that doesn't make it any less destructive. In fact, the lack of orchestration, the absence of a single string-puller, only makes it harder to see—and perhaps more effective. A backlash against women's rights succeeds to the degree that it appears not to be political, that it appears not to be a struggle at all. It is most powerful when it goes private, when it lodges inside a woman's mind and turns her vision inward, until she imagines the pressure is all in her head, until she begins to enforce the backlash, too—on herself.

In the last decade, the backlash has moved through the culture's secret chambers, traveling through passageways of flattery and fear. Along the way, it has adopted disguises: a mask of mild derision or the painted face of deep "concern." Its lips profess pity for any woman who won't fit the mold, while it tries to clamp the mold around her ears. It pursues a divide-and-conquer strategy: single versus married women, working women versus homemakers, middle- versus working-class. It manipulates a system of rewards and punishments, elevating women who follow its rules, isolating those who don't. The backlash remarkets old myths about women as new facts and ignores all appeals to reason. Cornered, it denies its own existence, points an accusatory finger at feminism, and burrows deeper underground.

-Susan Faludi, Backlash: the Undeclared War Against American Women

#susan faludi #amerika #feminist analysis #female oppression #the more things change the more they stay the same

[antoniettap1303]

HxH theory:Cards

Hello! I'm back with a new theory dedicated to HxH!And due to this theory's argument, Disclaimer: this is only a tought of mine and we don't know what Togashi sensei will do for the next chapters. Also, since this is a theory, is only a hypothized possibility, and will matter nothing, unless the person in charge of it will determine if it will matter or not.

Said so, here we go. Today's theory will be based on this:

Now most will ask what does this mean and whatever. Those are pratically official cards. Respectivley from a lottery done by shonen jump, official puzzle exibition cards, niuya ( animator 2011) and still from shonen jump video for the puzzle exibition. Now, since i'm a curious thing, i've searched the meaning of those cards. Both individually and also about love. So here we have:

Queen of clubs

The queen of clubs is often seen as a card of change. She can represent new beginnings, transitions, and opportunities. Whether you're looking for career advice or guidance in your personal life, this card has something to offer you. Meanwhile In a love reading, you can see the Queen of Clubs as a positive sign. If you are single and seeking a partner, you may pull this queen to encourage you to go out and pursue love. Since she is all about action, be brave and make the first move on your love interest.

King of clubs

The king of clubs Generally represents People that generally are those with a lot of power and authority. They may be businessmen, work in politics, or famous in the arts. King of clubs represents a dark man, who is loyal and kind.He is a good businessman, shrewd with money and investments, but isn't selfish. In a love reading, the King of Clubs can foretell a happy marriage. If the King of Clubs represents your significant other, you can rest assured that this person is very passionate about you. They may want to take care of you and build a life together.

Ace of diamonds

The ace of diamonds is A sign of good fortune, the Ace of Diamonds is a very exciting card to pull. It represents your wants and wishes coming true on the earthly plane. A new opportunity may be coming your way, especially pertaining to work and money. This playing card can also foretell a scholarship, an unexpected win, or financial gain. In love, While the Ace of Diamonds typically represents financial increase and work-related opportunities, it also embodies exciting news when pulled in a love reading. This playing card can indicate that a message from a past or new lover may be coming your way soon.

Justice

is a Major Arcana tarot card, numbered either VIII or XI ( in HxH case, is numbered XI ). Justice represents Equity, rightness, probity, executive; triumph of the deserving side in law. Reversed: Law in all its departments, legal complications, bigotry, bias, excessive severity. As for romance, Justice is about karma, and if you've been putting forth the effort, love and romance will be coming your way. Also, In love and relationship arena, the Justice tarot card represents decisions and choices,as love outcome means the outcome of this relationship will depend exactly on what you put into it and also When it comes to love and relationships, Justice is about truth and consequences.

This last part, and the another description for the king of clubs at my honest opinion remind me of fugetsu's actual situation with kacho and killua's personality. Also, when in regard of love, the fact that the Analysis based on the cards make seem that in an eventual romantic situation, fugetsu will seem to take action and killua will seem more 'quiet'. This also reminds me of yusuke and keiko in a way. In YYH for the part concerning romance, It's almost like that the one that keeps the "action" that makes the relationship move is generally keiko:

So a case of romance like this wouldn't be totally extranged for Togashi sensei. Also, this same Analysis has shown that they could also both work well individually. Like pratically now. Maybe during this theory i've kept a love driven mentality like Prince Tyson and Palm, but it was something fun to study how a character and something that could be related to It might work. By the way, more theories will come, and this is only a tought of mine and we don't know what Togashi sensei will do for the next chapters.

#anime #japan #manga #hunter x hunter #hunter x 2011 #hxh #hxh 2011 #hxh gon #hxh killua #hxh kurapika #hxh leorio #hxh alluka #kacho hui gou rou #fugetsu hui guo rou #hxh ging #hxh hisoka #hxh chrollo #yoshihiro togashi #yu yu hakusho #yusuke urameshi #keiko yukimura #yusuke x keiko