#starts pre-lions obviously

[miaonon]

a thousand faces in a thousand places

synopsis: the housewardens with a Sparkle (from honkai: star rail) reader. (headcanons)

gn!reader + reader is not yuu

RIDDLE ROSEHEARTS

uhm! 😨 (scared)

there is not a single universe where this man, pre-overblot, did not hate you.

so, how did you two meet? considering your mysterious, yet still childish personality- you probably got sorted into heartslabyul!

you’re basically like alice but.. so. much. worse. 

pre-overblot he’d, most likely, be very cross with you.

do you know how many times you’ve been off-with-your-head-ed? because it’s happened a LOT. and i mean, a lot a lot.

you were in and out of everywhere, were rather cryptic, and had a strong mischievous streak.

how could he NOT be annoyed? smh.

though, post-overblot, i think he’d be more relaxed.

of course, he’d still be exasperated, but not to the level of annoyance he had before. progress, woop woop !!!

LEONA KINGSCHOLAR

i am still scared. not for you, but for leona.

he’d be annoyed, i suppose. you’re like a creepy, more out there, more literally insane version of ruggie.

so, how did you two meet? it’s similar to how yuu and the lion met, actually. except.. there’s kind of a difference.

whereas yuu stepped on his tail (by accident!), causing leona to go “ooh i’m gonna eat you” like a shark on steroids, YOU were the one who.. tried to eat him.

picture this, leona sleeping on the botanical garden, you seeing his tail and immediately going

how romantic a meeting! be still, my heart! meetcute who?

you immediately started laughing hysterically when his startled awake gaze met your terribly amused eyes, so the impression you left to him.. eh.

you probably started a “Call Leona ‘Unca Weona’” trend on MagiTok (that cater undoubtedly joined in on), so he’s probably pretty annoyed at you.

— you’ve also probably used his money to fund some performances.

AZUL ASHENGROTTO

“you have bewitched me body and soul. 🤩” “HOW DID YOU GET INTO MY HOUSE”

he’s probably mildly terrified of you and your absolutely horrendous schemes.

so, how did this lovely pair meet? WELL.

azul, doing paperwork in his office or whatever he does, looking like he sniffs lint, jolts when jade enters abruptly.

it’s unlike the eel’s usual respectful manner, so he’s pretty confused, immediately going “what is it?”

a sheepish jade smiles awkwardly and goes to say something like, “blah blah vanished into thin air before they could pay.”

azul is BEWILDERED. vanished??

so, obviously, righteously wanting his money, he tells jade and floyd to go look for you.

they did not find you.

fun.

KALIM AL-ASIM

he has a new bestie now!

you two are great friends, your chaotic (one more so than the other) tendencies and fun-loving personalities make you a great pair.

jamil would say otherwise.

you two go on happy little excursions around the campus, terrorizing a few people here and there, and honestly just having the time of your lives.

he was so glad you weren’t his friend just for his wealth, but because you liked his personality as he liked yours.

though, you, as someone who can only have their interest piqued by amusement, didn’t understand why he’d think you were using him.

you wear the most stupid matching shirts (that kalim bought and jamil tacitly approved) and walk around, happily playing and leaving only destruction in your wake.

VIL SCHOENHEIT

you’re fashionable, he likes you.

with your skill in acting, you’re probably in the film studies club, which is most likely how you two met.

he admires your.. cough, dedication. and he also thinks your personality is a bit (is it?👀).

“your dedication to being you is admirable.” “hehe thanks but wtf🥰”

as literally everyone is, kalim not included, he’s pretty exasperated by your chaos-causing tendencies and unhinged personality.

illusion magic is your jam, so just imagine how shocked he was when looking into his mirror and seeing your evilly-grinning visage instead of his own face.

(rook approves.)

talking about rook, a curious vil had asked the hunter to.. stalk you for a while, because he was confused if you were really the person you portrayed yourself as.

a laughing rook gave the report that you had found him out and asked if he was close to his housewarden because he stripped himself naked and apologized for his crime of liking neige.

vil is flabbergasted.

IDIA SHROUD

on one hand, he’s terrified, and on the other- he thinks you’re funny.

you come up with the most unhinged insults, and you always get the last word- he thinks you’re admirable.

your level of extrovertness is shocking to him.

first kalim, now you? he is Shaking His Head™.

how you first met doesn’t matter, what matters is what he accidentally said when first meeting you and having a good short chat.

“mesugaki..” he mumbled in the middle of your sentence.

your ears were good. his ears were working well enough to hear his own damn self.

he wants to cry. he wants to dig a hole in the ground and bury himself in it.

“hikikomori.” you immediately responded.

critical hit! idia will have to stay inside his room for three weeks, tell ortho he loves him..

you’d say you two get along well, idia would say otherwise.

MALLEUS DRACONIA

he enjoys your rambunctious personality. he’s normally chilling quietly in the corner, so having you drag him around probably does wonders for how people see him.

he approves (sebek does NOT).

he’s sometimes concerned. he knows humans don’t live long, will you Doing What You Do somehow make your lifespan even shorter? 

you’re just being you and he’s standing menacingly right beside you. imagine how that looks to other people.

your local terrorist gremlin and THE malleus draconia. standing next to eachother. chilling.

you probably call him “that guy with the horns”, or something more animal aligned.

like “ram horns boy”. 

lilia probably laughed at it, silver didn’t know if he should’ve felt offended for malleus or if it was a friendly joke, and sebek is going to use it as a horror story for the future generations of his family.

you’re just causing chaos and he’s there like 🧍😄

#twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader #twst #twst x reader #heartslabyul #riddle rosehearts #riddle rosehearts x reader #savanaclaw #leona kingscholar #leona kingsholar x reader #octavinelle #azul ashengrotto #azul ashengrotto x reader #scarabia #kalim al asim #kalim al asim x reader #disney twst #disney twisted wonderland #pomefiore #vil schoenheit #vil schoenheit x reader #ignihyde #idia shroud #idia shroud x reader #diasomnia #malleus draconia #malleus draconia x reader #“he is half of my soul.” ; my writing

[lilrobotman]

Hey trans mascs on HRT who are feeling hair loss p hard: rosemary oil may be a good option if you want to promote a bit of new growth and keep your hair nice and healthy. I've had decent results using it for about 4 months now, parts of my hair that were thinning have thickened back up a fair amount

There are a few studies showing that rosemary oil is about as effective as other hair loss treatments like here and here, but it's definitely a field needing more study, though I've seen plenty of testimonies from others backing up its efficiency (me included!)

Some things of note:

-Obviously I'm only speaking from personal experience and not everyone is the same! I can not speak to how effective this will be for you.

-Like with hair loss treatments, if you stop using it, your hair will return to its former state. However the great thing with rosemary oil is that it takes forever to go through a bottle. You only need 5-10 drops per application and you only need to use it a couple times a week. Most bottles of rosemary essential oil cost about 10 dollars, which I find to be a decent price considering how long it can last.

-Additionally, rosemary oil seems to only work on thickening up pre-existing and thinning hair, not make new hair (at least for me). My high peaks have hardly gained any new growth but what I do have has thickened up quite a bit.

If you want to try rosemary oil, please make sure to only use it 1-3 times a week and mix it with a shampoo or carrier oil (jojoba and coconut are good ones). Rosemary oil is really strong. Dont apply it to you bare scalp without diluting it a bit. Make sure you scrub it into your scalp for a couple minutes, and most importantly, be patient. Like many hair loss treatments, it takes about 4-6 months to really start seeing a change. I still suggest looking into more detailed application descriptions as applying it correctly is rather important, applying straight up rosemary oil to your hair will probably make things worse.

Additionally, these tips are coming from a white guy with cowlicks and stiff hair, if you're someone with a different hair texture, please make sure to research what others like you may have said about applying rosemary oil. Always use a carrier unless the product you get says otherwise!

DO NOT USE IT FOR BEARD GROWTH. The androgen, dihydrotestosterone (DHT), is what promotes male pattern baldness but it also promotes beard growth. Supposedly (and this is not a claim I have 100% verified as scientifically true but I've seen this explanation used quite frequently) rosemary oil helps block the production of DHT. So using it on your beard will likely not help it.

Please know this is a post with good intentions, I'm not trying to give anyone false hope. My hair loss really made me stressed and dropped my confidence a lot. Some hair loss medicines have been known to cause trans mascs to start their period again and their overall efficiency is flaky, so I didn't want to try any of them. Rosemary oil has been very helpful for me and it could be for you! The worst thing the oil can do is make your hair smell nice, even if it doesnt give you a lions mane. Just remember to be patient and do some research about applying before starting :]

#Eventually I will accept my hair is going and stop using it but for now this has been really helping my mental health #Long post #Hair care #Trans masc #Trans man #Hair loss #Transgender

[deathonthe]

mona lisa's smile | 1418

pairing: fernando/lance

rating: teen and up

word count: ~7000

tags: pre-relationship, 2021 season, non-driver lance au

summary:

Two-time world champion. Robbed from his third. A villain’s making—a slow descent from glory, trajectory fixed on an unfulfilling end. Back from his sabbatical. Fernando Alonso.

director's cut:

don't let my ramblings influence ur interpretation of the fic!

these are my notes/reflection on the fic. they don't have to be urs. different minds can come to different conclusions that are equally fantastic!

mona lisa's smile is supposed to disappear when u view her directly, but out of ur peripheral, she is always smiling mysteriously (eerily). i thought it was fitting given the characterisation of lance and the facade he kinda keeps up in the fic

my obvious issue is that since it is an incomplete fic, the focus on lance and esteban's friendship overshadowed his developing one with fernando

i thought the risotto scene was corny, i'm glad people liked it

yes, it's written so that u can't really tell if someone's talking about something or somehow implying it or thinking it

i'm impartial to when people portray lance as having daddy issues and lawrence being a bad father. obviously i don't know jackshit about lance's relationship with his dad, but i wanted to depict it in a positive light this time around

whether or not scotty was going behind chloe's back with daniel is up to u. i couldn't decide whether he would or wouldn't so i left it vague

i don't know shit about ice hockey. i had to google who the canadiens were. they're not mentioned more because i couldn't be stuffed doing more research

i back read way too many articles about lawrence buying racing point, because i thought the dts portrayal was a bit inaccurate

lance and esteban do speak french when they're together so i'm glad i at least got that part of their characterisation correct

i actually started taking duolingo lessons for french because of this fic

the style is choppy on purpose because i hate grammar and tense

the line of 'offers security physically in the only way he knows how' is not implying that lance fucks este. i think lance often grabbing parts of himself to kinda subconsciously reassure himself, i tried to transfer that vibe into his friendship with esteban

to be clear, fernando does not give a shit about lance really until he meets him again when lance is like 20/21

the part that goes 'lance had watched from the grandstands that day. the crowd roared. he hadn't thought much of it' was actually regarding fernando's abu dhabi retirement donuts, and not him winning in spain in 2013

if misappropriating classical writing in my trashy fics was a crime, i would be on death row

at this point, it is not clear whether fernando is approaching lance as part of his El Plan or if he's genuinely interested in him

re: esteban and pierre possibly both being in renault. hindsight is a beautiful thing

fernando's "we are like lions. podiums soon" is another reference to the iliad. i wasn't sure if the implication was strong enough

i was originally going to scrap the 'must've misheard italian for indian' line because i wasn't sure if it would offend people

in the risotto scene, sebastian is actually oblivious as to what's happening. he's not pretending to be. he is fully unaware

my most despised line in this fic is: a son of a billionaire he may be, but a waster of food he is not. i think it's too cheesy and doesn't fit with the style of the fic. looking back now, i'm not sure why i kept it

i think the 'lance's lack of passion' character choice stems a lot from how f1 fans think lance is somehow detached from the sport and doesn't really care for it as much as, let's say, fernando or max, who are always very clearly enthusiastic about racing. it's probably also got something to do with lance's 'monotonous voice' that people like to complain about. it's ok, though, because lance is plenty expressive in his face and body language

fernando's post-race interview after his bahrain dnf is an amalgamation of some of the actual post-race interviews he's given

my favourite line in this fic is: Un jour, vous en ferez l'expérience. Cela fait battre votre cœur pour la première fois et votre cœur ne cessera de battre après. too bad it had to be in french

the ass-tap was inspired by the video of fernando congratulating lance after lance got p3 in the wet qualifying for brazil 2023 (i believe, need to double check on that)

the aston engineer is 100% suspicious about lance and fernando

thanks for putting urself through all of that!

#lance stroll #fernando alonso #strollonso #1418 #1814 #ls18 #fa14 #f1 fanfic #my fic #once again me yapping into the void #f1 #formula 1 #forumla one

[tetragonia]

Masters of the Air x Hogwarts AU

Bucky Egan

is DEFINITELY the biggest prankster and the life of the party

will get wasted and sleep on the couch in Gryffindor's common room until McGonagall slap some senses to him at 4 pm, giving him a speech about being a Head Boy lalalalala

had a special pre-Quidditch match ritual which includes fire whisky, astronomy tower, and a special attention from a specific Hufflepuff's prefect

is very famous and (sometimes) well-respected

his Patronus is definitely either a cheetah or a lion

sometimes challenge the Fat Lady for a sing-off (you don't wanna know who wins)

thinks of the first-years as a tiny lil weaklings, but doesn't realize that many first-years idolize him

Buck Cleven

a stellar student, excels his OWLs ("What, like it's hard?"). the next Head Boy's candidate

he's like that one calm and reserve student, very handsome, good at what he does, humble and kind... so distant and unreachable

no one really gets close to him despite being all kind and smile... unless a certain Gryffindor beater

but that's another story

McGonagall always says his name as a student example

"Mr. Cleven is very bright for his age, he casts difficult spells easily..."

yes, it's true that he doesn't drink, but he silently loves to accompany someone to drink. you know

his Patronus is either a stallion or a swan...

he's very good with plants and magical creatures, obviously

Rosie Rosenthal

half of the school knows that the Head Boy title will be given to Rosie. the other half is rooting for Buck

another exemplary student, even more obvious because he's a Ravenclaw. a point-scoring machine, duh

cast his Greyhound Patronus at the first try

when he wins a Quidditch match, he always starts his speech with, "This victory wouldn't happen without a foundation of hard work and dedication from this team..."

is actually a very good Quidditch strategist and suitable for a career, although he wants to be an Auror (who doesn't?)

also doesn't drink, but very fond of a certain drink his Muggle friend smuggles, he's like addicted

it's called Coka Colla or something

Harry Crosby

oh

the Crosby

he was quite invisible during his first 3 years in Hogwarts, but when he defeated the undefeated dueler in his 4th year, he became popular

like very popular. even he's nominated to be the head of the Dueling Club

a very pretty boy... he's a bit shy, but people around him have given him tons of support

he's secretly one of Dumbledore's favorite student

Patronus is a brown hare, that's for sure. shy but not to be underestimate

doesn't play Quidditch because he has a severe air sickness... which also doesn't allow him to Apparate/Disapparate often, unfortunately

#THIS IS SO FUN #masters of the air #bucky egan #john egan #john bucky egan #gale cleven #buck cleven #gale buck cleven #robert rosenthal #rosie rosenthal #robert rosie rosenthal #harry crosby #mota #anthony boyle #callum turner #austin butler #nate mann #hogwarts #harry potter #gryffindor #ravenclaw #hufflepuff #quidditch #mota x hp #masters of the air x harry potter #motaedit #masters of the air alternate universe #mota au #tetrapost mota #tetrapost

[foxufortunes]

So like, I was gonna add this onto my post about the Raven's win percentage and how that compared to lacrosse with NCAA Exy and NCAA Lacrosse being about the same age, but I figured I'd put it here so everyone can see, because this is what I mean about the exy timeline being complicated and why zero losses makes sense over 30 years.

And yes, I know AFTG is not aiming for hyper realism grounded in reality, but I like figuring out a cohesive timeline for things like fics it's TRC all over again. Also I just like to think way too deep about this things, and if I'm descending into madness over these things you're coming with me.

That said, the timeline of exy and Evermore as much as I can make sense of it:

So, the exy/Evermore timeline in kind of a mess and a great example of how adding more makes something make less sense. What we're going to do is take the books at their most concrete fact and say that Tetsuji and Kayleigh invented exy 30 years pre-canon, and for ease of timeline we'll call it exactly 30years. So, here we go:

So our base line in 1976 (for the record NCAA Lacrosse was formed 1971, this is what I mean when I say they're roughly the same age). Tetsuji and Kayleigh were in university and in Japan, but it's not clear at what point in their studies they were and how long they had left to go at university.

Nora's EC says that Tetsuji was reaching out to the NCAA before he graduated. During his last semester he was reaching out promising funding and himself as a coach. So this is, at most a few years after exy was created unless Tetsuji had the slowest university career ever.

The next fall semester NCAA Exy officially starts with Ravens vs Trojans at Castle Evermore. So, as I've said before, the Big 3 were in on the ground floor. This is why they're so dominant, but that they started with the Ravens means they should be more competitive. The Raven's won the first match 13-12 and if it's that close at the start, the idea that the Raven's undefeated 20year+ streak is because they've been around longer loses all ground.

Evermore was the first stadium completed, followed by the Golden Court for the Trojans and Pride Court for Penn State Lions (which is such a cute name, I want a book on them please Nora). Pride Court was delayed but Penn State kept up training, while USC and EAU had their courts built at impossible speed. For reference, building a sports stadium, from first plans to completion is at speed roughly an 18month endeavour, if everything goes right, but depending on how you read the point above this could be just a few months. Either way, it's very fast. Other universities had pop up stadiums or played at the bigger stadiums of the Big 3 or local stadiums until theirs were complete. Ironically, given his apparent treatment of his female players, a lot of Tetsuji's funding came from getting women on board, promoting how co-ed the sport was.

The first pro teams were formed around the first graduates from the NCAA league. So 5 years after Evermore and we get a professional league.

And the US Court 2 years after. So 7 years from the start of the NCAA competition and we get a national team.

Then exy is in the Olympics the next year. So 8 years from the first NCAA game for exy to be Olympic recognised (a generous estimate makes that 1988, 1992 at a push, 14-18 years pre-canon and roughly a decade pre-foundation of the Foxes).

The problem with all this, of course, being that the book in only chapter 2 of TFC says that Kevin (born in 1986) and Riko were around with Tetsuji when Evemore was still in the blueprint stage.

Now, there's a couple of way I can think to maybe square this all. Firstly, obviously the 30years is a rough but that should mean closer to 30 than anything else, but to be generous either way, we're looking at between '71 (35years pre-canon) and '81 (25years pre-canon) and the later timeline can square a little better. It's also possible our Castle Evermore is a new stadium and the first Castle Evermore is an old one they've knocked down and replaced at the new one is the one Kevin and Riko were around for. It's also possible to be more generous with Tetsuji's university career: say he was in his first year in 1976, did a longer/postgrad course and stayed for say 7 years giving us 1983 for his graduation, then be generous and say "next fall semester" actually means '84 (which is still fast for a stadium) for Evermore's completion and the NCAA starting, which gives us the '92 Olympics.

So, let's work backwards instead. For Evermore to be being built while Kevin and Riko "already had custom racquets" we'll be generous and lowball age 2? So, we'll work with Evermore opening around '88. Even working with the most generous estimate of when exy was invented (1981, 25years rather than 30) that means, assuming Tetsuji spent his freshman year in Japan, he was in university for 6 or 7 years (depending on how you read next fall). Putting us at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and making NCAA exy 20ish years old.

#all for the game #aftg #the foxhole court

[alolanrain]

The only things that can make the Delia/Ingo post funnier is if the Hisui thing happened post-Sinnoh/pre-Unova, Ingo just happened upon Arceus about to screw over Ash when he was doing something in Sinnoh (decides to save a kid without kowing who he even was), Ash's Hisui Adventure takes place in the time between Sinnoh and Unova because thank you Dialga, and that come Unova we have Emmett kicking down the doors to the Nimbasa Gym so he can present Elesa his new nephew Lion King style. One good thing about this AU is that Delia would know just what her husband is up to and she has a new BIL that would force him to take time off to visit her if she doesn't just decide to move to Unova.

I know the Arceus movie probably isn’t considered canon but it would be interesting if Emmet made Ingo take a vaca because he took one tot Kalos a month ago or something like that. And he goes to Alamos Town to see the rumored buildings Arceus themself had apparently destroyed.

The entire movie happens, with Ingo in the very background of it as he focused on helping the citizens and then heading up the the main building himself just to catch the tail end of it. Arceus was about to send Ash back as they deemed him the perfect Champion to save the past but Ingo intercepted. Somehow reasoning with the Legendary that sending a kid back to a time so long ago would be harmful and tk send him back instead.

Ash had tried to tell Ingo that it was fine, he’d probably be gone no more then a day or two with what he’s witness with time traveling before - especially with what just happened but Ingo doesn’t know that. Though he immediately felt a connection or something like that with the older Trainer.

In the end Ingo gets sent back in Time and Ash and the Sinnoh gang continue their way. Assuming Ingo would be back in present time sooner rather then later. It isn’t until after Sinnoh when Ash is back in Kanto when he’s approached by Arceus again. Stating that Ingo has failed and that they need Ash to go save the past.

Obviously the entire game play happens but with more interaction with Ash trying to help Ingo remember even though they barely knew each other. Ash saves Hisui in a month’s time, the longest he had been transported to the past, and it reflected when he popped back into his room just as Delia was just about to start cleaning it out. Assuming Ash had either been kidnapped or taken and killed from his own bedroom.

Instead of popping back in Sinnoh in Alamos Town, Ingo popped up next to Ash in his room. Both still dressed in their Hisuian outfits. Thus leading into Ingo and Ash explaining almost everything, leaving out the initial fight with Arceus, and the Trio at Alamos Town. I go obviously had regained his memory and explained that he wasn’t letting Ash go. He was a child and yet he apologized profusely to Delia on the fact that he had failed not only Arceus but Ash as well and not being able to keep him safe.

Ash speaks up that Ingo had actually kept him safe plenty of times in Hisui, after giving a brief explanation of the whole underdeveloped Pre-Sinnoh thing and showing Delia his decked out Arceus phone instead of the flip Nokia she had gotten him. This the Marriage license’s the next day between just her and Ingo, who didn’t even hesitate to sign because he spent the whole day with Ash and he’s so intrigued with the boy and his Pikachu.

#ash ketchum #warden ingo #emmet pokémon #delia ketchum #Hisui #Alamos town #Arceus #Ingo/delia

[aro-paladin-pidge]

So, yesterday (I think) I posted about some vague ideas I had for what might have happened if the Galra had found Blue pre-canon, right? So I just had an absolute brainwave last night, and now this is a full-fledged au.

A little while ago, I made this post about how bad the character motivations in Voltron were (long story short, only 1 of the 5 paladins’ motivations worked for the plot) and I’ve been contemplating ways the show writers could’ve fixed this (for Lance and Hunk in particular) for quite a while and yesterday’s post fixes goddamn everything.

So, the empire gets the Blue Lion. For plausibility’s sake, I’m going to stretch the date on this way back to ~200 years pre-canon, let’s say after World War 3 (yes World War 3 canonically happened at some point, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it line from Season 7), which could possibly be around the 2100s (no concrete dates are given, so I’m just going off what feels right). The Galra conquer Earth, have Blue for long enough that Haggar/the Druids figure out some way to measure a person’s quintessence for similarities with the Blue Lion, and this quintessence-testing process goes into effect across the universe as the Galra attempt to find a blue paladin.

Eventually, Lance is born, and when he’s 13-14 years old (my best guess for when the Garrison would start taking students, based on real-life military academies and the Season 7 Keith flashbacks) he enrolls in the Garrison, (A Galra-controlled military school in this au) and as part of his physical for entry, they take some of his quintessence, as has been standard policy for the last few decades. They run some tests on it, compare it to Blue’s, and it’s similar enough that he could be a paladin.

So, based on what Allura says in s1e1 about the Lions choosing their paladins based on personality + how Red makes Keith prove himself before choosing him, despite their assumedly compatible quintessence, it’s clear that the lions choose based on two factors: similar quintessence (which seems like the minimum requirement, they HAVE to have similar enough quintessence to make a bond possible) and personality (personal criteria, aka why they choose someone to be a paladin. If the criteria are initially met, but then the paladin changes, like with Zarkon, a Lion can revoke their bond in favor of a better suited paladin. This shit is fascinating, imma write a post on it at some point) but, all this to say that the Galra would probably take Lance to wherever they’re keeping Blue, probably in that giant Central Command ship.

Blue obviously chooses Lance as her paladin, so the Galra basically kidnap him and force him to like, fly Blue for them. Lance is a decent person, so he doesn’t want to, but since the Galra control Earth in this au, they use his family as leverage to force him to. So, for the ~3 years until canon, Lance is a paladin/prisoner of the Galra, so he gets experience as a paladin, actual information about the modern Empire, and a motivation to fight them!

On earth, things would proceed mostly as they do in canon. I’d imagine Keith would know about his Galra heritage and probably have spent some time with the Blade/his mom, but she probably would lose track of him after his dad dies, so he’d still end up with Shiro, as in canon.

Shiro would be a Galra soldier in this au, a talented graduate of the Garrison that maybe has some doubts about the Galra’s mission. He’s assigned to fly a research mission to Kerberos with some scientists (including Matt and Sam, but not just them) and while he’s there, the team comes across something they’re not supposed to, like an Altean ruin or something, idk, this part’s not completely ironed out. So the team disappears, Kerberos mission is scrapped and chalked up to pilot error, and Shiro is sent to the Gladiator pits where he learns the truth about the empire.

Pidge enlists in the Garrison late, as a communications cadet, in order to spy on the Galra and figure out what happened to their family. I’d imagine that they pretty quickly figure out just how bad the empire is after their family goes mission, so they’re a bit of an anti-imperial activist.

Hunk stays mostly the same because he’s already an excellent character that deserved so much better. He and Pidge are placed on the same team with like, James or someone as their pilot. Since James is a jerk, Hunk bonds with Pidge over their shared nerdiness, and when Pidge eventually tells him about how evil the Galra really are, he decides to work with Pidge to find their family and maybe to fight the empire.

When canon hits, the Blade has the same motivation as they do in the show-to get Blue out of the Galra’s hands. Ulaz finds Lance, and eventually convinces him to defect from the empire, promising that the Blade will get his family out of harm’s way. He stages Shiro’s escape as a cover for Lance’s defection, and implants the coordinates for the Blade’s base in Shiro’s hand, telling them to input those coordinates once they’re sure the Galra can’t track them. They both escape on the Blue Lion, but Lance doesn’t really trust these people he’s met, like, twice, so they decide to go back to earth to make sure that his family is actually safe.

On earth, things go bad, because the Blue Lion is 1. Extremely noticeable and distinctive 2. Widely known as the most powerful ship in the Galra arsenal and 3. Was just involved in a major prison breakout. Yikes. Shiro and Lance are ambushed by Galra soldiers the instant they hit ground, resulting in a very big, public battle.

Keith, who is not a weird desert hermit, as Blue is no longer calling out to him and keeping him in the middle of nowhere, sees it on, like, the news or smth, immediately recognizes Shiro, and, just like in canon, rushes in to rescue him. Pidge and Hunk, back at the Garrison, realize that that’s Shiro, who disappeared with Pidge’s family a year ago. They rush out to find him, and all of the paladins meet up in Cuba, right in time for another big battle where they learn how to work together. They manage to defeat the Galra, but more reinforcements are coming, so they decide to get the hell out of dodge and get to the Blade headquarters.

Unfortunately, the Galra send a giant fleet after them, resulting in a huge, destructive battle, and Blue is forced to flee through a wormhole, sending them to, surprise surprise, Arus. Cue the rest of the series, but with paladins who have actual motivation to form Voltron and fight the Galra, characters who have worked together before, and someone who knows how to fly the Lions.

I do have another version of this au, which I think is way more interesting, both plotwise and characterwise, but it would dramatically upend the status quo of the story, change pretty much everything about the power scaling and overall stakes of the series, so I’m not sure about it. I’ll outline it briefly here.

Basically, the Galra Empire has to have some pretty great propaganda, right? I mean, they’re an incredibly oppressive, authoritarian empire that has had absolute control over the universe for 10,000 years, there’s no way that happened without excellent propaganda. So, what if Lance, who is 13 years old and signs up to be a Galra soldier at the Garrison in this au, is actually convinced by the Galra that he’s doing something good by serving the Galra? Idk how Shiro would get out of the gladiator rings here-maybe the Blade instigates a prisoner revolt, and Ulaz recognizes Shiro as the guy who’s most likely to survive, and gives him the coordinates bc of that-but he gets back to earth, finds Keith, Pidge, Hunk, and maybe even Adam, and they get to the blade headquarters, find the Red Lion, and get to Arus from there. This would make Lance a kind of villain for the first few seasons, and make the paladins unable to form Voltron, which I think would be fascinating, but would kinda necessitate an entire rewrite. This is where the ‘No Blue AU’ name came from, since the other one does have Blue in it. Maybe I’ll call that one ‘Yes Blue AU’.

#Voltron #Lance #Blue #paladins #but like it’s mostly focused on those two #au #voltron au #Voltron rewrite #mine #No Blue AU #Yes Blue AU #yes I’m going with that now #I told you guys this was going to be good #I love this #expect more VERY soon

[blimbo-buddy]

I was thinking about the Rock!Ivypool AU just now and I just realized: Lionblaze and Jayfeather actively forced Ivypool to keep going to the Dark Forest (and we know from Lionblaze's POV alone you CAN stop going) starting as an apprentice, while Dovewing obviously objected to it when they had only started entertaining the idea. Knowing this, do you think there were any repercussions for the two of them? I feel like once Ivypool was never seen again Dovewing wouldn't stay silent about this. Plus when you take into consideration that Jayfeather was thought to have murdered Flametail when he let him drown, and how Lionblaze killed Russetfur and picked unnecessary fights, the clans would especially react poorly to this. Sure, Ivypool may have been a traitor to train in the Dark Forest with all the little demons to them, but she was just a misguided apprentice too! How can they trust Jayfeather to look after their kits and apprentices when it might suit him to endanger them in the future? And if Lionblaze has gifts from StarClan not to be harmed in battle, why is he endangering a mere mortal when he could've saved her, let alone if the other clans feel he failed their Dark Forest trainees too.

Hm, I'm unsure if they'd face any major repercussions for making IvyPool continue to go to the Dark Forest

Since Starclan told everybody that IvyPool died fighting against the Dark Forest before the big fight, I think if word got out that it was Lion and Jay that told her to keep going, they'd be scorned for sure

JayFeather would feel pretty guilty, with a burdening thought that there may have been more at play concerning IvyPool's disappearance

LionBlaze would feel guilty too but mainly because his reputation is damaged

When Starclan says that IvyPool is gonna be "reincarnated" everybody feels more at ease, LionBlaze feels better knowing that his reputation now has a chance to finally heal

JayFeather feels better but only because cats will get off his back about it so that in the mean time, he can focus a bit on figuring out what actually happened, if anything happened at all

Meanwhile, DoveWing is still very much grieving, when IvyPool disappeared, DoveWing didn't cut her out of her life (Because this was pre-avos so those moments between the sisters never happened) so she's having the worst time

DoveWing becomes incredibly depressed, she stops grooming herself, eating, drinking, socializing, she becomes short tempered and lashes out at cats often

She was the cat who shouted the news that JayFeather and LionBlaze knew about IvyPool going to the dark forest and actively sent her there upon learning, she just couldn't take it any more

#blimbo rambles #ask #wc #ivy-rock au

[bladedalchemistreplica]

Rp whishlist for cyber ghost scout

Well here we come and here we go!!!

RP Wishlist for the Cyber ghosty!

((In pinpoints to keep myself from going offtrack to much ^^""

For the main thread

Regris ends up being seperated from the group and Kolivan (With delta and alfor) goes after to save the youngest blade. This leads them to a planet that was thought to have been destroyed during the Galra empire's destruction in that corner of the universe.

Ozar is given some new limbs by the alteans and has to as well face the judgement of Flow's family unit (maybe not ghosty for his sake) once they all reunite.

((Fluff and if it happens)) On Olkarion the group settles in and helps flow move into her new space, Romelle choosing to stay back and help her with daily tasks and handling the upcoming situation with the baby. As well as helping those just arriving to the refuge settling in.

((Crack/Fluff) The giant lions reflect their paladin's moods and state, so when Keith falls ill the bots may have to step up and ensure the Red/black lion doesn't end up destroying anything or one as he recovers, as well as possibly babysit the oversized lionesses and keep her on olkarion while Keith is MIA.

Axca enters the scene after finding the energy signal that matches the bots, entering and infiltrating Olkarion, she ends up stuck in the middle of helping Romelle and Flow, before ending up in the hands of a grubby Phantasmas and her giant crab. ((Crack-Obviously)

((Angst)) Alfor isn't feeling well and some faces come back from the grave which tests the waters of the cloned maned trust and honesty among both blades, fighters, and the bots.

((Crack)) The bots get sick and the freedom fighters (And keith) have to watch over them until they get better for their sake of sanity. Including attempting to feed the cursed creature of unicron

((Cybertronians)) Somehow they ended up on Cybertron, and now they want to go home...but cannot, due to the fact they are now...attractions inside a space zoo.

((fluff)) A mission to find supplies for their next operation leads the group into a rather peaceful, if not stressful, mission into the depths of what civilians enjoy and call---A mall.

AU IDEAS

Colored tails ((MERMAID AU)) __The fight against the Galra has led the underwater cities and kingdoms into pure chaos, the land dwellers none the wiser to the upcoming threat of the empire's reign and search for a tool; one of which can both summon creatures which can be controlled to the users will, and as well control the waters way of movement and expendenture.

We can be heroes ((superhero au)) The Red Paladin keith is one of the first to arrive at the sight of a crashed ship, upon entering he enoughters the bodies of gigantic humanoid robotic beings, to which he is now debating on either aiding to escape before the government arrives, or keeping down until they arrive to take care of them.

Can we start over? ((Pre-voltron)) King Alfor comes across an incredible sight; one of which holds the inspiration for how he will deal with a comet which had just landed on Daibazzals planet.

Vrepid Sa ((Galra reign AU)) With Votlron now in the Galra's grasp, it is now known to be feared and obeyed, but that may change when a group of humanoid robotic beings appear overnight, sparking a change in a galra commander eyes.

A preservation of life ((Altean empire AU)) The bots end up in a universe in which the alteans took charge, taken in by then once seen as a nonthreat, they are given the option of aiding them or becoming part of the empire themselves. Going out and being shown around Altea by their guide named Axca, a lowly Half-breed of galra and altean, who ends up giving her aid in getting them out of there before things turn for the worst.

((haha- just a few ideas...I hope i did these right. Forgive me if i have not!

#cyberghostscout__shouting #//ANSWERED__ #//MUN SPEAKS__ #[[hello and im sorry it took so long!!!

[whatyourusherthinks]

Bob Marley: One Love Review

Bob Marley: One Love has had a weird pre-watching history for me. When I heard the premise, I thought, dope. I'd totally watch a Bob Marley biopic. Then a manager at work told me it was supposed to come out last year and they had screenings that went down horribly. Egh. But the opening weekend sold a lot of tickets! And sales went significantly down shortly after...

Whatever happens this is going to be interesting.

What's The Movie About?

The biopic shows the attempted assassination of Bob and the aftermath of everyone's survival. Kinda.

What I Liked.

First, the music is really good. Obviously. There was a couple moments here and there I thought were pretty interesting, for example they showed Bob getting the inspiration of the album Exodus and that was cool. I liked Bob's charity work and how they showed his beliefs through his music career. And there was a pretty touching moment at the end when Bob confronts his would-be assassin, although I don't know if it actually happened or not.

What I Didn't Like.

The story is unfocused. It starts about Bob dealing with the aftermath of the shooting and having PTSD, but then he moves to London and it seems like the movie completely forgets about that plot point. There's three plot developments that seem like they should important but are brought up 40 minutes before the credits roll and resolve super quick, or is the outcome of the plot point is explained with text over actual pictures or video of the real Bob Marley. Speaking of which, this is a nitpick, but the actor who plays Bob Marley does not look like him, and it's really obvious with the ending. Also, there's a scene of the Bob singing 'Three Little Birds' and he stops and the crowd continues to sing in the trailer that is not in the final movie. Speaking if nitpicks, there's like a million flashbacks in the movie that aren't presented super well, but whenever the flashback to Bob and his wife when they are young adults (I think they're supposed to be like 18 or 20) the actors look 15. Also, I went to see this movie with my sister. And we couldn't understand half the dialogue. Is it because we're two white kids who've never been to or met anyone from Jamaica? Probably.

My final criticism is getting it's own section because I feel like I'll need to justify myself, but half this movie is a shitty religious movie. What I mean by that is half the movie is about Rastafari and how Bob Marley is a believer of that religion, but rather that having an explanation of the religion or focusing on debate between people of different faiths, it's just dogma. Either Bob says he's struggling emotionally and his wife or his priest says "Believe Rastafari!" and he's all better, or some white guy is questioning how he's promoting himself or making his music and he says "I'm doing it the way Rastafari wants!" and it completely shuts down the conversation. See, I've praised spirituality in other movies like The Color Purple, but that felt like I was being explained a unique perspective on an already existing belief. I like learning about theology because I'm gaining knowledge that can be pretty damn fascinating. The only thing I really learned from this movie is that Lions are an important symbol of Rastafarians, but I don't know why. It's just reiterating the movie's beliefs, refusing to accept criticism, and saying fuck you if you disagree.

Final Summation.

So the movie is not good. It's fine, but my big sticking point is that the only reason to see this movie is to hear the music, and to learn about Bob Marley. And you could literally get the same experience reading Bob's Wikipedia page while listening to a Bob Marley and the Wailers record. So save your money on a ticket.

#Bob Marley: One Love #Rejected Movies

[andypantsx3]

I think boundaries is a tricky topic because everyone has different standard for what they feel is culturally/ethically appropriate. Some people are really protective of their ideas and original characters and would consider it stealing (even with credit), whereas I wouldn't at all.

Ive also seen a fanfic which got so popular people started rewriting it and making au's (with the authors permission) so people swing in wildly different directions. I think taking concepts is alright even if it's a unique one as long as you do your own thing with it. In my personal opinion while you 100% should give credit you don't need permission but generally speaking I think the current attitude is always ask the og authors if you want to do anything similar to their work or transform it/are inspired.

The biggest problem is doing all of this simultaneously, quotes, style, characters and concepts etc. I don't think it's inherently wrong because some people might use it to practice, like in art when you make a master study, but you should ask for permission first or make it for personal use. If you're doing a paragraph for paragraph rewrite it's also just unhelpful for personal growth. It should go more along the lions of how fairytales are retold where it's obviously referential but with your own flavour.

I do think it is a very grey area, and on some level it boils down to individual comfort. I hesitate to act as any sort of arbiter of this matter because what I am personally comfortable with might not be the standard.

I have been really appreciative of the people who have asked me to write things inspired by my fics, but that's not a universally held attitude nor should we expect it to be. And I do think you're correct that credit and/or asking is a key point here, although again I am not any sort of authority on fanfic ethics!!

Liv also brought up a good point in her own recent post about how there's some nuance in that like, a lot of what we are lenient with here in fandom would be considered plagiarism by academic standards (actually pretty much everything we do would be considered so, because we are working with someone else's source material + a set of pre-existing tropes and AUs and such).

So I think we have to take into account the fandom context & communal aspects of our storytelling as well to evaluate cases with nuance and good faith. But there is probably a set of like, best practices we should strive to exhibit when storytelling in a community like this just to be good community members.

Anyway, I am not any sort of authority, but I appreciate you working through this thought experiment with me. I think my personal takeaway from all of this is that at the very least I'd like to be more intentional and conscientious of how I take inspiration from the writers around me (like Willow I know I consistently cite you as the inspo for runaway prince Touya but I never asked to use him lmao. I will do better!! 🙏)

#ask andie

[toastess-with-the-mostess]

For the ship questions post, I have two ships. Firstly, 4 and 6 for pre-relationship, 2 for general, and 10 for love, for Panya, because *obviously*

And the second one is just 1, 4, and 5 for general for the crack ship Larmina and Zora (I just picked randomly which drule twin to use lol)

you fell into my trap and now you are stuck listening to my panya rambling YOU FOOL This got super long lol, stuff is under the cut Here's the post we're referencing

Yellow for Panya, Purple for Larmina/Zora

Pre-Relationship

4. Who felt romantic feelings first? Anya did! It was two years after they reconnected on Arus and right before the team got split up because of Wade. She never said anything because she was scarred she'd lose the special closeness they had, and because Pidge was crushing on Lance at the time lol

His crush ends after The Incident, since Pidge dedicated himself to getting back black lion, and Anya's crush takes a back burner while she makes sure Allura doesn't turn into a vegetable because of her depression. Around three years later, though, Pidge starts crushing on her in turn because she had come to visit them on Earth instead of Allura (she got dragged into royal business) during the holidays. Something about Anya laughing with the streetlights reflecting off her eyes and the snow that reminded him of home really got to him. Likewise, seeing Pidge still have so much life in him and his general excitement to have her near again brought that crush back into focus for Anya. Neither of them would act on it until like another 3 years though

6. If you had told one of them that the other would be their soulmate, what would they think? Pidge would brush it off, he doesn't believe in destiny or ghosts or anything mystical that's part of a greater force. Anya already believes they're soulmates, but not in the romantic sense. Soulmates to her are just people who are meant to keep crossing each other's path, and that has happened at least 3 times with Pidge

General

2. Did they have an official first date? If so, what was it like? No official first date, as in they went out somewhere, but what they consider their first date is when they both spent a bunch of time together in the Royal Archives. Only Arusian royalty and their advisors are allowed in, so Coran gave Anya a key for the door, and Pidge has snuck in there a lot before because he's not going to be kept from information period. It'd had been a long day for them both and the two wanted to spend some alone time together, so they agreed to meet in the archive, where almost nobody else was allowed in. Inside the archive was a nook hidden by the ceiling tall bookcases, it had a small couch with a lamp and coffee table. Neither of them knows who set it up, but they brought over some blankets and electric kettle and mugs just to sit and cuddle with each other. And that was how they liked it, a moment of peace together doing whatever they wanted in each other's presence

1. Who initiated the relationship, and how did it go? It was probably Zora tbh LMAOO Larmina holds grudges for a LOOONG time, and she wasn't over their joyride in the city, especially because as royalty they should know better. Eventually they do play nice and Zora has liked Larmina's spark from the start, so she just bluntly asks her out. Larmina takes it as a challenge almost, she doesn't see it as a fun time, but they end up getting along great and agree to keep seeing each other.

The Twins aren't actually evil in my eyes, I like to think they're spies who work with Lotor and feed the info back to the rest of the Drule Empire, which had kicked out the 9th kingdom (Lotor's kingdom) after dotu.

4. Were they each other’s first anything (kiss, relationship, etc.)? Larmina's first relationship, but not Zora's anything. I see them both as minors, so I'm not going much farther than that, but Larmina now fully understands why her aunt is so attached to the idea of someone really loving her in their relationship

5. What’s their height difference? Age difference? In the comics they look to be the same height, but I've always hc'd that the ladies of the team to be taller than their respective group (except Anya she got the short end of the stick, literally) Larmina is taller than Zora but actually younger than her. In dotu I know they gave the Drule's ages that go into the centuries, but I can't see that without some serious physical changes, so the twins are about as young as the cadets (Zora 19-20, Larmina 18)

Love

10. Do they prefer verbal or physical affection? This is actually kind of tough, at least for Pidge Anya prefers physical affection, she wasn't given a lot of verbal affection before either, but something about feeling the touch and warmth of another person makes her feel so happy For Pidge I guess he's the same, he's probably used to getting told how smart he is and things related to that because of his genius. When he gets physical affection though, it surprises him, it's really only Hunk Lance and Allura that are physically affectionate with him, so now that Anya is getting a lot more touchy as his partner it's like he can't get enough. Even if they're in the same room doing separate things, one of their limbs has to touch somehow or else he'll get dramatic. Truthfully, it's because of his last relationship that ended abruptly and horribly, her touch reminds him that she isn't going anywhere, especially after he let himself romantically care for and get into a relationship with someone again.

#voltron force #vforce11 #voltron force 2011 #vf pidge #darrell pidge stoker #vf oc #vf larmina #duchess larmina #vf zora #vf ships #panya #larmina/zora #vf hcs #toast talks #ask answered #i told you you'd have to deal with my rambling #i have so much panya i haven't said anything about #mostly because i straight up forget lol

[l-o-s-t---s-o-u-l]

After her death I decided to look into Sinead O'Connor more as growing up my interpretation of her was pretty negative, a view formed from the opinion of others.

When she was at the Hight of her fame I was just a kid, I liked Nothing Compares as it was the no1 song in the world but that's all I knew. My dad would comment on her hair (just like many peoples dads did back then) in a far from pleasant way, associating from the National Front Skin Heads.

People on TV were saying how she was ugly, how she looked like a teenage boy, an artist I loved Madonna talked about how bad she looked and Madonna was stunning, so she must be right, she is one of the sexiest people to ever live (not that I associated her with sexy at the time) so she knows what she's talking about, so she must be right... right?

She didn't have any other songs you could class as Smash Hits, certainly non that a pre pubescent kid would have heard of, she seemed to come from no where, have 1 hit, cause controversy and vanish again.

Growing up I became a Prince fan and after reading that she and Prince hated each other it had to be her fault right? I mean Prince was a mega star, one of the most talented humans to ever live, It could never be his fault.. could it?

I then started going out with a girl from a catholic family, and they would turn the radio off if Nothing Compares to You came on, slagging her off and talking about her ripping up a picture of the pope for attention, They know someone who knows someone who lived a few streets away or some crap like that, and she was a terrible teenager blah blah. Then nothing, she fell out of my mind completely, until last year when her son died, I felt sad for her but that was it, no change to my life. Then last month she died and the media that helped chastise her were full of praise saying how talented she was, talented? she only had one hit? It was good though.

Yesterday I decided to watch the documentary "Nothing Compares" really to see how they made a documentary about a one hit wonder attention seeker....

Im Sorry, I am so so sorry... This woman was 30 years ahead of her time, she wasn't a trouble causer, she used her platform to raise awareness of injustices she felt needed addressing. She didn't care if it ruined her career, as long as the message got out, Child abuse, Racism, censorship, she fought for those effected, issues that people in her position stand against now to applause. Yet at the time she faced so much hate, so young, I thought she was vilified here in the UK, That was nothing compared to how America treated her.

She was also one of the most beautiful looking women, especially with her shaved head, it brought out her eyes and face shape with stunning results, again, today she wouldn't be getting called a boy, or ugly, she would have all the designer world trying to sign her up to model for a lot of money, although I doubt she would have done it.

I have also spent all morning listening to her music, Mandinka, Drink Before War, Thank You for Hearing Me, all amazing, all, I think far better than Nothing Compares. The Lion and The Cobra Album, blows me away!

She obviously had major mental health problems, especially in later life after hearing about some of her tweets and outbursts and its a shame nobody could help her but with her passing, I genuinely think the world is a slightly worse place.

#sinead o'connor #rip sinead #music #lost soul #1990s #90s aesthetic #art #artists #troubled artists #1990s aesthetic #90s

[whowatchesthewolfwatchers]

Barbary lion. Gimme all you know

All huh? This precipitated a deep dive past what I know to "what could I offer about these cats that can't be googled/I can see easily from from behind paywalls". Hope you like my brain dump. Most of what I know about them has to do with present-day conservation.

First, I know Barbary lions represent a classic case of bias in reporting animal observation. Many records say the last was shot in the 1920's by a French colonial hunter, but locals knew of lions alive decades past that date. After these first-and-secondhand accounts were published, a subsequent study estimated that they had gone extinct decades later, as late as 1965. The Moroccans and Algerians recounting this would have experienced a classic case of "shifting baselines" in which each generation internalized a new normal for their changing ecosystem and the species therein. There's hope we can turn much of this biodiversity and cultural loss back (more on that).

I also know that while the wild population dwindled, many lived in captivity on both continents. Knowing that zoos were anything but forces for conservation and scientifically-formulated care pre-1920, that would have an impact on not only the genetic diversity of the zoo populations but also their skulls. I wanted to see if I could interpret the "specific cranial features" of Barbary lions only to note that most of the studies only included 3-4 Barbarys of each sex. This field is called cranial morphmetrics and I suspect the long history of captivity may be the reason I didn't see many Barbary lions in the analyses.

If you mention "zoo skulls" in my carnivore-skull-focused lab we all picture some malformed, often proportionally short-snouted and wide-cheeked cranium. It's not just the pathologies caused by malnutrition but also the soft and mushy texture. Skulls need physical resistance to develop muscles and shape the bones as they grow- zoo (or late Middle Age) diets didn't include nearly enough hide, bone and other tough bits to shape the skull into the proportions a wild animal would attain. This particularly affects the jaw muscle and tooth-bearing parts of the skull. I tried to unscientifically illustrate below on some zoo animals I had photos of by outlining a wild animal's skull in blue and overlaying it. When I scale the skulls to similar length, the zoo animal looks too wide. When I scale them so the width of the braincase is the same, the snout looks stubby. Top is a brown bear, the bottom "Donut" was a leopard. Both died in the 1930's in the Toronto area.

So back to the Barbary lions. Obviously captive animals have some issues that affected them during their lives, but they would also have suffered inbreeding over generations. Very broad strokes rules for maintaining genetic health are to stabilize a critical population at 50 individuals and then grow it to a stable size of 500 as fast as possible, ideally with at least one new migrant to the population each generation. Olden zoos.... didn't even come close to achieving this. This is relevant because we have lions today descended from the King of Morocco's collection kept in the 19th-20th century. They're managed rigorously now, but these lions are not 100% Barbary and it isn't easy to gauge what happened as far as past inbreeding. There isn't an African lion today that is more than a trace Barbary, but this Moroccan lineage is the closest. Its a start for reintroducing lions to north Africa- if not true Barbary lions, then lions that can help restore their ecosystems and become a new subspecies in time.

In conclusion, Barbary lions were a different subspecies of lion entirely, adapted to the habitats in the north of Africa. We hope to use the royal lion lineage as the source for lions to rewild Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. That will take years of working with AND LISTENING TO the local human population, building up a robust prey base and determining which animals are best suited to move. Who knows, maybe we will even be able to pull enough ancient DNA from archaeological samples to use gene editing and reintroduce the unique gene to lions. Sci-fi stuff. Rewilding is already terraforming, putting terra back to how it was so dream big.

Some sources:

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/interviews/wildlife-biodiversity/-barbary-lion-reintroduction-in-north-africa-is-possible-but-needs-long-term-plans--72961

#Also shout out to skullbase.info for good reference pictures of skulls #I needed to check that the angle I took photos at was good #These zoo skulls look so wonky I questioned myself

[dragongutsixofficial]

Just having random thoughts about Byleth, their morality and their convictions- it’s my first time making an analysis post about fe3h and English isn’t my first language so bear with me. Also, I don’t know if this makes any sense at all lol, just thought i'd try my hand at it.

I have seen a lot of people in the fandom dunk on Byleth for being an “empty shell” and, well, maybe that is true; it seems to me that Byleth was supposed to be “bland” enough that people could project on them, but, at the same time, be their own character- a tricky balance to achieve. I honestly can’t be a judge of that. However, it did make me think a lot about their sense of morals- what do they believe in, what would be considered logical behavior and character development for them in regards to the route they choose.

At the start of the game, Byleth is supposedly emotionless- or at the very least, their emotions are tuned down by Sothis’ presence- and knows very little about the world they live in except for the way of the sword and the love of their father. Some people say that Byleth gains full access to their emotions after fusing with Sothis, others say that this only happens if they “become human again” at the end of Crimson Flower: in any case, I don’t believe this is really relevant here. To me,  the work starts from the moment they arrive at the monastery and are tasked with teaching the House of their choice: they have their own responsibility for the first time in their life (since Jeralt took care of everything beforehand) and have people to look out for- just like Jeralt looked out for them. 

Now they don’t know much about teaching and they might have to improvise their lessons on the spot (lol), but they do their job. And they do it amazingly. Their students open up to them and through them, they learn about the world they live in, their challenges, what its pros and cons are- same on the side with the members of the Church of Seiros who are shown educating Byleth during their time off.

So, it makes sense that Byleth would have a vision of Fodlan that is influenced by their students and what House they pick, even though it might've already been based on some common and pre-existing moral values. It also makes sense that the way they would see things is, whatever comes to pass, they should protect their loved ones at all cost. They obviously love their kids and it’s not only their responsibility to take care of them as entrusted by Rhea, but it’s also what they have seen Jeralt do for them all of their life up to this point- by teaching them how to fight, fighting alongside them, fighting for them.

So, I believe Byleth’s moral compass is more oriented towards “keeping the ones they love safe” than anything else, which makes them more of a support character- whatever path they pick they do so because they want the best for the people they know, and they are always shown supporting and taking care of their respective lord, helping them realize their vision for Fodlan.

All of that to say- I don’t believe picking any route would be too out-of-character for Byleth. It makes total sense for them to continue onto AM or VW if they picked the Blue Lions or the Golden Deer: and if they picked the Black Eagles, I believe their choice all comes down to a calculation of what they think will be best for all the people they love.

I also think this poses another question: would Byleth turn evil if their mission to protect their loved ones was to be compromised? I HAVEN'T PLAYED THREE HOPES YET plz don’t spoil me but my theory about why Byleth was the antagonist was that they’re just tired of not being able to have their Golden route over. and over. and over again.

#fe3h #fe16 #byleth eisner #thoughts #don't take this too seriously it's just me thinking #fe3h spoilers

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Halloween 2022 - Day 2 - Hocus Pocus 2 (2022)

All the 2′s in the pen, come by!

In the words of Jay Zed; fresh out the frying pan and into the fire. I know I had a quick turn around last year with the Netflix New Day special but given this movie only released on September 30th on Disney Plus, 2 days has to be the quickest something has appeared on here. I was going to do it on Day 1 but then the idea of re-doing Freaks took over. Disney Plus doesn’t seem to be the most obvious place to look for Halloween inspired content but they do have a whole section dedicated to it. There’s your usual kids stuff, teens/young adult etc including a movie that literally looks like that one Simpsons joke with the Mummy. “The Professor said he’s not supposed to get a boner!” But there’s a whole bunch of movies on there like the Alien series, Predator, The Fly, Signs, 28 Days Later so it’s another useful resource. I only subscribed fairly recently after a deal came up, I’ve not dedicated much time to it outside of scrolling through and being impressed by all the stuff on there. I have watched a couple of episodes of The Simpsons, Futurama and Bob’s Burgers, plus The Lion King. The original mind you, not that PoS remake. Looking at those two is tempting for some rare non seasonal content, even if it would be some cold takes that everyone and their dog have already made...

It’s been a few years since I watched the original, I didn’t rewatch it going into this but I remember enjoying it and being slightly enamored with SJP in that movie given how cute and ditzy her character is. It didn’t exactly do wonders from a financial or critical perspective but it has certainly gained a big following over the years with TV showings gaining an audience and various live events including a 25th anniversary spectacular. So it’s perhaps not a surprise that a sequel was eventually greenlit, just slightly odd that it went straight to streaming. I know obviously cinemas took a hit over the pandemic and Disney were experimenting with premium releases on Disney Plus of their marquee titles like Mulan and Black Widow but I would have thought things would have normalized by now and they’d be starting to get back to a normal schedule.

I like the touch at the start during the traditional Disney intro where it pans down and starts to take on a darker tone with the music veering off on a more sinister path to match. It sets the tone and better fits the mood, it would be a bit odd to have this spooky movie pre-empted by the usually up beat and colourful castle intro. It ties into the start of the movie as well as the camera pans down, over some trees and into the 17th century  Salem where we’re shown younger versions of the Sanderson sisters and the attempts of the local Reverend to banish them from town due to Winifred’s unwillingness to go along with the marriage arranged for her. The only boy she’s interested in marrying is Billy Butcherson, which considering how he ended up during that first movie, if that’s what she does to the guys she likes then good luck to the rest of you.

It really gets the theme of sisterhood in early when the Reverend intends to take Mary and Sarah away, leading to Winifred leading the girls into an escape to the local woods where they’re set upon by a witch who bestows upon them her magic book (creatively named Book) and sets in motion the sisters descent into the dark arts as they immediately go back to town to wreak havoc by setting the Reverends house alight with a bolt of lightning.

But it isn’t long until the Sanderson’s are unknowlingly brought forth once more into the modern era which leads to all manner of ‘fish out of water’ moments akin to the first movie where, in lieu of brooms, Mary and Sarah end up riding Roombas and power mops.

That resurrection sure is loud and colourful as the sisters spring from the earth and promptly break out into a full song and dance number. Now, I know that there was a musical portion in the first movie but that worked in context given it was a means to entrance the grownups so they wouldn’t meddle with their plans, plus it spoke to the vanity that the sisters have. Of course they’d want to get up on stage to be the centre of attention. And  I get that when you have Bette Middler that you’re going to have her sing, it’s what she does, but this was the genesis of a feeling throughout the movie that they were just trying too hard with. Like, they’re just really leaning into the whole kookiness angle here as fan service and even that concert moment I mentioned from the first movie gets a re-do here. I remember the original being over the top but there was some menace behind the trio as well that balanced it out. There’s a whole subplot here about the Reverend’s descendant who is the town’s Mayor that never really goes anywhere, though it was nice to see Tony Hale in that role.

There never felt like there was any degree of threat or impending danger, there were actual scuffles between the two sides in the first movie and a big showdown at the end where here the ending felt very anticlimactic. Even the story behind the resurrection seemed kinda dumb because the character involved doesn’t really have much motivation to do it outside of he just thinks the sisters are kinda neat. There’s no sense that he had a phase 2 in this plan as to what he was going to do when they did come back. He’s shown to be knowledgeable on the whole story and, whilst he’s definitely playing up the whole thing as a means to drive business for his magic and trinkets shop, he does seem to be on the level in terms of knowing the story behind the Sandersons and how powerful they can be but it’s like it never occurs to him that they would do anything other than just show up and want to hang out with him. He’s not some evil mastermind who thinks he’s going to use for his own devious ends, he’s just some guy who is like ‘oops’ when they come back and aren’t loyal to him for his part in it.

The movie isn’t bad by any means but it definitely feels like they’re just doing a greatest hits performance to satiate the fanbase that has built up over the last 30 years and I was hoping for a little more given that I liked the first one. Total sequel bait in the post credits as well but if this was the best that they could come up with after 30 years, I don’t think they’ll manage much else in the next 2 or 3.

#Hocus Pocus #Hocus Pocus 2 #Disney Plus