#(i.e. you bring someone back from the dead but they CANNOT come back from the dead)

[caspock]

there are some like pretty evil ways to bring cas back from the empty huh

[madametrashbin]

Brainrot? Brainrot... or Drabble. Idk

I’m alive! Sort of? Honkai: Star Rail has viciously grabbed my brain the second I saw it and now I have thoughts... and this is also because I got yanked in by the throat from both the silly content and beautiful artwork.

And if it wasn’t enough to nail a coffin to my grave, Tumblr dropped a post from @channelinglament (which is this post right here) and now my brain’s keeping me up with thoughts.

Not sure if I’ll have enough energy to spare for actual posts, but maybe with enough food for thought, I might actually make a piece or two... might. Due to HSR’s brand of silliness, it might just be Shenanigans the Fic.

The thing that gets to me the most is the highest of Aeons part, like... the Aeon of Aeons and you know, while I still know almost nothing about how Aeons come to be, what if there’s that one Entity that just exists and gives power that basically ascends whatever is sentient.

Of course the term “Aeon” would not be applied until numerous of the ascended beings are present and people are suddenly aware that there are these powerful beings in the universe now that can literally affect everything and bring about a permanent change to their livelihood. One moment the universe is all calm and normal and then here comes the Aeons. People do not know how to feel about them at first.

Naturally, there will always be the curious type of people who would try to search for the cause of it.

Pop in lil old You, just trying to help everyone you come across who look to be in desperate need power to be able to change their unfortunate circumstances. Too pure of heart, harmless mischief maker, just overall the sweetest entity with the power to turn anything into gods... yes, this is how beings like Qlipoth and Nous are born.

Now this gets me thinking that the Paths existed as one big, singular Path with you as the origin point and the ending point. When you gift a part of your power to someone/something, a piece of the path branches out of the main path but still remains connected to you... whether out of devotion or because it cannot exist without you is up in the air (your choice tbh).

The people/Aeons would just feel so grateful to be chosen, to be given so much power to do what they wished to change/do most... this was before they discovered there were others like them, doing things different from them that may clash with their ideals and suddenly there’s an all out war because each of the Aeons believed that the others were sullying your name by abusing your gifts.

(While the Dusk Wars are happening, you remain in ignorance to the wars because there are mortals that are calling for help and you just can’t look away from them.)

Eventually most of the Aeons are either killed off by each other (i.e, Tayzzyronth the Propagation) or assimilated into another Aeon (i.e Ena the Order), leaving a great many Paths masterless and fraying in shards, which suddenly starts to affect you badly and the poor Aeons who were just trying to do your name justice are panicking.

No one knows what happened, or what was happening to you, and when Akivili disappears/died, you disappear as well. Everyone is grieving, and there are no more new Aeons appearing anymore.

Thus you are assumed dead by the universe  (this part came from another post that I can’t quite find ;-;) and later become forgotten just because... idk. Haven’t thought much past this.

Plot twist for the universe (not really a plot twist because there would be no story without the star of the show), you are not. You just got a bit (super) sleepy because the Paths that are masterless are without an ending point and therefore drains you because there is no one there to receive the power from the separated Path. You spent a lot of your energy mending the masterless Paths back to you which made you fall asleep by the time you were done.

When you wake back up is when the game starts, and being so out of touch with the timeline of the universe, you’re just one curious bean trying to figure out what’s going on.

No one can see you now though, which is just sad for you, but you realized they can sense you so you’re just doing your best to help them now. Kafka and Silver Wolf do not understand what’s going on except the strange warm and homely feeling that makes them feel invincible is suddenly there.

Also a mischief maker if the randomly destroyed property by the subtle urging is anything to go by... yeah, there’s something there.

Kafka and Silver Wolf feel oddly disappointed when the sensation leaves, but returns to Elio and mentions it to him. He then tells them that he may or may not have withheld information from them that an Aeon (the OG of Aeons) was going to be helping them. However they react is up to your thoughts... I haven’t thought of something for that part yet.

When MC (could be either) wakes up, the first thing they actually see is You... which makes you delighted because Yay, a friend to communicate with!. Neither March 7th nor Dan Heng could understand why the MC is talking to nothing, until they felt the warm and fuzzy presence nestled into them that they are suddenly aware that MC might be interacting with a higher existence that might be an Aeon.

They are naturally wary of you at first, but upon seeing the way MC interacts with you, doing some silly stuff by your apparent urging... they realized you’re pretty harmless and also very nice (in what way, also up in the air).

[Going back to the subject of other Aeons who are essentially your Emanators by all but name, they do not know you are alive until Nanook catches sight of you/felt your very real presence with the MC when the Doomsday Beast battle happens. They are very happy you’re back, but they’re very upset because why didn’t you tell them you were back? For what reason, you guys can think about it. 

Anyways, you’ve got an Aeon stalking you and MC now, keeping a close eye on you especially because they nearly lost you once and would like it if you didn’t actually die this time. When MC starts getting acknowledged by more of the Aeons, more of them are also going to notice you too and then join Nanook with the stalking thing.

Eventually if they do find you in reality... well, that’s up to your imagination. It can also be a race between them and the mortals who start to see you physically too since you’re the sweetest existence to ever come into the universe and it’s a must to protect that innocence of yours (or for some other reason).

Also highly debating if Aeon!You would be either Aeon of Origin (the beginning of the Paths/the Origin of the Paths if going by this type of story) or Aeon of Guidance because of the in-game thing that we all do.]

Uhh... that’s all my brain can come up with here... so I shall see myself out now! ;D

[batsarebetterthanpeople]

Not to keep harping on this but I accidentally saw a post that pissed me off a little bit so I'm gonna talk about it. Originally I was gonna put this at the end of the post but I've decided to move it to the top because I know some people are determined to take me out of context so I'll sacrifice the formatting of this post and some of the impact of this sentence in a vain hope that my point will not be misconstrued. I fully anticipate people skipping over this first paragraph anyway but at least I did my due diligence. You can like Izzy, I like Lestat (AMC IWTV), I like the Joker, It's fine to have an evil blorbo. It's the apologia that gets me tho. You're fake villain fuckers and you can't admit that your blorbo is fucked up in some deeply uncomfortable ways.

That said on to my angry meta: Either Izzy is homophobic, or he's an abuser. He could be both, but he can't be neither otherwise the literal climax of the first season doesn't make any fucking sense. Like he calls in a swat on Stede and the crew because Stede has, quote, "done something to his boss's brain" and he wants Stede dead because of it. homosexuality as a corrupting influence is textbook homophobia. He thinks Stede has made Ed soft and he thinks he's using his limp wristed wiles to do it.

If you don't want to read it as homophobia (which would be a weird reading because it fails to explain that line and misses the whole message about toxic masculinity, but I've heard it's the reading that some people go with so, let's look at it) and you think that he's doing all of this because he's in love with Ed and he's jealous, I hate to tell you but that brings us back around to the abuser reading.

Like, the reading that this subset of the fandom seems to want me to believe is Izzy is in tragic gay love with Ed. But that doesn't make a single damn thing that he did ok. In fact it kind of makes it worse. Like trying to kill the loved ones of your beloved is text book abuser behavior. You're telling me that Izzy feels so entitled to Ed that he cannot take "Fuck off you're banished from the ship" For an answer, and he has to kill the guy that he blames for turning Ed against him? And I'm supposed to sympathize with that? Get real. That's text book abuser behavior. If that's the reading, then Izzy can't handle Ed having someone in his life that isn't Izzy, he can't handle Ed making decisions that Izzy doesn't approve of, and he can't handle Ed breaking off their relationship (which was Izzy's fault by the way he agreed to duel Stede sorry you can't handle the consequences honey). Those first two things you have to be able to handle if you want to have friends or even professional relationships, and the third thing is something that you're allowed to be upset about but that you're gonna have to move on from. Instead Izzy comes up with a hair brained scheme that risks the crews lives, Calico Jack's life, and, most importantly, risks Ed's life in order to... what? Undermine Ed's own autonomous choice to pursue a relationship with Stede? Get rid of a guy that he thinks is driving him and Ed apart so that Ed will maybe take him back? That's abuser shit my guy.

If there's another explanation for Izzy calling the fucking cops I'd love to hear it but as far as I can tell the options are "He hates Stede because Stede is frilly and camp and thinks Stede is making Ed weak" aka Textbook hate crime and "He's in deeply dysfunctional love and is therefore trying to force Ed to be in a relationship with him despite the fact that Ed has made it clear he doesn't want that" aka Textbook abuser.

To be clear I wouldn't have Izzy any other way. The roll he plays in the narrative is important to the story. I don't like him, per se, but I like stories about overcoming toxic masculinity, and those stories have to have a villain, and I was deeply emotionally ruined by the consequences of his actions, (i.e. the domino effect that caused Stede to abandon Ed on the dock) so I want him around for as long as they decide to keep him around. Just, like, fucking pretending he's never done anything wrong ever? Come on now.

[tiny-tigers]

✨ Gosh none of these boys can stand to be on their own can they...! 😂 (guess that's what happens when you're in a group sport and are around people 24/7)

I think its good he's back in Leicester! Surely means he's well enough to slowly begin the rehab process no?

I wonder whether if Teddy Martin grew his hair longer maybe that would help bring his youthful looks back? 😅😆 *boybander George*

Glad you watched the 'this rose: live thing'! It did make me giggle quite a bit - the 'gov' laugh at Joe, and him looking astonished that march thought he was actually in a band called 'the good the bad and the ugly' 😂😂 It did make me see him in a different light though...? 🥲 and I got the vibe from it that he's one of those people whose confidence is strengthened when they're more confident than the person next to them (i.e Joe)

[watched 'this rose: Japan week' last night and Fred/Marchant/Marcus all seemed pretty chummy] 👀😅 also again, giraffe looked enormous when sitting down on a beanbag next to Mitchell. *why he look tiny on tv tho*

OMG why did that make me so happy to hear people are asking for Jacky back 😭🤩🥰 I don't hate Mitchell either, I think he's trying to make the best out of a shit situation - getting brought in last minute after everyone's spent months together must be tough? Will be interesting to see if he's rested this weekend though? I have a feeling Fred might be? Apparently he picked up a dead leg in that Japan game, the 'rugby pod' even spoke about it....👀😖🥲 Also people calling for Marcus Smith at fullback are really starting to wind me up...starting as an international 15 is *very different* than playing the last 10 mins as a 15 people.....! [fair play to Jim Hamilton & Andy Goode for pointing this out too!]

*sorry rant over* 😂

Yeh the crocs are awful. And as hard as I try, I just cant get onboard with that boys laugh 😭😭😭🙂 but yeh I love March too! A little sweetheart 🥰 Also does anyone else urm fancy Lewis Ludlam a bit......? *asking for a friend*

😆

I am so happy to follow and be followed by leicester physio it might come handy...

The party animal inside must be growling. I cannot see him not hurry up the rehab process he is too emotional not to rage.

I hate their generic haircut but his choices were even weirder and what the heck is on with Mullet in Rugby..

Never been too interested in George Martin but he seems even more relaxed than Cameron !? It is still so funny to me that Cameron and Ollie went with Jack in a share house.. It is almost like they babysit him to me. I imagine Cam and Ollie with naprons on when it was actually Jack cooking for Cam..

He has such a voice our Fred really his accent is gone he ossciliate so much between posh and goofy.

I am so behind with the this rose episodes omg !!

I am not for or against MS as 15 I am just against being so much at plan D or Z bis that we try anything that could eventually work in the multiverse of possibilities?

@saintsnlancs someone is asking for some Ludlam love 😉

[shijiujun]

Okay I’ve decided to do a single rec after I finish one novel hahaha because if I wait to get around to it all it’ll never happen! Anyway because @sarah-yyy​​ has been reading it and I’ve gotten a lot of asks/replies on this, I’m just going to do one huge list for one of my faves so everyone knows what’s going on and where to find things XD

- Part of Min’s ‘Why You Should Read’ Series -

Summary: 

This is set in a historical setting where men can marry other men, but it’s usually reserved for sons who were not borne by the official main first wife of the patriarch of the family, i.e. a son born by a concubine in a family may be forced to marry a man to keep him from being able to become the next family’s patriarch for example. This is because any family’s next leader needs to be able to have children with a wife who married in as a zheng shi (lawful wife), and not a ce shi (second wife) or any other concubines/mistresses etc. Most of these men who marry other men have to take them as their zheng shi and lawful spouse in a sense, and the same goes for the royal family.

The story starts with third prince Jing Shao, who was forced to marry Mu Han Zhang, a Marquis’ second son, by the Empress and Emperor, thereby officially and effectively cutting him out of the race for the throne. He’s mocked by the public as everyone knows what this means, and for the next 10 years, he neglects Mu Han Zhang, blaming him for his predicament, and deliberately showers his three other concubines with affection in front of him, but 10 years later, when Jing Shao is accused of treason, everyone leaves him except for Mu Han Zhang. They are chased to the edge of the cliff by soldiers, and Mu Han Zhang dies in his arms having taken an arrow meant for him earlier, and Jing Shao jumps off the cliff with his dead body, and promises that if there’s a next life, he will do everything Han Zhang says, and love him.

He wakes up immediately on the night of his marriage with Han Zhang, and realizes that he’s been given a second chance to make everything right. Han Zhang is definitely afraid of him, humiliated and angry when he first wakes up after how rough Jing Shao was with him earlier on their wedding night, and he has no memories of their past life. Jing Shao then sets to SHOWER HAN ZHANG with affection, love and basically everything, because he realized that this is the only person who stayed by his side until the end, and then he falls in love with Han Zhang properly this time, and also deals with every single person who maligned and schemed against him in his previous life, with Han Zhang by his side.

Read: 

Novel (Online) | Novel (Print) - Not Available | Novel Translations | Manhua (You’ll have to download the KuaiKan app, the chapters are currently all free)

Characters:

1. 景韶 Jing Shao - 3rd Prince and is the first out of his three other brothers to be given a title 成王 (cheng wang). He’s referred to as 王爷, and also 小勺 (xiao shao) by Han Zhang. Went out on his first war when he was 14, and was thus given a title before any of his brothers. He’s known for being a merciless, cold and fierce army general/commander, but this was before his second life with Han Zhang, where he puts on like his doting mode and is basically a dumbass XD who listens to Han Zhang with a lot of trust, which is cool and all.

He marries Han Zhang when he’s 19, and in his first life he was very reluctant and resistant, and neglected Han Zhang for 10 years, until he was charged with treason and hunted down. 

In his first life he wanted to snatch the throne, even from his blood-related brother Jing Chen, but more out of spite than anything else because he felt he was dealt an unfair hand by having to marry Han Zhang. Not only that, but Jing Shao is not his father’s favourite son, and he always felt that the emperor was biased against him. Anyway, a huge accumulation of daddy and anger issues, which is fair.

When he realizes that Han Zhang died for him, he decides he will be good to Han Zhang if they are reborn in their next life.

2. 慕含章 Mu Han Zhang - The 2nd son of Marquis Bei Hou’s, born to a concubine. He’s called by his 表字 which is 君清 (jun qing) by Jing Shao. Official First Wife Bei Wei Hou-furen and her son (who is in line to inherit the Marquis title from his father) has bullied him all his life, and wanted to push him into greater desperation by marrying him to Jing Shao, knowing he will suffer at the hands of the supposed merciless/heartless wangye. He has a weak body because of an accident when he was younger, and in his first life he was really sick after being neglected for 10 years, and knowing this in their second life, Jing Shao does everything he can to take care of him.

He is incredibly smart, has a brain for business and sales, and is also very good at handling people, especially scheming ones. He aids Jing Shao in the beginning of their second life, and then Jing Chen later as well, as both brothers begin to fight to put Jing Chen on the throne, against the 1st and 4th Princes. Is an incredibly good tactician in war as well.

3. 景琛 Jing Chen - 2nd Prince, Jing Shao’s blood related older brother who is handsome af too. His title, given later in the novel, is 睿王 (rui wang). He was misunderstood by Jing Shao in the first life as Jing Shao thought it was his brother who led to him marrying Han Zhang, and because he’s not very good at expressing himself and shows his concern to Jing Shao by nagging at him, Jing Shao always thought he hated him. In their second life, Jing Shao already knows that Jing Chen loves him and did a lot for him in his first life, and so trusts his brother and supports him right off the bat, because Jing Chen is indeed the most suited person for the throne.

He has a wife and a concubine, 3 sons and 2 daughters at this point. He ends up helping Jing Shao a lot, and when he realizes that Han Zhang is way more adept at politics and the whole scheming thing than Jing Shao is, he begins trusting Han Zhang a lot more as well! There’s a surprise with Jing Chen hahaha which I loveee and could see, but wasn’t sure until they confirmed it in the last few chapters AHAHAHAHA.

Other Notable Characters:

1. Song Ling Xin (Second Wife) on the left, and two other concubines on the right

They’re pretty much vying for Jing Shao’s attention, but at this point apparently he hasn’t slept with any of them before. Song Ling Xin is the daughter of the Military Department’s Head Song An, and Jing Shao married her initially out of interest. The right most concubine (I forgot her name oops) was a gift given to him by his oldest brother, the 1st Prince. The two of them played a huge role in Jing Shao’s downfall back in his first life, and so in his second life, he especially detests Song Ling Xin. Plus the three of them keep bullying Han Zhang in the beginning, but thankfully Jing Shao is like: “Anything my Jun Qing wants”. They don’t stay around for long either, watch as Jing Shao gets rid of them like he’s swatting flies.

2. Xiao Yuan & Zhou Da-Ge

This is another male couple who’s been married for 7-8 years if I recall. Xiao Yuan is one of Jing Shao’s important allies and friends in the second life, because in Jing Shao’s first life, this was one of the only young officials in court who spoke up for him when the accusations of treason came about. Zhou Da-Ge is his husband, who is a cook running a restaurant in the city. Whenever Zhou Da-Ge bullies Xiao Yuan in bed a little too much, Xiao Yuan punishes him by making him wear colourful clothes out (pink, bright yellow, purple, etc.) and thus he has a reputation for being eccentric and a weirdo, but oh well, all for love.

3. Gu Huai Qing

One of Jing Shao and Jing Chen’s most powerful allies, and he becomes blood-sworn brothers with Jing Shao without realizing who he is. Later he takes a liking to Jing Chen.

(Will update with photos when they come out, but they’re a bit further into the story so we won’t have them for a few months yet ahahaha)

Amazing Scenes:

Jing Shao & Han Zhang first looks in the manhua

Jing Shao being THAT clingy husband and helping Han Zhang to wear his clothes properly so cute!!!!!

Han Zhang and Jing Shao in their first lives (10 years later), about to die, sad and then Jing Shao jumps down the cliff with Han Zhang’s corpse, regretful cuz he a dumb bij

Jing Shao unable to resist kissing Han Zhang’s cheek, realizes what he’s doing, and gets embarrassed LMAOOOO 没出息!!!!!!! (This is different from the novel, because in the novel Jing Shao just kisses and is done with that, the embarrassment part is drawn in only in the manhua hahaha)

Other Things I Like in the Novel:

Jing Shao is like, he does a 180 entirely and he is very cognisant of all his faults and what he did wrong previously, and how badly he treated Han Zhang, so he legit forces his brain to go “I will listen to Jun Qing from now on” and he really sticks to it!

Loves kissing and teasing Han Zhang, but doesn’t force him into bed after their wedding night, and instead goes to Xiao Yuan and asks for tips on how to make his partner feel less scared about sex

The both of them end up with a pet tiger?!! That’s called Xiao Huang (little yellow) LMAO

They nap together a lot which I love <3333

Jing Shao knows he’s bullied at home, so when they go back to the Marquis Bei Hou manor, he holds Han Zhang’s hand in front of everyone to let them know Han Zhang has someone to back him up

Brings Han Zhang to war because he “cannot concentrate if Jun Qing isn’t with me at all times” - and asks for special permission to do so

Han Zhang notes that since he married Jing Shao, as the ‘wife’ he is supposed to serve Jing Shao, but it’s always Jing Shao serving him - Getting water for him, bringing him to baths, putting clothes on for him, putting food in his plate if it tastes nice, massaging his back and waist etc. - and best is he doesn’t have to deal with any in-laws?!! HAHAHA

Jing Shao gets revenge on those who hurt Han Zhang when he was younger for him, and the outcome is pretty hilarious but well-deserved

EPILOGUES are cute af!!!!

[goodqueenaly]

Do you believe that Stannis new about the shadow person who killed Renly? And, what does it say about his moral code?

Did Stannis know Renly was going to die? Yes, I think so. Did Stannis know his, Stannis', life force was going to be used to birth a shadow assassin who would murder Renly? No, I don't think so.

After all, discussion of Renly's death comes when Davos asks Stannis about Robert's "true killers":

"If someone said I had magicked myself into a boar to kill Robert, likely they would believe that as well."

"You cannot stop them talking, my liege," Davos said, "but when you take your vengeance on your brothers' true killers, the realm will know such tales for lies."

Stannis only seemed to half hear him. "I have no doubt that Cersei had a hand in Robert's death. I will have justice for him. Aye, and for Ned Stark and Jon Arryn as well."

Stannis was just talking about Cersei having a hand in Robert's death - but when Davos brings up Renly, Stannis does not go so far for himself:

"And for Renly?" The words were out before Davos could stop to consider them.

For a long time the king did not speak. Then, very softly, he said, "I dream of it sometimes. Of Renly's dying. A green tent, candles, a woman screaming. And blood." Stannis looked down at his hands. "I was still abed when he died. Your Devan will tell you. He tried to wake me. Dawn was nigh and my lords were waiting, fretting. I should have been ahorse, armored. I knew Renly would attack at break of day. Devan says I thrashed and cried out, but what does it matter? It was a dream. I was in my tent when Renly died, and when I woke my hands were clean."

Stannis is pretty adamant to Davos that he considered what was in all likelihood a supernatural glimpse of Renly's assassination as nothing more than a very bad dream. This is a man pretty generally honest, even bluntly so, talking to the closest thing he has to a best friend about the death of a man he was prepared to go into battle against that very day; I don't see Stannis' motivation to lie about how he felt in the moment (i.e. in believing he merely dreamed Renly's death), especially when he could have easily held back from all the detail he provided Davos about how he wasn't connected (physically or spiritually) to the event. So Stannis is either the biggest hypocrite in the world for accusing Cersei of being Robert's killer while exonerating himself for Renly's death or he really thought that what he saw was just a dream; which you settle on is up to you.

Too, I think Stannis' statements elsewhere in the chapter suggest that he only knew Renly was going to die, somehow, without being specifically aware of Melisandre's shadowbinding exercise. Stannis notes that Melisandred "saw Renly’s doom as well. On Dragonstone she saw it ... [and] told me that if I went to Storm’s End, I would win the best part of my brother’s power". That to me suggests that Melisandre told Stannis that Renly would die at or near Storm's End, and that Stannis would do best to be on hand when he did so that he, Stannis, could "win the best part of my brother’s power" that was still there. Likewise, he gruffly insists (when cutting off the machismo argument between Morrigen, Caron, and Penrose about Renly's death) that "The Lord of Light willed that my brother die for his treason. Who did the deed matters not"; that statement also suggests to me that Stannis saw Renly's death as a fated thing, destined to happen, rather than an action he himself undertook. (This belief is echoed in Stannis' confidence that "Ser Cortnay will be dead within the day. Melisandre has seen it in the flames of the future"

What any of the above says about Stannis' moral code ... well, that's up to you and your moral code on an individual level. Do you believe that Stannis genuinely didn't know, and if so, what do you think he believed would happen to Renly? Does the mere fact that Stannis had empowered Melisandre to such a degree within his court make him liable for whatever Melisandre did in his name, and if so, to what extent? Does it matter that Stannis believed Renly had committed treason - do you believe Renly had committed treason? Does it matter that Stannis seems haunted by what happened - that Devan reports that "[s]ince Lord Renly died, he has been troubled by terrible nightmares" and that Stannis himself says that "I did love him, Davos. I know that now. I swear, I will go to my grave thinking of my brother's peach"? Any or none of these considerations might affect how you view Stannis and his moral code.

[antagonizedjordan]

I don’t really know what to say here, but I feel I need to say something.

My family was among the first to lose power in Austin, Texas, during the so-called “rolling blackouts” that turned out to be a controlled, intentional shut-off for select citizens for an undetermined amount of time.  A lie that resulted in massive suffering, a lack of preparedness, death of pets and plants, and yes, death to families across Texas, including children. Devastating property damage is still bursting through the state, apartments and homes flooding out, freezing, and catching fire.  Whatever the media is telling you about what’s going on in Texas, it’s worse.  And those pictures with the completely lit skylines and the blacked-out neighborhoods you’ve seen? They aren’t exaggerating.  I could see the empty high rises from our home, stuck in total darkness, with hotels keeping on their landscaping lights, and empty office buildings lit all the way up.  When I tell you the racial and class divide of who had power (electricity) and who didn’t was real, I mean it was REAL.  East of I-35 was left to suffer.  

After 2 days of our home’s interior at 30 degrees, and with no water or fireplace to help, we made the decision to evacuate.  I.e., decided it was more worth it to risk the roads (which were some of the most hazardous driving conditions I’ve ever experienced, and I grew up on the East Coast), than freeze.  Our neighborhood was without heat for more than 50 hours straight in single digit weather, in homes NOT designed for cold temperatures.  Some people are STILL without power, and it is day 6 (this is now due to storm damage, not controlled outages).    

And we had to make this decision with little to no information, due to both a horrific lack of communication from all city entities, and completely shit phone service (on a phone with 5% battery).  

At one point, we lost control on a downhill over a bridge, and I seriously thought we were going to die. I just reached over and held my wife’s hand and told her I loved her over and over as she held our cats in the passenger seat.  It may sound silly, melodramatic, or what have you, but it was a devastatingly calm moment of acceptance and I’m still shook.  The drive to our safe home was harrowing – cars abandoned along the entire way, all in varying states.  Some destroyed, some just left there, lodged in snow.  

Ambulances were all over the place and I know I saw at least one dead body on that drive.  Our homeless population was so, so vulnerable, and resources weren’t set up in time.    

We were one of the lucky ones who had a family willing to take us in – an immunocompromised family who took in FOUR families, despite the risks of the pandemic.  They housed us, shared their food, and kept their home warm despite the price gouging of electricity.  For those who got into a hotel in time, they are also suffering from gross price gouging, if they could afford it in the first place.  

Now, a week later, most of the city still doesn’t have water, and those who do have little to no pressure and are on a boil notice.  Grocery stores are emptied out with delays on deliveries.  Yes, FEMA is here, but it’s slower than you’d think, and the warming centers were set up after the driving conditions became insanely dangerous.  It is still a disaster down here – a humanitarian crisis.  

We arrived home yesterday, and I don’t know what witchcraft kept our home safe, but our pipes did not burst. Our neighbors cannot say the same, and the damage is unnerving.  We came home to shelter, but we also came home to destroyed gardens, birds frozen in our driveway, and trauma.  

Texas’s abandonment of her people has been traumatic, and people will be recovering from this physically, emotionally, and financially for years.  Ted Cruz leaving for Cancun through it all?  Hysterically hypocritical and gold for memes, but a final punch to the gut on how abandoned Texans really were.  

If you know someone in Texas, send them your love.  It’s been a dark, dark week.

I’m thankful for HEB, our local grocery store who let customers walk out the door without paying when they lost their power, and Beto, the man who SHOULD be in charge, organizing aid for senior citizens in need.  I’m thankful for all the families who opened up their homes, and I’m thankful for the technicians who worked through horrific weather to restore power.  I’m thankful for the ambulance who drove on iced over back roads to rescue my wife’s father from his rural home, bringing him into the hospital after 3 days bedridden with a temperature of 92 degrees.  He’s alive and recovering from hypothermia.

To my art community who reached out and offered my family aid, you sent us a warmth you cannot fathom – your kindness has kept us afloat.  I tried to draw something today for the first time, but stared at a blank canvas for an hour before I finally made this.  Fanart, to make me smile, referenced from my own house, and the experience of coming home and taking a deep breath because, somehow, our home was still there.  

Love to you all,

A xo

[lochnessies]

im not disagreeing w you or anything i like edie and rhea! but a fun fact is in one war phase lecture question, edie says this:

"I know this is highly unlikely, but on the off chance that Rhea surrenders and agrees to my terms, what should I do? I would appreciate your thoughts on the matter..."

you can check on the wiki for the quotes. edie's good answer is to just strip rhea of powers and political influence, and edie's bad answer is to backstab rhea.

ok sorry for taking a little longer than i thought i was going to. i have terrible time management skills. also, i got stan @garlandgerard to do some translations for me since for whatever reason, the three houses localization team loves to scrub edelgard’s dialogue of any relevance and make her seem more passive than she actually is.

i actually have seen that dialogue choice before and knew the correct answer. HOWEVER, for one thing, she is putting all responsibility on rhea for that to happen. rhea, who per crimson flower, has very clearly lost her mind and had been in a flight or fight response for five years. she is not going to surrender because the survival of her race lies with her. edelgard holds all the power here. she has the cards. they are her terms. rhea has no say in what happens to her.

and if we look back, nothing edelgard does or says gives me any confidence in how she would treat rhea if by some reason she did surrender. by that point you have assaulted garrag mach, grave robbed her siblings hearts, killed seteth and flayn (and i say killed bc edelgard cannot spare them in battle only byleth can) and we’re talking about el here not that piece of cardboard. the game is trying to tell you something. byleth can convince edelgard to spare a human’s life (i.e. claude), but under no circumstances can you convince her to spare the nabateans. this is also shown in leonie and linhardt’s paralogue. when you choose your units for the battle against the immovable (who is saint indech) you cannot bring either hubert or edelgard. this also translates over to fire emblem heroes. if you use edelgard to fight a nonhuman enemy she has a guaranteed follow up quote and has this lovely line:

plus, there is her treatment of rhea in all routes that is not crimson flower. she is kept in chains and tortured. and if you talk to an npc in abyss they make mention that rhea is being held to be given to twsitd later for them to use her bones and blood.

i once again bring up her localization. here’s the direct to english translations on her feelings for the nabateans.

she wants them dead. to add salt to the wound the first translation above comes from the last chapter when el talks to you before you cut to the next scene where she asks rhea to surrender. she admitted to wanting to have her and her kind obliterated and then turns around with a kind smile and acts like she should be trusted. rhea has no reason to believe that edelgard wouldn’t kill her. and edelgard knows this too. if she didn’t then she’s extremely stupid and has an even worse sense of self awareness than i already thought she had.

i don’t think edelgard enjoys the bloodshed but she’s 100% compliant in it and actively fuels it. if rhea were to surrender, el might let her live. HOWEVER you can’t strip someone of soft power which is what rhea has. people give her their respect freely and not under duress. there are three options for rhea:

surrender and be arrested for the crimes you didn’t commit and be chained underground.

surrender and be exiled from your home that you have been living on for over a thousand years and have to live with the knowledge that you are the last of your kind in an unfamiliar place forever.

fight for your right to live and maybe have the chance to survive.

also, what is the problem with rhea’s influence? the empire, kingdom, and alliance don’t answer to her. and she has no control over them. the empire got rid of their church branch 120 years ago and put a noble house in charge of religion (so it’s a state based religion with no separation of church and state thanks to the emperor). the western church is trying to kill the central, and the eastern church does literally nothing since the nobles don’t listen to them. if anything, the church is bullied by the nobility (i.e. seteth admitting that the nobles are ‘rather insistent’ with them)

and if rhea had the forgiveness of a saint (and she doesn’t on crimson flower) and she accepted, based on everything edelgard has said, done, and continues to do, there is absolutely no fucking chance rhea gets out of this situation unharmed and both rhea and edelgard know it. it’s like what jeralt said when you first meet the flame emperor: ‘your [edelgard’s] words are meaningless.’

[funkymbtifiction]

Hello. I have a few odd questions after reading this post I hope that’s alright. INFP said “When I do have feelings for somebody, I love them so deeply that I find it almost impossible to ignore that intensity” and that they’re miserable if they approach relationships ‘pragmatically’ i.e. no attraction and chemistry. So would that mean that high Fi users would be unlikely to do blind dates, arranged marriages (like in Islam where it’s believed love is comes after marriage, would they be miserable like this and unable to fall in love most of the time?), or even to believe in the “well give them a chance, you never know” approach because of Fi?

History stretches way back and often in it, people did not marry for love -- that is a relatively new concept. IFPs in some situations have zero control over their life choices -- in certain cultures and religious establishments, your parents and/or “elders” choose your spouse for you and you don’t have a say. That does not automatically mean you won’t fall in love with your partner/spouse, but it also doesn’t mean you will. In a free society with the benefit of choice, a lot of FP types would say they would rather fall in love than get married for practical reasons. And yet... aren’t all relationships eventually in some sense “practical”? People find people for many reasons -- some of them because they want to fall in love, some of them because they’re afraid to be alone, others because they are lonely. Your motivations are probably derived from your core Enneagram type, more than your personality type -- but a Fi also is miserable, as various posts have pointed out, trying to “force” feelings. The higher the Te, the more able they would be to rationalize with themselves about it, but it’s still ultimately true that Fi does or does not love someone, and cannot force chemistry. I’ve seen FPs be open to blind dates, etc., as long as the ultimate choice is theirs -- and others who refuse to do any such thing. It’s all dependent on them as individuals, what they want for their life, and through what means. I do think, however, the “well, I’ll give them a chance” is more EFP than IFP. IFPs usually know quicker how they feel about someone, and if it’s a no-go, it’s over. It also relates to being sx-blind. Soc wants to bond and forge a relationship, sp wants to nest and grow old together, sx wants raw intensity and friction.

Is this approach to love a high Fe/Te way? <- no, an FJ may also want love or say no to an arranged marriage or a blind date or not care at all.

Would sx-dom high Fe/Te user feel the same way as this because of sx?

Sx is looking for sexual intensity and attraction -- sometimes Lust.

And does this mean that high Fi and sx-doms would be the type to love the most “deeply” then?

What does love mean to you and how do you measure it? To me, love is being willing to stay with someone even when it’s hard, when you have to take care of them while they battle cancer and have nothing to say to you, because they are up at 2am puking their guts out in the toilet -- and you wish you could save them from that pain, because it puts you in literal physical agony to see them suffer. To me, love can mean sending your kid to rehab so they don’t wind up dead of an overdose. It can mean caring about someone enough to walk out of their life, because you realize they are better off without you, that you bring out the worst in them or cause them too much pain. To me, true love is unselfish, and cares more about what is best for the object of their love, than what they want. Is that deep love? Possibly. But it’s not the “consume you alive” kind of love that a lot of movies and books glamorizes, is it?

Basically I’m asking - people love differently right, some fall in love fast and others take more time, some fall in love 'pragmatically’ and others are guided by their feelings, some root their romantic relationships in friendship and familiarity and through that experience love and others base it in chemistry and sex appeal, so does the way we love and experience love correlate with our types and social instincts? How?

I imagine it does, but you’re asking me to compress all of humanity and its complexity into a single answer -- and there is none. I would say heart types make decisions through their feelings, head types try to make them with their head, and gut types operate off of instinct. I know an ESFJ/INTP who got married after their first date (a week later) -- though they had worked with each other for six months. They’re now 40 years into marriage and have been through hell and back, health-wise, without ever making a misstep. I’ve known other couples who dated FOREVER before finally getting married. I’ve seen people hop in and out of marriages and relationships, never seeming satisfied. Are some combos more pragmatic? Yes. Are some more restless? Yes. But that does not automatically mean they will do/not do certain things.

[bearseokie]

boyfriend! victon

[ gender-neutral! ] this was originally just a bf! subin headcanon, but i clearly cannot control myself.

victon m.list | navi. | nsfw bf! victon (M)

Seungwoo:

openly admitted his feelings for you in the hopes you would reply with the same emotions.

his gestures are always romantic, even if he means them to be casual (i.e kissing your knuckles, helping you out of a vehicle, pulling your chair out for you.)

sweeps you off your feet every chance he gets. figuratively and physically.

you can't be in a room that doesn't have flowers in them, he makes sure of that.

holds his hand up flat so you can press yours against it.

will walk in on you in the bathroom and laugh at your embarrassed reaction while he brushes his teeth.

gives you his clothes to wear almost every day, you barely wear anything from your own wardrobe.

back hugs you every chance he can.

gym dates where you sit off to the side and take pictures of him while he works out. he eventually gets bored of you watching him and asks to bench you instead of his weights, which ends up in you falling on top of him laughing. if you do work out with him, he spots you the entire time instead of doing his own workout.

drives with one hand on the wheel and the other on your thigh.

shakes you awake so you can watch the sunrise through the window together while you lay in each other’s arms.

sleeps on his stomach so you have to hold him instead of the other way around.

tosses you over his shoulder instead of picking you up like normal.

writes handwritten letters when you're apart.

running your fingers through his hair while his head lays on your chest.

when he sings in the shower, he sings at full volume. the steam will be seeping from under the door, and even if you’re dead asleep, he will belt out some high notes that wakes you up instantly with a smile on your face.

lets you sit on his lap all the time. even if he is in the middle of something, he will just slide his arms under yours and continue working with you in his hold.

loves to hold you up by your waist to kiss you like you’re in a dramatic romance movie.

messes with you a lot. loves to piss you off so he can pinch your cheeks and kiss you until you cool down.

the type of boyfriend that invites you to dinner, walks you home, and doesn't leave until the next morning if you catch the drift.

Seungsik:

he is terrible at opening up to people (he's said this himself), and it takes a long time for someone to get to know him.

and by a 'long time' he meant maybe two days after he met you because that title immediately flew out the window. eager to know everything about you, it was only fair that he talked about himself, too.

confessed to you by holding your hand awkwardly while standing behind you so you couldn't see how hard he was blushing

he knows what you're thinking without you even saying anything

does house chores for you regularly so you get time to relax.

"where did these flowers come from?" seungsik.

purposely waits for you to ask him to do something just so he can admit that he already did it. usually ends in you showering him with 'thank you' kisses.

knows your food orders by heart

short walks during light rains just so he has an excuse to cover you with his coat and run home with you.

the most caring person around you when you get sick, will nurse you back to health like his life depends on it.

brings you outside just so you can sit in the grass and blow on dandelions together.

“did you eat yet?” texts regularly

very handy when it comes to home projects. even if you don’t ask you to join him in fixing something, he’ll already be three steps ahead of you with it almost done by the time you get the first word out.

loves to run his hands through your hair.

candlelit dinners late at night while sharing each other’s passions and dreams.

matching phone lock screens where you’re his and he’s yours.

nose kisses.

matching plaid pants.

No matter how far from each other you’re standing, he always instinctively holds his hand out for you to take.

sleeps with your head on his chest so you can listen to his heartbeat.

Chan:

he fell madly in love with you instantly the second he saw you. he couldn’t look away. finally plucked up the courage to ask you out but got so nervous that you had to ask him instead.

can make you laugh with a single facial expression.

once tried to impress you by throwing his coat over a puddle so you could walk over it, it was a sewage drain and his coat was ruined.

leaves the house and returns with every snack imaginable for you to share. lots of lady and the tramp spaghetti moments but with ramen. flavored waters stored in your fridge like the world is ending. enough sweets to survive an apocalypse.

yanks you down the sidewalk to pet a dog.

every time you walk around the park, he asks for you to go down the double slide with him so you can hold hands.

takes up 80% of the bed when sleeping so you have to cling to him in order to not fall off the side.

long phone calls at the end of the day when you’re apart. he tells you everything that happened and doesn’t leave out a single detail.

rooftop dates where you can watch the sun go down while you hold hands and kiss.

he always has a story to tell you, no matter what time of day it is.

picnics.

you’ll never have to open another door for yourself again.

lets you sit behind him so you can hug his back while he holds on to your legs around his waist.

has a soft spot for your laugh. if you start laughing, he'll start laughing, and neither of you will have oxygen in your lungs for a while.

artistic dates where you try out new activities. acrylic pours, spray-painting, even drawing on each other. loves to make a mess of things so he gets to spend more time with you cleaning it up.

matching hoodies.

blaring music while dancing together around your living room.

kisses you like you’re the only two people on the planet.

takes you to a small diner for dinner and you both sit there and talk until the sun is rising.

gets lead on easily, so he trusts you with his life because he loves you.

Sejun:

obnoxious 'go to the store with me' dates where it's just the two of you rampaging around the aisles finding nothing in particular while coming up with more inside jokes than you can memorize.

begs you to watch scary movies with him just so you'll cling to him scared. he clings to you instead because he's terrified.

arcade dates.

loud screaming when he isn't expecting you.

you have a wall dedicated to doodles he’s drawn for you, even if they were torn from the corners of notebook paper. also leaves sticky note messages for you to find around your home.

the type of boyfriend to find an abandoned shopping cart and put you in it to go around town.

karaoke dates where he screams at the top of his lungs.

willingly falls off of furniture reaching you for you when he’s sleepy.

stormy nights are no longer scary because he’ll bring out the battery-powered lantern and some snacks. also helps you build a blanket fort.

piggy-back rides.

every time you turn around he's feeding you food or bringing you something to drink. if you tell him you haven't eaten all day, he'll carry you to the kitchen and spoon-feed you until you're full so he knows you're taken care of.

handmade couples’ bracelets himself.

pushes on 'pull' doors and pulls on 'push' doors, so you have to walk ahead of him or else you'll look goofy. don't even think about making him go between automatic doors, he'll somehow break the sensor.

hugging his neck and resting on his wide shoulders.

car playlists that you both yell at the top of your lungs when going somewhere.

falls asleep against you once a day.

study dates where he helps you go over things for school. turns your notes into games so you learn them easier. you get rewarded for correct answers with kisses.

holding hands while jumping into a pool together. loves to lay on floats with you on top of him until he decides to throw you off into the water. splashes you the second you get around him to begin a war that doesn’t end unless one of you calls a truce.

sleeps on his back with you curled up against him.

holds you by your hips all the time.

Hanse:

the 'he'll never show interest in me.' until one day, in the spur of the moment, he spills out everything. about how he has had a crush on you since you met, how fast his heart races when you look at him, all of the times he's wanted to tell you.

you have to kiss him just to shut him up. which sticks because he rambles to you A Lot and kisses are the only way to help him shut off his brain.

he secretly overthinks everything, but will never let it be known.

you're his notepad so he doesn't have to hold it all in, and he can't go a day without expressing how grateful he is to have you.

late nights laying in each other's arms just talking about life and the world and memories.

studio dates where you randomly show up at like 1 a.m. with coffee and sweets to keep him energized. sometimes he pretends like he’s not going to open the door for you unless you beg him with a pout.

loves to take selfies with you. takes pictures of you when you aren’t looking, and you can’t be angry because you do the same to him.

skin care nights where you just pamper one another.

loves back hugs. and front hugs. he hugs you constantly.

pda is huge with him. he doesn’t care who’s looking, if he wants to hold your hand or kiss you, he will.

tattoo dates where you get to hold his hand and watch him get new ink.

extravagant halloween costumes. like he goes ham on your matching costumes. both of you always win competitions for the best dressed.

mirror pics with you doing random stuff in the back because he gave you zero warning.

movie dates. he purposely puts his hand in the popcorn bowl at the same time you do just so he can make you blush.

loves to cook for you. you don’t even have to ask, he’ll just have a full plate of food waiting for you when you get in. yes, sometimes it’s take out he pretended to cook, but you still love him.

sharing/matching accessories. definitely a lover of couple rings, and you’ll have a few instead of just one pair. he loves variety.

loves to be the little spoon. loves to be called baby. loves praise. loves when you play with his hair. loves when you boop his nose. hanse is that soft baby boyfriend.

steals your clothes more than you steal his.

if you make him laugh hard enough, his cheeks will turn pink and he’ll get flustered and try to hide his face against you.

cool and intimidating to everyone, but your soft boyfriend the second you put his hand in yours.

Byungchan:

'we met on accident' is what he tells everyone, but he actually got on his knees and asked you out thinking you'd never give him the time of day if he didn't do something extravagant.

stares at you when you steal his sweatshirts wondering when he’ll get it back (he won’t).

if you sleep over at his place, just know you’re sleeping more with the layer of blankets and pillows he has on his bed than him. but he will kick them off into the floor when he wants to hold on to you.

you’re convinced he can spawn coffee when you ask for some because he always returns home with them minutes after he leaves.

ice cream dates! or any food specific dates.

tall bf that reaches for things on the top shelf for you.

during his rough days he will cuddle up to you on the couch without saying a word. gently placing his head on your shoulder as he sits beside you, lacing your fingers together. eventually opens up about what’s bothering him, but just wants to be near you at first.

puppy eyes that can convince you to do anything for him. if that's not enough, he'll just kiss you until you comply.

reads books to you when you can’t sleep.

forehead kisses.

adrenaline dates like skydiving, cliff jumping, anything that gives him an excuse to hold on to you while you scream his name.

over-sized coats that he pulls over your shoulders when you feel chilly.

rests his chin on your head all the time just because he can.

aesthetic photo-shoots in random places while you make each other laugh so hard that every photo comes out blurry.

lays on top of you while sleeping. quite literally squashes you. you’re basically his own, personal teddy bear.

the one you scream for when a bug is around. he’ll lift you up onto tall furniture while he picks it up and takes it outside.

high-pitched whiny voice when he’s frustrated so you know that something is bothering him every time. he’s convinced you’re psychic because he doesn’t know that his voice does that subconsciously.

late nights staying up to watch old sitcoms while his head lays in your lap.

stealing his beanies.

if you get into bed with him, you won’t be able to get out.

Subin:

'best friends to lovers' !!!

before he knew he was in love with you, he would just find ways to spend time with you. long nights studying together. sleepovers consisting of movies and video games. sharing food and drinks without thinking twice about it.

his usually soft and calm demeanor immediately went away the second he realized he had feelings for you.

his scent is your favorite thing in the world.

cuddles up against you while sleeping. like his face in your neck, cuddling.

intense eyes always watching you until you finally meet his gaze, then he softens up.

he cannot sleep unless you are beside him. even calling and talking doesn't help, he needs you next to him.

couch potatoes.

rarely goes out for dinner dates, prefers to just order in and stay in comfortable clothing. which also benefits his cuddle time afterward.

matching pajama sets with slippers

chases you trying to get a hug

he's very stubborn if you ask him to do something. you'll have to play the 'no, you.' game for a while before he huffs and gets up to do it.

sundays are cuddle in bed days, he insists.

very competitive towards you while playing video games, kisses you when you lose but won't even look at you when you win.

his soft, pouty lips.

never lets go of your hand. you could be in the middle of something important and he'll still lace his fingers with yours.

sliding his glasses off his face when he falls asleep with them on.

middle of the night wake-ups were he just wants to hold and kiss you while lightly rocking you in his arms until you fall back asleep.

making him his favorite treats when he’s been working a lot so he knows you’re proud of him.

if he starts kissing your neck, it’s game time.

[caranfindel]

Episode recap/review: Walker 1.14

I didn't expect to recap 1.14 and yet here I am, still avoiding my unfinished Summergen fic. I'm actually writing this in real time, as I watch the episode. So for once I'm not pretending I don't know what happens. I literally don't know.

We begin with Cordell and Grandpa clearing up the crime scene. How much do I love Cordell saying "Daddy?" A lot. And not in that way, you perverts. It just really brings out the Texan.

Liam is in bed, recuperating. He gets a call (note that he calls himself William professionally, which is news to me, and I like it for whatever reason) from someone asking for a comment, which he starts to angrily refuse before Gramma Walker grabs his phone and hangs up. Gramma Walker going all Mama Bear for Liam is also interesting, and unexpected. But Liam says "I can take care of myself" and she says "No, you can't. None of you boys can." And then looks sadly out the window, where Cordell and Grandpa are taking down the crime scene tape. I just have to think "none" and not "both" means she's thinking of poor dead Hoyt, who she obviously loved like a son, if not more so. (More evidence for the Hoyt is her lovechild file? Maybe.)

Geri shows up, wearing an unnecessary cowboy hat and Hoyt's old jacket. She's bearing Hoyt's last will and testament, written on a bar coaster! Oh, my heart. And in case you can't read it:

If I get shivved in the shower or some old horse kicks me upside the head. For real Liam stamp it and everything - I leave everything to Geri/"Geraldine Broussard"/angle [sic] face sweet lips etc. So that plot I bought over in Tanglewood is for her and whatever I got in my pockets or elsewhere. See ya in the next life.

Angle face!

I'm not sure this would stand up in court, since he didn't even sign his last name, although it is witnessed by William Walker. Anyway, it's a moot point, because the land Hoyt intended to give Geraldine "Angle Face" Broussard is transferring to new owners, effective tomorrow. Which makes no sense. The deal fell apart because he died, and yet it's so soon after his death that the police tape is still up. New owners wouldn't be in the picture that quickly. Reverting to previous owners, because it was owner-financed? Sure. But not new owners. (Whatever, Caranfindel. Move it along.) She asks Cordell to go with her to gather his personal belongings. And to bring the kids. Hmmm, let's see how Stella can mess this up. (Tanglewood is 71 miles from Austin. Of course I looked it up.)

But first, Cordell has to sign paperwork to begin his leave of absence. So he didn't actually intend to quit. I mean, we all knew he'd be back, but I kind of thought he was, at the time, intending to quit for good. Does Connie the HR person have a big old crush on him? There is hand touching and deep, serious gazing.

Touch him, Connie. Touch him for those of us who cannot.

Micki is sitting right outside the conference room where he signs his papers but still acts surprised that he's in the building. Did she not smell the rosemary mint shampoo as he walked by? He thanks her for the flowers and apologizes for not calling her back. And then cancels their lunch plans so he can go off with Geri and the kids.

Someone said this on Tumblr, and I think it bears repeating here. It's interesting comparing Cordell's grief, over his wife and now his best friend, to Sam's grief. Cordell is clearly deeply affected, and is also clearly moving on. Sam is just unhinged.

Elsewhere. The gang stops for lunch and reminisces about Hoyt dressed as Santa, wearing assless chaps. Well. That's memorable. (Also, I know people who did the whole leaving horse manure and pretending it's reindeer poop thing. Some people are just a lot more into Santa than I was.) Trevor (Travis? Whatever) called Stella. She's apparently avoiding him. Probably a good call, sis. Maybe the only one you've made in 14 episodes. (To be fair, I didn't watch the first four.)

Micki shares tacos with her boyfriend, whose name I can never remember, having been stood up by Cordell. She tells him Cordell seemed "off," which is great now, Micki. Why didn't you pay more attention to that feeling last week? The BF thinks Micki herself might be off, because she misses her partner. And she calls him family. Captain What's His Face comes to talk to Trey (that's his name, dammit) and asks if he knows a guy who goes to the same physical therapist's office. Friends, when I've done PT, I don't even know people who go to my therapist, let alone just go to someone in the same office. But maybe folks in Austin are just friendlier than they are round these parts. Oh, wait. The guy is missing, and was last seen in a heated discussion with Trey? What's up with that, Trey?

Tanglewood. Cordell asks the nice lady (realtor? owner?) about Hoyt's "personal affects," and she says "they are probably out grazing." Because Hoyt's personal effects are four horses and a llama. Which Geri owns now. "Where am I going to board four horses and a llama?" she asks. Cordell is oddly befuddled (and adorably, cause y'all know how I feel about befuddled Jared), as if he didn't live on a ranch. With horses. The family business, remember? The kids are entranced. I would be too. It's a damn cute llama. One of the mares actually nursed the llama, so they're family. (Watch out for falling anvils.)

Micki's house. Trey says the "heated discussion" was the missing guy showing him a judo move. Captain asks Trey to ride along and help him investigate, and poor partnerless Micki asks if she can come with.

Tanglewood. Apparently Hoyt's personal affects also included gear for the four horses, because everyone is saddled up. Geri doesn't seem like an experienced rider - she keeps her hand on the pommel of the saddle, which I always heard was a rube move. (At least she's not clutching the saddle horn. No shade. It's hard not to. It's a perfect handle and it's just right there.) Cordell, of course, rides perfectly, as he does everything perfectly.

Everything except his job. And raising his kids. But do I care about those things? Not so much.

Geri thinks the llama looks unwell. What is she, a llama expert? A veterinarian? And what are they doing on this trail ride anyway - taking the herd back to the Walker ranch? It's 71 miles away! It's an hour and a half driving! How will they get the truck? Why didn't Cordell just say "let's go back to the ranch and get Daddy's cattle trailer?" WHY.

(No one cares. No one but you thinks about these things.)

Stella is on her phone, but it turns out she's (allegedly) re-reading Hoyt's last text, not chatting with friends. And then she says she was "responsible for everything." Oh, wait. We're going there? Stella is finally going to face the music? Cordell says it's not her fault, but they're interrupted by the llama, who apparently is in distress. Cordell wants to leave him at a random homestead. Permanently? Like, "excuse me, ma'am, but can you take this llama?" Or just while they get the horses home? I dunno.

August doesn't like this, because the llama and the horses are family. Geri distracts him by claiming Hoyt wanted him to have the jacket she's wearing, although I find this rather dubious, because why did she wait so long to mention it? Why is she wearing it herself? It's a lucky jacket he won from a tarot card reader and card hustler named The Mystifying Mehar, who was "infamous for getting out of trouble because of that jacket." Cordell then asks Geri to go off with the kids while he hangs back and tries to ditch the llama. Oh no, Cordell, don't do that. He's family!

Back at the ranch, Grandpa chases off some more journalists. He also ignores Gramma's concern about his cancer.

Trail ride. We skipped the whole bit where Cordell found someone willing to take in a goddamn llama, caught up with his kids, and told them what he did. They're mad that he wouldn't even try, and then Stella impulsively rides off, almost falling into a revine.

Team Sassyboots 2.0 questions the missing guy's wife. Turns out he left a note. Doesn't sound like he's as missing as they thought. He said he would "fix everything," i.e., their upcoming foreclosure. They check his workshop and find evidence that he was a military contractor, and apparently this means he should have no money problems whatsoever, because they don't understand how money works. His gun safe is empty, so they figure he's on some kind of "black ops" job. And if it's going to be complete by Monday, I assume it's something local, and not a military operation.

Walker Ranch. Someone who is Liam's "political opponent" comes to take care of him? And he's bringing barbeque? Is it poisoned? Gramma says Liam can't have barbecue because he's on bedrest, as if one had anything to do with the other. And... Grandpa wants to go mushroom hunting with her? Is that what the kids call it these days?

Trail ride. Cordell found someone to keep the horses. Temporarily? I'm still confused. Stella and Geri talk about Hoyt, and Stella asks about her forgiving him. Thinking about some forgiveness toward your own bad boy, Stella? She says "the two of you were always kind of like the dream to me," which is odd considering they were off-and-on, while her parents were very much on, and definitely seem more like couple goals. But okay. Stella confesses again that she is responsible, and Geri says "you let love in, maybe; that's your worse crime." I wonder if Stella blames herself for the fake truck crash that started the whole domino effect, or if she even realizes that's what happened. Obviously Geri wouldn't. Hmmm, I wonder what August thinks about all this?

Walker Ranch. Whoever this political opponent is, he must be a family friend, because he gave a toast at Cordell and Emily's rehearsal dinner. "Hey, when did your brother have such long hair," he asks, looking at a picture of the happy couple. Liam is growing facial hair again. I like it. Opponent suggests the spicy barbecue will put hair on Liam's chest and Liam tosses it aside and says "no, dammit, after I spent all that time waxing?" And Liam might drop out of whatever race he's in. I don't really care about that part. Let's talk more about Liam's chest.

I love that they can use actual Padalecki family photos as Cordell and Emily photos. No bad Photoshop needed!

Team Sassyboots 2.0. I don't really care about this missing guy either. Skipping it. You know, I understand this is meant to be an ensemble show, and Jared Padalecki and his stupid pretty face and long legs are not going to be in every scene. But Micki working a case with her boss and her boyfriend just bothers me and I don't want to be a part of it.

Trail ride. They're bedding down in the barn for the night? What the fuck? Where are they? Why didn't they just drive home? I'm so confused! Cordell and Geri talk about Hoyt some more. Cordell makes an awkward comment about "us together" and then amends it to mean all of us together, as in you and me and the kids camping right now, not, like, you and me together together, and then does a little eyebrow thing like whoo, good job, talked your way out of that one. NO, CORDELL, YOU ARE NOT AS SMOOTH AS YOU THINK YOU ARE. Anyway. There's a lot of guilt about poor dead Hoyt. Cordell tells Geri her name is still on the Sidestep lease (lease? I thought they owned it?), as if being part owner of a bar is always going to be a good thing, with no liability at all. And they don't kiss, for which I am grateful. The horses are really acting up. I hope nothing's happening.

Cordell checks on the horses and apologizes to the mare for leaving the llama behind. He realizes he made the wrong choice. "You know what," he says. "Let's go fix this."

I adore him.

Walker Ranch. Grandpa and Gramma have been mushroom hunting and are now getting silly. Um, what kind of mushrooms did you two find? And then Grandpa says "tonight's about Hoyt," which I do not understand. "I saw the joy he gave you," Grandpa says. Yes, Grandpa, and do you not find that even a little bit fishy? And then he decides to build something.

Trail ride. Cordell went and retrieved his llama! He is precious. I love him so much. He has some pratfalls in the same ravine that almost caught Stella, and then his family shows up and rescues him. (Can I point out that his "a-ha-ha" laugh is the same one we heard when he opened his gift from Dean in "A Very Supernatural Christmas" and I'm not sure it appeared in any other episode?) August offers the Lucky Jacket to use as a llama harness to haul the little guy out of the ravine. Oh, and it turns out the llama is about to give birth.

And, while I'm skipping Team Sassyboots 2.0, it's hard to ignore that Micki is now in a UFC fight. That might have been an interesting story after all. Y'all can fill me in.

Walker Ranch. They're building a little stable. Because this big horse ranch doesn't have enough stables. Liam, who was bedridden to the point of not being able to eat barbeque yesterday, is now helping build. He gets a text from his former fiance, who wants to talk. And Grandpa has decided to treat his cancer. Happy endings all around!

Micki's house. She says she was passive-aggressive with Walker because she's afraid of losing him. I get it, sweetie. He's someone you don't want to lose.

Trail ride. August is carrying the newborn llama, wrapped in the Lucky Jacket. Geri wants to cut out before they get to the ranch. She's going to ride the bus home? Seriously? Isn't her car at the Walker Ranch? She and Cordell talk abou their unfinished business. Yeah, like the fact she was probably involved in your wife's murder? That unfinished business, Geraldine? Grandpa meets them before they get to the ranch and informs them he has a strict no-llama policy on the ranch. But luckily, he just built an alpaca stable. They’re alpacas, not llamas. So, Geri called him, but how did he know they were alpacas? Did she send pictures? I am so confused. Anyway. The new family goes into their new home. They name the baby alpaca Hoyt, of course.

Little Hoyt, guys, he's the sweetest thing.

Breakfast. Political Opponent gives Liam a contribution. Oh, I get it. They're running for the same office, and he thinks Liam will draw votes away from his other opponent. Shrewd. Stella calls Trevor and says she might need to leave the past behind. And you are the past, Trevor. Cordell sees a truck pull up and runs out to meet Micki. She apologizes for holding a grudge over him leaving. She tries to shake hands and he hugs her instead. She thinks they can just be friends now instead of partners, and he says they're not friends, they're family. And then she oohs and aahs over the alpacas, which she recognizes immediately as alpacas and not llamas, and also points out that little Hoyt is actually a girl. Oops. Awkward. Cordell is surprised she can just tell. "Most people can." Yeah, you are the worst rancher's son ever. Then Cordell sees the fence is carved with a memorial to Hoyt. Aw.

He is also the sweetest thing.

So. Less drama than last week. More warmth. A ridiculous B story that was as annoying as giving Cas his own plot. Will I still watch next week? Yeah, probably. I have questions. How did Grandpa know they were alpacas? Where is the baby daddy? Can Cordell and his rancher father really not tell the difference between a male and female alpaca? Why is Geri riding the bus home, when her car is at the Walker's? Why is she avoiding the Walker Ranch? Will August ever get his own plot again?

It's just a shame that this episode didn't have any shout-outs to Supernatural, like the last one did...

[primummobile]

💌 Venus signs 💌

as fictional relationships✍🏼

Our Venus sign, apart from indicating our relationship to physical beauty, tells us what kinds of relationships (romantic, platonic & everything in between) we envision and seek out, as well as the kind of love we give to others.

(Pt. 1: Aries—Virgo)

Pt. 2: Libra—Pisces

♀ Libra: Kitty & Levin from ‘Anna Karenina’ by Leo Tolstoy

‘Often and much as they had both heard the belief that whoever is first to step on the rug will be the head of the house, neither Levin nor Kitty recalled it as they made those steps. Nor did they hear the loud remarks and disputes that, in the observation of some, he had been the first, or, in the opinions of others, they had taken the first step together.’

Subconsciously adapt/adjust to whoever they’re with. Find themselves falling in love easily with people who admire them (& their beauty) but will only pursue a relationship if the other person is their ‘equal’. Value (good) relationships above all else in life.

♀Scorpio: Cathy & Heathcliff from ‘Wuthering Heights’ by Emily Brontë

‘Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living. You said I killed you—haunt me then. The murdered do haunt their murderers. I believe—I know that ghosts have wandered the earth. Be with me always—take any form—drive me mad. Only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! It is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!’

Death of the self—merging with the lover. Dislike superficial connections—want someone to pour their souls into. Looking for someone they can trust but have trust issues.

♀Sagittarius: Therese & Carol from ‘The Price of Salt’ by Patricia Highsmith

‘It would be Carol, in a thousand cities, a thousand houses, in foreign lands where they would go together, in heaven and in hell.’

Will not fall for anyone who constrains them. Philosophical, wordly, wisened outlook makes them disregard the conventional ‘stages’ in a relationship. In it for the experience.

♀Capricorn: Socrates & Alcibiades from ‘Alcibiades I’ by Plato

‘My love, Alcibiades, which I hardly like to confess, would long ago have passed away, as I flatter myself, if I saw you loving your good things, or thinking that you ought to pass life in the enjoyment of them. But I shall reveal other thoughts of yours, which you keep to yourself; whereby you will know that I have always had my eye on you. Suppose that at this moment some God came to you and said: Alcibiades, will you live as you are, or die in an instant if you are forbidden to make any further acquisition?—I verily believe that you would choose death.’

Seek an equally ambitious, driven partner who is willing to put work into the relationship and is in it for the long run. Attracted to people who are ‘better’ than them in some regard. Traditional expression of love, i.e. gifts and progressing to the next ‘stage’ in the relationship.

♀Aquarius: Clarissa & Sally, Peter from ‘Mrs Dalloway’ by Virginia Woolf

‘But this question of love (she thought putting her coat away), this falling in love with women. Take Sally Seton; her relation in the old days with Sally Seton. Had not that, after all, been love?’

‘For they might be parted for hundreds of years, she and Peter; she never wrote a letter and his were dry sticks; but suddenly it would come over her, if he were with me now what would he say?—some days, some sights bringing him back to her calmly, without the old bitterness; which perhaps was the reward of having cared for people; they came back in the middle of St. James’ Park on a fine morning—indeed they did.’

A bluring of the line separating friendships from romantic relationships. Fully accept their lovers as who they are, quirks and faults included. ‘Distance makes the heart grow fonder.’

♀Pisces: The Little Mermaid & The Prince from ‘The Little Mermaid’, Hans Christian Andersen

‘On many a night she would hear the fishermen [...] tell such good things about the prince; and she was glad that she had saved his life when he had drifted half dead on the waves, and would remember how firmly his head had rested on her breast and how warmly she had kissed him. He knew nothing of all this: could never even dream of her.’

Love the beginnings of relationships—fantasize endlessly about their love interest: idealists, somewhat delusional. A pure, ‘godly’ kind of love that can never be reciprocated in the same way. Would sacrifice everything when in love.

[gerrymike]

OK. commentary on my satg playlist. For reasons

lol it wont let me hyperlink but. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0w9pMZtOvP0plqdxT665q7?si=wEFnvdh3Rjaa0p2UX251mQ&dl_branch=1 Plug

1. PIEDMONT (DESTROY BOYS)

Looks like I'm late for the party Everyone knows the attire but me Glass walls separate us Catch a glimpse into different books On different shelves

i.e. teen crisis where u want desperately to live the same life as ppl on the street but also can’t imagine anything worse

2. SWEET ADELINE (ELLIOTT SMITH)

It's a picture-perfect evening and I'm staring down the sun Fully loaded, deaf and dumb and done Waiting for sedation to disconnect my head Or any situation where I'm better off than dead

i.e. she’s alive! is that worse or better. also jfc, you fucking hate hospitals

3. ALAMEDA (ELLIOTT SMITH)

You walk down Alameda  Shuffling your deck of trick cards over everyone Like some precious only son Face down, bow to the champion

also

Walk down Alameda  Brushing off the nightmares you wish Could plague me when I'm awake And now you see your first mistake  Was thinking that you could relate For one or two minutes she liked you But the fix is in

i.e. oops it’s two elliotts in a row, sorry. just. about the connection you can form with someone given just a short period of time, and how sometimes it gets ruined by, like, a werewolf. pretty similar to sweet adeline. mx weisglass gets two songs. plus “precious only son” 😬 “shuffling your deck of trick cards” 😬

4. CAN I PLAY WITH MADNESS (IRON MAIDEN)

Give me the sense to wonder To wonder if I'm free Give me a sense of wonder To know I can be me Give me the strength to hold my head up Spit back in their face

i.e. for Me mostly because i think the whiplash from elliott to maiden is kinda funny. also the gerry VS twisty animosity, in over-the-top wizardy terms. sometimes you are full of hate and that’s OK 😬 

5. ICU (PHOEBE BRIDGERS)

If you're a work of art I'm standing too close I can see the brush strokes I hate your mom I hate it when she opens her mouth It's amazing to me How much you can say When you don't know  What you're talking about

and

I'll climb through the window again But right now it feels good not to stand Then I'll leave it wide open Let the dystopian morning light pour in

i.e. we’re back in london…and, well, yeah. also, song title! we’re still in sacramento, actually, spiritually, at this point in the story

6. CRY FOR JUDAS (THE MOUNTAIN GOATS)

Feel the storm every night Hope it passes by Hallucinate a shady grove where Judas went to die Unfurl the black velvet altar cloth Draw a white chalk Baphomet Mistreat your altar boys long enough and this is what you get

i.e. crew. i think about him

7. IRIS (THE GOO GOO DOLLS)

And all I can taste is this moment And all I can breathe is your life And sooner or later, it's over I just don't wanna miss you tonight

plus

And I don't want the world to see me 'Cause I don't think that they'd understand When everything's made to be broken I just want you to know who I am

i.e. OK. OK. OK. yeah, OK. damn right all you can taste is this moment…yeah OK. SONGS5

8. KILL ALL YOUR FRIENDS (MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE)

It's been 8 bitter years since I've been seeing your face And you're walking away And I will die in this place

to

It's been 10 fucking years since I've been seeing your face round here And you're walking away And I will drown in the fear

i.e. ah…the lyrical differences in the chorus…yes…also i love how raucous this song is despite what it’s about. it’s got satg energy!!! “seeing your face”, of course, is not literal 😬

9. ENCHANTING GHOST (SUFJAN STEVENS)

Don't carry on carrying efforts, oh no, oh oh oh oh Somewhere there's a room for each of us to grow And if it pleases you to leave me, just go, oh oh oh oh Stopping you would stifle your enchanting ghost

and

Did you cut your hands on me? Are my edges sharp? Am I a pest to feed?

i.e. 😬😬😬

10. PAUL (BIG THIEF)

In the blossom of the months I was sure that I'd get driven off with thought So I swallowed all of it As I realized there was no one  Who could kiss away my shit

and PARTICULARLY

Well Paul, I know you said That you'd take me any way I came or went But I'll push you from my brain See, you're gentle baby I couldn't stay, I'd only bring you pain

i.e. HARROWING TERRITORY!!!

11. PITSELEH (ELLIOTT SMITH)

I'll tell you why I Don't wanna know where you are I gotta joke I've been dying to tell you

i.e. sorry. a lot of elliott smith on this playlist. thems the breaks

12. OPHELIA (THE LUMINEERS)

Oh, Ophelia You've been on my mind girl like a drug Oh, Ophelia Heaven help a fool who falls in love

i.e. callbacks to SONGS5…! and more pain

13. CLOUDS (BORNS)

I forget all my dreams I forget everyones name I meet I forget about time and space But I can't stop thinking 'bout your face

i.e. tfw your memory’s shit and also you just threw yourself into the sky and you’re still not over it. yowch!

14. ARCADE (DUNCAN LAWRENCE)

Oh, oh-oh-oh oh Oh, oh-oh-oh, oh All I know, all I know Loving you is a losing game

i.e. sorry i heard this song first in a c#tradora edit and i have never recovered.

15. WARS (OF MONSTERS AND MEN)

Yeah, I love you on the weekends But I'm careless and I'm wicked Yeah, I love you on the weekends It's a cruel war I still have pieces of you stuck on me Pieces of you stuck on me Yeah, I love you on the weekends It's a cruel war

i.e. PIECES OF YOU STUCK ON ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this is the only song of the new omam i’ve heard. i never got around to listening to it. but this one slaps

16. MONTERO (LIL NAS X)

Lookin' at the table, all I see is weed and white Baby, you livin' the life, but baby, you ain't livin' right Cocaine and drinkin' with your friends You live in the dark, boy, I cannot pretend

AND

A sign of the times every time that I speak A dime and a nine, it was mine every week What a time, an incline, God was shinin' on me Now I can't leave And now I'm actin' hella elite

AND ESPECIALLY

I want that jet lag from fuckin' and flyin'

i.e. God i love this song. re: avatarhood. YOU CAN’T LEAVE!!! not saying it’s like being a celebrity, but it’s like being a celebrity. dual perspectives here with G + his morality regarding the person he loves being, uh, evil? (you live in the dark / i cannot pretend) and M + debt he owes to his god, erosion of his own morals. also, SHEER F*CKING VIBES

17. GEYSER (MITSKI)

You're my number one You're the one I want And you've turned down Every hand that has beckoned me to come

i.e. love songs that serve double as to your god and to your lover

18. THAT’S WHAT I LIKE (BRUNO MARS)

Jump in the Cadillac (Girl, let's put some miles on it) Anything you want (Just to put a smile on it) You deserve it baby, you deserve it all

i.e. this song is here because i say so. a real “sorry it’s been seven years let me make it up to you” vibe

19. RUN AWAY WITH ME (SUFJAN STEVENS)

And I say, love Come run away with me Sweet, falling remedy Come run away with me

i.e. more grand ridiculous propositions. more to come. but they’re born out of a real frustration with the situation at hand! it sucks! also, “falling remedy”,

20. LET’S GET MARRIED (BLEACHERS)

I'm gonna get right for you, honey I'll take all of my medicine, spend you all my money, yeah I know it's hard enough to love me But I woke up in a safe house singing, "Honey, let's get married"

i.e. bro.

21. I WILL (MITSKI)

And while you sleep I'll be scared So by the time you wake I'll be brave

i.e. a lot of these here are self explanatory..

22. ME & MY DOG (BOYGENIUS)

I had a fever Until I met you Now you make me cool

also

I never said I'd be all right Just thought I could hold myself together But I couldn't breathe, I went outside Don't know why I thought it'd be any better I'm fine now, it doesn't matter

i.e. title is significant. and yeah. just. recovery’s tricky

23. I FOUND (AMBER RUN)

And I've moved further than I thought I could But I missed you more than I thought I would

i.e. this is like a staple song for like. basically. any pairing. but i’m pathetic and it gets me every time. there’s something about it. not sure if i’m going to leave it on this playlist but. hm. yeah

OK that’s a wrap. highly likely i’ll put more songs on this as i go

[andthisiswitchcraft]

Familiars: what are they?

This is something that comes up every once in a while and lately has been coming up a lot, so we should discuss familiars. It is largely thanks to modern commercialization of misconceptions from the European witch trails that we get our current misunderstandings of familiars. So let's breakdown the history and perceptions of familiars to get a better grasp of them.

Familiars are a kind of tutelary spirit, a non-corporeal intelligence that a witch/magician summons and binds to themselves. In a way, they are like a servant to the witch, but under some conditions. For instance, the magician needs to appease their familiar to keep its company. If a familiar feels that the magician has violated the terms of their pact, they will leave and may even harm the magician. Likewise, if the magician were no longer happy with the services their familiar provided, or they felt their familiar was leading them into danger, they would banish them or call on another spirit to send it away forever. Ultimately, assuming a good bond has been made, the familiar will stay with the magician for the remainder of the magician's life, as familiars do not die. They're spirits, so they don't die. They will assist in magical practices, teach, heal, fetch money, fetch mightier spirits to help, et al. In return the magician will give shelter, food, water, and whatever else the witch-familiar compact may have an agreement on.

The oldest and closest thing we have to the modern idea of a familiar are the household gods of the ancient world. Even as cities developed, individual households had their own gods. It isn't until much later that we see cities and states develop their own "household gods" or gods of the city.

Prior to the Romans there does not seem to be much of a distinction between household gods and the larger religion gods. But the Romans had three different names for these sorts of spirits that give us some clear distinctions of the perceptions these people had of their gods: genius loci, dii familiares, and lares. The genii loci were "spirits of place," and were spirits that governed and protected a specific area, such as a neighborhood, a crossroad, a forest, etc. Genii loci that governed a household were called lares. These were the household gods that residents set up shrines to just inside the doorway, a common practice to this day. Then there were the dii familiares, which were something like the lares, but watched over the whole family, as the family did not always stay in the home, but expanded, moved, went to the market, etc. If these household gods were not kept happy, they would leave the house and family, leaving them unprotected, and may even come back to harm them.

We see evidence of this in the Bible, particularly in Genesis where Rachel steals her father's household idols. Eventually there would be state genii loci, lares, and dii familiares, such as Roma personified as a goddess in her own right. Hermes was also a genius loci, usually at crossroads. Enodia (Hecate) was another crossroads genius loci. However these two gods become more state religion deities with their servant spirits watching over crossroads. Jehovah is very much like this with the ancient Israelites, even having a pact, i.e. the Covenant, of which the Ark of the Covenant was a fetish object to house God.

However, truly the oldest idea of a familiar is the personal daimon or demon, a specific daimon that is assigned to each person at birth. The oldest complete example of conjuring a personal daimon is described in the first portion of the Greek Magical Papyri, a collection of magical spells and rites dating between 1st century BC to 5th century AD. This rite details how to conjure a daimon that will be bound to the magician, and will teach and guide them, dine and sleep with them, and be with them until the end of the magician's days. Socrates himself may have had something like this when he refers to his daimonion, a "divine something" that advised and guided him, but never controlling him.

This personal daimon becomes a central feature of western magic. In Byzantine magic, such as in the Hygromanteia, the daimon becomes something akin to the dii familiares, though distinctly personal to the magician and the same familiar can be passed from master magician to apprentice (such as Dr. Faustus to his pupil). All grimoires been the 13th and 18th centuries have a rite to conjure a familiar or to conjure a spirit to bring a familiar. A great example of this is in the Ars Goetia where several demons are listed as being good for bringing familiars. Similar examples are found in spirit registers such as in the Grimorium Verum. Even folk magic includes ways of gaining a familiar, and the rites are usually a lot more simple than the formal ceremonial magic of the Renaissance grimoires. These are found in various Secreti or books of secrets (see for instance Treatise of Magical Secrets and Mixed Cabala, trans. by Rankine and Skinner)

Our current conceptions of a familiar come from the witch trails of the 16th and 17th centuries. Prior to this time period magic was not exactly forbidden. Magic was usually something that was tacked onto other charges, usually treason. Since magicians held their reputations via rumors and recommendations, and rumors are what Oliver Cromwell sought to destroy, thus witchcraft enters the courtroom thanks to such rumors of magicians. As witchcraft becomes chargeable on its own in the 16th century, we see players like Matthew Hopkins enter the stage. These "witch hunters" were nothing more than opportunistic assholes who used Cromwell's methods of hunting via rumors. Anything could be used as evidence of a witch, and townsfolk often used these opportunities to get rid of someone they didn't like by accusing them of witchcraft. Most of the people, usually women, though there were plenty of men tried as well, who were accused of witchcraft were not actually witches. They could just be lonely old widows that have a dog or a cat to keep them company.

Familiars, or rather pets, were a common way of determining if someone was a witch, since that was part of being a witch. However, people back then had pets like anyone today. So these women who were seen as unusual and therefore a witch, had their pets used as evidence against them. And really, they were like many of us: they had a close relationship with their pets, talked to them, really cared for them, took them everywhere with them. This all sounds strangely like a familiar, and to opportunists like Hopkins, it was the perfect rumor to locate a "witch." But really it was just an excuse to kill a quirky old woman no one liked who lived alone and loved to talk to her birds, and someone else probably really wanted her land.

Much of this pet as a familiar has become sensationalized today. In a way, yes, you can conjure a familiar to inhabit the body of your pet. In the Renaissance, possessing an animal with a spirit was no big deal. Today that would probably be seen as unethical to your pet. But there really is no need for this, as a spirit will physically appear to a magician at their command, and can even take on familiar forms such as a dog if the magician requests it. It is not uncommon to see in Renaissance grimoires a portion of the conjuration includes the magician stating, "appear to me in a pleasing form."

Further, it's borderline animal abuse to truly treat your pet like a familiar. A lot of energy is exhausted by familiars to be your servant, but they're spirits and can usually handle it, and if they can't, they go get you a bigger stronger spirit to handle it. Pets cannot do that, and they shouldn't have to. To truly use your pet as a familiar will most likely harm them in the long run. Pets should be treated like family, not your magical teacher and conduit.

In practice, the familiar can be almost any kind of spirit. In the Abramelin rite the familiar is called the Holy Guardian Angel, a divine heavenly entity assigned to each person at birth. In the Faustian tradition, the demon Mephistopheles is Dr. Faustus's familiar. In the Christian tradition, the Holy Spirit acts as a sort of familiar to Jesus, assisting Jesus with his miracles, and according to Paul raised Jesus from death. But familiars can also be souls of the dead, such as ancestors. In fact, the lares and dii familiares may have been ancestors of that family/household that always stuck around to watch over everyone, and later became deified.

So while our pets are very important to us and can even be a bit magical, they are not the same as a familiar. And in many ways it's wrong to say they are. It takes something that was viciously used to torture and kill lonely old women and sensationalizes it into an aesthetic, rather than a way of life, a devotion, and a compact you keep and renew each and every day with the same entity. And to make your pet an actual familiar is abusive. Having a tutelary spirit (or several) is central to western magical practices, but it is not the same as having a pet. If you want to get a pet, get a pet. If you want a familiar, there are hundreds of ways to conjure one up and make a lifelong pact with it.

The reason this is important to understand and differentiate is so you become a better pet owner and a better witch.

Franklin

Image: Matthew Hopkins, "Witch Finder General" (a title he made up) investigating witches and their familiars.

[baldrambo]

On Jim Hopper....

After reading a myriad of analyses and meta on Hopper’s character in S3 on Tumblr/Reddit/Twitter/everywhere, I've come to realize that my understanding of his character and his arc is very different than most interpretations I've seen.  And it frustrates me because i think ultimately, the criticism of him is unfairly harsh and misses the point of his arc.

I will make a few bold assertions (bold=likely unpopular) and address them under the cut because the more I’ve thought about this the longer it got and I want to appropriately address each point.

Assertion 1: S1 Hopper is NOT the Hopper we want, in fact, this is regressive! Hopper and we should be glad he’s gone

Assertion 2: S1/S2 Hopper is inappropriately romanticized and it created unrealistic expectations for Hopper’s characterization in S3

Assertion 3: The circumstances in S3 are dramatically different than S1-S2 and drive the changes we see in Hopper’s characterization in S3

Assertion 4: Hopper and Joyce’s arguing in S3 was a symptom of a shift in their relationship dynamic, and not OOC

Assertion 5: Hopper's negative character traits were intentionally amplified in S3 as a juxtaposition for his redemption arc coming in S4

Assertion 1:

When we are introduced to Hopper in S1 he is a pill-popping womanizer. He is a jerk. In episode 1, he shows up to work hungover cracking "your mom" jokes and when Flo tells him that Joyce is worried about her missing kid he dismisses her and says "I’m gonna get on that." A frantic Joyce has to beg him to look for her son and during the conversation, he's throwing in interjections about screwing Chrissy as a teen in the back of his dad's Oldsmobile and somewhat snidely inquiring about whether Will is gay. Not a very nice dude.

It's not until later in the episode when we learn that he had a daughter who is now dead, and begin to suspect that perhaps there is more to him than the jerk-off cop from a small town. And then the first real introduction we get to Hopper, the real Hopper, is in 1x2 when an agitated Joyce asks him "wouldn't you know your own daughter's [breathing]?" He nearly caves then, caves under the weight of his grief, the pressure of dealing with a case of a missing kid, feeling empathy for what Joyce is going through. So what does he do? He retreats to his cruiser as soon as possible and pops a pill. Why? Because he cannot handle the grief and emotion. So he medicates it away.

For anyone who has ever been on Xanax (or see i.e. Benzos in general) they are typically prescribed to dull intense emotions, such as a anxiety attack. You can be in the middle of an anxiety attack (shaking, crying, unable to breathe), and a Xanax kicks in and it halts the entire thing.  You feel nothing.  When you're in pain, physical or emotional, it kills that pain almost instantly, too. And that’s what makes it so addictive. And it's not just pain that it kills, but pretty much all emotion with it.

Hopper in S1 is popping Benzos because he is at the lowest point in his life. He lost his daughter and his purpose in life. He is merely existing. He feels like a curse. Part of him even seems to feel responsible for Will's disappearance for no other reason than his own misery. Think about 1x1-1x7 Hopper for a second: can you remember a scene when he smiles? Laughs? Gets angry? Cries? Shows really any emotion at all? I've watched s1 multiple times and I don't remember one. He's so heavily medicated that he isn't feeling ANYTHING.

But then in 1x8, we finally get a glimpse of the real Hopper in glimpses of his backstory. A man laughing and playfully throwing around his daughter. We see a broken man crying in a hallway. We see a tender man reading to his daughter. This is the real Hopper who isn't just existing as Hopper is in S1, but living.

Hopper saving Will, this is the very beginning of his redemption. In that moment, he is able to bring Will back. Save him in a way he couldn't with his own daughter. That wall he’s built, quite artfully, is finally cracking.

So you see. S1 Hopper isn't what we want. S1 Hopper was in a deep dark cave. Sure, he was kind to Joyce. Helpful. He listened. He didn't lose his temper. But it's easy not to lose your temper when you're not feeling anything. It's easy to be calm and rational when you’re emotionally detached. But what kind of life is that?

Assertion 2:

In S2, Hopper is already different. In 2x1 our first introduction to Hopper is positioned similarly to S1. He pulls into the station in his police car. He's still grouchy, he's still joking around about dumb shit (dating Bob Derek) but we see a real smile from him. He goes with Joyce and Will to Will’s appointments at Hawkins Lab (we don't know how often but it's obviously frequent enough that Owens jokingly refers to Hopper as Will’s “Pop”). Hopper has a purpose again. To protect Will and Joyce, keep them safe. These are externalities.  And as someone as riddled with trauma as Hopper is, externalities make it easier to function.  Hyper-vigilance and overprotective/controlling behavior aren’t exactly admirable qualities, but they come in handy when the people close to you are threatened by inter-dimensional shadow monsters.

It’s at the end of 2x1 when we are introduced to the biggest change for Hopper: he has El. Someone to “feed, protect, teach.” And love. Turns out, love is a feeling.  And with one feeling comes many feelings.  She brought him out of that deep dark cave so now Hopper smiles. Laughs. Cries. Loses his temper. And with those feelings come all of his own insecurities, imperfections, fears.  He confides in El at the end of the season about some of these fears: he believes himself to be a black hole.  A black hole that took Sara.  Almost took Will. And could take El too and he is terrified that will happen. He apologizes for some of his bad behavior.  And we see El forgive him because she not only loves him, but recognizes that his anger and fear come from a different place than Brenner’s did.  Hopper isn’t exhibiting controlling behavior to manipulate her.  It’s because he loves her.

But here’s the thing. His apology and his and El’s recognition of his toxic behavior doesn’t make it okay, and it doesn’t magically make it disappear moving forward. 

The 2 year gap between S2 and S3, I think, gave us a lot of time as a fandom to create the Hopper we wanted in our minds.  A Hopper that moved past his trauma at the end of S2.  A Hopper that didn’t lose his temper anymore because he apologized to El. A temper he can shut off now because the Gate is closed. A Hopper who would patiently wait around for years until Joyce was ready for him and had moved on from Bob.  A Hopper who would be fine with sharing El with Mike because love conquers all. A Hopper viewed through rose-colored glasses.

But this isn’t realistic.  Trauma can often be complex and in Hopper’s case, compartmentalized, making it easy to burst forth at any given moment and often inappropriately so.  It can make you act badly, irrationally. It can be 2 steps forward and 3 steps back. And as an audience, I think a lot of us didn’t expect this to be a part of his storyline in S3.  The expectation was that there would be continuous upward growth from his arc in S2 and when that didn’t happen, it was the subverted expectations that led to the disappointment in how his arc was handled in S3.  But this disappointment doesn’t mean his arc didn’t make sense.

Assertion 3:

The Hopper we see at the end of S2 seems content.  He has El. He has Joyce’s friendship. Things are at peace, the gate is closed. All is well. Or so we think. The Hopper we see at the beginning of S3 is miserable, lonely, sad, fat, and angry. It’s kind of jarring. But so are the circumstances at the beginning of S3.  In S3, there is no longer an active threat. Everyone is starting to move on from the events of S1-S2.  Joyce and El don’t need his protection anymore because there is no active threat.  His hyper-vigilance leads him to almost shooting Betsy Payne’s dog, not shooting inter-dimensional demodogs.  His overprotective/ controlling instincts are no longer useful they’re annoying, over the top, and just plain toxic. 

In short, there are no longer externalities for Hopper to focus on, so all he has to focus on is himself.  And he is not good at doing that, because that means focusing on his fears, insecurities, and imperfections. And the circumstances at the beginning of s3 give him plenty to personally angst about The two major ones:

1) El is growing up. This is normal, of course.  Little girls become teenagers who become adults. But El isn’t a normal girl, and Hopper is not a normal Dad.  El has superpowers, and she is not a kid anymore.  She is a teenager with a boyfriend, she doesn’t need him the same way she used to, and Hopper cannot protect her the way he used to. Hopper lost his daughter when she was ~6 years old and he didn’t get to raise El for the first 12 years of her life. They’ve missed out on so much together.

And here’s the tragic thing: eventually, she will become an adult, and she will no longer need him at all, theoretically.  Hopper isn’t her biological father.  So what ties El to him, other than her need for him to protect her? In his mind, nothing.  In his mind, her growing up means turning 18 and leaving him.  Permanently.  He can’t lose another daughter. That would break him.  So what does he do?  “Try to stop the change.  Turn back the clock.  Make things go back to the way things were.” When she was his little girl he was not in danger of losing her. And because he has trauma, because he is unable to handle his emotions, he takes it out on Mike and Mike/El’s relationship. He takes it out on their closeness. This symbol of her becoming an adult.

2) Joyce is moving away.  Understandable, of course.  Her youngest son was snatched by the Demogorgon and she had to venture into another dimension to bring him back from near death, he was possessed in S2, and her boyfriend was brutally murdered in front of her. I would want out of there, too. But doing so means leaving Hopper behind.  Joyce, the one other constant in his life, who he can talk to about anything, who he relies on for parenting advice for El, who he can trust completely, who is always there for him, who he loves (who perhaps he’s always loved). And she’s leaving him behind.

So he thinks maybe, maybe, if he make her feel safe, if he gives her a reason to stay (him)...that she will.  But she stands him up and she doesn’t just stand him up, it turns out it’s because the threat was back and he not only didn’t realize it but wasn’t able to keep them all safe from it, despite that being his sole driving force.  He had one job.  And he failed.

So, you see, Hopper’s character arc in S3 is about him, and not the externalities in S1-S2.  He cannot hide behind the danger anymore.  He can’t hide behind “feeding, protecting, teaching.”  His flaws and imperfections are on full display and it’s more difficult for us, and Hopper, to sweep them under the rug. They’re amplified by the circumstances and his arc.

Assertion 4:

This is sort of an aside? But something I still wanted to address because I see it come up a lot.  Namely, that Hopper and Joyce’s dynamic in S3 didn’t make sense, was out of character, and/or that Hopper’s behavior was abusive.  I think that this particular point is important to review not only for Hopper but for Joyce as well, who is integral to Hopper’s character arc, and who I think the fandom often handles with kid gloves. Full disclosure, I AM a Jopper shipper, and have been since 1x1.  That being said, I was not bothered by their dynamic in S3 because I think it was an important bridge in the structure of the show as as well as their relationship.

We still at this point in time don’t know what Jopper’s backstory is, although I suspect we are going to finally get that in S4 based on some of the spoilers/casting calls we’ve gotten over the course of the last few months.  What we do know is at the beginning of S1 there is a familiarity between them (she calls him Hop), there are rumors around town that they fucked, and they seem to trust each other on a level that is not shared with other adult characters. 

I hear a lot of people say S2 was “peak Jopper.” Their relationship is pretty stable. They are friends, he goes with her to Hawkins Lab, she relies on him for safety and protection, they are gentle with each other.  It’s nice.  But it’s also not very personal.  Joyce is with Bob.  Hopper doesn’t tell Joyce that he’s been hiding El. They obviously care about each other (and it seems like Hopper has some feelings there) but they hold each other at arm’s length.

This isn’t the case anymore in S3.  In S3, there is no more arm’s length.  They’re co-parenting.  He shows up at Melvald’s at the beginning of 3x1 (reminiscent of Bob appearing at the beginning of 2x1) for advice, which it appears he’s been doing for months. They really have no one else but each other to confide in, which they clearly do a lot.  There are feelings there now on both sides (I don’t subscribe to the theory that Joyce doesn’t reciprocate his feelings, but that is a discussion for another thread.)

These new (old?) feelings interrupted the S2 relationship dynamic. They’re not just comfortable friends anymore reminiscing about high school. Hopper wants to be close to her, but doesn’t quite know how and blunders through attempt after attempt and the more she rejects him the more upset he gets and the worse he handles it.  Joyce is still struggling to move on from Bob and (imo) is confused about her feelings for Hopper because he is a little bit like Bob, a little bit like Lonnie (and yet nothing like either of them at the same time) and I don’t think she quite knows what to do with that except to fight her feelings and hold Hopper at arm’s length.  The end result is bickering and Hopper losing his temper, because neither of them are able to really discuss their feelings for various reasons.

Most significantly, when they’re bickering and when Hopper loses his temper, Joyce is not afraid of Hopper. She is never afraid of him. She holds her own, she argues back, she stands her ground. When he refuses to believe her about the magnets, she steamrolls him into following her to the Lab. When he shouts at her, she shouts back. When he digs at her, she digs back. The problem with characterizing Hopper’s behavior in S3 as abusive is it fails to grasp the intent behind the bickering.  They’re attempting to find a new normal, a new relationship dynamic.  The way people refer to them throughout the season is heavily coded in language that describes a “team” a “couple.” Because despite the bickering they do respect each other and care about each other and in 3x8 they start to come to that realization together.

(My other issue with calling Hopper abusive is that it makes Joyce a victim. And Joyce isn’t a victim.  She’s own her independent entity with needs and wants and desires. After 2 seasons of being “mom,” shoving her into another archetype reliant on another male character’s actions sorta sucks, doesn’t it? I really do not think this what the Duffers were going for here.)

Assertion 5:

Finally, I wanted to touch on the 3 biggest Hopper blunders in S3:

1) Constantly losing his temper. I italicized this further up because I wanted to emphasize the fact that this was not something new in S3.  It’s always been there. In S1 the benzo’s were masking it.  In S2, he was screaming at a 12 year old girl about how she cannot do anything right. It’s unacceptable behavior.  It got worse in S3 because it is also a symptom of a hurting man who is losing control of everything around him.  In S1-S2 attempting to control everything worked, in S3 it didn’t work anymore.

2) Breaking up Mike and El. After nearly a year of it just being El and Hopper, he has to share her with Mike.  Combine this with El growing up and Mike and El’s co-dependent behavior, it’s a recipe for disaster. He tries and fails at a heart to heart and starts shouting and carrying on instead. Slipping into cop mode is easier than Dad mode. It was also the wrong way to handle it.

3) Trying to push Joyce into a date before she was ready. I already touched a bit on this above in #3, but his eagerness to make her stay leads him to try to push her into something she is not ready for. The end result is more misery for him when she fails to show up, and him being a jerk about it for the duration of the season (”You know he reminds me a little bit of a Russian Scott Clarke.”)

Here’s the thing though, he makes these blunders because he’s flawed.  He’s always been flawed. And the combination of his prior trauma, the circumstances leading up to S3, the shift in relationship dynamics between him and Joyce, and the shift of the narrative from externalities to hhis internalities, make S3 very different than S1-S2. And it showed us that Hopper really is more of an anti-hero than a “good guy” and has been this entire time.

And if you wanted him to be the good guy because he had soft moments in S1-S2, S3 was just a set-up for a let-down because Hopper isn’t the good guy. He’s a jerk. And jerks don’t get the girl.  Jerks don’t get happy endings. Jerks die.  Unless they survive, and get a chance at redemption.

Being trapped in a frozen Russian gulag can kill you, or it can make you stronger.  It can make you re-evaluate what you took for granted, how you handled situations, how you interact with those you love, what really matters. And for someone like Hopper, who loves deeply despite his issues, this is the opportunity to turn all of that around and truly start over.  And if you are the Duffer brothers, you want to ying and yang that shit so the yang is that much more noticeable and emotional when it happens. This whole journey for Hopper is just as important as the outcome and as someone who loves his character, I want to be with him for that entire journey, not just the “good” parts.

So I guess, in sum, Hopper is a flawed jerk who loves El and Joyce. Who makes mistakes, but usually has good intentions. Who had a lot of bad shit happen to him. Who made a lot of missteps and mistakes, particularly in S3, but deserves empathy and a chance at redemption. Who should come back a changed man and get the girl and the happy ending. And I think S3 needs to be viewed through this vacuum in order to fully appreciate his character and the arc.

And if you read all the way through this, God Bless you.

[smiting-finger]

HP AU Headcanons

I just noticed that I’ve hit 500 followers ( ?! omg you guys!! (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄), so I cleaned up and expanded on some of my HP AU headcanons from the AO3 comments section.

Things that happen before fic #1

During the War, Wei Wuxian has at least ten different balls in the air, trying to keep the innocent Wen children (+elderly) from Jin Guangshan, including:

The Stygian Tiger Seal,

Becoming an Animagus (which no one knows about, and tbh he was hoping for something more combat-useful than a bunny, but hey, at least he’s not a dog),

Inferi (so many dead bodies lying around, and their ex-inhabitants aren’t using them, so he may as well--)

ANIMAL Inferi (because a bitch cannot be picky when a bitch has no army), but he mostly abandons the idea after the first few battles because if you’re looking to enchant things to work as an army, it’s easier to enchant 1000 of the same shape of thing than to enchant 3 each of 257 different things with different shapes, sizes and capabilities

Booby-trapping the fuck out of Yiling with:

Various blood arrays (ranging from magical versions of “surprise!-now-you’re-in-a-net-hanging-out-of-a-tree” and “surprise!-you’ve-fallen-into-a-hidden-hole” to “surprise!-now-your-head-is-gone”)

A man-eating tomb inspired by Nie Huaisang’s ancestral tomb, possibly made possible by an ancestral blade that Wei Wuxian pilfered “borrowed” from said ancestral tomb,

A magical oubliette - key to the storyline! 

He was intending to stash the Stygian Tiger Seal in here to stop Jin Guangshan getting at it, because Jin Guangshan would either:

Fail to get in

Get in but fail to get out

Wei Wuxian either stocks the oubliette with necessities-for-life, or leaves enough loopholes in the spellwork so that anyone trapped in there would be able to access necessities-for-life (despite not being able to magic themselves out) because: 1) What if someone accidentally falls in, and 2) Although he’d be okay with Jin Guangshan dying, in the ideal outcome of his grand plan, they need him alive for Wizengamot trials, etc.

The plan is perfect, except that Jin Guangshan catches him in the act of stashing the seal, and in the ensuing struggle, Wei Wuxian gets himself (and the seal, thankfully) trapped.

(So he gives himself a pat on the back for making the oubliette liveable - “Thanks, past-me.”)

During the ten years, Wei Wuxian works on the magical equivalent of digging a hole out of a stone prison with a single spoon (slowly working on loosening various parts of his containment spells or trying to find a way to send a message to the outside world via his food-and-air loopholes), and also works on some other hobby projects in his spare time because the going is slow. To his credit, he’s actually almost got it by the time Nie Huaisang stumbles on his notes and gets him out.

In the meantime, Jin Guangshan has died, and Jin Guangyao has taken over his father’s:

position as Minister of Magic;

search for the Stygian Tiger seal.

Either because he’s looking for the Stygian Tiger seal, or because he’s noticed Nie Huaisang skirting a little too close to the truth behind his brother’s death and is following him, he stumbles upon Nie Huaisang freeing Wei Wuxian.

[Insert duelling]

Wei Wuxian gets wounded by a curse, turns into a rabbit when Jin Guangyao isn’t looking, flees into the forest and ends up at Gusu.

He never plans to try to cross the ward perimeter, but then he gets noticed by the dog...

Things that happen during fic #1

Once in Gusu, Wei Wuxian’s plan is to recover from the curse and then go back to have it out with Jin Guangyao.

His initial reason for not doing a “surprise!” reveal to Lan Wangji is that he’s not actually clear on what LWJ’s opinion of him as Yiling Patriarch is - i.e. what if it gets him turned in to the Ministry, the tender mercies of Jin Guangyao and a Wizengamot that’s Jin-controlled and/or already decided that Wei Wuxian is guilty?

(Lan Wangji blames himself for this: “a boy who would not accept his help because Lan Zhan failed to clearly tell him what he was offering.”)

His reasons for still not doing a “surprise!” reveal to Lan Wangji after 1) spending time with him, 2) spending time with the WWX-shaped hole in his life and 3) finally Getting It are that:

He also Gets that everyone and their dog (lul) already Get That, too

Jin Guangyao knows Wei Wuxian is at large, which therefore makes Lan Wangji suspect numero uno on the list of People Who Would Hide Wei Wuxian

(Wei Wuxian is proven 100% in the right regarding this when Jin Guangyao comes knocking for control over the Academy and Lan Wangji acts in precisely the way he does)

If Wei Wuxian is caught, he can at least keep Lan Wangji safe if Veritaserum shows that he actually knew nothing

He does, however, secretly change back at least twice to:

Talk to Lan Wangji while he’s asleep;

Break out of Lan Wangji’s rooms to go roaming around the school.

As soon as Wei Wuxian is recovered, he goes off to fight Jin Guangyao on his turf (before Jin Guangyao can come back to Gusu and try again). 

Unfortunately, this coincides precisely with Jin Guangyao coming back to Gusu and trying again - they out-manoeuvre each other and each ends up at the other’s base.

Wei Wuxian is the first one to realise what’s happened and rushes back.

Being unconscious, Lan Wangji misses out on:

Nie Huaisang bringing out his vast stores of proof in re: the Jin machinations behind his brother’s death (and incidentally, his discovery of Wei Wuxian)

Jin Guangyao being bound and arrested by non-corrupt Aurors in front of Lan Xichen, the previously-Imperius-ed Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang, the retrieved-from-hiding teachers/students/Lan elders

Wei Wuxian taking advantage of this audience to be like “Now all of Gusu knows you’re evil!”

Wei Wuxian being proven to therefore be not (that) evil after all.

Especially given that the larger part of the jury is now from the generation who had their youth consumed by/were greatly changed by the War, and who mostly agree that the Jins shitting on the innocent Wens was kind of gross anyway (as represented by Lan Xichen).

Things that happen after fic #1

Wei Wuxian falls into teaching because:

During his ten years of being trapped, he invented some really neat magical things

Nothing better to do

Don’t want to leave Lan Wangji just yet (or: lol just try prying yourself out of the deathgrip Lan Wangji is using to metaphorically clutch you to his manly chest, I dare you)

Or rather, he hangs around because of the above, and then Lan Wangji helps him to demo something in class, and he’s like “Sure!”. And then Lan Xichen sees this and is like “hey can you help me demo something too”, and he’s like “Sure!” and -

(And then after this goes on a while, Lan Qiren is like “IF YOU’RE GONNA HANG AROUND AND EAT OUR FOOD YOU MAY AS WELL EARN YOUR KEEP” and also “WE MAY AS WELL PUT YOU ON PAYROLL TO AVOID EMPLOYMENT LAW VIOLATIONS AND ALSO FOR TAX PURPOSES”.)

Wei Wuxian totally enters his first class as a rabbit, and sits on the desk, nodding to each student as they come in. And then when everyone’s present, he stands on his hind legs like he’s going to teach as a rabbit, too, just to see what the students will do.

(If Jin Ling is in that class, the answer is: riot)

Lan Wangji is the kind of Professor who’s consistently a hard-arse because:

He wants to push you, as a student, to reach your full potential; and

He wants you, as a student, to have clear/consistent expectations to work and grow within.

On the other hand, Wei Wuxian is the kind of Professor who’s like “Everything is lalala” during term, and then suddenly the exam is diabolical, made up of 70% lateral-thinking/problem-solving and only 30% of things you actually studied because “That’s real life, kids.”

Now that Lan Wangji knows he’s the rabbit, Wei Wuxian uses his powers to do really dumbshit things like

Perve on Lan Wangji in the shower (Lan Wangji looks down, sees a little black nose under the cubicle door and is like “...”)

Perve on Lan Wangji while he’s changing in their room (Lan Wangji pulls off his shirt, sees a little black nose peeking out from under the bed, is like “...” and drops the shirt straight onto the rabbit’s head)

Upskirt Lan Wangji through his robes (Lan Xichen sees a little black shape running behind his brother in the halls, constantly darting forward to peek under the hem of his flowing robe and is like “...”)

Other things

When Lan Sizhui is five or six or something, he enters a stage of ultimate Lan-Wangji-hero-worship, where he dresses like his dad and follows him around, doing everything he does. So:

Lan Wangji sweeps down the school hallway, one arm in front and one arm behind (in true Chinese Gentleman Style), and a tiny Lan Sizhui follows behind, running slightly to keep up but also holding the same arm in front and the same arm behind.

Lan Wangji stops to look up at the moon, Lan Sizhui also stops to look up at the moon. Lan Wangji nods at students/his brother/a fellow teacher/his uncle, and tiny Lan Sizhui does the same, all the while darting little upwards glances at Lan Wangji to make sure he’s doing it right.

The students/Lan Xichen/teachers/Lan Qiren think this is adorable (”The Little Professor has graced me with his approval ;A;!”), so no one says anything in case Lan Sizhui gets self-conscious and stops.

And then before he knows it, Lan Sizhui has picked up all the things as habits and welp, this is who he is now.

In re: Wen Ning:

All the years Wei Wuxian is gone, with it being common knowledge that the Wen clan was completely wiped out in the War, Wen Ning thinks he’s alone and mostly wanders the Wizarding world by himself (not daring to go anywhere too populous in case he alarms people, but helping anyone he stumbles across if they’re in need - without being seen, if he can manage it).

Then Wei Wuxian comes back, and with him is Sizhui, and Wen Ning thinks, “Oh, I’m not alone! I have one family member and one friend!”

But actually, all the Gusu students have already adopted him, so he has an entire school of family, he just doesn’t know it yet.

One afternoon the students catch him playing two-man Quidditch with Wei Wuxian as goalie, and are like “!!! Why didn’t we think of that?!” so now Wen Ning plays in all the casual games, and the students fight over who gets to have them on their team.

In re: Mianmian: 

Mianmian spends the years following the War as a wandering cursebreaker, disarming all the nasty magical mines/traps/offensive spells that now litter the country, helping magical folk who don’t have enough skill/expertise to deal with the problems themselves, as well as any hapless muggles who get unwittingly caught.

She probably meets her husband when she saves him from something.

She becomes a teacher after Lan Xichen finds out about her exploits and invites her to come back.

When her muggle husband comes to visit her workplace, he’s like “So this is where you grew up. Wow.” and he’s not even amazed by the magic, it’s that he picked the same day that Jiang Cheng came to visit Jin ling, so a rabbit shoots down the hallway and up Lan Wangji’s robes, a dog goes chasing after it, a shouting purple man goes charging after that (firing spells and yelling for Wei Wuxian to “COME BACK HERE!”), while being half-held back by a ... ghost? and it’s total bedlam.

And Mianmian is just like “Yup.”