#that still can be explained with ley lines logic

[whalemarch]

looking for a ghost story?

[haeresys-realm]

Someone published a polling which already has very strange but not surprising results.

Yes, maybe there are still some who don't undertand what does this abbreviation stand for, so here's the definition from Urban Dictionary:

I was always shocked how many people think the second variant could be true. My, this mr Omega build said himself that he is not the one who has the control, he's only THE MOST SELFISH, so no other segment would do such (stupid) thing as deletion all other segments aka his work of dozens of years because one little Rilukkhadevata segment-girl demanded that.

(There was a time I thought that DottoreMains subreddit is a comfortable place where some people who think deeper than cliched moralfags gathering, but how much I've mistaken... There are few of such, and I highly respect them. But it looks like the most of these subs (because they are the loudest and have no shy to say any shit they want without thinking) are brainless kids who like the character only by his appearence and some sort of villanous vibes and THAT'S ALL. Almost NOTHING that such kids post or comment has any link to real canonical Doctor which shows no respect even to script writers' work.) And for sure I will always be shocked by these situation in fandom and especially how stupid they see the Doctor, and coming back to our topic, the original Doctor, so I will repeat that his death or sickness is an absolute anti-canonic shit. He was fuckin' youngster when he graduated and started to experiment on Eleazar, while he concluded with absolutely assuarance that there's an elemental correlation and he really COULD REACH THE POWER OF GOD if only he had a little more input, and we can state Pedrolino give him all he needed, thats why the achievement about reading these old notes is originally called "before «I» was born"; and in Tatarasuna he had no segments yet, because he made them after long decades of researching work on Scaramuccia (because by contrast with Ei he had no guidance and because his goal was not only to make such doll but to enhance this khaenrian technology), it was his original self, but he was ALREADY that self-assured second Harbinger who played his subjects as a rishboland cat, easily changing his voice and appearance and calling Pedrolino from such distance to deliver him a massage just by talking to the atmosphere as some gods do hah. You can say it is all the devices, oh well ok, but he press no button he just uses the energy of ley lines as gods do. So please, don't humiliate his scientifical genius by thinking such cliched way. Even if MHY would decide to explain his defeat this way, it wouldn't be an adequate canon, just some contradictive shit to ignore for not being too disappointed in such interesting plot and character. That's all I want to say and I don't want to arguing with you. If you think the other way... Ok. You can't downvote me here me hereas always, so you can just make a meme but I will stay sane and logical whatever it takes. Even if hoyo would try to crush all their Harbinger's canon where Pedrolino will no longer be the first Fatui as they described him. Being first Fatui but not having a rank as the Fatui is not being a first of the Fatui, it is only being the first to found the Fatui organisation. And these are too different things But it's another topic and you can still think other way, but I am absolutely assured in all my investigations and conclusions and hope hoyo will not be that stupid and contradictive as most of their fanbase. Sorry not sorry for sharpness guys but I'm really tired of this and wait for the worst yet still hoping for the best.

[tkc-info]

After the Ten Days

Day 9 - wedding

@wagner-fell @chibi-tsukiko @littleturtle95

January 2001

“It’s been ten days,” Leora complained “Haven’t they taken their prank too far?”

Beside her, Linette sighed like she was tired of the world itself. Coming from someone who’d built herself to let out as little emotion as possible, that was quite something. “Way too far.”

“Our wedding wasn’t like this,” Leora turned to her wife “We did everything like we should, and didn’t come out of the xariya a minute after stipulated time.”

Dahlia and Matthias, however, had locked themselves in the rococo-palace-like temple Leora and Linette stood before now. And, sure, Leora had already known they wouldn’t exit the xariya at the time they’d promised —basically because Dahlia had told her so— but she’d expected to wait one, two, three days more at most to see her sister. That was what was customary among the Saz, not ten days, and counting.

“We could pay a visit to Xuegang and Lei,” Linette proposed; no matter how stressed Leora felt, the artificially-even tone her wife employed to refer to Lei Hao didn’t escape her “They surely know why they’re taking so long, and, if worse comes to worst, we can ask them for their key.”

That ‘ask’ was an euphemism for ‘steal’, Leora knew. Linette was saying she wasn’t above robbing Xuegang and Lei so that Leora could berate her twin sister for prolonging her wedding excessively. For that, Leora appreciated her wife, but still a part of her hurt at the notion that she would have to resort to stealing to get a key that should’ve been in her possession in the first place.

Ever since Leora and Dahlia had learned the workings of weddings, they’d promised to make each other the key-bearers of their respective xariyas, because they wanted to be guardian of the temple the other would get married in.

“It will symbolise our unbreakable bond,” Dahlia had liked to explain “My wedding will concern only me and my husband, because we Saz refuse to showcase as intimate a thing as an atemporal love promise, yet you will posses the key to the xariya because I want you to know that I want you in every step of my life. No matter how private.”

But then, Dahlia had gone and asked Xuegang and Lei to be her key-bearers. When Leora had confronted her about it, she’d only said that Xuegang and Lei were more fitting for the role because they were both her and Matt’s best friends, while Leora was ‘just’ her twin.

Leora hadn’t argued against that logic, she hadn’t wanted to cry in front of the person she’d once been the closest to.

“Let’s take the first portal to Mirror Shanghai,” Leora said, looking down at her 1750s blue breeches “We had these made for nothing.”

Linette set a comforting hand on the small of her back. “My love—” she stopped suddenly “There they are.”

“Dahlia?” Leora’s heart seemed to leap out of her chest, but when she looked up, the gates of the xariya were still locked.

Linette shook her head. “Look,” she pointed to two figures approaching from the left.

The xariya was unlike any temple humans had created. It stood in the middle of a deserted valley; a curving line of stone tiles and arches that began several paces away drawing a path to its main gate. The day Dahlia and Matthias were supposed to come out of the xariya, lots of people —the Carranzas, the Mochizukis, the Beardsleys, friends, all but Dahlia’s parents— dressed in mid-18th century attire had been crowding the valley, but as days had passed and passed, those numbers had dwindled until only Leora and Linette remained.

Them, and two more people: Xuegang and Lei.

“This means that the waiting’s over,” Leora heard her wife say as if from afar.

Leora ran to them.

“Are they finally going to come out?” she asked them.

Xuegang and Lei started at her voice. Both turned to look at her as if Leora were some otherworldly creature. That was the first sign that something was wrong; the other signs descended upon Leora immediately after that.

Xuegang was dressed in a dark tang suit, and Lei in a white hanfu, not the European garments Dahlia had compelled them to wear. Both looked stricken: there was an ashen undertone to Xuegang’s tanned skin, and Lei clearly hadn’t slept in at least two days. One of his arms was wrapped around her waist, drawing her closer to him, as if Lei needed the support.

A distant part of Leora —the one that was always connected to her puppeteer insignia— understood that some of Lei’s un-wellness was due to a pregnancy, and questioned why she hadn’t wanted to tell anyone about the life growing in her womb. However, Leora refused to acknowledge that part of herself. Right now, she only wanted to know why the only people who weren’t disconnected from her sister looked like that.

“Did you lose the key?” she asked them, frantic.

Please, Roxia, let that be it, she thought Let this be something as inconsequential as a key and not—

Xuegang shook his head. He dug a hand into one of his pockets and brought out an embellished gold key. “We’re going inside,” he declared, with an ominousness that made Leora cringe.

Days afterwards, she wouldn’t be able to remember what happened next clearly. She only had shots of events frozen in time, without anything that linked them together.

Grabbing Linette’s wrist. Knocking on the xariya’s main entrance with a fist and all her strength. Breaking into the xariya. Standing before an unmade bed with Xuegang and Linette as Lei sobbed on the floor. Nudging Linette to go to Lei while she tried to comfort Xuegang. Being confused and feeling so, so numb.

“Just a minute,” Leora told Xuegang, taking a step back.

He hardly paid her any attention. His eyes shone with tears that wouldn’t stop falling down his face. Leora’s were dry.

The xariya had three rooms to which you could access through an ample, oval foyer. Dahlia and Matthias hadn’t been in the first room, nor the second, nor the third —and they weren’t in the foyer. That seemed strange to Leora: the foyer’s floor was of pristine marble like the surface of a mirror; the ceiling was a gold-and-aquamarine vault; and the ostentatious drawings and renaissance columns more than made up for the lack of furniture. Dahlia would’ve loved this place. She fit in it and belonged in it, yet she wasn’t there.

Leora was alone.

Slowly, numbness gave way to nausea, and Leora couldn’t breathe without feeling sick. She noticed that sweat had soaked the back of her jacket and shirt both. Dahlia wasn’t there, Leora was alone. One twin wasn’t there, the other twin was alone.

Leora fainted.

“I now pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. Beardsley. I mean,” the registrar hastened to rectify “Mr. and Mrs. Everitt.”

Dahlia smiled at Matt, who whispered, “You may kiss the groom, Princess.”

“Oh, I will,” she hooked her arms around his neck, got on her tiptoes, and smooched their lips together. Matt’s palms spread out on her lower back, hers threaded through his red hair.

Finally, she was married to the love of her life. It made sense. Dahlia felt like every moment of her existence had led to this civil wedding in good-old London; no one present but them, the registrar, and the two witnesses she’d scouted from Hyde Park. The affair had been small and wouldn’t be succeeded by a party because they didn’t know many people.

In fact, Dahlia couldn’t remember anyone that wasn’t Matthias. A time before their wedding.

[yutaya]

Iron Fist Rewatch: 1x01: Snow Gives Way

-Someone barging into Ward's office acting like they own the place and also know Harold is alive must have sent such a jolt of fear through Ward for a second

-Ward puts himself between Danny and Joy when it seems like Danny might get physical

-Ward tells Joy not to have Danny arrested - Harold concerns?

-Danny PTSD set off by the elevator turbulence?? But he was fine going up. Just stress induced? He's shaking.

-FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO NOT BREAK INTO THAT HOUSE

-Joy's dog just disappears after this episode?

-Danny just meditates or something to get that dog to calm down. Calms his mind so as to seem not a threat / not present? Is Danny some sort of animal whisperer? I'm now positive that at some point during Danny and Ward's Adventures Across Asia, they were stranded somewhere for some reason, Ward is complaining about being stuck in some muddy backwater hick town or whatever, Danny just sort of strolls up to some large animals (attached to a cart? Wait, that would be stealing. Hm...) goes all zen state, then says to Ward "they'll take us to the next town" like that's a normal series of events and not COMPLETELY INSANE, DANNY, WHAT THE F---.

-Pictures on Joy's shelf: Harold with his arm around young Joy, all six of them on some vacation. Rands + Meachums kind of separated in this photo, though. Don't people normally stand closer together in group photos? Also, young Joy much shorter than young Danny. Note: Wendall's hands on both Heather and Danny's shoulders. Harold's hand on Joy's shoulder. Ward and Danny both have hands in pockets.

-"Dad says rules are for pussies" ;___; (Young Ward refusing to pay monopoly rent because he just doesn't want to. Starting the corrupt financial elite training off early, huh?)

-"Oh, here comes Mommy and Daddy to protect you and give you lots of hugs and kisses and tell you what a sweet little boy you are. It's disgusting. *sweeps all the game pieces off the table even though they've clearly been playing for awhile and it's not like Danny just won he was only asking for like $200*" Ward, you dramatic bitch. Also, they were literally only saying they were home, not necessarily rushing in to protect Danny from the Big Bad Ward refusing to pay $200 monopoly money. Metaphorically, I suppose this is still Ward being a sore loser, though. It's not monopoly Danny beat him at, it's having parents who love him. T_T AND THEN HE LIES ABOUT IT, PLAYING THE BELEAGUERED BABYSITTER, ASDFGHJKL - WARD. (Note: neither Danny nor Joy speak up against this blatant unfairness. Previous failure? YOU'RE SUCH A BULLY, WARD.)

-Big Al is first person to be friendly to Danny and I'm sure Danny doesn't forget it. Headcanon Danny is def actively caring towards 'lower class', including homeless and drug addicts, and actually sees + treats them as equals. Classism definitely a theme in these shows with the people who struggle financially like Colleen being the kindest and most charitable and the rich being assholes.

-But also why is he informing Danny that the internet can be used as a search engine with no prior indication in their conversation that Danny doesn't know this? I mean, Danny does not, in fact, know this, but.

-In the news article, the photo of the Rands is the same one in Joy's apartment, but the Meachums are not there. However, they are not merely cropped out: the background extends into the spot they should occupy. Did some poor news article graphic designer have to go find a photo of that tourist spot background at the exact right angle and photoshop them together to get rid of the Meachums, or was Joy's photo a photoshopped family vacation image, which could have explained the awkward distance between the two families, even though it wouldn't have been that hard in editing to set them all closer together? Maybe they all still went on the same vacation together, but instead of asking a passerby to take a photo for them, both families took photos of each other and then someone combined them at a later date? Practically speaking, that still means the angle would be likely to be off for the background, and it's also suspicious that there are zero other tourists around. These rich families rented out the entire space?? Would lend to lack of external parties to take a group pic for them. Obviously, IRL explanation is they're all photoshopped onto a static background, but fun to think of the in-universe reasons. ...Actually, most likely explanation is that they took multiple photos - Rand only, Meachum only, maybe also kids only, Wendall+Harold only, etc, as well as group. So this entire train of thought is inconsequential. Oops.

-Harold had a big event funeral, "mayor and everything"? That must have been fun for both Harold and Ward, with significantly different usages of the word 'fun'.

-Hello Joy, not only did I follow you home to accost you at your front door the morning after I attacked the security at your workplace to enter your probably restricted top floor executives offices, I also did extensive research into your childhood history down to the position you and your friend played on your childhood soccer team, oh and also I broke into your house yesterday where I interacted with your dog. Now watch while I prove my physical prowess by flipping over a taxi.

-Bird flying into city while Danny meditates?? Symbolically, follows the idea of the bird flying through the pass that was Danny's sign to leave K'un Lun and return to NYC. Spiritually - what? AU where the bird is Danny's spirit animal and he's connected to it / seeing through its eyes right now. For the HDM AU fans: bird could be Danny's separated dæmon? (Would a HDM AU Danny's dæmon be a dragon? Honestly, idk how much dragon stereotypes match Danny's personality. Would have to think about that. Would be funny if someone else had the dragon dæmon, not any of the Fist holders.)

-Danny. Danny. Colleen JUST HUNG THAT FLYER UP. Take one of the little tabbies, if you must, that's what they're for, but don't take the entire flyer down! Those cost money, you know. And it takes time to cut all those little tabbies out and then go around hanging the flyers up.

-Colleen be like "dear god, this is why you shouldn't be nice to people, they start trying to hit on you, @ random park dude, please stop talking at me and following me while I continually shift out of your line of vision"

-Danny: "Hey you speak Chinese? I speak Chinese." Colleen: "I'm Japanese you dick. :)"

-Ward: I'm gonna make sure our personal security team is guarding you against this clear and present threat, but also we're still not calling the police??

-Ward turns this from either a crazy homeless guy or a scam artist into a potential organized corporate sabotage - the kind of threat that Joy is more easily able to compartmentalize her emotions on and crush under her heel?

-Ward just gets into a moving vehicle with someone he has verbally acknowledged as an active threat to his family. Did you have ANY stranger danger safety lessons growing up, Ward?

-Danny now appears to be actively threatening Ward, while using the reasoning that Ward and everyone else have been seriously trying his patience and he's in danger of losing his temper, but he's still giving Ward one last chance to back down. Note: this is a technique commonly employed by abusers, and probably more triggering to Ward than Danny knows, even though Danny probably actually does think he's being sincere as opposed to manipulative.

-->Aaaand Ward responds by ratcheting up instead, because of course he does, IMMEDIATELY leading to the gun to head scene. oh, geez.

-Danny provides personal details - probably this is the moment Ward starts to believe it might actually be Danny somehow, against all logic and reason. He looks shaken, then immediately starts trying to gaslight Danny. asdfghjkl WARD.

-->Ward lying to Danny's face and putting himself in the position of the righteous with Danny as the person in the wrong when they both know it's a lie is very reminiscent of the monopoly scene from when they were kids and the implied constant behavior from when they were kids. But this time, Danny doesn't accept it the way he did as a kid. He stares at Ward, remembering this pattern, actively teetering on PTSD flashback mode, and fights back. Makes Ward think he might be about to kill them both - while having flashbacks that hinder his ability to stop so Danny in hindsight gets freaked out about what he almost did too. (Note: looking freaked out and claiming he didn't mean to almost kill them both just now was probably more concerning to Ward rather than less.) And then he promises he'll be back because this isn't over. gdi, Danny, no wonder Ward wants you gone asap.

-Colleen, trying to tell Danny to go away because he's being a creeper: TAKE A HINT TAKE A HINT

-Danny, casually: Oh yeah Master Lei Gun "The Thunderer" used to smack me hard in the face with the practice swords

-Colleen bringing a sword to a gun fight

-Danny grabs enemy's gun, but not to use as weapon/defense - only to disarm it and run off - which Colleen sees.

-What festival is this that's happening in Chinatown? Has anyone figured out an IF timeline? Could compare dates to real world events, see if there's any potential cross over.

-None of these bystanders so much as bother to look at the fistfights happening 2 feet away from them

-Ward sitting in his office eating his food (it has decorative greens so you know it's ~fancy~) and answers his phone smiling because he's expecting the good news that Danny-probably-an-impersonator-but-also-potentially-maybe-not-but-we're-not-thinking-about-that-Ward-get-a-hold-of-yourself is dead. Way to be a villain stereotype, Ward. I know you try real hard at it so good job uwu

-Harold intro. Ward clearly at his beck and call and just as clearly resentful of it. "I think...” *resigned* “-of course, right away." is such immediate shorthand for someone abusing the power imbalance. (Note: Ward puts off approaching Harold with the "Danny problem" until night 2, tries to handle it quietly until he has implicated himself (Danny now knows Ward tried to have him killed) and Danny is still present and now an even bigger threat)

-So many elevators. All express to specific floors/areas? This lobby is so unsettling. Elevator leads to another hall full of elevators, then stairs, then handprint access to hall with second elevator into penthouse. (Note: Ward is one of those people who press the close door button multiple times with a frustrated facial expression)

-Ward to Harold: "How do you even know about that? ...Shit. Are you behind this? Is this another one of your stupid tests?"

-Harold to Ward: "I wish you would take things like this more seriously, so I don't see my company destroyed."

-Photos on Harold's shelf: young Joy, posed photo of Meachums in formal-ish clothing, Harold's hands on both kids shoulders, indistinguishable group of people on a bridge(?) somewhere. Group photo atop a fancy box, Joy photo in front of the Meachum family photo. On Harold's desk: another photo of young Joy, this one looks like one of those posed school photos where they have the kid stand against a "tree" backdrop.

-Ward says out loud that he could ignore Harold and Harold wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Harold casually observes that Ward is now and has always been childish. Ward remarks that Harold has been telling Ward he's disappointed in him his whole life. Harold is still disappointed in Ward right now.

-Harold: this is how you make your employees loyal to you. *proceeds to display his complete dominance over Kyle, who looks nervous and threatened by the direct attention* Ward: "Jesus, Dad, what the hell is wrong with you?" (Still doesn't do anything to remove Kyle from this situation though)

-Harold lectures at Ward as if everything Ward has ever done is wrong, always, including snapping his fingers at him when he starts to speak himself, like a bad dog, and listing off things that Ward has already brought up to Joy as if Ward is an incompetent who would never consider those angles himself

-Ward makes a snide comment, Harold snaps at him, Ward smiles a little bit because he has succeeded in getting under Harold's skin for a moment

-Harold: Leave this to me. I'll tell you exactly what to do. Ward: Like always. Harold: Like always.

-Awww, Danny was rushing back to tell his new friend Al all about Ward sending people to kill him, possibly looking for advice? ;_; (Also, why is there a foreboding music significance to Al having a bird tattoo? Does this ever come back??? I don't remember this mystery going anywhere.)

-Danny is lurking in Joy's office. He doesn't say anything even slightly reassuring, like that he has an appointment, just heavily implies that he snuck in. sigh.

-"I'm not gonna hurt you," Danny laughs, after displaying a whole lot of extremely threatening behavior. Joy smiles, drugs him, and buys time until it kicks in.

[pastthevaulteddoors]

What if Wei WuXain was taken in by the Qishan Wen Sect?

What if Wei WuXain was taken in by the Qishan Wen Sect?

Just as a servant, eventually a disciple, until his genius of manipulating cultivation is understood and he's allowed nearly free range to experiment as long as his work comes back to help the Qishan Wen Sect.

One night hunt he's hopping around a region far from home, chasing a spectral tiger, when his query is strung up in a net. Wei WuXain is more amused than annoyed that someone was able to catch it and sticks around to congratulate/piss off whomever decided to take out his hunt.

It's Lan WangJi, of course.

Wei WuXain, a bit more cocky and forward than if he would have grown up at Lotus Pier, demands compensation for destroying his hunt. Lan WangJi counters that the beast was eating people so, no, he doesn't owe this Wen person anything.

Wei WuXain explains how he was following it to gain an understanding of it's movements so he could translate his shadow jumping feature into a talisman. Then they fight, because of course they do. Wei WuXain is having far more fun with a real challenge than Lan WangJi who just wants him to stfu.

It ends in a stalemate, but Wei WuXain claims he is not done and they will meet again. He goes to his head disciple and asks if he can join the classes at Cloud Recesses to gain more knowledge.

(More under the cut because I did not mean to write so much! Idea is completely inspired by this fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16504007/chapters/38655827 Please read it, it is very good. And please read the rest of my headcanon because it was fun to write!)

Lan QiRen is NOT happy but accepts the pupil in exchange for a peace talk about territory disputes. Wei WuXain is delivered by Wen Chao himself, causing a stir already, and Wei WuXain wastes no time in pissing off the Lan Elders. He's still lovable and popular with the students, and the longer he stays, he more he likes hanging out with people his own age.

Even Lan WangJi, who he doesn't hesitate in pestering right off. After the waterborne abyss event, then Lan WangJi and Wei WuXain just happen to run into each other when exploring/eradicating a monster that is an entire mountain (I have a lovely fight scene in my head that I have no energy to write about that...), there's a bit of respect of talents shared between them.

And maybe friendship, as they're seen together a lot. Wei WuXain with his crazy ideas, and Lan WangJi not adding to the fire of his ideas, but adding logic and why-it-wouldn't-work, stirring the concept into a workable piece of cultivation. Which actually makes them a great team at skating the line of what is and is not acceptable in their cultivation ideals. Lan WangJi starts to question the rules and realizes that life is not all black and white, and Wei WuXain starts to understand the not all sects are 'beneath' Qishan Wen and maybe worth protecting rather than suppressing.

Of course, that's always the flirting, but a bit harder edged with being raised by Qishan Wen, Wei WuXain really digs in when he notices how flustered his new friend becomes when he flirts. And barriers are pushed further until Wei WuXain and Lan WangJi aren't able to keep emotions at bay and have a heated teenaged tryst. It's not a love confession but neither boy comes out if it a virgin. Nor regret because they both acknowledged that something's there, a spark of love, but it's not quite manifested and agree that want to continue to meet to 'cultivate' this emotion further. <3

When Wei WuXain goes home, he's pushed into the middle of a war room where Qishan Wen Sect is finally preparing to take over the other four major sects. Wei WuXain is like 'wuuuut? I have friends in those sects now' but of course that doesn't matter and he's commissioned to use his cultivist knowledge to attack the others.

Wei WuXain starts suggesting ways to overcome the enemy to suppress rather than kill. He takes an idea that he and Lan WangJi had played with, but without Lan WangJi as his impulse control, he's not stopped. He risks his life to head into Burial Mounds, digs up the dead, and starts creating a way to control the corpses. He figures that if the sects are overwhelmed and frightened, then they will give up before they're all dead. They could just give up their control, fly the Qishan Wen's flag, and learn to work under their rule. Peace!

This is all well and good for a young man's theory, but never having been in a war before, doesn't realize just how resilient people could be when their home is getting destroyed. Nor does he realize the first target is Cloud Recesses. Wei WuXain tries to warn Lan WangJi to evacuate his people before the strike, but it's too late.

Too stubborn to give in, Lan XiChen goes missing, the Sect leader dies, Lan QiRen is injured, and Lan WangJi is brought back to Qishan Wen territory (under Wei WuXain's request). Cloud Recesses is burned to the ground, even against the threat of a thousand fierce corpses, they do not yield until the choice is no longer theirs to make.

Wei WuXain realizes that this is bad. Really bad. That he made a mistake! He pleads with Lan WangJi for forgiveness, but would you forgive your kinda-boyfriend for indirectly killing your dad and destroying your home? Probably not.

It takes another attack, this one on Lotus Pier, before Wei WuXain begins fight back against his own sect. He turns the tide back on his own troops, leaving Lotus Pier damaged but not overrun (and Jiang Fengmian and Madam Yu live). Jiang Cheng confronts Wei WuXain as he's playing his flute to turn the tides. Having been friends back at Cloud Recesses, he tries to discover wtf is going on.

Jiang Cheng and Wei WuXain run off from both sects to rectify this mess. They need to save Lan WangJi where he was left back at Qishan, and put their heads together to try and fix this mess. Somewhere along the way they pick up Wen Ning, Jin Zixaun, and Nie Huaisang.

After a daring rescue to get Lan WangJi, Wei WuXain has to regain his trust. He says that he will turn himself in once they make everything right. Wei WuXain presents a plan to overrule the corpses that were taken out of his control which involves basically rewriting the elements' significance, writing a giant pentagram over the land with resentful energy, and maybe-possibly creating a few giant skeletons with bones pieced together like Legos.

Needless to say, the Sect Leaders do NOT agree to this, but the boys believe in Wei WuXain's talents and their crazy idea. So they run off to utilize the plan anyway with just the six of them. They all realize that they're probably going to face serious, if not deadly, consequences when they return but it's for the greater good.

Lan WangJi and Wei WuXain have a semi-make up moment, where Lan WangJi wants to hate him but he can't. He's in love. And Wei WuXain loves him and... what a mess...

So battle time! Using each sect's protective magics as their net/tethers that force the corpses into one spot. They separate to gather up the ley lines of protective barriers from each sect, and slowly inch in towards a central location.

Nie Huaisang is confronted by his brother as he's trying to pull up the ley lines of Qinghe Nie Sect. Nie Mingjue actually decides to help out his weak-cultivating brother and they both carry the ley line together.

Jaing Cheng and YanLi figure out together where the ley lines are. Jiang Fengmian and Madam Yu don't agree with this method but don't hinder them. Jiang Cheng starts flying off with his string of ley line after a warm goodbye from his sect.

Lan WangJi is confronted by his found brother and Uncle. Neither agree to this method, so WangJi has to argue against the 3000 rules and the unfair justices of black and white views. Lan XiChen caves first, but Lan QiRen tells Lan WangJi that he will be discharged from the sect if he goes through with this ritual.

Lan XiChen doesn't go with Lan WangJi, but guides him on where he can find his part of the ley line. Lan WangJi goes through the ruins of his home that he defects from the moment he leaves.

Jin ZiXuan is like 'get out of my way, I do what I want' and has the easiest time gathering up his sect's ley lines. Because he's badass like that (go go peacock!)

Wen Ning and Wen Qing have to sneak around to gather up their ley line. Wen Qing calls her brother brave. It's a wonderful sibling bonding moment.

In the center, where they're all supposed to meet, Wei WuXain is gathering up all the resentful energy as it begins folding into the designated location. Where this is? At the mountain that he fought with Lan WangJi when they were in school.

Wei WuXain starts the battle before the others can get to him, trying to regain control of the corpses to fight Qishan's army. He doesn't actually want people to die, but there's no choice if they don't yield. Then suddenly, over the horizon, boom! There's the Nie Sect people coming to fight, then WOW! Jiang Fengmian is riding over the hill with his disciples. Wen Sect that defected arrive with Wen Ning and his sister. And then WOWZA! LanLing Jin finally join in.

The tide turns, but then Wei WuXain begins losing his control. Someone else is out there using his methods to control the corpses (they raided him rooms and picked apart the knowledge in notes he left behind). Just as they fear that Qishan will push them back a cloud of white gathers through the mist of the sunrise. GusuLan have finally arrived, lead by the new sect leader, Lan XiChan!

The young men tie together their ley lines and unearth the mountain's mouth. It gobbles up the corpses and the resentful energy, along with Wei WuXain's giant skeletons. With the fierce corspes out of the way, Qishan is overwhelmed by the combined forces and are taken down swiftly after.

When the dust settles and victory is assured they have to wonder; where did Wei WuXain go? Lan WangJi gets the idea to follow the fading tails of the ley lines and discovers that Wei WuXain folded the lines down into the mountain's mouth on top of himself, trapping himself with all that resentful energy and fierce corpses deep inside.

Is there a daring, heart wrenching rescue? You bet there is! All with smothered kisses, deep friendships, and glorious teamwork! Then Jiang Cheng, Jin ZiXuan, Lan WangJi, Nie Huaisang, Wen Ning, and a handful of others stand before Wei WuXain before their elders, not allowing them to take him for judgement.

Wei WuXain is the one to tell them to stand down. That he had committed atrocities against the cultivation world and brought on a lot of deaths due to his meddling. The elders decide his punishment is to take in the pentagram's remaining hold onto himself to get rid of all the resentful energy that had been stored there. Basically, he has to give up all the energy of his golden core, hence destroy it, to get rid of the mess he left behind.

He could die, yeah, but with the support from his friends, he's able to take on the task. He spends 13 months meditating, giving up his golden core. The resentful energy in the mountain slowly evaporates but when it's gone, so is Wei WuXain's core.

Not long into this, he falls into a trance-like coma, kind of like a living Buddha. Luckily, he doesn't die, but is very weakened when the task is completed. The Sect friends of his agree to protect Wei WuXain, because no matter how much of a mess he made, it was in his best intentions to gain peace.

And then there's a wedding, and bitter-sweetness to the end when Lan WangJi is still rejected from GusuLan for his endangerment of his people. Lan WangJi and Wei WuXain travel together for awhile before finding a home within Qishan's territory and become farmers and adopt A-Yuan (and more). There are promises of growth, rebuilding, friendship, and forgiveness.

And of course, love.

[davetheshady]

may I politely request ⭐dealer's choice director's commentary⭐for pretty much any part of Love is All You Need to Destroy Your Enemies?

Did you mean: infodump about Chapter 5?

We start off in medias res during Pteranodon Attack-Gate from Episode 4: PTA Meeting. Since most of the fic runs parallel to WTNV’s storyline for the first ~two years, the way I narrowed down which events to feature was to read through the transcripts and take note of which ones had Carlos, which ones featured science/magic/time travel-related elements, which ones had weird discrepancies or unsolved details that could be explained by Carlos/science/magic/time travel/all of the above, and which ones I just liked a lot. 

Incidentally, Cecil issues a correction that the winged reptiles in question were actually pterodactyls, not pteranodons, which was then promptly forgotten by the showrunners lol.

"—And then Kelly pulled her hamstring while they were doing the Fixing of a Nail position. I'm trying to convince her that she and Joe should do yoga together, I think it would really cut back on minor injuries and also they both look great in yoga pants. Anything new with you, Carlos?"

"Nothing that compares to... hamstring injuries," says Carlos, from his position on top of the Sciencemobile.

"All right," says Kate, adjusting an enormous pair of mirrored aviator shades. "Then describe the Barstow formation."

Since literal character doubling was such an important part of the plot, I had a lot of fun with thematic character doubling, too. Carlos and Kate (and the other grad students) are actually pretty close in age, and here we see her willing to put herself into danger to get the job done while casually chatting with her colleagues. Also, there’s a nice dose of karma for the books in Carlos having to deal with someone else oversharing details about their relationships, compounded by the fact that unlike his all of Kate’s are actually true. (In nicer doubling news: Kate is the one who gets her degree in science, has functional romantic relationships, AND continues to work in Night Vale, which are all eventually Carlos’ hashtag life goals.) 

"Maybe it was future you," asks Julie, who does not sound appropriately concerned for the potentially diverted course of the Currents of Time. Or for the potentially diverted course of the already unlinear life of Carlos.

This is the first conversation where she’s ‘Julie’ in his mental narration. I enjoyed having her be hilariously unsympathetic to his concerns here, because her priorities are still very different, but it also sets up a baseline. She doesn’t bother worrying about hypotheticals from the weird shit, but actual hard data (like, Carlos not sleeping and having minor breakdowns in her lab) is what prompts her to share reactions besides SCIENCE! and snark.

His stomach roils at the thought of more time travel. "Some kind of illusion is more likely," he says: some person or creature temporarily assuming his form, probably for sinister purposes. He reluctantly adds those weird doubles from the sandstorm to his list of possible suspects, though his dissolved right in front of him in the middle of next March and there haven't been any sandstorms recently.

oh hey haha what’s that

One of my biggest pet peeves in fiction is when allegedly intelligent characters ignore obvious plot points so the writer can railroad the story in their chosen direction. On the other hand, it is genuinely difficult to avoid spoiling your plot twists if your main character is actively trying to figure them out. I leaned heavily on “the character has all the basic details… along with so much other information they can’t realistically narrow it down”, combined with some red herrings: an obvious one (illusion magic) and hopefully a more convincing one (time travel as the only relevant plot: it's DEFINITELY involved, but its presence is obscuring another facet of the plot altogether).

There's always a risk that astute readers will figure it out, but, like… so? That just means instead of shocking plot twist reveal, they get an “I KNEW IT!” reveal, which is equally satisfying in a different way. As long as the characters have convincing reasons for not figuring it out, it's hopefully still enjoyable to follow along with them as they wander around in the dark. 

(And just for clarification: that was Doppel-Carlos crashing the town hall meeting when he and Dr. Raith were testing out time vortices.) 

Andre hands him a copy of the Night Vale Daily Journal. “’Look your best to face the void. Smooth-chinned souls are most enjoyed’,” reads Carlos. “‘Burma-Shave.’”

"No, below the ads," says Andre.

1) ‘character reads wrong piece of information in paper’ is a classic goof (“There’s a sale at Penney’s!”) and I found it very amusing to repeatedly attribute it to Carlos, since he’s genuinely trying to locate the important information. Unfortunately for him, he lives in Night Vale and no longer has a filter for “useless nonsense”, because even the nonsense has proven relevant and/or kinda murdery before.

2) Burma-Shave! This was passed down to me as part of our Great American Roadtrip Family Lore (I come from a long line of roadtrippers) and it’s definitely the kind of kitschy 50s detail that fits so well in Night Vale.

"Oh!" says Cecil. "What were you studying?"

"Bioremediation for contaminated pit lakes via sulfur-reducing bacteria," says Carlos truthfully.

Why? Because I edited one of my friends’ papers on it, that’s why. (Birds kept landing on it and dying, which is also a very Night Vale detail.)

When he returns, he finds Cecil standing by the record player with his back against the wall, staring fixedly at Carlos’ vinyl copy of Ixnay on the Hombre.

One of the DF books (I think White Night) had a hilariously high number of characters showing up wearing band t-shirts, and Carlos’ was for The Offspring. (The original file name for this fic was Original Prankster, back when I thought it would be three chapters long.)

“It’s about a wizard stranded in a strange, uncharted desert territory,” [Cactus Judy] says serenely.

Cactus Jane! I decided to make her a recurring character because 1) she’s in a time travel episode (Episode 18: The Traveler), 2) both she and TMITJ had the detail where no one can remember their real name, which seemed significant, and 3) WTNV itself did not have very many recurring female characters at that point. She’s into Shakespeare because I personally knew a lot of relevant Shakespeare quotes, but also as a hint that’s she’s a lot older (and thus a lot more supernatural) than she seems: Shakespeare was a HUGE part of pop culture in the 19th century, particularly in the southwest. Theater companies used to make more money going on tour through states with precious metal mines than they did during their whole season in the big coastal cities, probably because jaded city folks never threw gold nuggets on stage to show their appreciation.

If life is a contest between good and evil, Cecil would be one of the people handing out stickers just for participating.

This is one of my favorite lines.

My plan is fool-proof! It's sheer elegance in its simplicity!

Look, if you enjoyed this fic, WTNV, and/or The Dresden Files, you should probably go watch The Middleman. Yes, I know it’s not streaming, do it anyway. Load up on antivenom and go rent it from your local library.

“Could you [create a time vortex]?""Oh, for sure," says Carlos. "All I'd need would be a couple years to do nothing but work on a highly illegal spell and figure out a way to steal an entire ley-line's worth of power and excise my sense of morality and self-preservation.”

And WHAT are the odds of THAT

It's not that Carlos doesn't like him. It just wouldn't be fair to lead him on when Carlos wouldn't actually—

Well, Carlos wouldn’t mind asking but he doesn’t normally go for—

Okay, Carlos could definitely make an exception for Cecil and—

And—

oh NO he accidentally used logic to make himself admit he has FEELINGS

One of the reasons I love this pairing is that you have Cecil, who is incredibly emotionally open (all the time, on public radio) as a distinct contrast to Carlos, who is so used to putting up a very specific facade that he even does it to himself and then struggles when he doesn't have it to rely on. It creates conflict, but it also means they have very different perspective they can share with each other. 

"Did the earth move for you, too?" says Cecil.

"Bwuh?" replies Carlos.

"At the monitoring station," says Cecil, because right, they're talking about science and not about how Carlos may or may not have accidentally developed a tiny, tiny crush on Cecil, who is standing right in front of him and looking extremely interested in what he's saying and will commit his words to memory and lovingly repeat them for all the world, or at least all of Night Vale and anyone else who received the same odd death curse as Carlos, to hear.

"Oh. Hmm – unh," replies Carlos, then shakes his head. Not talking, that's the way to go. That way he won't accidentally say something he doesn't mean, or worse, something he does mean but probably shouldn't say. Cecil can ask him science questions and he can shake his head yes or no, and maybe refer him wordlessly to supplementary materials, and it will all be very professional and—

"Where did you get your shirt?" asks Cecil. "It fits you so well."

"I'll look at my notes and computer models and see if I can figure out what's going on," Carlos blurts out, and practically runs from the room.

One of the reasons I started writing this fic (SEPTEMBER 2013, BABY god I feel old) was because we all knew Carlos was immensely important to Cecil, but had relatively little information about him, and ALL of it was filtered through our unreliable narrator. So… I just kind of ran with that. 

But on top of the obvious unreliability of “didn't notice Carlos was a wizard from a different series”, I wanted to do it on the smaller scale, too, and put a different spin on the touchstones of their growing relationship that everyone was already familiar with. So this interaction is now a crisis for both of them, and for dramatically/hilariously different reasons. 

“If you’re worried about going native, I’ve got bad news for you, buddy, because you do more chanting than anyone I’ve met.”

Another one of my favorite lines.

“I’ve had to hunt down people I know before, and trust me, it’s not a fun date night!”

Between Molly and fanon interpretations of Cecil, Carlos’ type is apparently 1) weird tattoos, 2) unusually-colored hair, and 3) can kill him

There's a brief hiss from the TV's speakers, and then Cecil says, in a small, forlorn voice, “I don't know if he listens to me, sometimes.”

Carlos puts his head down and laughs bitterly.

I LOVE IRONY 

But even though I wanted to subvert the surface meaning, Cecil DOES still have a point. He got a good look at Carlos’ soul when they first met and still fell in love instantly, but Carlos has a difficult time hearing that because at this point he fundamentally does not believe he’s worthy of that kind of love. In order to truly believe Cecil, he also has to start learning to love and accept himself. (It’s very much a work in progress, but nobody’s perfect.) The title isn’t just meant to refer to romantic love – self-love, friendship, familial love, and unconditional love for the humanity of his trash fire town are equally important, because they all support each other.

hmu for more dvd commentary!

[amandajoyce118]

Agents of SHIELD S6E01 “Missing Pieces” Easter Eggs And References

Agents of SHIELD is finally back after a long hiatus, and I’m going to have to get used to watching TV on Friday nights again. Just like I do for Cloak and Dagger, I’ll have Easter eggs up after every episode (as long as I’m able to watch live). Obviously, spoilers follow.

The season six premiere sees Jemma, Daisy, Davis, and Piper in space on the hunt for Fitz while Mack runs SHIELD on Earth with May and Yoyo in high ranking positions in his new staff.

Here we go.

Daisy’s Fight Moves

Okay, the whole, “I’m just an Earth woman stopping for fuel” is a nice take on pretty much every Marvel female character being underestimated, ever. But, her moves during that fight? They look a lot like moves both May and Black Widow have used in the past, so I like the consistency of the SHIELD fight training, even years later.

Fox

Am I the only one who finds it amusing that they named a character Fox while the Disney-Fox deal was going on? Just me? Okay.

“A man can accomplish anything when he realizes he’s a part of something bigger.”

If you don’t remember this quote, it’s from way back in season one. Coulson says it drew him to SHIELD and to follow Fury’s path. (It’s also the quote Garrett mangles at the end of the season when Fury and Coulson take him out.)

“It’s times like this I wish we didn’t change the timeline.”

This is an interesting statement from Simmons. MCU logic dictates that you can’t actually “change” time. Uh, Endgame slight spoilers here. But the idea is that new decisions, or removing Infinity Stones from where they’re supposed to be, or time travel, creates new branched timelines. Is this the show’s way of telling us that it now exists in a branched timeline instead of the main universe? Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Captain Watermelon

The drink special of the day (which I’m pretty sure is in the bar Deke recreated in his computer simulation and got to visit last season since it’s near the Lighthouse) is the Captain Watermelon. I’m going to go out on a limb and say you use watermelon syrup and Captain Morgan to create this, but I also think it’s a nod to the Captain America or the Captain Marvel fans.

Indiana

The show spends a lot of time in Indiana with the people in the (dimensional? space-time? is Miss America kicking holes in reality for them?) rift coming through there. Indiana is the home of Bucky Barnes in the comics. That’s all I got. Even if it’s where they found ley lines. Interestingly, ley lines are more associated with religious and magical stories in comics and fantasy films, so I’m curious to see if they have a science fiction significance for the show.

“Piper, we need a jump!”

This explains so much about how the space team is getting along for months at a time. They repurposed the Kree tech from last season that allowed Hydra to have meetings with the Confederation. Nice bit of continuity here that they’re still running from the Confederation, who wanted Earth, also from last season.

Sidenotes:

As far as I can tell, the alien species named, as well as the off-planet  places, aren’t from Marvel comics. But I could also have no idea how to spell them, so it’s entirely possible they’re deep cuts I don’t recognize.

I’m happy to see more of Piper and Davis, and that the writers didn’t forget they gave Davis a wife and kid a year ago. This show is better with continuity than most. Also, pluses for the episode include the plan to rebuild the Academy in Coulson’s honor and Yoyo moving on from Mack. It’s been a year since he became director and started shutting her out, and her pining for her boss when he’s so singularly focused would have felt like a step backwards to me. Don’t get me wrong. I love them together, and I have a feeling the suddenly introduced Keller won’t last, but I’m glad to see her living her life.

Okay, and how great is it that Jemma and Fitz both learned some alien languages over the last year? I want to know who knows more. Who thinks Jemma learned the language at every port they stopped to search for Fitz? She’s got to know so many by now.

That’s all I’ve got on a first watch. Let me know if I missed anything!

[captain-pattycakes]

An oldish Drabble I wrote for Yuki. I really like it so I’m reposting it here with a few changes. It has heavy spoilers about Patty and two other characters so don’t read if you plan playing Definitive Edition when it comes out.

Five Winters Prompt

Maybe it had been because of when she turned sixteen and Raven remarked how she hadn’t grown at all. Karol and Rita had grown, going through puberty, and here she was standing at four feet and four measly inches. 16 candles littered on her cake, marking the supposed birth of Patty Fleur. If they wanted to be accurate, that cake would need a ton more candles on it. Everyone had tried to make it happy since last year they were all to busy to do anything with her. And since this day was also the day after the anniversary of the Black Hope Incident.

All of it started when Raven had noted the little marks against the pillar of wood in her room in the lighthouse, where the party was taking place with the allowance of her foster parents. One side marked her foster sister Lei’s growth and the other side marked Patty’s. Lei had steady growth, having already grown taller than the pirate. On Patty’s side, few lines in extremely close proximity.

“Patty, I’m sure you’ll grow eventually,” was Estelle’s soothing words. The pirate simply smiled brightly at that, nodding her head thankfully and hiding her doubts behind it. Smiles could all sorts of things behind them, lies, fears, doubts, and even sadness.

“I highly doubt that. It’s likely she’ll be stuck like this due to the side effects of Amrita,” the mage stated not even looking up from her book. The pirate’s eyes widened slightly as the room grew a bit more silent. Rita finally looked up. “What? It’s true. The entire time we’ve known her, she hasn’t grown a single inch or shown any signs of going through puberty. The only logical answer is that a side effect was stunted growth.”

“Rita darlin’” Raven started before Patty stood to her feet. Yuri watched her as she simply smiled at everyone.

“So what, nano ja? Let’s just play games, nano ja! Come on Karol! I got a pinata and filled it with gels! I’ll go set it up with Gramp’s help so you all wait here~” she chirped as she headed down the ladder to set up the pinata outside with the help of the lighthouse keeper.

But she didn’t. After ten minutes of waiting, they come to find out that Patty had headed off to get something from the market. But no one could find her and her ship was gone.

It was childish, running away like that. But. It hurt. She felt like a freak for once, having seen everyone growing older around her, while she was stuck looking like a child. It hurt. It hurt so much.

A sigh as she walked around the city of Dahngrest. She hoped no one would recognize her. She did make sure to stick to back alleys, oden hanging from her mouth as she walked in the shadows. All she had planned to do was see Don’s grave and chat before she headed to Seifer’s.

“Patty?” a voice called out. The oden in her mouth fell to the ground. She could hear the footsteps pick up slightly as she stood there frozen in dread and fear. Slowly she turned to Yuri and smiled.

He was 28 now. He looked so much older and more mature. She still looked like a ten-year-old child, like she did when they met seven years ago. She was supposed to be 21, she was supposed to be an adult, she was supposed to be aging.

“Ahoy Yuri~ You have gotten handsome since last I saw you, nano ja~” she chirped, there was a lump growing in her throat. 'Please don’t reject me. Please don’t reject me for being like this. Please let me run.'

Her legs felt like lead as Yuri looked down at her, a bit of anger in his eyes before he sighed. Slowly he kneeled down to her level, patting her head slightly.

“Why’d you run away, Patty?” the man asked hands on her shoulders to keep her from running off all over again. The pirate remained silent as she looked at her feet. “Patty. Answer me. Is it because of what Rita said?”

“Nay. It doesn’t matter, nano ja,” she answered, her voice shaking slightly. Yuri’s eyes narrowed, making the girl stiffen under the look. That was right, lying to Yuri was useless.

“It hurts, nano ja… Everyone is going to grow up… You’re all going to leave me behind, nano ja!” Five years of negative emotion bubbling in her voice as she looked up at him. They were peeking up in her facial expressions. “I haven’t grown at all, nano ja! You’re all going to grow up and grow old and die and I’ll be alone all over again!” Tears were pooling in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.

Yuri frowned, not knowing how to really comfort the girl that seemed to be on the verge of balling.  He sighed and patted her head again, not knowing what else to do other than hug her.

“I’m sure we can find a way to get you growing again, Patty. Have some faith in us,” he said, trying to reassure the girl. This conversation was five years overdue. Dark eyes, aged and mature, looked at the youthful girl. “If you want to cry, then cry. No need to hold it in and bottle it up.”

“Nay…” she mumbled grabbing on her sleeves as her voice wavered, her eyes pooling with tears so close to falling. Her hands anxiously yanked on her sleeves as she tried to keep her composure. Another sigh as he pulled the girl into his arms awkwardly, not really good or comfortable with physical affection, but Patty needed it.

It wasn’t long before his shirt was soaked with tears and the blonde asleep in his arms, having cried herself until she couldn’t even stay awake. Yuri only stood to his feet and walked back to the guild headquarters. She had a lot of explaining in the morning after everyone gathered.

[homaikaike]

Misplaced Hawaiians: Introducing the Myth of a Nonexistent Diaspora

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Final (Whole Project)

Hawaiian Studies 343: Myths of Hawaiian History | October 2020

In 2016, I recall a young boy saying “look mom it’s the Hawaiian people!” with the most innocent excitement in his voice. I was competing at a wrestling tournament in central Texas, talking with a few of my friends from around the school district. “I like y’all’s tattoos!” the boy said as he passed us. Who I assumed to be his mother waved at us, then took her son out of the gymnasium. I waved back. My friends and I had already gotten our first tattoos in high school. Similar as back home in the islands, the often called “Polynesian style” markings worked as a sort of identifier for us Hawaiians and other Pacific people out in the diaspora; on the continent. Being Hawaiian has been and will always be something I am incredibly proud of, however not all ethnic Hawaiians are as accepting of the diasporic identity. 

My grandparents met in Texas. Native to Lāhaina, Maui and Pahoa, Hawaiʻi, both my tūtū[1] lady and tūtū man had enlisted in the military right out of school, left their home sands, and coincidentally met at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio after one pāʻina[2] with a bunch of other local Hawaiian folks stationed there. During their time in the military, Hawaiʻi was made a state. They had two children, my mother and my aunty, who were then raised in Texas. Back in the 70s, it was much easier (affordable) to go back and forth from Texas to Hawaiʻi, so my mom and her sister were lucky to have a large part of their lives in physical relation to Hawaiʻi, as well as knowing hula, how to pound poi, throw net, and make lei. However, buying a flight to Hawaiʻi and staying there all summer and all winter had become a luxury, so my brothers and I--the second generation of diasporic Hawaiians--had to find other ways to connect with what we were taught to see as our “homeland”.

My grandma prefers to use the term “misplaced” when people ask what Hawaiians like us are doing, living in Texas. “Are you lost?” they joke when she walks around wearing kukui nuts and a muʻu muʻu[3]. “Not lost, just misplaced” she says. She explained that she uses “misplaced”, because being “lost” would mean we don’t know where we are, where we come from, or where we’re going; being misplaced means to just not exist in its original place. We were never lost, and as our tūtū lady, she makes sure to teach us all about where we came from so that we never will be. Still, when she gets comments from people like “where’s the lūʻau[4]” (in which they pronounce it “loo-wow”), she maintains that we—those in diaspora—are simply misplaced Hawaiians, never lost. Non-Hawaiians and others outside of Hawaiʻi being surprised to encounter Hawaiians away from the islands, is just one side of the myth that Hawaiians do not exist outside of Hawaiʻi.

As my cousins, brothers and I were growing up in Texas, we were always known as “The Hawaiians”; my mother sent me to school with lei wili[5] tied around my hair when she couldn’t tame it any other way, my cousin packed spam musubi in our lunch sacks, and we all carried kīhei[6] in our backpacks “in case we got cold”. We were lucky enough to have learned hula from our family, and how to string lei using the plumerias my grandma was able to grow in the backyard. We were proud Hawaiians, living as we were taught to, in the middle of Texas. This Hawaiian-ness was second nature, and though we knew Hawaiʻi as our motherland, Texas was still home. However, this Texas-made Hawaiian pride I had grown accustomed to was suddenly lost upon my moving back to Hawaiʻi for college. It was as if my Hawaiian identity was lost, because all I became to local Hawaiians in Hawaiʻi was Texan. I had grown up in Texas, not Hawaiʻi and therefore to them I was not Hawaiian. This is a product of the myth that, not only do Hawaiians not exist outside of Hawaiʻi, but that they cannot.

Unlike a large majority of the continental United States, calling myself Hawaiian is a reference to my heritage, not to my state of residence. Though I also consider myself a Texan, I am Hawaiian by blood and throughout my genealogy. Hawaiians are defined by ancestry, which is an important place of origin in any discussion of Hawaiian identity[7]. In this logic, as well as the case for any largely emigrated ethnic background, the place of your upbringing should not and does not change your race. For example a kanaka being raised in Houston does not make them less Hawaiian than a kanaka[8] being raised in Kāneʻohe. Similarly, a kanaka who has lived in Hawaiʻi their whole life is not any more or less Hawaiian than a kanaka who has moved abroad from the islands. While the landscapes can drastically differ, the fact of having any level of Hawaiian blood, is what makes a kanaka Hawaiian regardless of where they are from, where they live, or where they are moving.

Though it should go without me saying, there are pockets of Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders all over the globe, with heavy American concentrations in the states of Washington, Utah, California, and Texas. According to 2018 Census information, there were approximately 21,463 Pacific islanders in Texas alone, 6,038 of which self-identified as Native Hawaiians[9]. Hawaiians made up the greatest concentration of Pacific Islanders in Texas, with 4,615 others identifying as Guamanian or Chamorro, 5,748 as Samoan and 5,062 as Other Pacific Islander[10]. In my personal experience, gatherings such as paddling workshops, national-franchised restaurants like L&L, local spots like Aloha Kitchen and Big Aloha, reggae concerts, and festivals such as the Texas Alamo Aloha FiESTaval, are just some of the ways Islanders have created spaces in diaspora to connect and knit a tight community within the southern American state. Growing up in central San Antonio put me in the opportune spot to grow up in this kind of environment, with plenty of islander friends in and outside of school, accessible “local” food, and a diasporic Pacific atmosphere. However, being part of the diasporic community in Texas, I was able to learn about the different factors that may have driven these families away from their homelands. Upon my return to Hawaiʻi, I then recognized the stark differences between the Pacific community within Hawaiʻi and those in Texas.

At this point in my research and experience, the myth that Hawaiians do not exist outside of Hawaiʻi is seemingly perpetuated by Hawaiians living locally in Hawaiʻi. Though I have always found Maui to be my home, when my cousins and my aunties there introduce me to neighbors, they always say things along the lines of “Oh, I didn’t know there were Hawaiians in Texas”, “Texan Tourist” or “Texas girl”. Though none of these are particularly offensive, I’ve returned to Maui on a monthly basis for the past three years and they still remember me as the girl from Texas when I in fact live on Oʻahu, and they’ve met me after I have already moved there. I have had similar encounters on campus as the University of Hawaiʻi with the cliques of Hawaiian students in administration, classes, or events. That question, “where you from?”, suddenly made me ashamed of my hometown because of the follow up questions and the premonitions of how little I had to know about my culture and heritage because of where I was raised.

I can still remember times when, after refusing certain kinds of foods, such as ake (liver) or ‘ulu (breadfruit), being asked, “You no eat ‘ulu? What kine Hawaiian are you?” At least for Natives today, our attachments to culture are indications of our identity as significant as ancestry, although ancestry—that is, some kind of Hawaiian blood, however minute—is also a necessary precondition to being Hawaiian.[11]

In the same way that colonizers deemed blood quantity being directly related to the level of Hawaiian someone is, the birthplace has become representative of identity (or lack thereof). While I have many answers as to why Hawaiians can and continue to exist outside of Hawaiʻi—military affiliation, career opportunities, affordable housing and quality of life—I have yet to find out the reasons why the perspective toward diasporic Hawaiians is often to undermine their ties to their culture and heritage. There is a substantial opportunistic advantage domestic Hawaiians have over diasporic folk to find accessible cultural experiences, such as working in a loʻi, hearing Hawaiian music and seeing hula all the time, or having a close relationship with the ocean. But the work in debunking the myth of a nonexistent diaspora, and dispelling and unreasonable assumptions comes in researching the reasons why Hawaiians move away from Hawaiʻi in the first place, and the systematic differences between domestic Hawaiians and those in diaspora. Is it the notable difference in cost of living between Hawaiʻi and the continental U.S? Is it the different travel opportunities that come with the affiliation with military forces? Hawaiians historically traveled all around the world, so it’s just learning about the point in time which the point of view had changed and what caused it.

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

Notes

*all pictures used above are mine, courtesy of me*

[1]Mary Kawena Pukui and Samuel H. Elbert, Hawaiian Dictionary: Hawaiian-English-Hawaiian, Rev. and enl. Ed. (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1986), 178: Grandparent.

[2]Ibid., 303: Meal, dinner, small party with dinner.

[3]Ibid., 256: A loose gown.

[4]Ibid., 214: Hawaiian feast.

[5]Ibid., 201: A garland that is not strung; the leaves and flowers are entwined about each other.

[6]Ibid., 147: Shawl, cape, cloak.

[7]Jonathan Osorio, “What Kine Hawaiian Are You?”, (The Contemporary Pacific, 2001), pg. 361.

[8]Mary Kawena Pukui and Samuel H. Elbert, Hawaiian Dictionary: Hawaiian-English-Hawaiian, Rev. and enl. Ed. (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1986), 127: Human being, person, individual.

[9]U.S. Census Bureau, ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates, 2018 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates Data Profile (2018).

[10]Ibid.

[11]Jonathan Osorio, “What Kine Hawaiian Are You?”, (The Contemporary Pacific, 2001), pg. 362.

sources

Osorio, John Kamakawiwoole. “‘What Kine Hawaiian Are You?" A Mo'olelo about Nationhood, Race, History, and the Contemporary Sovereignty Movement in Hawai'i.” The Contemporary Pacific 13, no. 2 (2001): 359–79.

Pukui, Mary Kawena., and Samuel H. Elbert. Hawaiian Dictionary: Hawaiian-English, English-Hawaiian. Honolulu, HI: Univ. of Hawaiʻi Press, 1986.

U.S. Census Bureau. ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates, 2018 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates Data Profile, Table DP05; generated by Isabella Park-Roberts; using American FactFinder (26 July 2020).

[sirenssonnet]

“five winters”

under cut for length 

Maybe it had been because of when she turned sixteen and Raven remarked how she hadn’t grown at all. Karol and Rita had grown, going through puberty, and here she was. 16 candles littered on her cake, marking the birth of Patty Fleur. Everyone had tried to make it happy, since last year they were all to busy to do anything with her. And since this day was also the day after the anniversary of the Black Hope Incident.

All of it started when Raven had noted the little marks against the pillar of wood in her room in the lighthouse, where the party was taking place with the allowance of her foster parents. One side marked her foster sister Lei’s growth and the other side marked Patty’s. Lei had steady growth. On Patty’s side, few lines in extremely close proximity.

“Patty, I’m sure you’ll grow eventually,” was Estelle’s soothing words. The pirate simply smiled brightly at that, nodding her head thankfully and hiding her doubts behind it. Behind her own mask. The mask that hid everything she bottled up. A mask that Rita easily shattered.

“I highly doubt that. It’s likely she’ll be stuck like this due to the side effects of Amrita,” the mage stated not even looking up from her book. The pirate’s eyes widened slightly as the room grew a bit more silent. Rita finally looked up. “What? It’s true. The entire time we’ve known her, she hasn’t grown a single inch or shown any signs of going through puberty. The only logical answer is that a side effect was stunted growth.”

“Rita darlin’” Raven started before Patty stood to her feet. Yuri watched her as she simply smiled at everyone.

“So what, nano ja? Let’s just play games, nano ja! Come on Karol! I got a pinata and filled it with gels! I’ll go set it up with Gramp’s help so you all wait here~” she chirped as she headed down the ladder to set up the pinata outside with the help of the lighthouse keeper.

But she didn’t. After ten minutes of waiting, they come to find out that Patty had headed off to get something from the market. But no one could find her and her ship was gone.

-

It was childish, running away like that. But. It hurt. She felt like a freak for once, having seen everyone growing older around her, while she was stuck looking like a child. It hurt. It hurt so much.

A sigh as she walked around the city of Dahngrest. She hoped no one would recognize her. She did make sure to stick to back alleys, oden hanging from her mouth as she walked in the shadows. All she had planned to do was see Don’s grave and chat before she headed to Seifer’s.

“Patty?” a voice called out. The oden in her mouth fell to the ground. She could hear the footsteps pick up slightly as she stood there frozen in dread and fear. Slowly she turned to Yuri and smiled.

He was 28 now. He looked so much older and more mature. She still looked like a ten-year-old child, like she did when they met seven years ago. She was supposed to be 21, she was supposed to be an adult, she was supposed to be aging.

“Ahoy Yuri~ You have gotten handsome since last I saw you, nano ja~” she chirped, there was a lump growing in her throat. Please don’t reject me. Please don’t reject me for being like this. Please let me run.

Her legs felt like lead as Yuri looked down at her, a bit of anger in his eyes before he sighed. Slowly he kneeled down to her level, patting her head slightly.

“Why’d you run away, Patty?” the man asked hands on her shoulders to keep her from running off all over again. The pirate remained silent as she looked at her feet. “Patty. Answer me. Is it because of what Rita said?”

“Nay. It doesn’t matter, nano ja,” she answered, her voice shaking slightly. Yuri’s eyes narrowed, making the girl stiffen under the look. That was right, lying to Yuri was useless.

“It hurts, nano ja… Everyone is going to grow up… You’re all going to leave me behind, nano ja!” Five years of negative emotion bubbling in her voice as she looked up at him. They were peeking up in her facial expressions. “I haven’t grown at all, nano ja! You’re all going to grow up and grow old and die and I’ll be alone all over again!” Tears were pooling in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.

Yuri frowned, not knowing how to really comfort the girl that seemed to be on the verge of balling.  He sighed and patted her head again, not knowing what else to do other than hug her.

“I’m sure we can find a way to get you growing again, Patty. Have some faith in us,” he said, trying to reassure the girl. This conversation was five years overdue. Dark eyes, aged, looked at the youthful girl. “If you want to cry, then cry. No need to hold it in and bottle it up.”

“Nay…” she mumbled grabbing on her sleeves as her voice wavered, her eyes pooling with tears so close to falling. Her hands anxiously yanked on her sleeves as she tried to keep her composure. Another sigh as he pulled the girl into his arms awkwardly, not really good or comfortable with physical affection, but Patty needed it.

It wasn’t long before his shirt was soaked with tears and the blonde asleep in his arms, having cried herself till she couldn’t even stay awake. Yuri only stood to his feet and walked back to the guild headquarters. She had a lot of explaining in the morning after everyone gathered.

[ashnadir]

faye-andrews:

Faye knew her casual joking would make him blush, and she did it on purpose. He needed to laugh. And she liked to see it. So they continued on, Iann thanking her and once again refuting her belief in his latent magicalness. Faye just smirked and shook her head. There was nothing she could say to change his mind. And nothing he could say to change hers. They agreed to disagree. 

But in this, in what to do with the line, they did agree. “I want that too. But you know as well as I do that pure magic is hard to find. I by pure I mean untainted. Untouched. Because even us being here is affecting it in some small way, wouldn’t you say? Even if I don’t draw from it, just our presence is changing it. Making it react-” 

Her comment was cut short as the floor dropped away into a chasm of blue rock so deeply colored it looked nearly liquid. Like the oceans of Tahiti, or the Bahamas. But Faye could feel there was nothing there but open air. Her hand gripped Iann’s more tightly, though like him, she wasn’t afraid. They were safe here. 

For now. 

The voice, when it came, seemed right. Like it fit. As if the blue stone was obviously supposed to speak. To explain. To show. Faye heard what Iann said, though the voice she heard was lower, deeper and much more masculine. She started at her own reflection for a long moment, but saw nothing but herself. She had no doubt that Iann saw his beloved, and squeezed his hand. Then her eyes moved to Iann’s reflection. Or at least… at least where it should be.

There was nothing. 

“I… I don’t see anything…” Faye swallowed, her voice thick as she stared at the hollow blackness where Iann’s reflection should be. Or should it be Chris’? Or someone else? “It’s… it’s black… only black…”

“Without darkness, there can be no light…” the voice said again. 

“Did you hear that?” Faye asked, pinched gaze not moving from the darkness marring the serene blue glow of the ice. “What did it say to you?” 

Faye was right, and yet Iann still kept going.  He could have stopped and suggested that they leave this place, let it breathe and eventually return to a state of purity, like a smoker’s lungs starting to pinken days after quitting.  But Iann kept going, because he was curious.  He felt there was something they needed to see, and convinced himself that the cavern itself and the ley line’s energy was pulling them in deeper.  That perhaps, it had a message for them both.

And it was only when Faye didn’t confirm seeing Chris, that Iann was struck with a realization.  He looked at Faye - the real Faye, not the ice-drowned reflection of his wife.  Iann stared at Faye for a long moment, his thumb grazing over her wedding band.  Iann wore his as well still, unwilling to take it off, happy to look like he was married; how ironic that it took a year before he even started wearing the band, and only at his wife’s specific request.  Now, he found he couldn’t take it off.

But he touched Faye’s ring instead under her glove, and he said softly,  “You’re as lost as I am.” He looked back at the glow in the ice wall, which glimmered like some sort of special effect from the old Star Trek series.

“The half-moon will become full again,” the thing said.   What was it?  A spirit?  A nymph?  Something else entirely?  A witch encased in the ice, fucking with their minds?  

“It said...” Iann licked his lips, which should be cold and chapped, but felt warm and soft instead, like he’d just been kissed.  “It said ‘mirror reflections’ first and that’s when I saw her - “ Iann pointed at the reflection of Faye, expecting to see his wife again but it was only Faye.  Iann gasped, the horror of logic and reality overcoming him, and tears prickled his eyes.  “I froze her, and then she drowned.  She was always so cold...she always felt cold,” Iann said, his voice trembling with grief.

But he continued, dabbing furiously at his eyes with his free hand.  “It said the half-moon will become full again.  I - what is it?  Is it a manifestation of the ley line?  Is it--” Iann grasped at theories, trying to focus on what was real instead of losing himself in the fantasy.  He glared, half-accusing at Faye, trying to deflect his own emotion.  “What do you mean you don’t see anything?  You don’t  - you didn’t see him?? How can it be black...?”  His hand tightened around hers, as his eyes got wide and large.

leys lie || faye & iann