#and like I enjoy thinking about world and culture building but I know that's A Whole Thing but even just like... | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

another-lost-mc · 14 hours

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is it bad that as much as i like your ocs (theyre amazing, i love them!), i really miss seeing you write for the canon characters

You know, that’s valid. The proportion of Canon and OC content here lately has been way off. It’s sort of the elephant in the room I ignore every time I think about Obey Me and my inspiration automatically focuses on the world building or OC potential instead.

There’s a few reasons why I’ve been less interested in writing canon lately.

1. Disappointment with Nightbringer. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure why this game exists (except to overhaul the franchise’s monetization structure). The premise and lore payoff hasn’t been that great for me personally - it feels more like an AU rather than a canon addition/continuation of the OG game. It feels like we still end up with more loose ends and questions that we don’t have (and may never get) answers for. I’m still waiting for Raphael and Mephisto to be dateable, by the way. As a result, my focus when writing OM content has been using the OG story/characterization using the odd piece from NB that makes sense, and that leads into…

2. My favourite parts of Obey Me are under-developed in canon. I enjoy most of the canon cast, I really do. But I want more Celestial Realm lore, I want more Michael (and not NB HM Lesson 20 Michael), I want more angels in general. They’ve mentioned Uriel a couple times now, give me that angel please and thank you! (No longer relevant, I wrote a version of him myself.)

The world feels so empty at times but there’s so much potential. Parts of the Devildom are more fleshed out with NB adding to it, but what about the other realms? What’s going on with the Sorcerer’s Society and the reapers? I never know if the interesting hints of lore we get are truly relevant or if it’s just something the game decided was convenient for a plot point and never gets mentioned again. NB has been great for Solomon fans since it’s practically a Solomon x MC fanfic written with a forced roommates trope, and that might be the best thing about it from a lore perspective.

My OCs were originally meant to explore gaps in the world and give the canon characters room to grow beyond the one or two defining traits the game keeps repeating over and over. I like writing Mammon when I can have him interact with Karasu, I like imagining the types of angels other exchange students might meet in the Celestial Realm, I like giving a name and personality to the mysterious owner of The Fall where so many events and Devilgram stories take place. Admittedly, it was refreshing to see that other people enjoyed reading about them or imagining them paired with their own MCs/OCs too. I call them the OC Fan Club with genuine affection.

3. It’s not something I talk about often but before I began writing fanfiction, I was mostly focused on concepts or outlines for original stories. Writing supernatural and horror themes always been my interest as a writer so anything with demons/angels/other monstrous races automatically catches my eye.

It’s a little mean to say, but half-baked worlds like the Devildom are a lot of fun to use as a foundation for expanding my own ideas. The OC story I’ve been working on is one way for me to write longer and more complex pieces which is the type I like most. Granted, it includes nearly the entire game cast and it explores the Devildom and Celestial Realm in ways that tie together some of my favourite personal headcanons and characterization. It focuses on angel characters and the history/culture of the Celestial Realm which are two of my main interests for this game. It’s a huge project - the outline is nearly 20k words on its own, it’s practically a novel divided into four sections with 30+ chapters and an epilogue. I can’t even express how excited I am when I get to work on this.

That being said, I do like writing canon content and I’ve been missing it more lately. I got burnt out when it felt like I was losing interest in NB and was pushing myself to keep writing anyway which isn’t great.

Today someone left a nice comment on something I wrote a while back, an angst piece for the demon brothers. I haven’t read it in a while and after going back and re-reading it, I was like, “Huh, I don’t remember liking this as much as I do.” And then I remembered something in my drafts that’s been rotting away, half-edited and ignored, and realized that I wanted to finish it. So, I’ve been slowly tinkering with things while I work on my angels’ story. Some of my plans are ambitious and real life distractions (mostly health related, like my recent bout of COVID) haven’t helped.

If I learned anything about my writing since starting this blog, it’s that:

writing what you’re passionate about is more fulfilling than writing what seems trendy or popular

giving and receiving feedback and fostering friendships/supporting each other keeps the community thriving

self care self care self care

Anyway. My goal has always been to write about the things I love about the game world and the things I create that are inspired by it. It’s a delicate balancing act that I’m still working on.

#jes.replies #hilariously bad takes abound #somewhat personal?#also I’ve been working on an oc side blog to try and organize things better #this may or may not get deleted if delayed embarrassment kicks in tomorrow

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blujayonthewing · 1 year

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#I've played with irl atheists and catholics and everything in between #but it rarely feels like faith is a real factor for anyone-- DM or player #outside of‚ again‚ divine spellcasters and Big Epic Plot Things #I mean there are a couple of 'RAAAHGH FUCK THE GODS >:C' edgy backstory types but #no one is just Normally Culturally Religious and it's WEIRD #like it's not even a matter of faith in dnd! the gods are LITERALLY OBJECTIVELY PROVABLY REAL #so what does that MEAN for the average person! how does it shape language? business? culture?#where are the people wearing holy symbols like amulets-- or the way modern christians very casually wear crosses?#blessings over meals? prayers before bed? burnt offerings?#and like I enjoy thinking about world and culture building but I know that's A Whole Thing but even just like...#it doesn't feel like anyone believes in gods at all except clerics and paladins #like they DO because they factually exist but in the same way I 'believe in' like. the president of france.#like yeah he exists and is important to some people but has no bearing on my life whatsoever #that's such a fucking weird approach to the DIVINE in a polytheist world where those gods are YOUR CULTURE'S GODS??#I am bad at this myself but I'm not religious so it's harder for me to remember what Being Religious All The Time Casually is like lol #funny enough my character with the most intentionally religious background in this sense #is one of my ones who's ended up wrapped up in Big Plot God Things lmao #'aubree starts the campaign with a holy symbol of yondalla because of course she does why wouldn't she'#'oh okay well she's gonna get deeply and personally entangled with a bunch of death gods immediately' fdkjghkdf oh!! welp #you don't really pray to urogalan unless you're breaking ground for a new building or someone just died so it's STILL weird for her lol #but at least I had the framework there of 'oh yeah the gods exist and matter to me and my everyday life and culture' in general #about me #posts from twitter

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coffeebeanwriting · 8 months

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How to Start a Story Idea

Tackling a whole 50,000+ word novel can be a lot. Here are some ways to break down the process to make it a little more digestible.

Choose, research, and enjoy your story's setting. Whether this is a fantasy realm, a lost planet, or a small suburban town, know and research where your story takes place. Think about the time period, cultural details, geography, the laws/rules, etc. This is a world where the reader will be spending hours, so make sure it's immersive.

Place your protagonist in the world and give them a story. You could have the most detailed fantasy world, but that means nothing without a story or character to explore it. Create a compelling main character and give them a story that progresses them throughout the world you created.

Find your story's theme. A well-rounded story will revolve around a theme or central idea. Some themes include survival, love, good vs. evil, death, war, forgiveness, etc. What do you want to teach your readers or leave them with once the novel is finished? Do you want them to know that forgiveness is important? That war creates wounds only love can heal? That beauty is in the eye of the beholder? Weave these themes and lessons into your plot and story.

Create a cast. Build your protagonist friends and foes that support or challenge them on their journey. Give some of these characters their own arcs/side plots to thicken your story. There are a bunch of character types that you could add to your story such as the love interest, a mentor, an antagonist, minor characters, etc.

Divide your novel into acts. Once you know the big picture of the story you want to tell, break it up into acts. There are three main acts of a traditional story: Acts I, II, and III. Look up and consider following the Three-Act Structure to give your story a fluid motion of beginning, middle, and end.

Know your ending. The ending is the final part that your readers digest, meaning that it will likely stick with them. You don't have to fully understand how your novel will end, but having somewhat of a plan is important. This way... when you write, you're writing towards something.

Instagram: coffeebeanwriting

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tossawary · 6 months

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When writing fanfiction, there are a lot of unknowns surrounding Mobei-Jun that I answer based on what I think is compelling, funny, and/or contrasts well against SQH | Airplane Bro. (Sometimes, based on what contrasts interestingly and/or hilariously against Luo Binghe or Shen Qingqiu.) The choices I make for MBJ also depend on what suits that particular story.

An interesting question: "What kind of literature does Mobei-Jun like?" He's Airplane Bro's Ideal Man / Dream Guy! It's fun to think about what Mobei-Jun's relationship might be to fiction.

One choice that I've pulled a few times now is having Mobei-Jun be functionally illiterate, mostly because I think that situation is an interesting / amusing contrast to the guy who technically wrote the world into existence. Airplane Bro was cranking out thousands of words per day to eat, selling out his honest passion for literature, and Mobei-Jun can't / doesn't read.

There are lots of different potential reasons for this! Maybe Mobei-Jun is dyslexic. Maybe he desperately needs reading glasses and doesn't realize it. (Yes, maybe half of his glaring is just squinting.) Maybe his education was really bad because his family tried to murder him too many times. Maybe he just doesn't have any interest in fiction or in reading as a hobby in general, because paper / writing is rare in the Demon Realm for a variety of reasons and he's been busy building more relevant skills.

(Airplane Bro is shocked and offended, yes, but mostly because Mobei-Jun somehow successfully hid being unable to read from him for two or more decades. All of those "you read it" and "you write it" orders suddenly make so much sense.)

Another direction for "Mobei-Jun's relationship to media" that I've been enjoying lately as a premise is that Mobei-Jun is the sort of person who would have genuinely enjoyed "Proud Immortal Demon Way". But, like, in a weird way. Like, maybe Mobei-Jun isn't there for the women or the power fantasy, but he's fascinated by the cage of dissatisfaction, misery, and cruelty that the protagonist is building around himself using empty pleasures and merciless vengeance. Mobei-Jun is there for the tragedy. Everyone else in the comments section would think that he's a weirdo for different reasons, including Airplane Bro, but Mobei-Jun is (by accident) operating on a level where he sees the vision.

Alternate direction on "Mobei-Jun would like PIDW, actually": maybe he would like it because he actually loves trashy drama and stupid catfights. He's there for the comedy. He grew up in an environment where his father stole his uncle's wife and his own uncle tried to kill him multiple times, after all. In PIDW itself, right-hand man Mobei-Jun somehow successfully suffered years upon years of Luo Binghe's harem nonsense, and maybe Mobei-Jun was having the time of his life watching Sha Hualing start shit in the harem, actually!

Maybe in a Modern AU, Airplane Bro would try to sound intelligent and cultured by talking to his rich boss / boyfriend about classy literature, only to find out that Mobei-Jun basically only watches reality television competitions where people are constantly trying to tear each other's hair out for money. If people aren't screaming in each other's faces over a spilled glass of wine, throwing plates at each other over a stolen boyfriend or a ruined wedding, or backstabbing each other via wardrobe sabotage to get ahead, then Mobei-Jun is bored. Fighting matches or extremely dangerous sports are also fine, though, sure. (Airplane Bro doesn't like any of this stuff. He's a fantasy novel guy. He has no idea how to react to this.)

Another funny direction for "Mobei-Jun's relationship to media" is that maybe "Proud Immortal Demon Way" wouldn't actually be weird ENOUGH for Mobei-Jun's tastes. Maybe Mobei-Jun would be like that guy who claims "if I can guess the twist, then it's not suspense - suspense is when I don't know what's going to happen next, period" and reads long-running, amateur, foreign, abstract web-novels that he has to put through an online translator himself. Maybe in a Modern AU with this opinion, Mobei-Jun loyally watches telenovelas and Bollywood soap operas. Airplane Bro comes into the room and says, "Wow, not even any subtitles? You can understand what they're saying?" and Mobei-Jun says sincerely, "No. You have to figure out what's happening without them. This is the intended viewing experience."

#tossawary svsss #mobei jun #shang qinghua #moshang #fic ideas

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splatsvilles-fashionista · 8 months

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The appeal of One Piece

I know everyone's a bit sour on One Piece after the clown stunt tumblr pulled, but with the live-action series out and the anime popping off on social media, there's more eyes on this goofy pirate story than ever, and I've been dying to talk about it, so now's the time.

A lot of the conversation around One Piece is steeped in hyperbole, and it's hard not to be hyperbolic when you're talking about a work of almost unprecedented length and popularity. With that in mind, I wanna try to explain what makes One Piece so good in a way that is concise, spoiler-free, and that will give you an idea if this might actually be a story you'll enjoy.

And I do actually think a lot of people who would enjoy One Piece are currently writing it off, and I think a lot of the blame lies on assumptions people have about shonen as a genre. One Piece is no doubt a shonen, with young and teen boys as the primary demographic, but it is also first and foremost an adventure story about a group of quirky outcasts setting out to follow their dreams, despite (or often in spite of) the crushing weight of reality.

But you can't have an adventure story without a world to set that adventure in, and what a world Eiichiro Oda has crafted. One Piece manages to feel like it has fully realized an entire planet, with every island we travel to having a very distinct sense of culture and visual identity. A lot of care has gone into building the history and politics of these places, and the mechanics by which their more out-there elements, like the sky-high ocean geyser or the mountain with an upside-down waterfall, function. As such, it is a setting that afford its story a lot of variety, while also being able to tackle a lot of very heady topics like authoritarianism, racism, and abuse in intelligent, nuanced ways.

But just as important as all of islands we visit are the wonderful characters we meet. A lot of people aren't into One Piece's exaggerated cartoon aesthetic, and I respect that, but it does lend itself to a lot of very unique faces and body types that make its cast of 1000+ characters a joy to behold. This is admittedly less true of the more conventionally attractive women, many of whom look very similar, but this is does not extend to their writing. Oda is very good at imbuing his characters with life, pulling on their histories to give them personalities and quirks that are often as funny as they are sad. Everyone I know that reads One Piece has a side character that they stan hardcore for, be it the lovable klutz Donquixote Rocinante or the petulant ghost girl Perona.

And all of this is especially true for our protagonists, the Straw Hat Pirates, each one of which is a deep, multifaceted character whose drive and dreams can be traced back to their often heartbreaking origins. I know I mentioned it at the top already, but at its core, One Piece is ultimately a story about a group of hurt, lonely individuals who find in each other not just friends, but a family that will support and protect them as together they chase their dreams in the face of a world whose systems have been built to squash them underfoot.

All of this is brought together by Oda's exceptional artistic skill. While as mentioned earlier, One Piece's cartoony artstyle isn't for everyone, it's by no means an accident. One Piece is a story set in a cartoon world, and Oda is able to give even his most ridiculous characters and places a tangible sense of physicality, making everything feel real within the confines of the page. While Oda has a team of assistants to help him, he still does the brunt of the art himself, and his dedication to his craft means the comic is full of panels that are breathtaking in their complexity and visual density.

But it's not just his technical skill that makes the art of One Piece so good, it's that Oda is also very good at letting his art speak for him. Compared to a lot of other big shonen manga, One Piece doesn't lean as heavily on the dialogue to give the readers all the necessary information, but can convey a lot of what is happening and how characters are thinking and feeling through its artwork. There's some sections where this doesn't hold as true (and they are frequently less well-liked as a result) but it makes One Piece a far lighter read than its soon to be 1100 chapter-count would make you believe.

But the thing I think makes One Piece the most exceptional of all, and what makes me recommend it despite its length, is that as a story, One Piece has a remarkable clarity of vision. One Piece has a stance and a worldview that it does not waver on, and it is present from the very beginning. It's is romantic story, about the power of faith and dreams, about people's right to be free and be who they want to be, and about how the beauty and wonder of the world makes its worth its danger and uncertainty.

One Piece knows what it wants to be from the very beginning, and because of that you don't have to wait for it to get good. A problem that a lot of longform media struggles with is that the opening hours are a slog to get through, because it doesn't show you its hand early enough for you to know if it's something you'll like, and that is not a problem One Piece has. It is exactly what it is going to be from the beginning, only in a simpler, cruder form that it is going to expand upon to become the sprawling pirate fantasy epic it has grown to be. This clarity of vision also makes One Piece very rewarding for attentive readers, as it frequently hints at future places and characters, and plants story seeds that it pays off hundreds of chapters later. It does a lot to make the world feel big and interconnected, and makes One Piece very fun to re-read as you pick up on things you missed the first time around.

It is frequently recommended that new readers start with the initial 100 chapters, the East Blue saga (which is what the live action series adapts, for the record), to see if One Piece is right for them, and that's the note I am going to end this post on, as well. East Blue uses its 100 chapters to tell a fairly self-contained story that introduces the first half of the core cast, setting the stakes and building its world while giving you plenty of interesting places, bizarre creatures, and wacky action all the while. It is One Piece showing you its hand, with the promise that if you like what you see, it'll have so, so much more in store for you

#one piece #one piece manga #one piece live action #opla #not splatoon

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cosmerelists · 2 months

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Ranking Various Cosmere Fantasy Swears

If there's one thing Brandon Sanderson likes, it's avoiding any real swear words in favor of Fantasy Swears. I am genuinely a huge fan of this technique. So here how I'd rank some of the ones I can remember! (And thanks to 17th Shard [here and here] and to Reddit for compiling some lists!).

#14: Colors (Warbreaker)

This one feels a little bit...lazy, I guess? Like yes, Warbreaker's magic is color-dependent, so colors are a big part of the world-building, so I guess it makes sense that people use it as a swear. But it feels like if, in fantasy USA, people swore by "eagles" all the time: "Eagles! I dropped my hamburger!"

#13: Moons (Tress of the Emerald Sea)

I mean same problem as with "colors"! Yes, the moons are a big aspect of the worldbuilding, but it just feels like a semi-boring swear. Although maybe that's just the swear that Tress tends to use.

#12: Shadows/Shades (Shadows for Silence/Sunlit Man)

Okay, maybe this one is a bit boring, but anything Threndy-related gets extra credit from me. So therefore I think this is one of the least boring of the "basically boring descriptors of world building elements" swears.

#11: By the Lord Ruler (Mistborn)

I mean...eh. This one is world specific, but it's basically like swearing by god only in this case the god is the Lord Ruler, right? It makes sense 'n' all but isn't as interesting as some of the later ones.

#10: By the Survivor's Scars (Mistborn)

This one is better because it's more specific--Kelsier's scars are rich with meaning, and swearing by them does feel like it carries cultural weight.

#9: By Harmony's Armbands (Mistborn)

Putting them all in a line like this...I just like how they get ever more specific. Now we're swearing by Harmony's feruchemical armlets? Okay!

#8: God Beyond (Shadows for Silence)

I mean, Threnody is, like, haunted by a god's corpse, so I think any of their god-related swears are more interesting as a result.

#7: Nights / Nights afire (Emperor's Soul)

I like this one because I just don't know what it refers to and it seems kinda creepy. What are nights on fire for??

#6: Rust and Ruin (Mistborn)

Frankly, the alliteration gets this one extra points. And "Rust and Ruin!" just feels like a good thing to shout when you've stubbed your toe.

#5: Storms/storming/Stormfather (Stormlight Archive)

I know this one SHOULD lose points for being exactly the sort of boring descriptive swear I maligned above...but I enjoy this one simply because it's such a clear linguistic stand-in for "fuck" and that leads to such amusing translations as "Kaladin Fuckblessed" or the "Fuckfather" and that just never stops being funny to me.

#4: Herald body parts (Stormlight Archive)

I didn't notice until looking at various compiled lists of Cosmere Fantasy Swears, but Rosharans really like to swear by specific Herald body parts, huh? From here: Kelek's breadth, Kelek's tongue, Ash's eyes, Ishar's soul, Nalan's hand, Pali's mind, Talat's hand...I'm a fan of this. It's interesting and feels culturally relevant.

#3: Glories Within (Stormlight Archive)

This one is just Szeth so far, but people speculate it's probably a Shin curse. That makes it interesting to me since we don't know a whole lot about the Shin. What inner glory are they using to swear?

#2: Starving (Stormlight Archive)

This one is pretty similar to "Storming," I suppose, in being a pretty clear linguistic stand-in for "fucking." But I just like that the food-obsessed Lift has her own personal swear relating to starvation.

#1: Lowly/Highly (Yumi and the Nightmare Painter)

I'm a big fan of the lowly/highly thing from Yumi & the Nightmare Painter, where words can be linguistically marked as meant in either a high way (complimentary) or a low way (insultingly). It's fun worldbuilding and leads to some comic beats in the novel. Plus, this post tickled me greatly: https://www.tumblr.com/cabinetcreature/722030379790401536?source=share. It's so true!

#cosmere #cosmerelists #Stormlight Archive #Warbreaker #Mistborn #Sunlit Man #Tress of the Emerald Sea #Yumi and the Nightmare Painter #Shadows for Silence #Emperor's Soul

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54625 · 1 month

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I'm not sure if this is the end for the QSMP, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were shut down soon after this.

The eggs have been the lifeblood of the server since they were introduced, and having some of them permanently gone from the server is devastating for so many reasons, and bodes terribly for the future of this project. My optimism has run out. I will still wait for updates but I have no hope.

However, I wanted to write a piece for the community here on Tumblr. I know we're all very emotional right now, because while we have no confirmation that the QSMP will permanently close, we now have good reason to assume there might just be no other clear path out of this.

To the community:

Do not feel like you have to stop loving the server and everything it created. Do not stop creating art. Do not stop sharing why you loved the characters and the story and the world.

To completely boycott everything QSMP, you are discrediting the incredible work that the admins put into the server purely out of passion and the kindness of their hearts. Do not waste their sacrifices. Talk about the server and everything they did for it, give them recognition, let them know we love and appreciate all the time and care they poured into this project. Thank them by caring about their work that they put so much of themselves into.

To completely boycott everything QSMP, you are ignoring the beautiful friendships it created between content creators who otherwise would never have met, and the way it ignited such a fierce determination to learn about others' cultures in them. You are forgetting how much these streamers strived to tell engaging, relatable, fun stories, by themselves or with each other, and to have their fans talk about how much they liked their newest lore. You are refusing to acknowledge the effort put in by everyone on the project to tell amazing stories through the language barrier.

And to completely boycott the QSMP, you are denying yourself the fact that you loved this server; the eggs, the streamers, the stories, the cultural events, the laughter, the sadness, the friendships, the ship ships, the builds, the mods, the languages. You are part of this server for enjoying it's wonderful vitality and beauty and hilarity. As a community, we all are.

I have had my gripes with the QSMP fanbase, as anyone has gripes with the dysfunctional mad household they live in, but at the end of the day, I love it so much. This has been my first time actually being part of a fandom; interacting with people and sharing my art and my ideas, getting into silly debates and arguments, running my mouth off more than I should. I love this bizarre toxic fandom for all of it's worth; I love the fanfic writers (even if I think their characterisation is terrible), I love the fanartists (even if they give Pac those yellow scleras that always make me think of jaundice), I love the live bloggers (even if they clog up the main tag), I love the people who write analysis, the people who make animations and animatics, the people who webweave, and all the other things people in this fandom do to interact with the media we all collectively love and bond over.

We do not need to let this be the end of our community, as we can still share our admiration for the hard work put into this project, lift each other up, express praise where it is warranted.

And we can talk to each other, we can vent about how this has negatively effected us (provided we tag it appropriately 👁️👁️) and respond in kind to those seeking someone to speak to who relates.

The QSMP taught us the value of communication. While behind the scenes, it itself did not abide by it's own rules, we can. The QSMP itself is not the figurehead of communication; the content creators and the fans it sent this message to are. We can be an example of what the QSMP should have stood for.

I do not love the deeply flawed execution of the QSMP, but with my whole heart I love the idea; the ambition, the goal. It was noble. It, to some extent, worked.

It united communities.

Let it unite ours.

#discource #qsmp

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slytherinshua · 4 months

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SEVENTEEN ATLA HEADCANONS

genre. headcanons. avatar the last airbender au. warnings. none. featuring. ot13 seventeen. wc. 1.6k. (around 100 words each) request. no. a/n. obviously i've been on a svt atla kick since burnt promises, second chances. i'd be open to writing fics for any of these small headcanons if anyone is particularly interested :)

SEUNGCHEOL

Ugh, Cheol is really hard. I kinda see him as any nation and also none at the same time. For the lack of other Water Tribe on the list, I’ll give him Water Tribe, but I don’t even think he’s a bender. He’d be a passionate hunter of the Southern Water Tribe, and a very good one, but not a bender. He’d always be eager to help out and fit his role as a true leader. He’s looked up to because he protects his people without fail. He’s good at strategics and known for his bravery. I see him fitting a role like Sokka’s father, but I don’t see him as anything glamorous like Water Tribe Royalty. He’s down to Earth and humble and honest. He leads and the people follow.

JEONGHAN

Jeonghan is an airbender. He’s witty and intelligent, and a great asset to his nation. He’d be in an Air temple close to the Earth Kingdom, and he often helps out with strategics if they ever need it. Definitely a kind and angel baby, but if there’s anyone who needs dealing with, he will personally take the task up. He’s world renowned and has allies and friends in every single nation. When he’s not busy, he’ll spend his time travelling around and immersing himself in the different cultures of the nations. He’s beaten Water Tribe hunters at their own hunt, evaded earthbender attacks in the ring because of how light he is on his feet. And his agility and wit proves to be useful whenever he goes head to head with a firebender. He can often predict their next moves and avoid attacks before they’re even fired at him.

JOSHUA

Joshua is Water Tribe!! Definitely a Water Tribe prince, or even a poor boy from the Northern Water Tribe whose parents couldn’t afford water bending lessons for him, so he would sneak around and watch lessons without getting caught. He’s mostly self taught, so he’s not exactly the best, but he can still hold his own. If he’s a Water Tribe prince, then he probably got bored with water bending very quickly as a child and started figuring out ways to skip his lessons lol. He knows clever ways to bribe or fool his masters into letting him slack off, but he also has to build enough skill to show at least a little improvement. He’s probably more interested in carving proposal necklaces to give to his future girlfriend than improving his bending skills.

JUNHUI

Jun is Fire Nation, and he’s extremely talented at Fire Bending. He probably runs a tea shop with his family and takes lessons on the side; just a regular middle class kid. He’s not aiming for a military position or anything high up, but he uses his skills to help him in daily life. He might have friends from places higher up in the city, and because of that, he got to take a visit to Royal Fire Academy for Girls. Definitely turns some heads— practically the whole school is crushing on him by the end of the 2 hour visit, and he enjoys the attention that he wouldn’t usually get at home. It’s safe to say that he’s invited back given the significant improvement in attendance and performance after his initial visit.

SOONYOUNG

Another airbender, only because he’s so agile. Like the spider choreo really makes me see him as someone who just likes to swing around upside down for fun. He’ll play pranks on the older monks, or just anyone he can get his hands on. He’s a lot like Aang in that way. He definitely creates his own airbending moves, because he is a choreographer!!! Somehow takes a trip to the Earth Kingdom because it was his life goal to see a tigerdillo in real life. Once he meets one, he somehow adopts it, and settles down in the Earth Kingdom from there on! He’s perfectly happy, and can he even pose as an earthbender if he’s smart about it.

WONWOO

Anyone could probably guess that I see Wonwoo as Fire Nation. I wrote an entire 14.5k fic about it which is expecting a part 2, but I just think he fits it so much? Especially in a role like the Fire Lord or some notable higher up who is skilled at firebending and definitely owns a dragon (if we’re talking a time period before/during the dragon hunts). He’d be the type to just be a natural at it and reach a high mastery at an early age. He’s such a skilled fighter, and definitely knows how to control his flame. He prefers to study directly from dragons instead of old masters, whose teachings feel regurgitated and watered down, which sounds pretentious, but it’s one of the reasons why he got so good.

JIHOON

I see Jihoon as an Earth bender. He’s short and stout but HE'S SO BUFF. He definitely has the density in him to move some rocks, he’s practically built like The Boulder but without the height????? I definitely see him as part of the royal guard, but definitely not an Earth King. He might teach Earth Bending or get posted out on the coast near the Fire Nation or something— but he definitely has a military position. Somewhere where he can use his earthbending to its full potential. Not the most talkative, but definitely the most efficient, so he climbs the ranks like nobody's business and everyone knows to respect every word that comes out of his mouth. If you say even a word about his height, he’ll throw a rock at your head before you can finish the sentence.

SEOKMIN

It was hard to pick between Water Tribe and Fire Nation for Seokmin, but I think he’s ultimately Fire Nation. I see him as an actor for plays, and he definitely uses his firebending to win over the audience. It got to the point that even though he’s from a small town in the Fire Nation, he became a household name and got increasingly popular until he eventually found himself acting in front of the Fire Lord. Once he got rich enough from it, he got a spot in the most infamous acting troupe in the Fire Nation. His favourite role to play is, of course, the Dragon Emperor in Love Amongst the Dragons.

MINGYU

Just a bulky earthbender I don’t know what to say. He probably got recruited to some military position because he’s fit and can hold his own in a fight, but boy’s just really a sweetheart. He doesn’t enjoy smashing people with rocks, so he tries to get out of the military as soon as possible. He instead works as a carpenter of sorts? Builds elaborate structures with his earthbending, and has a surprisingly artistic touch to his creations. Popular with the older ladies because he is a gentleman.

MINGHAO

I see him as an airbender, but I cannot imagine him with a bald head LIKE HELP. But let's say he is, and for aesthetic purposes, keep the long haired Minghao. He practically floats and flies through the air with his airbendings. He’s probably more of a lemur guy than a sky bison guy. I can imagine him having 1 or 2 lemurs who he spends most of his time with. Obviously very light on his feet and into meditation. He’s one of those star students in the class that the teacher picks as an example for the other students to watch and learn from.

SEUNGKWAN

A waterbender, and he’s good because he focused and studied the traditions of it. He knows the importance of the basics, and when he’s teaching, he can get mad pretty quick if he catches a novice waterbender doing a technique lazily. He teaches them the hard way, making the floor an ice rink or slapping in the face with a water tentacle if they make a silly mistake. But he’s a respected master. (Not to say that he’s old, but he holds the respect of an old master). Also a great healer for the Water Tribe. He thinks it’s important for the men to not just learn how to fight with spears and slices of water, but also to heal the tribe, and he offers his lessons to the women of the tribe as well.

VERNON

Another Fire Nation boy. He’s so skilled he can redirect lightning and all that jazz. He’s a worldwide guy too, so he’s definitely familiar with the other nations and their bending to a certain extent. (Like Iroh, studying the Water Tribe helped him with creating new techniques within firebending). He has a dragon because he’s hot like that, and would hold master firebending classes lol. Definitely has connections to the Royal Family and I could even see him serving as a personal guard or something of that sort. His skills aren’t to be wasted, so he can snag a high paying position practically anywhere he wants.

CHAN

Earth Kingdom kid from a poor family™, I mean it’s just so clear in my mind. I imagine his mom runs a corner store, and he likes to use his very limited earth bending skills to make the shop look prettier. If the wooden tables break down over time, he’ll earth bend a makeshift counter to display the trinkets for sale. He’s quite charming even though he doesn’t have much to say about himself. In the lower class of the Earth Kingdom, practically everyone knows him because he likes to go around and make new friends when he’s bored. He’ll help out the elderly if they need it, and flash a toothy grin to anyone he comes across.

↳ svt taglist: @kangtaehyunzzz,, @eternalgyu,, @ddeonudepressions,, @hannahsophie0103,, @minholing,, @shuabby1994,, @icyminghao,, @98-0603,, @weird-bookworm,, @candewlsy,, @wonwooz1,, @cyberpunksunwoo,, @haecien,, @amara-mars

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elbiotipo · 2 months

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If you're from Argentina, you've probably heard about the Iberá wetlands, and you know the tourist pitch: a vast expanse of natural wonders in the middle of Corrientes, full of beautiful lapachos, cute carpinchos and yacarés, and now home to the fastest-growing wild yaguareté population, all with the unique Guaraní influenced culture of rural Corrientes.

Now, things aren't as shiny as they look, since the creation and management of the new national park is still a point of contention in many ways, but you will be suprised that this kind of thinking about the Iberá is very, very recent. Most people considered it an obstacle to progress, a big bunch of swamp in the middle of what could be a very productive ranching province. In a geography book from the 1910s (unfortunately I lost the screencap) it says something like "the biggest obstacle for the development of the province is this swamp, and it should be drained"

This took me to the other side of the world, to the Netherlands. They're known for land reclamation, from literally building their country from the sea. Especially when we're facing rising sea levels because of climate change, the Dutch seem like miracle workers, a look into our future. You will find no shortage of praise about how with some windmills and dams, the Dutch took land "from the sea", and turned it into quaint little polders, making a tiny country in Europe a food exporter and don't they look so nice? But when you look about it, you can barely find anything about what came before those polders. You have to dig and dig to find any mentions of not "sea", but of complex tidal marshes and wetlands, things I've learned are ecologically diverse and protected in many places, but you won't find people talking about that at all when talking about the Netherlands. It's all just polders now. What came before was useless swamp, or a sea to be triumphantly conquered. It's like they were erased from history

The use of that language reminded me of the failed vision of draining Iberá... and the triumphing vision in the Netherlands, and many other places. Maybe those wonderful places, those unique wetlands, would have been a footnote, you wouldn't find anything unless you were a bored ecologist who looked, and not even then. Now, far it be from me to accuse the medieval Dutch, who wanted to have more space to farm, of ecocide. And don't think this is going to be a rant against European ecological imperialism either, as the most anthropized places you can find are actually in China and India. But it does get me thinking.

I work with the concept of landscape, and landscape managing. (Not landscaping, those guys get better paid than me) The concept of landscape is somewhat similar to the concept of ecosystem you know from basic biology, but besides biotic and abiotic factors, you also have to involve cultural factors, that is, humans. There is not a single area of "pristine" untouched nature in the world, that is a myth. Humans have managed these landscapes for as long as they have lived in them. The Amazon, what many people think about when they think about "unspoilt" nature, has a high proportion of domesticated plants growing on it, which were and are still used by the people who live on it, and there once were great civilizations thriving on it. Forests and gardens leave their mark, so much that we can use them to find abandoned settlements. From hunter-gatherers tending and preserving the species vital to their survival in the tundra to engineers in Hong-Kong creating new islands for airports, every human culture has managed their natural resources, creating a landscape.

And this means these landscapes we enjoy are not natural creations. They are affected by natural enviroments; biomes do exist, species have a natural distribution. But they are created and managed by humans. Humans who decide what is valuable to them and what is not. The Dutch, seemingly, found the tidal marshes useless, and they created a new landscape, which changed the history of their nation forever. We here in modern Argentina changed our perception of Iberá, decided to take another approach, and now we made it a cherished part of our heritage, which will also speak about us in the future.

Ultimately, what is a useless swamp to be drained or a beautiful expanse of nature to be cherished depends in our culture, in us humans. We are the ones who manage and change ecosystems based in our economics, our culture, our society. This will become increasingly important, as climate change and ecological degradation becomes harsher and undeniable. We will have to decide what nature is worth to us. Think about what is it worth to you.

#I REALLY had to restrain myself not to make a football joke about the netherlands #cosas mias #ecology #biology #culture #cultural landscapes

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mizukitoyama-blr · 1 month

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Oikawa x Reader: School Festival [a haikyuu one-shot]

Ok y'all, so my friends and I had an all-nighter where we write one-shots. The twist is, we each wrote down on different sticky notes a character, a plotline, and I think the third is a location. We did this a year ago and I forgot all about this, but I recently found it so I'm posting it here lol

I hope you enjoy.

1145 words

Story under the cut.

Being a foreign exchange student, experiencing life in Japan was a bit of a culture shock: different introductions, different eating customs, different school traditions. One school tradition you noted was that Japan had school festival days. For the past week, your class had been working on an idea and building the vision. Today was the final day where the booths would actually be open to people and you were kind of nervous. Why? Who knows. Maybe it was more excitement than nervousness.

Your class finished assembling the booth reasonably quickly, so you figured you’d find your friend Oikawa to see if his booth needed any help. It wasn’t long before you found his booth and he was waving you down. Oikawa was one of the first people to introduce himself to you. Of course, you now realize he was just trying to scope out the new girl considering his… following, but it ended up being a good friendship; mainly consisting of you helping Iwaizumi call him names and him being a weird flirt even though he’s pretty much a dork.

“Hi, Y/n! Couldn’t stay away for long, eh?” he asked, waving.

“No, actually I’m looking for your pretty friend. Hey, Iwa!” you responded jokingly, to which Oikawa feigned a sad pout. “How’s the booth coming along?”

“We're almost done. Just need to put up the last few banners,” Iwaizumi said.

“You may want to be careful, Y/n. As soon as we open, girls will swarm the area. You might get trampled and die,”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” you said, rolling your eyes. “What are you guys doing anyway?”

“Kissing booth,” Iwaizumi said boredly as the title banner was hung up. You turned your head to Oikawa,

“What?”

“It’s the perfect concept! There's no girl in the world that wouldn’t want to kiss me! Just think of the revenue,”

“I wouldn’t count on it if it’s gonna be you, Oikawa. How is this even allowed in a school setting?”

“It’s just on the cheek. He does have a big following of girls at this school. It’s not like we can use his brain to help our booth,”

“I guess that makes sense,”

“How mean! Everyone undermines my intelligence,”

“Oh yeah, how did your game go Saturday?”

“It was fine. We won, of course, but it just felt too easy. I need a challenge in my life. You should come to my next game! You can wear one of my jerseys,”

“Hmm, tempting, but I’ll pass. Volleyball isn’t really my thing. Well, if you’re pretty much done, I’m gonna head around to look at the other booths. See ya around!”

“Bye, Y/n~!”

Everything looked amazing and you were having a good amount of fun before someone grabbed your shoulders from behind, making you jump. “Ya ho~!”

“Gah! Oikawa you scared me! Why would you do that?” you exclaimed and punched him in the arm.

“Ow! I can take the abuse from Iwa, but from you, it’s just too much,”

“Sorry. I saw opportunity and couldn’t resist,”

“The abuse I endure for you. Do you wanna go do something together?”

“What about your booth?”

“I’m all kissed out and on break. Girls wear a lot of lip product,” he said while rubbing some gloss and balm off his cheek. “But anyways, let’s go get some food or something. I’m so hungry,”

“I saw a teriyaki booth somewhere. Wanna get some of that? You’re paying,”

“Don’t I always?” The two of you walked the booths, trying different foods and desserts. The games were pretty fun too! It was nice playing games that weren’t rigged. You were clowning on Oikawa a bit at how much he sucked at some of the games compared to you, though you're sure he’d thrown some of your matches together. As your escapade continued, you noticed some girls you passed had their hands pressed to their cheeks while pointing and gazing at Oikawa, undoubtedly gushing over how they kissed each other on the cheek.

“I don’t understand how you can manage all the female attention. I’d get too tired of having to interact that much,”

“It does get bothersome sometimes. I used to love it, but now I think I’d prefer to have only one girl's attention, you know?”

“Ah, the development of a teenage male. From boyhood to maturity. All ready to settle down,” suddenly you gasped dramatically, almost making Oikawa drop the snacks he had bought. “A Ferris wheel! How did they get a Ferris wheel here!?”

“Y/n, I don’t think I’d trust that. It looks a little old,”

“Old shmold! Let’s go on!” Without a moment to protest you were dragging Oikawa by the hand to the big ride. “Woah! I can see the field yard from here!”

“Y/n! Please don’t lean out the side like that. You’re gonna fall!”

“Oh, you mean like this?” you asked and leaned out,”

“Y/n!” he said, reaching for you.

“What? Are you scared” you asked, and started rocking the box. He grabbed you and forced you to sit still beside him, like a mother to her rambunctious child.

“You’ve lost your fun privileges. Sit still until the ride is over,” you couldn’t help but laugh at him. You wondered if rides were a fear of his or if it was just Ferris wheels. Either way, it was fun to be out like this. You guys only ever really interacted at school during classes or studying. “Hey, Y/n. I think you should rethink going to my next game. I think I’d play better if you were there,”

“Why would you need to play better? You already win don’t you?” by this time the wheel had stopped and it was time to get off. You left the ride with a ‘thank you’ to the person running it and continued on.

“It’s less about the winning and more about… Y/n, would you just listen for a sec?” he grabbed your hand and pulled you back nearer to him. You blinked twice, looking down at where his hand didn’t leave yours.

“Kawa?” he started running his thumb over your knuckles nervously, his eyebrows knitting together in conflict.

“I want to see you at my games. I don’t care if I win, I just want to see you wearing my jersey number at my games,”

“What do you…” this wasn’t… was it?

“Earlier, I was wondering if you were gonna show up to the kissing booth at some point today. But now I’m realizing I’m glad you didn’t.”

“Wh-why?”

“Because now it feels more genuine,” he looked up at you, into your eyes, it felt invasive, uncomfortable, but not altogether unwelcomed. “Y/n. Can I kiss you?”

“I…” but the decision was clear to you then. “Yes.”

Sure enough, you were at his next game, the number one displayed proudly on your back.

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bl4cktourmaline · 3 months

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🍡 . 鳥居 — your secret admirer ft k.kazuha & xiao

✿ — ♬ ⌨️ᶻᶻᶻ : yue is typing... ✉!

✿ — ↻ SYNOPSIS : Love is like the breeze itself, you can't see it but the heart know it and its gentle whisper tell a different tale...

✿ — ♯ GENRE : fluff, gn reader

✿ — ↠ NOTE : pyon-yahoo, zee! I know we never really get to talk at all before this but I'm happy to be your secret admirer for this event so I really hope that I live up to your expectations for your favorite characters!

✿ — ♪ REMINDER : reblogs & likes are appreciated, in doing so will motivate us to continue delivering stories to you, thank you for all of your supports ~ !

✿ — ♭ ⁿᵒʷ ᶜᵃˡˡⁱⁿᵍ... : @mccnstruck

✿ — ► ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ : the art of you featuring kaedehara kazuha and xiao...

🍡 . 鳥居 — kaedehara kazuha

∞ You were an artist originally from sumeru who travel to different nations, looking for some inspirations to complete your travel illustrations journal in hope of sharing your experience with those who can't afford travelling fees.

∞ You weren't really interested in becoming a scholar but instead your passion lies in the world of arts so the moment you were able to become independent, you immediately went off to Liyue which was just so happened to be next to where Sumeru is.

∞ Ever since you were a child, you heard stories of other nations and their cultures so you were really interested in learning more about them and recording it all in your journal.

∞ But when you decide to set foot in an unknown territory, you honestly didn't expect to find love for the first time ...

The bustling city of Liyue was filled with vibrant colours and historical buildings as the laughter and chattering of its residents crowded the streets.

You could see all the buildings and the small stalls are decorated with paper lanterns, and their designs vary from dragons, maple leaves and many more. Your eyes caught the sight of various beautiful flowers decorated some of the residents' hair.

I have never seen those flowers before...I wonder if they are this nation's flowers?

You hummed softly, taking notes of recording it later in your journal once you get to your room but for now, that sweet, sweet tempting aroma of the foods from the stalls is leading you astray...

"(name), no...you have a job to do, you are not here to sightsee-" You paused mid sentence when one of the stall owners brought out the foods, deliciously fresh and hot. It looks so appetizing.

Okay, maybe one bite won't hurt...

"Mmm~ it's so good!!"

Your cheeks flushed in delight, taking another bite of the grilled tiger fish under the big tree as you quietly watched children and adults walking around the streets, enjoying the festival as much as possible.

After having a chat with the store owner about the cultures and their history, he was nice enough to give you some of his grilled tiger fish for free, probably because of the warm and lively atmosphere.

Whatever the reason is...but free food!

As you were enjoying the moment, you suddenly felt the gentle breeze on your face. There was a very light, almost quiet rustling of leaves but soon, the breeze suddenly picked up and you could hear a strong whistling sound of the wind.

"Ah, not my hat?!" You cried, eyes widened in surprise as you immediately stood up and set off to catch it. The (colour) hat flew gently with the wind as its dance to the song of the wind.

But to you, it's just seems like it was mocking you-

"Please, please, please don't go over the bridge...!"

Just as you fear. It went over the bridge and your face almost dropped.

...if it wasn't for a young man swiftly catching it and for a moment, time seems to hold still as the young man floats in mid air slowly landing on the ground as if he was dancing with the wind itself.

It was breathtaking.

"I think I just witnessed something magical..." You pinched your cheeks and soon enough, it stings like heck!

IT'S NOT A DREAM?

The young man turned to you with a kind smile, handing out your hat "I believe this one is yours?"

Oh god. His voice.

"A-Ah, yes! Thank you for getting it for me" You couldn't help but cringe at yourself when your voice just cracked, suddenly feeling embarrassed.

"Excuse me for a moment please" The young man suddenly came closer to you and reached out to your head.

You flinched when the feels of his fingertips gently brushed against your hair before pulling something out and presenting it to you.

"There was a maple leaf stuck in your hair" He let out a chuckle when your eyes widened and stared at him in shock.

"I-uh wha...?"

Oh gosh, is that why some of the passers-by were giggling at?!

"You seem surprised so it wasn't for decoration?"

"Y-Yeah... actually it's my first time here so I'm not very familiar with its culture yet..."

You shyly avoid making eye contact with him, heart thumping loudly and body temperature slowly raising. You could have sworn that the kind stranger would hear it.

"Would you like to take a stroll with me?" He asked in a kind tone, his gaze softened as some of his locks brushed against his face due to the wind picking itself up again "I could tell you anything of what I know about Liyue Harbor if you would like?"

"Are you sure? I would love to!" You happily accepted his offer, totally not just because you want to get to know him more... it's for your work definitely!

"Ah, I forgot to introduce myself..." You cut yourself off before awkwardly scratching your cheek "I am (last name) (name)...it's nice to meet you"

"I am Kaedehara Kazuha, I'm very pleased to make your acquaintance"

...and that was the start of your journey with the young samurai.

🍡 . 鳥居 — xiao

㊊ Ever since you were a child, you heard many stories of other nations from your parents' experience as adventurers before settling down in Sumeru and it's because of them, you've become more curious of the world outside of your homeland.

㊊ Especially the tales of the Rex Lapis and the Adeptus who fought alongside him during the war, you were most curious about the remaining sole survivor of the yakshas.

㊊ You were raised in a loving household so you couldn't imagine how that person felt after losing their family so tragically like that... you want to learn more about their history and how their efforts become one of the many reasons why Liyue Harbor is still standing to this day.

㊊ So once you were older enough to join the adventure guild, you immediately set off to Liyue Harbor for a mission to collect specific herbs that you can only find in the mountains of Liyue where danger lurk in the dark...

The solitary mountains loomed in the distance, the land of geo dwarfing the endless sea of greenery and yellow trees that surrounded the mountaintops.

At dusk, the mountains were silhouettes, shrouded in the dark hues of the night sky but as the sun began to rest, the stars painted the dark sky with their brilliant lights and soon, the moon rose higher as if it was guiding its little ones to shine brightly upon the world.

It was truly a sight to behold.

"This scenery might be good for a painting..." You couldn't keep the big grin off your face as you quickly make your way towards your next destination, hoping to find a safe place to camp for the night.

But something caught your eyes as you were walking up the path between the mountains, it was a small purple flower with strong vitality, its downward-blooming buds really remind you of something...

Wait.

You quickly went to grab your notebook, patting around the inside of your pocket before pulling it out and flipped it open to a list of plants for the mission.

"Hmm... it fits the description" You hummed, taking notes of the flower characteristics before quickly making a sketch of it to go along with and once you were done, you put it away for further studies later on.

You adjusted your grip on your bag before walking up to where the flower is and begins to climb the cliff. You didn't look down, carefully makes your way up the mountain and soon enough, you were close enough to grab the plant "Alright that one down-"

"Ya!"

You snapped your head towards the source of the noise only to see a bunch of Hilichurls and two of them were aiming their arrows right at where you were...

WHERE THE HECK DID THEY COME FROM?

You cursed under your breath at the disadvantageous situation you found yourself in, puzzled but you didn't get to think any further when a sharp and intense outburst, an agony of excruciating pain hits your left shoulder.

You gasped, gritting your teeths as your left hand loosen its grip out of shock and a highly unpleasant, intense physical sensation in the area where the arrow successfully pierced through the skin.

Its burns.

You were barely holding onto the cliff, your line of sight blurred as tears gathered at the corner of your eyes.

"Ika ya! Ika ya! Upano yaya ika!"

"Upa sada!!"

They were screaming at you in their own language, whatever it is...from you could tell from their noises that they were mad about something but why towards you...?

I didn't see any hilichurl camp nearby when I was making my way up here...

I could only remember encountering a few hilichurls because a few adventurers were cornered.

...Ah.

"Ika ya-!"

A violent gust of wind cut the creatures off and the sound of a spear piercing through as the screams of the hilichurls echoed throughout the earthly walls and the next moment.... it's dead silence.

You snapped your eyes open for the world, only to see a beautiful pair of strong golden eyes staring right back at you.

It was a young man with hair as dark as the night sky and teal undertones, he was clearly out of breath and was stiff as a wooden broad but he never took his eyes off you.

...there was something about him that made you feel uneasy, that look in his bewitching golden eyes...

As if he was looking at something... precious.

Why does he look so familiar though...?

"H-Have we met before?" You blurted out, completely mesmerized by this otherworldly beauty in front of you.

"..." He didn't respond, cautiously putting you down onto the ground and his lips trembling slightly, suppressing his emotions in check as he examined your face up close.

His hand cupped your face, his thumb wiping the blood off your cheek gently "...You should be more cautious of your surroundings next time"

His tone was harsh but it's like your heart knew that it wasn't intended to come out like that.

The young man had his back towards you and just as he was about to disappear along with the wind, you cried out "Wait...!"

He paused, slightly glancing over his shoulder to you but you could hardly see his face from where you were "...What is it?"

"I want to know... just who..." You looked up with pleasing eyes, struggling to breathe. You didn't understand why you were acting the way you are now but you knew that if you don't it now, you might regret it later on...

"Xiao"

You stared at him, surprised when he turned to look at you with a facial expression that raised even more questions; the looks of his eyes were soft...as if he was at peace from all of the burdens that shackled him to this world.

"As long as you're in Liyue, Call by my name and I'll be right there when you need me"

...and then he vanished to thin air, leaving you staring at the empty space…

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hihoace · 10 months

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Humans drink poison?

(here is part 3. I hope you will enjoy it.)

Helle laughed out loud watching the scene. Which reminded Ga'al that he's not alone with Fe'ek, so he let his friend live another day.

She was curious as to what does Ga'al still do to make him fall asleep but it seemed she'll have to wait to learn that.

"So yes... We all had our ways to stay calm... You'll be fine." Ga'al tried to save whatever left of his dignity after the previous scene.

"Sweet!" she smiled than she heard the metallic noice that ment it is soon time to sleep on this side of the ship. "Oh, that's the first nightcall, think we should eat dinner, right?"

"Oh, you are so right... Humans are not exclusively herbivorus, right?" Fe'ek asked. When Helle shook her head he nodded. "Perfect. That means I don't have to cook separatly!"

He started to pack out his cooking tools. He knew he could just use one of the fast food packages but no matter how long he stayed on the ship he couldn't get used to them. They tased like plastic to him. Ga'al was perfectly fine with them, but still preferred "real" food so he also agreed to get a few cooking tools and make a kitchen in their quarters. It took months till they got the green light to build it, but they both agreed, it worth the effort.

While Fe'ek made dinner, Ga'al and Helle started to have a conversation. They talked about their homes. Helle was amazed that on Ga'al home world, the cities were builed on trees. He talked about how Felleg, the biggest city there was taking up half of the planted and still it could not be seen from above.

And Helle told stories about Gaia's culture and how it is still devided into small local regions and all of them have different laws and a lot of the time, even different languages. Fe'ek was listening to them from the kitchen.

"So what do your species eat? Do you also like fish?"

"Yes I personally like it, but some of us hates the taste or the texture. Humans can eat almost everything. I even like coffee in the morning."

Ga'al stopped mid movement. "What?"

"Coffee!" Helle repeated.

"Oh I thought you said coffein... The poison."

"Coffee has coffein in it." Fe'ek peeked out from the kitchen. "I've been working with poisons before and learned that humans are somewhat immune to them. 400 milligrams of coffein daily is completly manageable for them."

"And we can drink more from time to time, but if we go above that every day it can cause some heart problems." Helle added.

"You mean to tell me, that the worst poison that is still legal is barely causing an inconvenience to you?" Ga'al was buffeled.

"That's the main reason it's still legal. Some scientists even suggest that it is beneficial to drink it every day, though it's still debated." Helle shrugged.

"And wait, I know something even better!" said Fe'ek as he came out from the kitchen. "Humans can digest alcohol."

Ga'al stared at Helle. "Is that true?"

The girl just nodded. "Though I hate the taste of it."

Up untill this point Ga'al has looked at Helle as someone who has a very similar physiology to him and is otherwise harmless. Now he was was looking at her with a bit more respect. Helle tilted her head to the side.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

He nodded.

"Dinner is ready by the way!" Fe'ek's hand landed on Ga'al's shoulder. "Could you two set the table, please?"

Ga'al nodded again.

He was silent troughout the dinner while Helle and Fe'ek exchanges a few gossips from the ship. Helle seemed to know a lot about what happened lately in sector no. 12 and 13 and Fe'ek knew all the local gossips in 25 and 26 where they worked.

After eating they cleaned up the table and the kitchen. Everything was done when they heard the nightcall again. It was time to sleep. The lights of sector no. 24 went out with the lights in theor room.

"Oh well... I think we should sleep..." Fe'ek yawned.

Helle started looking for her nightlight. She turned it up as soon as she found it.

Ga'al offered his bed to her, but she declined the offer, saying she's fine with sleeping on the couch and she doesn't want to be any more of an inconvenience.

After that everyone went to sleep. Helle fell asleep almost immidietly. Fe'ek noted that she probably had a long day. Ga'al agreed.

Before falling asleep Fe'ek taught Ga'al some things about humans he knew. He reassured him that even though humans are fine with alcohol and coffein they are not immune to botulinum for example. Ga'al fell asleep after a while so he could go to sleep too finally.

#humans are space orcs #space australians #humans are weird #spaceaustralians #humans are space australians

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im-not-samantha-im-samanta · 3 months

Text

Request by: Anonymous

Hello!

To that lovely hon who's requested Loona with male vampire reader - I've not forgotten about you nor did I reject your request!!

Unfortunately, hon, your request (that was like half finished) was one of those that ended up being accidentally deleted (as mentioned in previous request I published), and so, I had to start again and rewrite the whole thing!

I'm really sorry for the long wait, hon! But I hope that what I came up with makes up for it. Also, I recall you asking for a male reader, but saying it can be gender neutral if I don't do male readers - well, don't worry, hon, male reader is absolutely accepted here! So, enjoy your Loona and male vampire reader! <3

The take I did on this request probably isn't what you had in mind, but I hope it's still enjoyable!

🩸🖤🐺 // Loona having a vampire boyfriend //🐺🖤🩸

___________________________________________

Type: Imagines

Settings: Romantic

Genre: Fluff, lighthearted

!TRIGGER WARNING!: I'd say mentions of typical Helluva boss stuff (demons, violence, etc), mentions of blood and its consumption, occasional swear words used, I tried to portray a relationship where there are cultural differences, that's probably all!

Sidenote: Reader is written as male as per request,

Sidenote: Reader is written as being around Loona's age (which is 22 if I remember correctly).

Sidenote: I feel like some of these might be a bit occ, I'm so bad at portraying characters, I'm so sorry

Sidenote: These feel kinda long, I might've gotten a little carried away (or maybe these are the usual length, I can't tell) - take it as an apology for the long wait,

That should be all,

Enjoy, <3

____________________________________________

Originally,

vampires were said to be demonic creatures,

evil spirits,

So, we'll go with that description,

and make the concept of vampires more fit for Helluva boss,

So, let's say that vampires are like...

a cousin species to demons,

(I'd say these vampires look a bit less human and more demonic-like),

(just imagining some Vivziepop twist to them, in design and lore, y'know?),

Yeah, that sounds good, no?

And maybe it's not that unusual to see a vampire prancing around hell?

Oh!

Maybe Hell's rings are a really popular destination for tourism and vacation for the vampire kind?

Oh!

And maybe for some more and unnecessary world building,

let's say vampires live in some sort of middle ground between the human world and hell,

and maybe let's call it...

the abode of the undead?

I think that's kinda cool?

Anyways!

Back to the story!

So, as I've said,

vampires like to visit hell's rings for tourism and vacation,

However,

That wasn't your case!

You weren't in hell for tourism or vacation,

you were in hell for college!

You've decided to go to college,

but not in your world,

Why?

I dunno,

That's up for you to decide,

Maybe you liked the idea of studying in a foreign land?

Or maybe you wanted to study a field only hell offers?

Who knows?

The options are endless!

So, you're free to make up the reasoning behind that decision, hon,

Anyways!

This decision of yours leads you to Blitzø,

Why?

For story reasonings,

obviously,

Oh-

I mean-

You obviously need some sort of accommodations for your stay,

And let's say,

for story reasonings,

that college dorms just aren't for you,

Maybe you can't imagine sharing a room with someone random you've never met before?

Or,

Maybe college dorms really aren't for you?

In the sense that college dorms in hell don't really accommodate to your needs as a vampire?

Maybe they don't even accommodate to any sort of needs of any kind of foreign students?

I'd say the colleges in the respective rings alone barely accommodate to the needs of students from different rings,

(students of those demon kinds that don't come from that specific ring),

(like colleges in Lust accommodating to the succubi/incubi kind only, etc),

So yeah,

college dorms are a no for you,

but you also can't afford to rent a flat,

Maybe you don't have any income yet?

And maybe your parents can't afford to rent you a flat?

Or maybe they can but they refuse to spend money on you?

Who knows?

That's up to you!

But anyways,

whatever the reason is,

it leads you to Blitzø,

Let's say that your parents and Blitzø have a vague history,

and he's considered a family friend,

Oh!

Maybe he even babysat you when you were little?

So, you staying at Blitzø's is clearly the choice,

And Blitzø has no problem with that,

After all,

how could he mind when he's not seen his favourite little rascal in such a long time?

You two have so much catching up to do!

So yeah,

he agrees,

And you can be glad Blitzø is so fond of you,

otherwise he would've told your parents to piss off,

After all,

he would never allow for some boy to share a living space with his dear Loony!

Fortunately, he likes you,

so, you get a free pass to be around Loona,

And not only that!

Blitzø also pretty much begs you try and get along with Loona,

The girl really needs a friend,

even if she'd deny it over and over again,

And Blitzø really trusts that you're a reasonable and kind young man,

(based on the memories he shares with child you),

and that you can help Loona feel less alone in the world,

And maybe it's because you don't have any friends in hell yet,

or maybe it's because you genuinely feel bad for Loona,

but you agree to try your best to befriend and support Loona,

It's the least you can do for Blitzø,

And now Loona!

Loona doesn't know about the agreement you have with Blitzø,

And it's better that way,

because if it were the other way around,

she would've hated your guts,

she'd seriously despise you,

I mean,

she still isn't happy with the fact you'll be around,

but at least she won't be wishing for you to choke on the blood you're sucking,

So, it's good that she doesn't know?

I guess?

Well, anyways,

more about Loona!

Loona has actually never met you before,

so, she is unsure of what to expect,

which is one of the reasons why your stay displeases her,

Loona doesn't like uncertainty,

not knowing where she stands in such situations really upsets her,

and it leaves her all tense, irritated and quick to bite,

(because being left uncertain about such situations secretly stresses her),

(and makes her feel vulnerable and unsafe),

It's something related to how she grew up,

always uncertain about everything around her,

leaving her feeling powerless and suspicious of everything and everyone,

with no place or person to make her feel safe,

always fearing for her life,

And sure,

Blitzø might've mentioned you at some point before all this,

but whatever that imp might've shared about you happened a long time ago,

from the times you were still a little kid,

so, it definitely couldn't have been something useful to ease Loona's mind,

It most probably would've been something along the lines of you being Blitzø's first parental experience,

his first time being responsible for a child,

When in reality it probably wasn't even all that big of a deal,

and he's most probably spent like three hours looking after you on specific occurrences,

and him being pretty much the last resort for babysitting your parents could think of,

Yeah,

So, even with that,

Loona doesn't know what to expect of you,

And the fact that you're a vampire doesn't help one bit,

because vampires are quite different from demons,

despite being cousin species,

so, there definitely are some cultural differences to look out for,

cultural differences that can definitely result in awkward interactions,

another thing Loona really doesn't fancy,

Oh,

and not to mention the amount of stereotypes and misconceptions about vampires!

Yeah,

Loona can already feel that this is not gonna end well,

And speaking of which!

The cultural differences between you and Loona,

it really does make your first meeting memorable...

It just so happens that Blitzø isn't present when you get to his place,

(he has some thing with Stolas going on or something),

and so it is up to Loona to give you a warm welcome,

And well...

it is awkward,

Loona is really indifferent towards you,

and your warm welcome is along the lines of:

"Oh, right... you're that vampire kid or whatever,"

And then she just stepped aside to let you in while giving more attention to her phone than you,

And well...

That's when it gets awkward,

when the cultural differences really show,

Because while Loona expectantly stands aside,

you, on the other hand, stand before the doorstep,

looking pretty awkward, embarrassed, uncomfortable and nervous,

And when Loona sees you make no move to step inside,

she immediately becomes a bit more hostile,

not really understanding or liking your "odd behavior",

it made her uncomfortable,

and that feeling of uncertainty of you and what to expect she's been dealing with got twice as worse,

And so,

you're met with a:

"Uh, hello? Are you coming in or do you plan on standing there like a fucking crackpot, and stare at me, making yourself look like an absolute moron all day?"

Yeah,

it is not really pleasant,

but it gets the situation to proceed,

much to both of yours relief,

After Loona's words,

you offer an awkward and nervous smile,

and you begin to explain your situation,

that situation being,

that in vampire culture you're not allowed to enter anyone's house if they don't verbally invite you in,

And sure,

you could walk in and not care,

but this is just a cultural thing that all vampires stick to,

with little to no exceptions,

And Loona's reaction?

"Oh,"

That's all she can say,

being all dumbfounded,

since out of all the reasons she thought you could give her to your odd behavior,

this explanation was not on the list,

She was expecting some really stupid excuse,

maybe even some kind of perverse one,

or even some dumb and embarrassing pick up line,

but not this,

The reason you give her is not stupid,

it is an actual reason that explains your actions,

and while Loona doesn't understand this cultural thing,

(and maybe she even finds it a little odd),

she respects it,

she doesn't judge you,

doesn't give you shit for it,

she accepts your reasoning without unnecessary nitpicking,

and she properly invites you in,

well,

as properly as she can,

"Well- uh- come on in then, I guess,"

After that interaction,

Loona feels like you might not be the worst kind of guy,

however,

first impressions can often be wrong,

and so,

she's still keeping you at arm's length,

and she's not exactly friendly just yet,

but she's not hostile all that much either,

she's just really indifferent,

You, on the other hand though,

you know what you've agreed on with Blitzø,

and so,

you're quite actively trying to get along with Loona,

which isn't hard since you think she's a really cool girl,

and you genuinely want to get to know her,

And Loona's not exactly rejecting your friendly advances either,

but you still choose your steps carefully,

and you don't rush things,

nor are you too intense,

not wanting to overwhelm Loona,

or make her feel uncomfortable or threatened,

and cause her to pull back and build up her walls again,

So,

during this period the two of you aren't really friends just yet,

but you don't mind co-existing,

and Loona doesn't deliberately leave the room when you come in,

and she actually allows for you to be in the same room as her,

and she lends you one of her ears to listen to you if you feel like talking,

sure, she doesn't give much input,

but she's clearly warming up to you,

And your relationship develops casually,

Loona getting more comfortable with sitting closer to you when you're watching tv together,

or just individually scrolling through social media,

she also starts showing you videos she comes across and finds funny,

or when she joins you on the couch in the living room, she asks what you two watching that day,

at some point she shares her favourite songs with you,

and she also eventually adds you on social media!

It's the little things that give away that you're on the right track in winning Loona over,

And sure,

she still doesn't share much about herself yet,

and she still is only ever half listening when you two are together,

most of her attention being held by her phone,

but you're getting there!

And that fact is proven by one certain incident,

(an incident the two of you now as a couple laugh at and think fondly of),

The two of you like to call it,

The big WGD incident,

Let me explain,

WGD stands for Where Gluttony Dwells,

And what is that?

Well, it's a really popular place to get a take-out from,

one that your friend from class recommended you,

However,

that friend kind of forgot you're a vampire...

or maybe it wasn't really a friend,

and maybe they deliberately recommended you this specific place,

Well,

whatever the reason,

and whether the intentions were good or bad,

that friend nearly ended up with their head bitten off by Loona,

Why?

Well,

Where Gluttony Dwells is a place that really likes to use garlic in their stuff,

like, really,

that place is literally known for their extreme use of garlic,

So yeah,

you can probably tell that this place is not too vampire friendly...

But,

you weren't really aware of that,

trusting your friend,

or friend,

and you ended up getting a takeout from that place,

and Loona nearly had a heart attack,

It went like:

"I got us a takeout,"

"Neat, what place?"

"Where Gluttony Dwells,"

"Cool,"

"..."

"Hold the fuck up-"

Let me tell you,

Loona's reflexes were never faster,

And you still remember the way Loona nearly broke your arm,

from how harshly she grabbed your arm,

just when you were about to shove a spoonful of the least vampire friendly meal right into your mouth,

The spoon with the meal successfully ended up on the ground,

and while you were dumbfounded,

Loona was yelling at you for being a dumbass,

asking you if you want to get your ass dead,

and many more things you can't even remember from how much stuff she yelled at you,

Back then it sure was one of an experience,

but an experience that brought you two closer,

because a week later,

this whole thing became a funny story you and Loona shared with everyone you knew,

Blitzø, Millie, Moxxie, Stolas, Octavia,

they all got to witness you two having the time of your lives sharing this experience with them,

both of you laughing and bickering,

you teasing Loona for caring,

Loona playfully shooting back and telling you to eat grass,

because she:

"couldn't care less,"

and she:

"just didn't wanna deal with a dead vampire,"

cuz she:

"heard they smell,"

And then you'd both burst out laughing when you'd tell everyone the best part,

of how after Loona stopped freaking out,

you told her garlic doesn't necessarily kill vampires,

that it's more like lactose intolerance,

where vampires just get unpleasant digestive issues after garlic consumption,

and only extreme cases of garlic intolerance can be life threatening to unfortunate vampires,

It was the most warm and genuine moment you two shared back then,

And Blitzø couldn't be happier for Loona,

but that really wasn't where things ended between you and Loona,

because the WGD incident really did push the two of you to the right direction,

And pretty quick,

you and Loona were an inseparable duo,

that kind of duo where it's odd when you see the pair apart,

And, of course,

pretty soon, the inseparable friend duo became an inseparable couple,

The change happened subtly and naturally,

and you and Loona were basically dating for months before actually making it somewhat official,

And your 'making it official' was pretty much Loona sending you a Sinstagram video,

with the caption:

"Which cute animal reminds you of your boyfriend?"

Followed by Loona's message:

"The bat,"

Yeah, that's basically how you two made it official,

But to add more tea,

your following conversation after that message sure was interesting...

"The bat? Really? You know vampires can shapeshift into more than just a bat. Kinda stereotypical of you,"

"Shut up, as if you don't associate me with a wolf or a damn dog just because I'm a hellhound,"

"No, I don't,"

"Oh, really now? Then look at the video again and tell me which animal do I remind you of,"

"Alright, you'll fucking see!"

_ _ _

"Well?"

"......."

"It was the fucking wolf, wasn't it?"

"I don't feel comfortable answering that question,"

Yeah,

that's how you pretty much made it official without making it official,

but even after that,

your relationship with Loona didn't change,

You just vibe with each other,

share affections,

create happy memories together,

bond,

Yeah, you two are still casual about your relationship,

you're still the inseparable duo everyone knows,

And you two don't really make a big deal out of dating,

yes, you have lots of couple moments,

and you two are romantic with each other here and there,

but you don't really go around, shoving your relationship into other people's faces,

you keep things to yourselves for the most part,

cuz that's what you're comfortable with,

and you feel like what's between the two of you is of no one else's concern,

(I believe Loona isn't much for showing your relationship off to the public and having people stick their noses into it),

(and I also think she doesn't trust the outside world and the people in it enough to let her guard down and give an insight of her actual relationship with you),

(what if someone used you to hurt her?),

And to many people looking on it from the outside,

it would seem like you two are just close friends,

but there are subtle hints not many notice that point out just how close you two are,

For example,

a thing Loona loves to do in the name of showing you affection,

is that whenever you rest your feet up on the coffee table, she always rests her paws on top of your feet,

it's a subtle public display of affection that seems like nothing to others,

but to the two of you it's a really big affectionate gesture,

it's like you two having your own secret language!

Speaking of languages,

Loona's learned some pretty... colourful... vampire vocabulary from you,

Since you live in a completely different world with different culture and everything,

it'd only make sense for you to have some expressions and slang that most people in Hell wouldn't understand,

especially slang vampires your age use,

So,

while Loona doesn't actively learn your language,

she's heard enough stuff from you to adopt to her own vocabulary,

(especially swear words),

and it's quite hilarious and wholesome,

you two often just switch to young vampire slang,

just to confuse people,

and keep them from prying into your conversations,

especially Blitzø-

Blitzø understands some vampire vocabulary,

but only that one your parents would use,

he's lost when you start using vampire slang of your generation,

But even Loona can get lost if you use some extra hard slang,

especially the one she's not come across yet,

and this is one of the reasons why you two don't argue much,

because your speciality is switching to hardcore vampire slang when an argument is close to happening between you and Loona,

not to talk shit about her,

but to annoy her to the point where the situation just turns funny,

your arguments,

(or more like bickering),

don't last long with this tactic,

And Loona acts like she hates this,

but she's secretly grateful that you two calm down before a real fight happens,

and then you talk about stuff without it getting heated,

Also,

speaking of your generation,

you've pulled Loona into your culture by introducing her to the vampire humour,

especially the one your generation uses,

giving her context on various memes you've shown her just so that she'd get it,

whether it'd be something a bit political or historical, or some celebrity drama,

for example you showing her a joke with some iconic line young vampires quote daily,

and then explaining that it's a line from some popular vampire reality show,

even showing her the clip to fully pull her in,

And Loona does the same back,

she gets you involved in the culture and humour that's going on in Hell amongst demons your guys' age,

And that creates many inside jokes between the two of you,

especially you involving Loona in your culture has that effect,

since not many Hell's inhabitants care about vampire culture enough to get involved,

so you two quote some vampire joke, getting everyone around you confused,

while you two struggle to hold it together,

Also, another thing!

Stereotypes,

As stated at the start,

there are many misconceptions about vampires,

You've already explained several stuff people got wrong about vampires to Loona,

but not all,

you've not gotten there just yet,

and it most definitely creates some memorable moments between you two,

For example:

"Wait... You guys don't use your fangs like straws to drink blood?"

"No...? We use them to pierce the skin, and then lick or suck the blood..."

"My whole fucking life is one damn lie,"

Yeah,

Loona needed a moment accepting that one...

___________________________________________

#helluva boss loona imagines #helluva boss loona x reader #helluva boss imagines #helluva boss x reader #helluva boss x you #loona x reader #loona x male reader #helluva boss x male reader #helluva boss x vampire reader #im not samantha im samanta works #im not samantha im samanta ask #im not samantha im samanta requests #frenklinesamuelsworks

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artist-issues · 3 months

Note

I have loved reading your posts on various fiction from Christian perspective. I am wondering your opinion on when fantasy/"magic" fiction becomes too much? I used to encounter a lot of people talking about how basically -anything- fantasy was evil. I have struggled with scrupulosity OCD for many years now so I tend to think things towards a legalistic lens. I'd like to be able to enjoy fantasy again, while carefully discerning, so I'd love to hear what you think are the merits/limits of fantasy

Hi! First off, Jesus said: "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." When you're wrestling with scrupulousity, sometimes it helps to see or hear out loud the reminder that life in Christ is one that's supposed to give you peace, not constant worry about doing everything right--even if you've heard that before and you already know it, sometimes it can help to hear it over again from outside your own head. So there it is! 🤝

Next: thank you for asking me! I'm no professional. But someone did ask me this question once before. I am having a hard time finding it on my blog right now, otherwise I'd link to it, but I'll try to summarize at the end of this post!

EDIT: You asked me to talk about the merits and limits of fantasy and I got carried away explaining why fantasy fiction is not outright evil according to the Bible. I moved that to the end of the post 😅 here's what I think the merits are:

All of Reality, our world, our timeline, was invented by God. That makes Him the storyteller, us His characters, and reality His narrative. Just like any storyteller, He made up a system of rules for His world: rules like, "humans sink in water," and "humans can't be cured of sickness by touching other humans," and "the weather doesn't change just because humans tell it to." Then God, the storyteller, broke His own world-building rules. On purpose. He wrote Himself (Jesus) into the story as a human who COULD walk on water and COULD heal other humans with a touch and COULD tell the weather what to do, and it obeyed.

In fantasy stories, when a character can break the established rules of the created world, we call that "magic." We call it "magic" when the storyteller brings in a supernatural element to show that this character is special, powerful, capable, set apart from all the others.

So that's what I think the merits are. Fantasy stories have a special kind of closeness to The Storyteller Who Invented Stories, because of that very element of "make the rules then bring in rule-breaking specialness" that He uses.

That's where you get Gandalf, or even the Fairy Godmother, or of course Aslan and the Deep Magic.

The limitations to the genre, I would say, is that fantasy stories are very tempting for storytellers' egos. Because of Tolkien, there's this generation of storytellers who think that inventing a fantasy world with rules and races and magical systems and cultures and, to sum it all up, a whole universe of their own design, is the POINT.

They think the themes and the message of their story comes second to how thorough and clever they can be with their made-up magical systems, or fantasy-race-relations, or made-up languages.

Basically, in no other genre have I observed storytellers getting so excited to play god-of-their-own-clever-world than in fantasy. Then they forget that the important part of a story is the message, not the brain that's capable of inventing worlds and languages and cool-sounding names and ancestries. What they have to say basically gets lost in how flashy and cool they can be while saying it.

But that's another soap box for another time. Those are basically the merits and limitations, I think, broad-strokes.

On to the Biblical worldview for magic in stories below!

"Magic" is mentioned in the Bible. It's sorcery. Specifically, the Bible is telling Christians to stay away from "real" magic...which is basically just "trying to connect with spiritual forces to accomplish anything supernatural." We were created to have relationship with one Spirit: God. Anything outside of that is like a fish trying to breathe oxygen: it hurts us. So the Bible says, "no real magic."

But.

"Fantasy fiction magic" is not "a real live human trying to connect with real demonic forces and accomplish something supernatural." Instead, "fantasy fiction magic" is just "a real live human making up a story. Playing pretend."

The Bible has no commands, no rules, against that. Jesus told stories. His servants tell stories. We're made to tell stories.

And the Bible has no commands against telling a story that includes magic in it.

Think of it this way: God said "do not murder" right? But then in Matthew 18 Jesus tells a parable where one man tries to choke another man. There's attempted murder in the story Jesus is telling: but just because God disapproves of the act of murder, does not mean He disapproves of telling a story that features murder.

Sin being in a story isn't a bad thing. It's realistic, because sin exists. What really matters is whether or not the story treats the sin like sin, and not like an admirable thing. Because the point of all stories is to tell the truth in a compelling way. If the story treats something sinful like it's not sinful, that wouldn't be truthful. But if the story treats sin like it's definitely bad, then it's doing what God invented stories to do: tell the truth.

Now here's where you might say, "yeah, but most fantasy stories treat magic like it's a good thing."

Right. But remember: most fantasy stories don't have what the Bible calls "magic" in them at all.

When the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella says "bibbidi bobbidi boo," she's not calling upon demons to give her supernatural power (which is what the Bible is talking about when it condemns magic.) She's using a pretend superpower that the storyteller made up, on the spot, for the story. Her "magic" is not what the Bible calls "magic," so it doesn't even matter if it's portrayed as "good" or "bad" morally.

Fantasy fiction is fine. There is no reason, Biblically, for Christians not to read fantasy fiction if their only reason for it is "well there's magic in it."

There's nothing wrong with telling a story that has a supernatural element in it. It's only a story. As long as it's not real humans doing creation-worshipping or demon-contacting practices, in real life it's okay to write and it's okay to read.

Let me know if that makes sense!

#Christianity #critical thinking #magic #fantasy #Christian fantasy #asked #answered #sorcery #Christians #Tolkien

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mortalityplays · 8 months

Note

Only tangentially related to today's ask discourse but I was thinking about this- do you have advice on pushing more out of your comfort zone ie media? I feel like its really easy to say you like or want stuff thats making you uncomfortable or is less palatable to wide audiences etc etc but I have trouble going out of my way to actually experience things like that over more popcorn you know

a good way to start if you're intimidated is to look for curated recommendations close to your cultural comfort zone (I'm focusing on US/UK lists here but you can look for recommendations from museums, libraries, and national award bodies just about anywhere in the world). e.g. the BFI Sight & Sound list or the National Film Registry (for movies), Booker Prize or National Book Award winners for literature

Don't feel like you have to watch/read everything all at once, it's fine to skim for something that sounds particularly up your street and start there. It's also fine to jump right into something intimidating and find out what all the fuss is about! the absolute worst case scenario is that you're bored or underwhelmed and can pick something else next time.

a lot of my film knowledge comes from when I was at university. I discovered that there was an A/V library and viewing room on campus that I could use for free l, so I just looked through the catalogue and started picking out things I'd never seen that sounded interesting. every day between classes I'd go, pick a title, and spend a couple of hours giving it a try. I watched Blade Runner for the first time in a darkened basement booth with headphones on, and The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, and Wild Strawberries, and Persepolis, and countless other weird and wonderful things. sometimes I picked something incredibly boring or something that annoyed me, but I always came away feeling good that I'd expanded my knowledge of what was out there.

once you do start finding new things you like, a whole other path opens up to you. you can dig deeper into the work of one writer or director or actor, look up interviews and find out who inspired them. if you loved a specific book, see if the author mentioned any direct influences, or if critics compared it to something else you might enjoy. you get to start building these maps in your head and getting a sense for where different things fit, and it becomes easier and easier to hunt for hidden treasures.

finally! if you can find a group of friends (or even just one person) who is interested in taking this journey with you, start a club. take turns to pick something you want to explore, share the journey, and discuss it as you go along. keep sight of your purpose, whether that's to broaden your horizons beyond your home culture, take on more challenging works, or just be better informed. take it a step at a time, and learn to enjoy the experience of exploration even when you don't like something. figuring out why we hated Lady Chatterley's Lover is some of the most fun I've had with our book club yet. introducing friends to The Left Hand of Darkness and getting hype about it with them was just as good. love the process and you'll change your life.

#I hope this helps!!! there's no wrong way to tey new things as long as you're making a good faith effort to engage with them

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khaire-traveler · 3 months

Text

This is not an invitation for discourse. I am just stating my personal opinions.

I've been seeing some posts going around lately about myth retellings and wanted to give my opinion on something: I think the helpol community (maybe other polytheistic and pagan communities, too) is honestly too critical and intense about modern retellings (and even some historical ones as well somehow).

I know what it's like coming from that critical point of view. I used to be highly critical of certain retellings and stories that used Greek mythology. They used to deeply bother me, actually, but overtime, I realized that staying mad and fuming about these things I can't change - that will always be created - is really exhausting and even causes me to miss out on some truly interesting stories.

Also, seeing how intense some people can be about retellings has actively discouraged people in the community from writing them. How do I know this? I am one of those people, and I happen to know several others in the same predicament. Some people in the community will rip and tear and claw at retellings as if the retelling murdered everyone they loved. People talk about these retellings as if they're literally destroying the earth itself sometimes - like, seriously, y'all, it's wild.

Once, I saw someone post a short story they wrote - a retelling of a myth that I won't name, as I don't want to give the identity of this person away. This person posted this story with good intentions and was a worshipper of the figures depicted within the story, but still, they got absolutely dragged by larger Tumblr blogs and were torn into and literally chased off of Tumblr. This kind of behavior is not ok for multiple reasons, but the main point I'm trying to make is that we are actively making it harder for people within the community to write retellings. You want retellings from people who actually worship the gods? Then maybe make the community a much less judgmental place because sharing creative works takes a lot of courage as it is. Imagine building up the courage to create and share a retelling just to be ripped into by the very community you are a part of. I'm not saying you can't mention to someone when they've gotten something wrong or have written something potentially problematic, but I am saying that you shouldn't ruthlessly dissect someone's work and rip them a part if they seem to be well-meaning but misinformed (assume the best; not everyone is out to get us; easier said than done, I know). You can give criticism while still being respectful to the original author.

For many of these other authors, however, they likely don't even know that worship of these gods exists in the modern day, and even if they do know, acknowledging it may not be relevant to their story, or even their point. Sure, in a perfect world, these authors would acknowledge our little community and pay homage to actual ancient traditions/culture/etc, but we don't live in a perfect world, and that's ok. It is ok, y'all. Not every author writing a retelling is going to be a literal classics major or historian. Not every author writing a retelling is going to be educated on the actual ancient -or modern - worship of these gods. Not every author writing a retelling is going to pay homage to original source material. Do those things suck sometimes? Yes, absolutely. Do we need to lose our heads over it? No, not really. We can choose to focus on other things - on material and media that we actually enjoy and that do depict things how we'd like them to be depicted.

Now, none of this is to say that there are no problematic retellings or that speaking out on problematic retellings is wrong because hoo, boy, there are quite a lot of those. Some retellings claim to be historically accurate and are, in fact, not; some retellings are written by authors with less than ideal values and ideologies; some retellings are even based entirely on misinformation which can be frustrating to hear about. All of these things are true, but it's also true that not every retelling is out to get us. Not every retelling is trying to attack our small community and the gods we worship. As alarming and offensive as it can feel sometimes, it's important that we take a minute and realize that honestly, authors write stories, and sometimes a story is truly just meant to be a story. It's nothing personal. It feels like we, or our gods, are being attacked, but at the end of the day, we still have our own practices, and we are still allowed to engage with those practices. We are still allowed to worship our gods respectfully, even if others do not. And it is important to acknowledge here that others do not worship our gods. These authors are most likely not worshippers of the Theoi. They most likely do not have relationships with these gods as we do, and unfortunately, they may not have respect for these gods either. It would be ideal if they did, but they just might not, and there's no controlling that.

Honestly, most authors are trying their best. They're trying their best to write an interesting, authentic story that will capture the attention of their intended audience. They want to tell a story based on a mythology that inspired them so deeply, so carnally, that they felt the need to write a whole ass book or create a whole ass game about it. They see stories of tragic heroes, powerful gods, and all those caught in-between, and they think, "This is fucking epic; I'm gonna do something with this." Greek mythology is fucking cool. There's absolutely no denying that, and the fact that so many creators of all kinds continue to create retellings based on the love and passion of a mythology from over 2,000 years ago is pretty damn awesome, actually.

#helpol #hellenic polytheism #hellenic pagan

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