#Era of the Catalyst

[allbornscreaming]

Two years have gone now, but I... +

[questintheskies]

[lgbtlunaverse]

While rereading mdzs I am once again shocked by how talked about the "you were the only mistake he ever made" line from Lan Xichen to Wei Wuxian is and how heated it gets some people because honestly... I don't think he actually even believes that.

Stay with me. Look at the actual line. (I Included 2 translations for comparison's sake)

Firstly, yes he is mad at Wei Wuxian in this scene. But his biggest moment of anger was actually before this. By this point he's realized that Wei Wuxian forgot what happened after nightless city (and therefore ISN'T stringing along his baby brother on purpose) so he has in fact calmed down a bit.

Secondly, notice that he starts by talking about how his uncle felt. This is not Lan Xichen making a value statement about what he thinks. When he says Lan Wangji was proper and righteous he is talking about him being a model lan, he's talking about their family and clan's perspective of Wangji. Indeed, in their eyes, Wei Wuxian is the only time Lan Wangji was ever not the textbook perfect Lan.

Thirdly, what is Lan Xichen trying to say here? What is he mad at Wei Wuxian for? It's that he doesn't know Lan Wangji is in love with him. His anger is eased by realizing Wei Wuxian doesn't remember the very blatant confessions lwj made in the cave after nightless city, or Lan Wangji fighting his own clan elders for Wei Wuxian, and so had no way of knowing the whipmarks on Lan Wangji's back were related to him. But he is still mad, he still thinks Wei Wuxian should have been able to figure it out. So what does he highlight?

The fact that the only thing Lan Wangji, perfect model-Lan righteous Lan Wangji, ever defies his clan for is Wei Wuxian.

And Wei Wuxian has seen him do this! Even if he doesn't remember this one instance. Because Lan Wangji has been doing that the whole story through. Wei Wuxian has watched Lan Wangji blatantly stand against the entire cultivation world for him, and here Lan Xichen is highlighting just how unusual that is, how much Wei Wuxian must mean to Lan Wangji that he's willing to do that. The important part of the sentence here is not "mistake" it's "only."

Lan Xichen here isn't trying to say that he disapproves of Wei Wuxian, or telling him to stay away from his brother. Remember, the thing that made him mad in the first place was Wei Wuxian saying that he and Lan Wangji slept in seperate rooms. He thought they were together! He's mad because they're not!

At no point does Lan Xichen say he individually considers Lan Wangji's feelings for Wei Wuxian a mistake. If he ever did, it's clear he accepted them regardless long ago. Mistake or not, what he wants is for his little brother to be happy.

[bullet-clubs-bitch]

Mine

Jay White X Fem Reader requested by: @switchbabeeexo

Jay White Masterlist Main Masterlist (word count 1,200)

Summary: Ever since Jay joined the AEW roster he has gained the attention of the female talent. The girls backstage are drawn to his foreign accent and mysterious personality. It doesn’t matter how many times Jay tells you he’s not interested in those girls you still find yourself growing insecure. What happens when the voices get too loud and you need that extra reassurance? 

I was well aware of all the new attention Jay would get once he joined AEW so why was I so shocked when the women backstage threw themselves at him? This wasn’t something new, in fact, it happened all the time in Japan. The difference was the girls here were different, they were special, they were gorgeous. I watched every week as different women tried to flirt with Jay, they were practically foaming at the mouth. “Oh my gawddd, your accent is so hotttt” many of them would say as they leaned on his shoulder. You could tell that Jay coudn’t give a fuck about these girls, he never fed into their fantasies. Instead, he would brush every comment off like it was nothing. He knew I hated it, he found it amusing how much I cared about the comments when he didn’t.

I sat at catering staring daggers at Jay and Harley Cameron, she was attempting to flirt with him. Her hand was on his chest as her breasts fell out of her top. Jay on the other hand was completely ignoring her. Just then Jay and I made eye contact. He could see the anger in my eyes and was quick to excuse himself from Harley. “You know I wasn’t even paying attention to her right?” he told me. “I don’t even like any of these women” He knew I was mad and wound’t forgive him that easily. “Y/n I’m sorry, you know I love you” “Why is it that I can’t even talk to Will Ospeary without you wanting to kill someone when you get to flirt with the female talent” I asked him. “That’s different-” “No it’s not!” “Will is in love with you, he wants to fuck you” “Don’t you think those girls want that too. Look at Harley over there, she was just eye fucking you” “Come on Y/n, you’re being ridiculous” “No, I’m done” I yelled before walking out of the building. “Don’t worry JayJay, you can sleep in my bed tonight” Harley said to Jay. “Fuck off” Jay spat back. 

On my way out of the arena, I ran into no other than Will. “What’s wrong love? Did the switchblade finally cut you?” he asked. “I don’t want to talk about it” I told him, trying to leave as fast as I could. “Are you sure, you look like you’re about to cry” he told me sincerely. Next thing I knew I was in his hotel room in tears as he held me. “I can’t believe someone would say something like that. That’s complete bullshit” Will told me “What did Jay say when you told him?” “He said I was overreacting” “I’m really sorry Y/n, you didn’t deserve that” I don’t know how or why I was venting to Will but it felt good that someone was finally listening to me. I couldn't stop thinking about what I overheard a week prior to this mess. I had heard the other girls talking shit about me and when I told Jay about it he just brushed it off like it was nothing. The conversation was between Harley and Saraya. “I can’t believe Jay is still with her. You would think once he made it he would get rid of her” Harley said “Like I get they have been together for a long time and everything but let’s just face it, he could do better” she continued “I don’t even know what it is that he sees in her? She’s not pretty, she’s boring, there is nothing special about her. There are so many other people out there, look at all the models that want him and yet he’s still with her” I was trying not to cry as I heard Harley’s words. Sure they hurt but who she was talking to hurt more. One of my best friends Saraya stood next to her, listening to the conversation. “Once you get to know her, Y/n is really nice Harley. You don’t even know her!” I listened as Saraya defended me but that didn’t take away from the hurtful words. 

Once I left Will’s room I returned to my own hotel room. All I wanted to do was have a hot shower. I opened the door expecting to be alone since Dynamite was on the air but to my surprise, Jay was waiting for me. “Where were you?” he asked calmly “Does it matter where I was?” I asked him “You were with him weren’t you?” “Maybe I was, maybe I wasn’t. Why should you care, at least Will cares about me?” I could see the pain in his eyes “I do care about you Y/n, I love you. I’m sorry about earlier, I really am” I knew he was sincere but I still wasn’t convinced he was sorry. “Do you know how gorgeous you are? You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen” he told me “I don’t care what those other girls think, you are the only person I need. You’re not boring Y/n, they are just jealous of you. Jealous of how naturally perfect you are. Look at the girls that flirt with me, they are all fake, they are not real. Fake tits, fake lips, fake everything. They are so ugly both inside and out that they need to do all of these things to at least have a chance against you. You have perfect plump lips that I love to kiss and bite. I would be scared Harley’s filler would explode if I did that to her. Your chest is warm and soft, those girls have fucken hard boulders in their tops” I couldn't help the laugh I let out at his comments. “It’s true! You are just perfect, I love every single thing about you. All of your ‘imperfections’ are perfections.” I didn’t even realize I was crying until Jay wiped away my tears and held me close. “I know, I know baby, I’m sorry” Jay and I stayed like that for a while, in each other’s loving embrace before sharing a hot shower.

I let the hot water burn my skin as Jay rubbed bubbles all over my body. “I don’t think you understand how obsessed with you I am. I love every single part of you Y/n” Jay told me as he began placing kisses all over my body. “This scar you claim to hate, love it,” he said as he kissed the deep scar on my side “Your hip dips, love them, stretch marks, love them, your beauty marks, obsessed” Every single ‘flaw’ I had pointed out over the years Jay told me he loved, kissing every single one lovingly. “You know how much I love you when I’m on my knees for you Y/n,” Jay told me, his eyes now dark. “Do you forgive me?” he asked “Yes, I’m sorry Jay. I love you too” “No, I’m sorry Y/n. I hope this will make it up to you” 

[nucksaid]

it’s the way they cropped quinn out for me

[my-dear-ceramic-frogs]

House spread

[musicandotherstuff]

The Last Shadow Puppets - The Catalyst, Santa Cruz 2016

📸: Shelby Bree Hammer (Flickr)

[coleskingdom]

This right here is why Jay White fans feel like we are suffering right now.

[the-heartlines]

we cookin’ 👩🏻‍🍳

[annabolinas]

Anne Boleyn Week 2024

Day 3: Favorite Historical Fact: Anne's involvement in the English Reformation

"What a zealous defender she was of Christ's gospel all the world doth know, and her acts do and will declare to the world's end." - John Foxe in Acts and Monuments (1563)

"Her formative years had impressed upon her what forthright and determined women could achieve. She stood her ground for what she believed in, and her devotion to ideas, especially religious ones, meant she was bound to prove divisive in the aggressively masculine environment of Henry’s court. She was a keen judge of men, appreciating the impetus for change which eager young evangelicals could exert, and was protective and encouraging towards them." - John Guy and Julia Fox in Hunting the Falcon (2023)

"Brief though Anne's influence was, it was a thousand days of support for reform from the throne itself. And hindsight can say more. The breach in the dyke of tradition which she encouraged and protected made the flood first of reformed, and later of more specifically Protestant Christianity, unstoppable. Catholic hatred of Anne damned her for the break with Rome and for the entrance of heresy into England. It was right on both counts." - Eric Ives in The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn (2004)

[xbatskumx]

✨ aether ✨

[amethyst-ghoul-backup]

A couple of opinions of mine (aka a super long rant cause I don’t know how to summarize or get to the point) regarding Aether not coming back to the band for the 2023 tour.

TLDR at the end in case you don’t want to read all of my rambling lol

Mentions of unmasked era 4/5 ghouls and Ifrit ghoul (fire ghoul/lead guitar 2017) under the cut

I wanna start this by saying that Tobias Forge and none of the ghouls, but especially the new ghouls, deserve any kind of hate from anyone regarding this situation and we should respect what’s going on as well as their decisions, privacy, and roles in the band.

To the people saying things along the lines of “Oh you wouldn’t care this much or even notice the difference if you didn’t know who was under the mask” or “This is why the nameless ghouls should stay nameless,” I respectfully disagree.

Was the purpose of the nameless ghouls to be nameless and anonymous? Yes. Do both the past and present nameless ghouls deserve respect and courtesy from all the fans regarding their identities and relations to the band? Yes of course.

But here’s the thing:

For one: I think I speak for many people when I say that we would still notice that Aether/Chris was gone even if we didn’t know his identity. Everyone noticed that we have a new ghoul on rhythm guitar, they LOOK DIFFERENT because it’s a DIFFERENT PERSON. We knew Chris wasn’t with the band during the first part of the tour even BEFORE he said anything about it. because we know the ghouls, we know how they look and we can tell them apart. It doesn’t matter if we know who’s under the mask or not, we’re still gonna be sad about one of the ghouls leaving because we love all of them. (hell, Zephyr/ChAir and Ifrit are two of my favorite ghouls and I miss them every day and they were in the band for LESS THAN A YEAR) Chris has been with the band for SIX YEARS and he was the first and only quintessence ghoul/rhythm guitarist after the heartbreak that was the lawsuit situation. We KNOW that the ghouls are an everchanging rotating cast but that doesn’t make it any less sad. We know the papas change as well and it STILL makes people sad (myself included ofc) and we don’t always want to see them go. So I think it’s kind of unfair to say that people wouldn’t miss Aether/Chris if we didn’t know who’s under the mask because I think we still would.

Second thing: In my opinion, it’s awesome that we know the identities of the nameless ghouls because then we can support their other work and projects. I found Ghost about a year ago and have loved them ever since, even though it’s not the kind of music that I would typically listen to. Before, I listened to some metal and rock but I mostly listened to pop, r&b, country, and alternative. But then I heard Year Zero for the first time, decided to check out Ghost, listened to Bible and Witch Image religiously for a few days, and quickly developed an unhealthy obsession with the band. But I ONLY listened to their music and didn’t know anything about the actual band or any of the lore.

Then I started seeing videos of the 2022 Imperatour on TikTok and fell in love with the ghouls and Papa and the theatrics and all the lore. After that, I started watching interviews with Tobias Forge and he seemed so cool then I started learning about the people behind the ghoul masks and their other work. And I LOVED IT ALL. I never would have discovered this work without knowing who the nameless ghouls really are.

Without knowing their identities I never would’ve discovered the Sisters of Mercy (a band that Chris Catalyst and Ben Christo were/are in), I never would’ve discovered Drag Talk (a group that Jutty Taylor and Hayden Scott are a part of) or Juttys old music (Jutty Ranx anyone?), I never would’ve discovered Diamond Black (a group that Ben Christo started that has become a top band for me on Spotify), I never would’ve started listening to Cos Sylvan, Mad Gallica, Chris, or Jutty’s other music without knowing them from Ghost. (and of course, I love Per, Laura, Hayden, and Sophie too but I don’t really listen to their other music tbh)

These artists and the other music they create are musicians and contributors to types of music that I’m still new to and probably wouldn’t really listen to if I had never found them through these people. Maybe I’m the only person with this experience but I’m pretty sure I’m not, and I’m beyond thrilled that I was able to find these amazingly talented people and their awesome work through the band Ghost. I personally see finding out their identities as a bit of a double-edged sword, because while they’re not anonymous and nameless anymore, we still get to be exposed to these musicians and their other work.

So TLDR: One: I don’t think it’s fair to say that we wouldn’t miss Aether if we didn’t know his true identity because we would still know that he’s gone and that someone is taking his place. Two: I think it can be a good thing that we know the nameless ghouls' identities because it means that we can support their other work and show them our love by supporting their music and projects outside of Ghost because we know who they are behind the masks.

[sovaharbor]

there's something really insane actually to me about warren thinking he killed bobby being what snapped him out of Being Death. like the concept of him being the one to end bobby's life is THAT detrimental? it's THAT much of a shock to his system? you could argue it could be anyone from the o5 or anyone from the x-men, anyone he'd fought alongside, and i'd say okay sure it probably would bc we know warren loves his friends wholeheartedly, but bobby. Bobby. it's giving i'm in love with my best friend and i've never said it and oh god i just killed him his blood is [metaphorically] on my hands i'm going to have to live with this for the rest of my life it was me i was the one who did it when bobby was the one who always helped warren hide himself in a way none of the other o5 did, there's so much trust and care and love and intimacy in something like that just as much as there's intimacy in life or TAKING life. and then he finds out no actually that was fake bobby's alive, and now you have to sit with the guilt of knowing you could've done it, the fear of what if it happens again what if i do it for real what if he's not safe around me, the knowledge of just how much he means to warren and how now warren can never say anything because god forbid he hurts him, the question of do i mean as much to him as he means to me and knowing you can never ask it, and and and........

[brw]

Why is Vision in that fuckass suit.

[aeide-thea]

saw a post that was like

'i'm so floored by the fact that this mid-20th century author of historical fiction wrote about queerness as though it was natural and important!'

and it's like. the author in question was queer! queer people have been writing work in which queerness was natural and important since much earlier than the 50s—forster wrote maurice in the 1910s! whitman was writing poetry that celebrated queerness in the mid-19th century! i'm sure that if i did any actual research into the history of queer fiction instead of just whipping out the things that spring immediately to mind for me, many more examples would present themselves!

anyway i just think like. that sort of reflexive naive modern chauvinism is a real mistake (especially considering how things have been going in america lately…), and for anyone who is, or wants to be, a serious student of the past, worth scrutinizing and uprooting in oneself. queerness is present and positively depicted in some of the oldest literature we have; and when we encounter matter-of-fact, even celebratory, representations of it from eras we reflexively conceptualize as more conservative than ours, i think we need to be aware that any startlement we feel at that is an artifact of the repressive, erasive, homophobic thinking inculcated in us by our own particular milieu(x), and not in fact a neutral or historically informed reaction?