#I mean it's a whole other thing of me not thinking ill do the (traditional) route of marriage and kids lbr but does this make sense anyway?

[windvexer]

hiii chicken. i have an issue i was hoping you can help with, maybe give some ideas. i have a whole list of mental illnesses and a big symptom is struggling with showering everyday plus keeping my house clean. the problem is i feel like i cannot undertake any spiritual task (even a tarot reading) if i haven't fully showered+ cleaned my house. it's a mix of my religious upbringing and feeling like everything is spiritually unclean too if it is physically unclean. i cannot even wave some incense around because it feels useless. i understand the best solution to this is that i actually just keep everything clean but i was hoping to hear something else that might help too. thank you 🫶

Hi, Anon. I imagine that the best solution is probably not just keeping everything clean all the time or else you can't practice your faith.

So I'll speak on the only thing I can, which is magical cleansing theory and technique.

So first! Let's get some definitions going.

Spiritually unclean is a bit of a loaded term, I think, because usually people take "spiritual" to mean "faith; belief; my interaction with what I hold sacred" (&etc), and then spiritually unclean can sound like, "my faith tells me I'm dirty unless I clean all of the time," which I don't think is something I can help with.

Instead, we can perhaps choose more discrete terms to discuss the topic.

One helpful term here may be profane, as in, not sacred; nonreligious. This definition of profane is close to worldly, which is something secular; in contrast to the spiritual.

Completely separate from that is something we might call supernatural energy. For our purposes, supernatural energy can be described as the supernatural body of a wide variety of phenomenon, from emotions, to gods and spirits, to abstractions such as elements and concepts (try channeling the supernatural energy of beauty, or the concept of a cozy mystery novel!).

Given these definitions, we've got a couple of avenues of exploration.

Generally, a lot of witches and practitioners really do enjoy having sacred spaces in their homes. These are usually small spaces, because they tend to be difficult and even tedious to properly maintain.

Few of us have the space to maintain an entire room as a temple in the home; if we're lucky, we get a whole sacred bookshelf. Many practitioners can't, or don't want to, keep sacred spaces in their homes at all.

Wicca and Traditional Witchcraft, and I don't know whom else but I'm sure we're not the literal only two, have dealt with the concept of sacred space by casting a temporary circle, the space within considered to be highly sacred in many ways useful to a witch.

So when you say, "I feel like everything is spiritually unclean," if what you mean is, "I feel like my home is worldly, profane; I want to transform it into a sacred space suitable for practicing my faith," then my reply to you is:

Invest in the witchcraft knowledge and skills which allow you, as the witch, to delineate manageable spiritual spaces within your home and keep them magically safeguarded and separate from everyday living spaces.

Witches can build and safeguard sacred spaces; we have the technology. We can build permanent physical spaces, like altar rooms and shrines, but we can also build temporary spaces, like circles.

After all, if a construction company can block out the profanity of the outside world just by putting cladding on a frame, why can't you separate the sacredness of a small, manageable working space by building magical walls actually intended for that purpose?

Regarding self-cleansing, in your case showering:

If the purpose of your showering is to make you, personally, feel as if you've "crossed the threshold" into a state of sacredness, that's certainly not invalid.

However, it may be worth examining in your practice if A) other things can deliver you into a state of sacredness without triggering unwanted focus on physical cleaning, and B) exactly how sacred you've got to be to perform typical witchcraft practices that you'd like to perform.

In my practice, I wouldn't say I've ever got to get sacred, but I do often have to get into headspace, which may be another function that showering (and cleaning the house itself) is performing for you. If you haven't, practicing shifting your state of consciousness or entering "magical headspace" intentionally and with chosen cues may be very valuable to you.

Now, all of the above completely aside, when you say that you feel your space is spiritually unclean, perhaps what you mean is "my house regularly accumulates supernatural energy, and I feel that it's useless to practice if these other energies are getting in the way."

And that's a whole other can of beans.

The short answer is that this can be dealt with in the same way as sacredness; draw a magical line in the sand, and say "this smaller space is where I'm doing my working, and I'll manage the energy inside of it, but not without."

The long answer is to perhaps begin questioning why your home is so filled with all these stifling supernatural energies, and how you can take proactive steps to limit unwanted types.

People and animals tend to shed energy during the normal course of their lives. Energy does tend to accumulate in unused corners of rooms, even if those corners are regularly tidied and dusted. And all of this is nothing to say of events like parties, arguments, holiday festivities, and spirit or god interactions that can rapidly shift what supernatural energies are cluttering up a place.

In part, this can be dealt with using proactive spellwork. Enchanted objects can be put near doors to comb through incoming energy and help prevent unwanted varieties from coming in. Servitors can be created to munch on certain types of energy and poo out cozy white light. Charms on the top of door jambs work particularly well to manage energy flow through the household.

That incense being waved around can clean out unwanted energy, too - and frankly, if it doesn't, then there is more practice to be had in regards to enchanting substances for the purposes of cleansing.

Normal cleaning can be supercharged with magic to not only ensure unwanted types of energy are removed, but also to have a preventative effect to help stop them from coming back right away.

If there are special factors, like a household member constantly leaking awful vibes onto the rug, magic can also be done to stop their energy from spilling out; or, proactive spellwork can be done to divert or adjust upcoming unwanted events, and so on.

I wouldn't say it's wrong to want a house that specifically has only got your favorite types of energy in it, but the practical does tend to get in the way quite a lot.

Like, I live with other people. Witchcraft isn't mind games or psychology. If you strip the house of energy and refill it with a certain type, other people notice. Pets notice. Spirits especially notice, and Lord knows they're going to have their opinions on it.

If your only method of cleansing your home is entirely cleaning it every single time, there are a lot more helpful and proactive cleansing techniques out there, is what I'm saying.

At the end of the day, I'm real loosey-goosey on belief. Once I believed ritualistic cleansing was the only way, then I believed in the power of regular cleaning, then there was no difference between cleanliness and dirtiness, or sacred and profane; then it all mattered again but it was easy, and coming up here in a minute I suspect it'll all still matter but it'll be hard.

Wanting a sacred space, wanting a clean space, believing in cleanliness and sacredness; these are not the issues.

It sounds like for you, the issue is learning how to manage your needs and separate your sacred/clean working space from your everyday living.

I genuinely think there are a ton of angles to approach your concerns. Why does waving around incense feel useless? Did you not enchant it, and if so, what evidence do you have that your technique works, or does not work? How often have you tried casting spells in your untidy house versus a tidied one, and what are your rates of success for each?

Can you enter magical headspace in an untidy space? Can you do so in public if you have sufficient privacy? Can you do so in someone else's untidy house? How much practice have you put into magical techniques of connection? Have you been relying on cleaning house to shift you into magical headspace?

Anyway. I hope this all helps. Have a great night :)

[frankingsteinery]

been sitting on this for awhile because its a bit controversial, but its one of the main reasons i was pushed into the frankenstein fandom space so i figured it was high time to talk about it

ive noticed that theres this general opinion, both among scholars and present in more fandom-y spaces, that victor is somehow effeminate for what are ultimately symptoms of disability (fainting spells, being bedridden, hysteria, etc) as if being physically or mentally ill is something that is inherently feminine. i have read articles published by academics that victor’s sickness is proof of his “femininity,” which is why he wants to take on the traditional part of a woman, that is, childbirth (via creature)

even in general, and not on an academic level, it emerges in jokes or memes all over the place — people poking at victor for being weak, or sick, or a gay little UWU bean sub, because aw hes fainting all the time XD and he’s sooo dramatic! as if these things were somehow both his choice, and somehow innately feminine

so, not only is there this weird link people are attempting to draw between disability and femininity, but also queerness (particularly, ive noticed, being a “bottom” or “sub” — but thats a whole separate can of worms) and femininity. as if being either of these things is inherently girly or cutesy and thus worthy of being made fun of

there comes a point (particularly when these interpretations leak into broader understandings of something via pop culture), where, for lack of a better word, it comes off as fetishizing or romanticizing queerness and/or queer relationships

and while this may seem relatively harmless on the surface and comes off as just thoughtless jokes made in bad taste, it IS serious. not just within the context of frankenstein, but the general premise of the severity that even subconscious reinforcement of detrimental and stereotypical ideas should be treated with. its a slippery slope from jokes to notions that affect you and how you see the world

this is obviously part of a broader problem with the way disability, gender, identity and etc is thought about and taught, which results in people harboring all sorts of these types of underlying prejudices. its just that victor happens to be a particularly good example, wherein he is a feminized man that is ascribed as “weak,” and the attribute “weak” is ascribed to someone who has been historically analyzed as both disabled and queer. this has been reinforced for decades, and i feel like this treatment of his character in this way is so blatantly obvious and runs rampant while it goes nearly entirely unchecked — and also in the case of frankenstein discourse, its often a quadruple whammy (ableism, misogyny, transphobia, homophobia)

and the worst part is that it is so often completely unintentional, and the bulk of this sort of content are well-meaning jokes. i genuinely don’t think people do this in bad faith or out of malice, but spreading these concepts even in formats that appear to be harmless (jokes, memes) just contribute to and continue to spread these ideas and stereotypes. its frustrating because its hard to point out and bring attention to without coming off as nitpicky or overly sensitive because this sort of thing is just so SUBTLE, and these beliefs are so gradually learned and then reinforced on a subconscious level

i could go on but for risk of sounding redundant ill digress, however to be clear this is not me saying you cant view victor as transfem, or disabled, or queer (i do!), or to view him as feminine, or etc, but that you should look at the reasons for WHY you think so, and how you or others treat the subject when talking about it.

[musicalmoritz]

do u hc any character on the aro/ace spectrum?

I love this question!! Unfortunately since TBHK is so heavily focused on romance, I don’t have many. Ofc aroace ppl can still date but fandoms tend to ignore the nuance of that statement and put them into relationships without considering what that means for them. I like to look at it a bit deeper because aroace headcanons do have some importance to me. My sister is aroace so every time I see a headcanon for a character being aspec I have to let her know lol. So before I get into this list I just wanted to say to any aroace ppl who see this, I love ya’ll, ya’ll are doing great <3

Nobody murder me, I’m going to explain. Typically I’m not a fan of aroace villains bcuz the trope has some nasty implications. That doesn’t mean no villain character can ever be headcanoned as aroace but I need some very good reasons before sticking with a headcanon like that. And for Tsukasa, I have my reasons!! A lot of fans tend to agree that he shouldn’t be in a relationship with anybody and that used to really annoy me because I don’t like the whole “this character is clearly mentally ill therefore they get no love” thing. I know it goes deeper than that with him being generally abusive but still. Eh. There are people with disorders that make them bad partners and those people are still very capable of getting therapy and improving. Plus most fans who say that claim to love toxic ships to like???

I’m not really a fan of any Tsukasa ships tho (I used to crack ship TsuAoi but those days are over) so I figured I would actually put some effort into giving a reason as to why he doesn’t do relationships. Rather than go the whole “he could hurt other people” route, I wanted to focus more about how Tsukasa himself would feel about dating. And to be honest? I don’t think he’d like it! He’s definitely interested in relationships as a concept but I don’t think he’s the type to take them seriously. I try to use this headcanon to humanize Tsukasa rather than demonizing him like a lot of people do with aroace villain headcanons. Love is very important to him on a platonic level but romance just isn’t his thing. And it creates a nice contrast in fics between him and characters whose lives center so much around romance. My sister actually is the one who introduced me to this hc and every aroace hc she has is law so I abide by it lmao

This one is way more recent but it makes so much sense to me. If you want to talk about characters who are more realistically potentially aroace, Tsuchigomori has never expressed the desire for a love interest in canon. When most adult male characters are single in fiction it’s seen as a problem (at least in a comedic sense), but with Tsuchigomori none of the characters question it. I feel like he has some level of interest in romance, maybe demiromantic?? But overall romantic attraction isn’t something he experiences easily

This one is more based on vibes and me hunting down every TBHK character that doesn’t have an arc connected to romantic attraction. I don’t think he realized it when he was alive because the people in his village didn’t talk about asexuality/aromanticism much. Maybe he thought he was gay but that didn’t quite feel right because his disinterest in women extended to everyone. He seems like the type to love being surrounded by people and be generally very personable, so his platonic relationships are very important to him. Just no romance

I know you specifically asked for aroace characters but I 100% see this man as demiromantic, and maybe demisexual too. Possibly completely asexual, though leaning more towards the positive side of the spectrum (or just neutral). Emotions don’t come easily to this man so love is a complicated subject but I do believe he’s capable of loving people romantically, just under specific circumstances and not in the traditional sense

I hope you liked these headcanons!! I’ve seen some others that interest me too. I once wrote a Sakuhiko request where they were both aroace and queer platonic, that was very fun. I’ve also seen both the Minamoto brothers written as asexual which is cool to me. Tbh I’m open to most types of headcanons unless I see one that inexplicably gives me the ick…but even then I mind my business bcuz I don’t have to agree with every headcanon I see. I may not have many aroace headcanons for TBHK but I have more for other fandoms, completely unrelated but I could write a whole essay on why Jean Valjean is aroace lol

[beautifulterriblequeen]

Multiple Choice - a Callum and Aaravos theory

Not to be all Han Solo or anything, but when it comes to Aaravos and magic in Xadia, I Have A Bad Feeling About This.

If there's one thing I love more than corrupt systems, it's breaking them, so let's get to it: please enjoy yet another way that Callum's pursuit of magic could potentially go very wrong for him - and how he can still fix it.

The system, in this case, isn't a monarchy (on either side of the border), wartime tensions reaching forward from the cycle, or a Xadia-wide racial hierarchy.

It's magic itself.

We don't know where it came from, magic. Was deep magic always here? Did one of the Star Touch elves create it, or perhaps choose to make it his bailiwick while others chose things like Justice and Mercy?

Aaravos, I mean Aaravos. If he's basically the god of magic (feel free to view him through a Loki-esque lens here, I am), then of course he's an archmage, and of course he's the only one among the Star Touch elves. Magic is His Thing.

And according to Zubeia, the Dragon Queen, its mages are his prey. We don't know yet what his full intent has been. We only have her millennia-long view from the surface of the planet. There's definitely more to the story, but which direction that story takes us is anyone's guess at this point. However, it seems clear that Aaravos's history during his time in Xadia does show a pattern of him targeting and influencing mages. He certainly has been during the years the show has covered.

What all he did with these mages, besides the manipulation, is also still unknown. But even if all he ever did was pull their strings, he's still choosing magic-imbued beings as his favorite puppets. The most likely explanation for this is that mages and Aaravos have something in common, making them easier for him to work with. Is it just magic? Does their ambition count too? Is there more to it?

I think there's more. I feel there is some deep dangerous secret Aaravos has managed to hide from everyone so far - including us. But just because it's dangerous doesn't mean it's evil, or even ill-intentioned. Do we consider the threat to anthills when we begin construction on a new apartment complex? Usually no. We're busy doing human-level tasks. The ants' welfare is truly not our concern. And most of them will probably be fine... right?

So. What's Aaravos really up to, and what does it have to do with Callum?

Something Rayla believes about Callum made me wonder: in the short story Chasing Shadows, she believes that he, and all humans, can change their destiny (and it's super annoying!). Why is that a human thing only, though?

Arcanums, perhaps. We've all seen the elven peoples get uptight about their own rules and the options they can choose for themselves. It's not just the Moonshadows. Sunfire elves can absolutely be sticklers for tradition - look at my disaster boy Karim over here, willing to go to war against his own people because his sister wants to marry a human.

Bruh.

So here's part one of the theory:

Having an arcanum in you forces your destiny into a certain path.

If you're born with it, you know the path of your whole life - and I don't just mean "serve your people" or "be a warrior" or "be one with nature." There is a very dark side to being locked into your destiny. It means you cannot escape it even if you desperately want to.

*wordlessly points to Runaan and his overly honorbound decisions*

*wordlessly points to Rayla and her overly sacrificial decisions*

*wordlessly points to Finnegrin and his overly fear-driven decisions*

*wordlessly points to Janai and her overly dutybound decisions*

*wordlessly points to Karim and his overly traditional decisions*

I don't need to say anything here, do I? Thought not.

But it's one thing to be born with an arcanum - maybe they know and accept this part of their destiny already. Maybe it's just a subconscious thing they... know.

It's another thing entirely to opt into an arcanum as a free choice. And here's where we get to part two:

Callum thinks he chose his destiny. He doesn't know he just gave it away.

If he just handed his fate to Aaravos by embracing an arcanum (and then one more), his destiny isn't currently in his hands at all. It's in Aaravos's. And the archmage has proven that he, at least, knows that, since he's been pulling at Callum's strings and toying with him for a while now. He wouldn't flex like that unless he was supremely confident - which he is, he always is - he wouldn't show that hand early on like this unless he knew Callum didn't understand what he'd done or how to reverse it.

This theory is about more than dark magic. It's about all magic. Even if Callum could cleanse himself from dark magic and never let Aaravos puppet him again, is he really free? He still has an arcanum. Where did that come from? He's walking around with a couple of magical bona fides stamped on his brain, and I just want to know...

Who crafted the stamps?

If all Xadian magic is some kind of... creation, or spill, or experiment... and Aaravos needs that power back for himself in order to be who he used to be and/or re-ascend to the stars, he's got more than one way to harness it again:

dark magic consumes primal magic - but matter and energy are never destroyed, so... where does that power go? Aaravos has a very convenient black hole symbol right on his chest. Maybe every spell dark mages have ever cast sends him some of his precious primal magic again. It would be a very convenient way of getting desperate humans to do his cleanup for him. And he has all the time in the world.

primal magic won't save anyone from his will - it just harnesses the elves to Aaravos's magic rules and binds their destiny to a predetermined outcome. They've become, in a word... predictable.

There's no way to beat a Star Touch Archmage at his own game. He literally wrote its rules. So what's a bright young kid like Callum to do?

To quote War Games, "the only way to win is not to play."

Callum's in a unique position, in that he knows who he was before he had an arcanum. Back when he could choose his destiny every day, without binding him to some powerful force he doesn't fully understand yet. This might lead him to a very difficult and dangerous choice, and it could break the game, and the world, wide open.

If Callum can choose to learn an arcanum, maybe he can choose to forget one.

If he can un-know the things that bound him to that magic destiny, he'd be free again, of Aaravos's reach and of his influence.

And that's just for him, but if everyone else is trapped too, how can he help them and hurt Aaravos's power grab at the same time? No idea, beyond "someone hand him a powerful magical artifact and wait," at this point, but I'm sure he'll find a way to break something important eventually! Something vital to the structure and distribution of magic itself, preferably.

If he manages to find a way to destroy magic itself, then everyone would be free. There would be no rules binding anyone to Aaravos. There would be no dark magic feeding off its fumes, either. It's theoretically possible that destroying primal magic would undo the taint of dark magic, all in one go.

And we all know how Callum loves to go around ruining ancient and powerful magical objects. Kid's got quite a track record by now!

Maybe he's not done yet. Maybe Callum's true destiny will be both Savior and Destroyer. But he'll have to play his own game to do it - he can't play Aaravos's game and win. He'll have to fight outside of magic itself. And if he's going to put down his most powerful weapon, forged by someone else - by the mastermind himself - and try without it, then he'll need help, just like always.

[imustbenuts]

ouggh could you please elaborate on your criticism of brave Alfonse ...I like hearing your thoughts (⁠人⁠ ⁠•͈⁠ᴗ⁠•͈⁠)

alright. so this is just a messy sloppy thought vomit essay again im so sorry in advance.

and i am salty overall about this.

in 2 words: traditional conservatism

in many many words:

ALFONSE. OPEN UP YOUR WAY CARVE YOUR OWN PATH WHAT ARE YOU DOINGGGGGG IF YOU ARE SAYING HE HAS POTENTIAL JUST. FUCKING. COMMIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU COWARDS! HAAAAAAAAAAAUGHHHHHHHHHHHHG learn from your dad's ruling policy yes but don't become your dad and carve for the affection you cannot have jfc

IN MORE WORDS

gustav is. objectively speaking, not a good father in the emotional growth department. I've mentioned and maintained by him looking like an Asian tiger parent from my pov. even if he does lay out proper foundations and maybe good hc adjacent policy for country ruling, his approach of parenting is questionable at best.

I get him operating under pressure and sickness with a limited time left to raise his son in a manner befitting of the throne but like. All sink and no swim? No proper explicit guidance? You can't just be "I want my child to meet expectations and dispense no love", that's just straight up neglect my guy. hes very much the 2 faced proud big important parent person.

realistic, but yuck.

i dont think they even have a father son moment probably ever. Henriette and Gustav have a more functional relationship bc they actually dated and had proper human interaction, but it's likely given cultural asian and high expectations context irl, his kids were treated more like objects and successors. Despite everything he might have felt and expressed behind the scenes. again, the affection is not expressed and conveyed directly enough to his kids, and alfonse being his successor means. alfonse has major daddy issues and anxiety about succeeding the throne.

So now, brave alfonse, having lost this dad and understandably craving for fatherly affection and going through it in the plot, is. you know. in the process of redefining himself. arguably is always, but now, its either he's the successor of, King Gustav the Great II or The Next King of Askr. his role as with many many other of his type are to be a signifier of a new era. thats the whole point of successors!

hes even all "ILL OPEN THE WAY". implying that something before wasnt working out and a new path must be blasted open for a better future. thats the whole theme.

But the effect of Alfonse donning his fathers armor in this case is not respect, it reeks of insecurity! again, does alfonse know his father as Gustav The Person to a reasonable degreee? if by that we mean a neglecful parent but a decent king, okay. but why is there a need to repeat this cycle by wearing from head to toe, from body language to skill 1:1 of his dad. howis this a good thing...

dude. what the hell is intsys doing. do i need to call their parents or what the hell is this conservative traditional filial pathetic nonsense. what the hell happened to all of the other fire emblems who are 5 steps more progressive than this

(granted i do find FE to be very conservative on the whole now that ive stewed in the pot of it all but thats a me thing. it could also be dependant on the writer but idk them well enough to know who does what)

and heres my ideal fucking scenario, right. not very hard. id argue just picking up gustav's mantle OR axe and then working it into a new outfit that is explicit alfonse's would be miles better and what i would want. a signifier that alfonse the character knows himself and wants to walk his own path while honoring the good parts of gustav and discarding the bad.

not this. reanimation method of almost wanting to wear his fathers' skin. as if he cant move on and stand on his feet. as if hes unsure. as if they dont want him to commit (at least not yet bc we gonna milk FEH for as much as we can). despite. all the things that have been happening.

instead of rolling with the punches the armor feels like him not doing that. it might have been an easy alt to decide on, but character wise, i dislike it a lot.

[ms-demeanor]

I don’t duck with predatory schools or cheap unaccredited courses/ capitalism/white washed alternative medicines… but does you beef with alternative practitioners extend to Eastern/ traditional medicinal practices as a whole? Like you don’t think herbalism or acupuncture have healing capabilities?

I am deeply, deeply skeptical of nearly all alternative medicine, but you are unlikely to find anyone who says there are no benefits to most types of alternative medicine. (I'll say it about chiropractic and homeopathy though - there's nothing that a chiropracter can do for you that a physical therapist or massage therapist can't do better and more safely, and homeopathy won't do anything except possibly poison more infants)

However, here's the problem with that:

Acupuncture appears to have fairly reliable effects that are not explained by the placebo effect for things like pain relief, anxiety, and depression, and may also help with disorders relating to those things (insomnia and asthma, for instance). But you should not stop taking your asthma medications because you are being treated for asthma with acupuncture because if you are asthmatic, deciding "oh, my asthma [which treatable, but not curable] is cured!]" and throwing away your rescue inhaler can kill you.

Herbal remedies may be comforting for some people, and may have some effects, but it is dangerous to use, for instance, St. John's Wort to treat depression because it is impossible to standardize a dose of St. John's Wort in something like a tea or an extract, and supplements are not regulated in the US so it is impossible to know *what* dose you're getting in a St. John's Wort supplement.

Many people find chiropractic to be a reasonable means of pain relief, and I'm not going to pretend that their pain isn't reduced from chiropractic treatment, but literally hundreds of studies suggest that for the things that chiropractic has any reliable measurable effect on (musculoskeletal pain) you are going to get better treatment from a massage therapist or a physical therapist.

Ayurvedic medicine has a long history of things like surgeries including cataract surgyery and cauterization to treat bleeding, which do actually work! However ayurvedic medicine also often includes consumption of harmful materials like heavy metals alongside herbs that may have actual medical benefits, or practices like oil pulling, which do absolutely nothing.

Chinese Traditional Medicine may have some useful treatments, but is also associated with things like lead poisoning.

Use of Kava as an herbal alternative pain treatment was linked to a spate of people having liver failure. Kava does work to treat pain, it just also causes liver failure at completely unacceptable rates and at completely unknown doses.

So I don't think that alternative medicines are uniformly awful. Some stuff seems to work okay, and there is some stuff that is very unlikely to cause harm even if it doesn't actually heal.

But, hoo boy, herbalism has *immense* capacity to harm (because it is difficult to ensure accurate dosing, because herbal medications may interfere with allopathic medications, because it is difficult to avoid contaminants and easy to make mistakes with preparations in herbal medicine), which is made worse when people choose herbalism in place of other treatments. There are a thousand horror stories of people using black salve (a caustic substance that is used to treat tumors by chemically burning them off) to treat breast cancer, which is only marginally more horrifying than people who chose to forego cancer treatment in favor of herbalism.

And I'm not particularly in the business of telling people what to do, but I am someone with chronic illnesses who has had alternative treatments proposed to me in place of recognized best practices and I understand that for people with a new or frightening diagnosis it is easy to fall victim to a confident person who is offering 'treatment' at a lower cost and with more hands-on care than an overworked specialist who doesn't take your shitty insurance. Because of that I think that it is often safer to assume that alternative treatments are at best unproven and to start treating medical conditions with allopathic medicine and to use alternative treatments alongside of allopathic medicine (with the full knowledge of your medical team - a lot of "detoxifying" alternative medicines work by making all of your medications ineffective!)

And even if you're going to be using herbalism or acupuncture to treat someone and doing so in conjunction with proven treatments, I still think it's important for the practitioner of alternative medicine to be intellectually curious and scientifically educated enough to recognize when their treatments aren't working; if you have cheerfully taken a course in chiropractic and homeopathy as part of your alternative medicine degree, that does not suggest that you are being given a rigorous, evidence-based education in herbalism or acupuncture by the school that provided the homeopathy class!

It's like if you were getting a degree in engineering and had to take a class on the physics of the time cube in order to graduate. Time Cube Theory 204 cancels out Advanced Fluid Dynamics! Time Cube Theory 204 calls into question the validity of all your other classes! Time Cube Theory 204 is a major alarm bell, and if that didn't chase you out of the building you shouldn't be trusted to build a dam!

[phoenixyfriend]

Me, explaining Chanters of Tremaris to someone on Discord:

[Beware: spoilers ahead, if you intend to read the books]

Fictional planet, people can cause magic by singing, and the type of magic is generally a cultural/bloodline thing (much like AtLA)

Also a Prophesied One with All the Powers, except there's more than one person who can sing multiple magics, and the other guy is Evil

there's a fucked up city that's held up and kept beautiful and Not Falling Apart by enslaving children to sing it. Protagonists free the children and the city falls apart LITERALLY OMELAS I mean not really, because the Function of the enslaved and neglected children is obvious, and it's not everyone that knows But close enough

Haunting imagery of dead women sealed into a wall of ice out of fear of their illness reaching their sisters

Someone has a brother they didn't know about, and meets in the final book

The only girls allowed on boats are the ones that can sing the wind

(This is possibly just the one really misogynistic pirate ship, but still)

(A choice bit of worldbuilding. Girls are bad luck unless they can chant the wind)

Author did not seem to realize there was Lesbian Potential (boat girl and protagonist)

You get through the entire series and learn that the "lost magic" that nobody can rediscover is LITERACY nobody here can WRITE or READ there are no BOOKS

And you don't notice! As a reader! OUT OF SIGHT OUT OF MIND I GUESS

Also it turns out that this is. Not the original planet. They find The Oldest City and the city is actually a giant spaceship That was used to settle the planet centuries ago Possibly millennia, given that an entire portion of the population, geographically separated from the rest, does not have vocal cords

No we do not know how the fuck the entire human population managed to collectively forget how to write

The worldbuilding starts out very standard fantasy and then spirals wildly out of control

@ioudaleks, helping me out: IT’S SUCH BONKERS WORLDBUILDING AND IT WORKS

ALIENS

THE BIRDS

A GENERATION SHIP

FUCKING GLOBAL ILLITERACY

NOT EVEN THE MERCHANT CLASS

ioudaleks: ICE WALL WITH CORPSES

At this point, the person we were goading to read it (whose tumblr I am unsure of), asked "there's a merchant class with no writing?"

And. Yes. There is.

There is a college with no writing

There is aristocracy with no writing

It makes absolutely NO sense AND YET

ioudaleks: Compelling tho

Innocent bystander we are infodumping at: "ig the song magic makes it work somehow. sing your memory good"

Oh, not at all

Not everyone can magic

Fire magic has been almost completely forgotten because it was outlawed

And the country that now has zero magic is the one with a college

One of the college students invents a bicycle and then helps them become fugitives by blowing up his own workshop as a distraction

There's a really annoying romance, but it's Standard for the genre and year of writing (16-17yo girl and a guy in his late 20s/early 30s)

And the impossible city with the enslaved kids has some uh. Very Hapsburg-esque romances.

ANYWAY the people who don't have vocal cords DO have magic dancing

ioudaleks: One whole system is overtone singing and supposedly only men can do it because of something something vocal cords. Only women sing the ice magic.

The magic to charm "beasts" is said to be lost but it turns out that the ice priestesses have kept it up as an oral tradition The songs we sing for the bees aren't magic! They just Like It 😃

I would encourage most people to read it just for that absolute bonkers ramping up into insanity

There is a Magic Trumpet It is very small A clarion You can use it to make fire

The bicycle arsonist found it and gave it to the sailor girl

@ihaveatypeanditstrickstergods: Wait, was the last thing writing in general or just musical notation?

And I'm so sorry to confirm that uh

It was. All writing

You think it's just musical notation but then they Figure Out Syllables

(I reread them a few years ago and have a whole unhinged rant about the trilogy, in that same server, in February 2020)

The series has a very solid, long-term hold on my hindbrain.

Have I ever treated it as a fandom? No. Has it doubtlessly affected me as a person and a writer? Yes

[deadendtracks]

Response to @divinekangaroo's reply to me in this thread:

Reading your comments up above, it also struck me I'm falling into the Myth of Tommy Shelby as that educated self-critical man, too, which he sort of presents - when in fact he's frequently very uncritical / unplanned and just *does the thing* then suffers the consequences after. (Also the kind of: Tommy saying "i'm an extreme example of what a working class man can achieve" - the delusion in this statement. "I have no limitations." again, the delusion. Does he even believe these words he's saying?)

Yeah, that's just it: he's not educated (traditionally) -- he's an autodidact. He's very intelligent but he is *not* an intellectual -- he doesn't have the time or patience for it. For most of the show he doesn't *care* about philosophy of any kind, let alone political philosophy.

In s5 he's reading Freud and Shakespeare and Greek literature for pragmatic reasons. The Freud because of his own struggles with mental illness (it's implied whatever psychiatrist he'd gone to recommended Freud). The Shakespeare (Richard III I think, on his nightstand) and Greek literature (mentioned in the exchange with Churchill) probably have to do with his paranoia about losing his 'crown' and trying to work on his rhetoric/speech writing skills for Parliament, respectively. Which I don't really see as the same thing as trying to 'pass' as upper class; he's trying to develop his skills to get what he wants in Parliament and be effective. I don't see him going around dropping quotes at people socially in order to look educated, for example.

What I'm trying to say is he's not reading these things to be enlightened or to assimilate to the upper classes and pass as educated; he's reading them for very specific reasons. They're *tools.* Mosley points out that he doesn't have a traditional education, that he's not familiar with Nietszche. Tommy's reaction isn't one of being caught out as uneducated and therefore not 'passing' -- it's wariness about Mosley's reasons for bringing it up (and Mosley's specifically bringing up Freud). It's less Mosley rubbing his nose in his lack of education (though it is that) and more fucking with him psychologically, but that's probably a whole other essay. I've gotten off topic!

But what I mean to emphasize is that yeah, Tommy's *not* educated and he doesn't *try to pass himself off as educated* either. And I don't think you could call him 'self-critical' in the way an upper class educated man would be either.

He's fairly self-aware a lot of the time, but he's definitely not above self deception and rationalizing things. And I'm not sure self-aware is quite the same thing as self-critical. He knows what they do (the crime) is not good. He has no self deception when it comes to how they hurt people -- he says so to Michael, for example. I think he sees this as a means to an end and as you said, one of limited choices, and he *does* want to get out of it. And there's the fact that for a long time he's not fully feeling the impact of any of it, either (which I think is different from deliberately looking away from the impact. I think due to his PTSD he literally cannot feel it in a frozen/numb way, it literally does not impact him even if he looks right at it). It's interesting to contrast him with Arthur, who says he's a good man whose hands 'belong to the devil' -- it's a very different way of looking at himself; I don't think Tommy would be self-deceptive enough to call himself a good man.

But when you're talking about him being aware that going to a prostitute is specifically *sexual* violence (the way we'd understand it, i guess) and that he looks the other way because that would interfere with what he wants, I just don't think that's at all what's going on there.

He doesn't have a thought out coherent political philosophy up through s5, not in the way that might be expected of an 'educated man' (or even a working class Communist like his sister) -- Ada comments on this (if he believed anything he said he'd be dangerous) and this is evident with both Jessie Eden and his 'champagne bubbles' ramble and in that line from s4 about being an extreme example of what a working man can achieve. He sees what Mosely is and the immediate danger of fascism *and the specific threat to he and his family* but he's not a dedicated Socialist despite running as one. His only real political philosophy by s5 is that he's dragged himself up by the bootstraps.

His reasons for getting into politics in the first place aren't about political belief (and would be another essay); but he *does* start to develop beliefs and act on them almost despite himself once he's in office.

What I'm trying to get at in this digression is that despite his (proto?) Communist past, after the war he's about ensuring he and his family and his gang get enough capital to go legit; his circle of caring so to speak is literally that limited and everyone outside it -- including the 'working man' -- is excluded; and he sees even himself and his brothers as tools in reaching that goal for the family in a more military kind of way, where he will put them (and himself) at risk for the 'greater good.'

His limited 'circle' is evident in s4 when he's using factory wages and the possibility of a strike for his own ends in the vendetta. And this is tied in with what you have talked about re: the subaltern, of course, because everyone outside his family and gang have excluded him, including those supposed fellow working men.

What he says to May about laying off people versus the violence of the gun -- i think he's struggling with this point. He *does* see what the upper classes do to workers as violence, but is it any better than the violence he does with the gang? Is it worse? He feels the gang violence is more honest about what it is. They're worse than us. But he doesn't have what I'd call a coherent political stance with all of this, as self-critical as it might be, because he's seeing that ok, if being a gangster is violent and being a capitalist is violent and the alternative is being exploited as a worker, where does that leave you? Might as well keep being a gangster.

So he's gotten that far, but I don't think he'd be able to frame sex work as specifically *sexual* violence. Women just literally got the right to vote, you know?

It would be completely anachronistic to look at it that way, as far as I can tell? I haven't done a ton of research here; but going within the 'world' of the show, *nobody* looks at prostitution as sexual violence *unless the John is actually physically violent* -- someone like Tommy, who's most likely pretty straightforward, nonviolent, and pays decently (given the way Lizzie likes him, I think it's fair to say that's probably the case) wouldn't be seen as sexually violent for using a prostitute and neither would he think of himself that way. It's just not remotely on anyone's radar.

Anyway this is an example of me not being remotely concise.

What I'm trying to say is Tommy most likely looks at it as something most women would rather not do, and when he has the chance he helps Lizzie get out of it the same way he thinks of his own criminal enterprises as something he'd rather not do (and there's stigma to being a gangster -- not the same! Kind! at all! the power dynamic is completely different obviously, but it's also something he wouldn't have gotten into if *he* felt he had any other choice, either). He sees *himself* in Lizzie -- sees someone doing something to get ahead they'd rather not be doing, with ambitions to be something else. I really don't think he has any conception of *himself* as *sexually* violent towards Lizzie, even in a way that he has to squash down. It's definitely not something he's deliberately looking away from to get what he wants, you know?

It's possible I'm being really pedantic here in focusing on the 'sexual' part of the 'violence' but I think it's an important line. I do think it's closer to what you said about the way he treats himself. I'm just not convinced he'd be able to remotely articulate that any of this is specifically *sexual* violence. I don't think he can articulate for himself that what he did with Diana (what Diana did to him) was a kind of sexual violence. He'd be aware he didn't want to do it and did it anyway, and that it's impacting him in ways he thought it wouldn't and doesn't fully understand.

I think the way he equates sex work/his own trading of sex with *working* is important. If he was seeing this as *sexual* violence that he looks away from or won't engage with -- idk, to me it's much more unconscious than that? I really don't think he sees it as different from the exploitation of factory work. It's not just a rationalization he gives Finn in s4 -- it's what he says about himself, to Polly, about sleeping with Tatiana -- that he was *working.* And he gets upset at all of them for thinking he did it because he couldn't keep his dick in his pants.

It's fully possible we're talking in parallel about this? Maybe because by then the whole world is violence to him. It's probably not even a conscious repression, it's just happens, he squashes stuff down rather than examine it closely. He isn't actually that self-critical or meta-thinking a guy at all despite occasionally sounding like it?

Yeah this is closer to how I think it is for him. He's self aware of doing things that are 'wrong' to get ahead. He's aware that people get hurt. I have a whole theory about him getting into owning factories only to find out if you want to actually make a profit you *have to* exploit your workers and the impact of that on him -- I don't actually think he'd thought about it very deeply before that, when he was on the other side of it. His disgust about the whole thing to May feels kind of newly discovered, the way his "they're worse than us, they will never let us into their palaces" rant felt newly discovered, rather than something he believed all along? If that makes any sense.

The way he *doesn't have the words* about the war, I don't think he has the words for what we'd call sexual violence that isn't outright rape, and I don't think he'd have any conception that prostitution is sexual violence unless someone is literally violent. Otherwise it's just sex for money, and a job people would probably rather not do, but there's a lot of jobs people would rather not do where they're exploited by people with more money and don't have a lot of choices.

By s6 he's trying to actually change things politically to the point where people might not be forced into these kinds of choices -- the housing projects, for example. My guess is if we saw him post-s6 he'd be much farther along on his political 'development' so to speak.

Christ, sorry this was so meandering. I have no idea if I've made a coherent point or not. There's a whole thread about the impact of PTSD on all of this I haven't really even touched on but glancingly.

[voxofthevoid]

Hey, Ukrainian follower here. Big fan of your goyuu works, they are delightful 😊. A bit weird to introduce myself like that especially with such sensitive topic I'd like to bring on here, but I couldn't help myself when I stumbled upon this weird interaction between you and the anonymous person, who wrote that hell of a text about being against Russians on ao3 and you being anti-censorship regardless of what is discussed (at least that what I've got from it, correct me If, I'm wrong), then scrolled to the post about Ficbook just to understand the context. While both of you went really harsh on each other, I think it does bring an interesting perspective on that matter in general. See, I'm a little bit torn between "ban privileged russians from everywhere" and "no content should be banned, if we want to live in a democratic world". I try to be open-minded towards civilians in Russia, even if sometimes it's a very hard thing to do, because I can speak Russian and I see pro-war channels on Telegram cheering on bombing children cancer hospital with thousands of comments supporting that, even among younger generations (and no, those are NOT bots unfortunately and it's honestly heartbreaking). I kinda see what that person tried to convey in your anon requests - that basically every Russian content creator is essentially a thief (?) or pro-war supporter, thus should not be allowed to have a platform, which is a big stretch in my opinion. On the other hand, I fail to understand and completely agree with your anti-censorship point, too, because Russia is a country that build itself historically on a imperialistic basis, culturally appropriate and conquer indigenous peoples culture and traditions of Central Asia and Far-East. So, essentially, it's not really Russians, who are silenced, nor their culture, but people who are still fighting for their independence: Crimean Tatars, Chechens, Belarussians, Ukrainians included. We should not support a state, that basically has the permission from the whole world to do such awful things and I personally think it's okay to separate yourself from it by any means necessary. Another problem with censorship is that by now even the most liberal anti-war Russians are no longer active, oppression got to the point where the entire topic about Russian invasion in multiple countries is no longer discussed and now it's just silence. My Russian moots are no longer in contact with me or acting like nothing is happening anymore. They chose to keep on living their ordinary life, while soldiers of their country bombing my hometown every day, but I am not allowed to mute/block/censor it, because any form of censorship is bad? It's really hard to judge from far away, and I get it, but the nuisances in such matters are really important. It's a shame, really, that we live in such times, where authoritarian states are now more common and have more support each day, but it's important to not lose our heads and empathy towards struggles of the real people. I have no ill-feelings towards Russian civilians, who just want to share their art and fanfiction on whatever existing platform, but for me it got to the point of no return I'm afraid, and I don't feel anything towards those people at all. Russian language with each passing day associates with more violence and misery and it's really frustrating or more like a reality check, when not all people think that way. Honestly, I experienced a catharsis while writing this, so If you're still reading it, I just want to thank you for your time and patience to read another monstrosity of a text from your random reader. Regardless of your stance, I respect your work and admiration for art and creativity. I hope your inner kindness towards people will last much longer, than mine, unfortunately, did. Have a great day!

Yo 👋

Honestly, I have no idea where that other anon came from or how they found me. They're 100% certainly not one of my followers, and the post they were talking about is a reblog essentially informing people that Ficbook has been banned in Russia and that Wattpad has been banned in Turkey. The other anon apparently took issue with the final reblog encouraging Russians to migrate to Ao3. They also helpfully came back and showed that it's not that they care about queer people or the sanctity of Ao3 or whatever.

My personal feelings toward Russia as a state is the same as yours, though I'm geographically and culturally too removed from the situation to be affected the way you are. And I am genuinely sorry about the horrific things you're going through, for what it's worth.

You're allowed to mute or block or entirely avoid anything you don't want to see; that's not censorship in any sense. A person enforcing their personal boundaries and ensuring their comfort does not amount to censorship in any way. Similarly, if you were to create a fanfiction archive and disallow Russians or Russian-language works, that would also be well within your rights.

State censorship is a different beast, regardless of who's the target. I live in a country where that's rampant, and while it's not to the extent of, say, China, it's still pretty bad and getting worse, so I have been seeing my entire life what happens when the government is allowed to censor things for the apparent moral good. It's not the privileged majority that gets fucked over, it's the marginalized, always: women, queer people, racial minorities, etc.

I will always be staunchly against state censorship regardless of the country and the target. That's all.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this, and I'm glad getting it out could be a form of catharsis for you.

Take care ❤️

[savebatsfromscratch]

Oh be serious Gary - Palletshipping Week 3 (Jealousy)

Summary:

Gary runs into Ash after his Orange Islands journey. Unfortunately, Ash’s new walking partner is there too.

Notes:

Prompt: Jealousy This hurt me to write. I LOVE Tracey and Tracey x Ash, and I think Gary and Tracey would be besties, but if I see whump I write whump. >:) Cws: Canon divergence, jealousy, angst with no happy ending, suggestive joke Words: 2,024 (HA)

Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54853867

As Gary watched the two traveling partners laugh, he felt something not so unexpected suddenly burn in his chest. Hot, hot jealousy. Furious enough to even rival the flaring fire that was shooting through the fangs of his rival’s Chrizard. Now tall and shining, the creature could have easily surpassed almost any of Gary’s own Pokemon, and he knew it.

Gary hadn’t seen Ash in quite a while now, and though it was clear that he must have spent some time training his annoyingly tough looking Charizard into one that actually obeyed, Gary wasn’t naive enough to think that that was the only thing he’d been spending his time doing. Gary’s hands balled up into fists as he watched Ash lean against that new traveling partner, practically begging to get punched as the two rubbed their shoulders together. (As usual, Ash had to stand on his tiptoes to even reach.)

Who did this new guy think he was, anyway?! Happily parading around the Kanto region with Gary’s rival as if they’d been the ones to promise forever rivalry to each other. As if they’d been the ones starting as “friends” from the start.

Gary ducked behind a tree to watch as the small group made their way away from the dock and headed towards the more traditional route to Pallet town. Misty was lagging behind slightly as she played with a very excitable looking Togepi. (Had Gary seen it before? Ash had been away for so long he could hardly remember. And, besides, even if he had, their meetings even before Ash’s rendezvous in the Orange Islands had been getting so few and far between that Gary had probably spent as much of the most recent one as he could just eying up his rival.)

Had he really known what it would mean when Ash went to the Orange League without him? Why hadn’t he gone along for the ride?

Gary narrowed his eyes as Ash hugged the new guy, burying his face in the green shirt of his walking partner like no one else at all was around. Maybe “ride” was a more appropriate descriptor than Gary had hoped.

He inched a little closer as the two stopped, waiting for a moment for Misty to catch up with them.

“Glad she didn’t see that,” Ash’s friend was whispering out of the corner of his mouth, “What was it that you said she did whenever Brock would flirt?”

Ash laughed, and though it was a clear and happy sound, Gary just felt sick to his stomach. Brock? Had he too been an option for Ash before Gary was? (And if so, why should he be so surprised about it? He just had to look at what he was seeing to understand a whole new side to Ash.)

“Tracey!” (so that was his name) Ash shook his head, “Brock was so much worse than you, and she never slapped him for flirting with me,” he paused, though the blood that pounded in Gary’s ears made his next words near unhearable, “At least as far as I saw…”

“Guys!” Misty called, running the last couple of steps to reach her friends, “Where are we going next?”

“Professor Oak’s Lab, right?” Ash said, somewhat unsure. He paused, and Gary suddenly realized that his cheating rival was thinking about him as he added, “There’s people I want to see there,”

“Professor Oak?” Tracey interrupted, his voice so full of wonder and excitement that Gary actually felt ill. This Tracey guy was even worse than Gary had first assumed. Gary rolled his eyes as Tracey continued to ramble about supposed “great feats” of research that the Professor had accomplished. If he was really any lover of Ash, he should have known that one of the only really commendable things Professor Oak did that hadn’t been done before or better by another researcher was his constant cheering on of Ash. (To tell the truth, Gary had recently been finding more and more respect in what his grandfather did for a living, but the childish excitement of this green haired nobody was quickly erasing those feelings. Such weak wonders paled under the crushing weight of Gary’s jealousy.)

“Should we fly there then, if you’re so excited to see him?” Ash laughed, gesturing to his Charizard, who looked like he was thoroughly enjoying being back in the forests of the mainland. Ash paused, and Gary would have been stupid to miss a hint of longing in his voice, as he said, “He’s the grandfather of my first rival, you know.”

First rival, was that all he was? (At the very least, Gary could be glad that Tracey stiffened with a hint of his own jealousy at that.)

“Oh yeah, Ash,” Misty interrupted, either not noticing Tracy’s discomfort or ignoring it, “Have you been keeping in touch with Gary?”

There was a quick, awkward pause, which Ash tried (and failed) to cover by picking up Pikachu. “Um,” he struggled, while Gary scoffed to himself. Of course he hadn’t. “Well-,”

“Ash!” Misty gasped, somewhat appalled, though to Gary’s displeasure Tracey looked downright relieved. 

That couldn’t possibly do. In a split second, Gary knew what he had to do. Even if it protected his unreliable rival, so long as he made Tracey upset, he was happy.

“Of course he did!” Gary interrupted Misty right before she began one of her tirades, stepping out of the trees and smirking at Ash, who looked somewhere between nauseous and relieved to see him. “Didn’t you, Ashy boy?”

Honestly, even he couldn’t tell if his tone was threatening or flirty, but either way it seemed to work, at least, if Tracey’s unconscious hiss was any indication of how he was feeling.

“Were you listening in on us?!” Tracey asked, almost accusingly, “Is that why you come up so much? Because you might be behind us?”

Gary narrowed his eyes, but his smirk did not falter. He was liking this guy less and less by the second, clearly he had been right in popping up to annoy him. And as for Ash…

Gary turned to his rival, completely ignoring the question as he drank in the expression of utter embarrassment on Ash’s face. Oh yes, this was what he lived for.

“I’m glad to see you again!” He said cheerily, pulling Ash into a hug that copied the way Ash and Tracey had embraced before. (To his surprise, Ash actually hugged back, and though it was faint, Gary’s face twitched in surprise. Despite everything, it truly seemed that Ash really had wanted to see Gary again.)

Gary pulled back, suddenly unsure.

“Do you need a guide?” he asked, and then, once he realized how pathetically unsure he sounded, he added, “You were away for so long I thought you might have forgotten the way to my place,”

Ash made an awful whimpering sound, and Gary felt his smirk widen even further, even as Misty scoffed and interrupted him.

“Oh be serious Gary,” she said (Gary turned to see that her hand was resting comfortingly on Tracey’s shoulder), “Any Pallet Trainer worth their starter knows the way to the lab, and besides…” She narrowed her eyes, “You don’t even live there, you’re a trainer like the rest of us,”

Gary opened his mouth to speak, looking on as one of Tracey’s hands twitched slightly, but Ash grabbed Gary’s shoulder, catching him off guard as he dug his fingernails in. “Um,” he interrupted, “Excuse us,”

Before Gary could even protest, Ash was dragging him away and into the woods, leaving the sounds of Tracey mumbling in shock and Misty quietly comforting him behind them.

Once they were relatively out of earshot, Ash spun around and glared up at Gary. He felt his heart skip a beat, while Gary had grown in the time Ash had taken on the Orange League, Ash had not, but even so, the anger in his now black eyes made Gary take a shocked step back.

“What is wrong with you?!” He spat, though Gary just stared back at him, shocked, “Do you think everything is about you? Who do you think you are?! You don’t own me you know!”

Gary opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He closed it again.

“Answer me, come on,” Ash commanded, still angry, “I know how smart you are, I know you have an answer, so give it to me!”

Gary tried again, but again nothing came out. Cold wind rustled through the trees.

“Gary…” Ash said, surprising Gary with a sudden shift into pleading, “Please…”

“I-,”

Ash looked up at him, his eyes faded back from coal black to soft brown. Gary swallowed hard. He had to say it. There was no way around it.

“I- I love you,”

His words hung in the air like an awful smell, Ash’s eyes widened as their color darked again.

Gary’s heart sped up. He wasn’t wanted here. He had to get out of here. He turned, hot tears suddenly threatening to spill down his face, but Ash’s voice stopped him. Quiet at first, and then growing louder and more confident as he went on.

“You know,” he murmured, “I never could forget you,”

“Oh come on Ash,” Gary could tell that he was pleading as he spoke, but he didn’t care, “Don’t lie to me, you don’t have to-,”

“No, I mean it,” Ash said, almost scared, but more confident now, “I was only out of the region for a year, but I never stopped thinking about you,” He began to pace, twigs crunching and cracking up his feet, “I know it’s not right, but I can’t help it,”

He stopped, and there was a pause as the distant roar of Ash’s Charizard echoed through the woods. Pikachu purred as Ash scratched behind his ears, clearly trying to calm himself down more than he was working to quiet the little yellow Pokemon.

“What about Tracey?” Gary whispered, dreading the answer.

Ash stopped petting Pikachu, and closed his eyes like looking at Gary hurt him. “I think I love him,” he said, voice shaky and weak again, “But you- I-,”

He stopped.

“I what?” Gary breathed, stepping forward and reaching up, stopping right before grabbing Ash’s hand, “What do you mean?”

Ash’s voice was still shaking when he finally responded.

“I think I love you too,” His eyes were pleading.

Gary’s hand dropped to his side. His mind racing and spinning through emotions and memories. Anger? Jealousy? Relief? Joy? What was he feeling?

What was he feeling?

“So. What now? What now that you’re back here?” Gary asked, his voice now so soft that it surprised even him, “Back in Kanto, what will you do?”

Ash took in a shaky breath, and brushed a hand through his hair. “I want to keep adventuring, I have more league to win,”

“With Tracey?” Gary breathed

“He said he wants to stay,”

“With where?”

“I don’t know,”

“Will you go with me?”

“You’re my rival, I can’t do that,”

Gary bit his lip. How had this become so complicated?

“So what are you going to do?” He asked, fearing an answer for the second time that conversation, “Traveling alone isn’t safe,”

“I don’t know,” Ash was almost whispering, looking at the forest floor with sad eyes. His gaze hardened, and the brown left his eyes once more. “But it can’t be without you, you know that,”

Gary froze, though he’d known it was coming. “Ash, please,” He reached out, but Ash brushed his hand away.

“Come on Pikachu,” Ash murmured, not meeting Gary’s eyes as he began to walk away, “Let’s get back to the others,”

Gary’s knees shook as he watched him go. What was going on? He couldn't just leave like that! It had been so long since they had seen each other, this couldn't be their reunion, there was no way! But Ash's words rang in Gary's head. “You don't own me,” he had said.

He knew that, didn't he? 

Didn't he?

This time, Gary waited until Ash was out of earshot before he crumpled to his knees and began to cry.

Notes:

Palletshipping angst save me… Save me Palletshipping angst…

[saintmeghanmarkle]

Eh? by u/Economy-Alfalfa-2241

Eh? Someone is going to have to explain posh branding to me - the nearest I get to posh is if we've got those carrots in that still have green stuff attached. They're all sneery, those carrots - because Lordy, where do I start?Most importantly: why is Megdusa wafting around in a huge frock and how hard were the camera crew laughing? Why is it so yellow and bleary? Did she dip the camera in the chip-pan? Are we supposed to think she's the long -suffering ghost of Casa Dumbarse: ancient seat of the House of Gobshite?Chip-pan Ghost™? Oh God help me sinners, I can't breathe 😂😂😂Is this Archfail? Or new shiny Sussex? Is one part of another? I mean, ChipPan Ghost is....something, but is this The Brand™? I'm almost expecting this to be some weird psy-op and Ari E is going to pop out from behind the huge skirts of the poshfrock with "ta-da! This is why you need our branding services!" complete with a whole new glo-up and we find out this strange, incoherent mess was all part of how to make a mahoossive SPLASH. Except Ari noped out so we just have a sort of sad.... "blop..."And what if I want Numbnut? Which of these variable organisations is him? This is the most incoherent launch I have ever seen and it leads to nowhere. No products, no services - it's the ultimate "jam later!" but it's posh jam? Say for a minute that I were utterly mental and I wanted to support Brand Suckarse: Reject Royals, then how do I...? Where do I....? Who do I...? There's no overall brand, just these placemarkers each with ill-defined lines.This is their need to stick it the monarchy; Dimbo *will have* the equivalent of the Duchy. But that not only grew up and created an entire market doing so, it's also intricately linked with the Crown and public holdings. You can't just replicate the entire thing elsewhere then try and force it into a business model that didn't even exist when the power structures of the UK were set and yes, the Duchy of Cornwall is private but it's certainly not extant just to feed a product line nor is it a straightforward company holding. It shows how little he really does know of our history that he doesn't understand why he doesn't get his own duchy to play with, waaaah.All that aside and assuming we do the usual bugger-all to stop them, even with everything working out and their keeping this, who will it even serve? Those who want tradition have a billion options, the lifestyle-gurus are selling a curated image based on themselves at least but this looks like it's trying to be BritainLite™ With no disrespect, do they have a target audience in the numbers, with the disposable income and of the strata of society to be buying The Lifestyle? There are plenty of middle-aged mums doing the whole beige thing, the younger ones have different dreams coming up....I just can't see the niche? And don't things like this rely not just on branding, but in repeat sales? Just.....who is this *FOR?* (Well, other than him, her and their egos 🙄)How many vanity projects can they support? post link: https://ift.tt/zLk4K86 author: Economy-Alfalfa-2241 submitted: March 15, 2024 at 03:36PM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit disclaimer: all views + opinions expressed by the author of this post, as well as any comments and reblogs, are solely the author's own; they do not necessarily reflect the views of the administrator of this Tumblr blog. For entertainment only.

[meili-sheep]

diluc ships reactions to him stealing/wearing their clothing?

So let me repeat my Diluc body type headcanons.

He's about 5'10 with a very Dorito shape, so broad shoulders, and a tiny waist. So he honestly does need some tailoring as a lot of general-sized clothing is pretty ill-fitting on him.

I think he's also pretty sensitive to clothing. And he has one of those closets that's 90 thousand of the same 3 items. The only way he gets variation is Adelinde. So borrowing isn't really something he does on purpose. But the kicker is. Diluc in the morning is bearly functioning so you know things happen.

I might also include the headcanon of other's body types here too

Albedo

So Albedo is a lot smaller and thinner than Diluc. Much more rectangle-shaped. So Diluc can't wear t a lot of Albedo's things. That doesn't mean Albedo doesn't often put his jacket around Diluc. Or that he even got into sewing to make Diluc things. Like, I swear, this guy sewed just to make Diluc his safety gear.

Albedo does have a habit of drawing Diluc. Especially when Diluc is not paying attention. So what ends up happening. is Albedo will lay his coat on Diluc while he naps. Then ends up drawing it.

He has a whole notebook of sleeping Diluc.

Al Haitham

So this is one of the few who is similarly built to Diluc and is either just as broad or broader than Diluc. So Diluc can actually wear Al Haitham's clothes.

And let's be honest, these are two autistic people. And I bet they have similar issues with clothing. So there is probably quite a bit of mutual clothing stealing because they both just don't care and just wear what's comfortable. Al Haitham has also made Diluc a music player and headphones.

Though I do think Al Haitham has a bit of a moment when he sees Diluc in his very, very form-fitting shirt for the first time. He um might buy a few more that are a bit looser just for Diluc to borrow. He doesn't want anyone to get the wrong idea.

Ayato

So as a guy who is very proud of his culture and traditions. Seeing Diluc in anything remotely Inazuma fashion. It's a pretty critical hit. And like traditional Inazuma wear is like a major hit on his heart. So sort of by extension of the Diluc in his clothing would be great for him

Problem?

Ayato is a lot slimmer than Diluc.

So nothing is close to fitting. And I think Ayato realized that after one morning when Diluc tried to accidentally put on his shirt and realized his mistake when he couldn't button it. Ayato nearly pulled Diluc back into bed but didn't because of how sleepy Diluc was. He did end up buying a set of clothing similar to his style that fit Diluc just to see it.

Childe

So Childe's still not as broad as Diluc but not as slime as Ayato is. So Diluc actually can nearly get to the top. And Childe loves watching Diluc fumble sleepily around trying to get his shirt to fit. And he really likes how tight it is. And you know, with the strap on Childe's shirt. Certain parts of Diluc get a little accentuated. And Childe would let him walk around like that if he wasn't a pretty jealous person.

But outside of that he pretty frequently puts his jacket over Diluc's shoulder. Mostly when he sees Diluc napping or when he looks cold. He might be jealous but he's also very caring and honestly would give Diluc the shirt off his back.

Eula

So there is a decent size difference between the pair. Though I do think Eula is rather ripped. But something that Diluc noticed a while ago was how they have a similar style of gloves. So while this isn't really cloth stealing, he totally had a pair of gloves made that used Eula's color.

When Eula finally noticed it, he got really remembrance and just muttered something about wanting to match and tried to run away. But she totally wouldn't let him. And as his punishment, he hands to hold her hand.

Itto

Ok, so where this is another situation where Diluc and easily fits, and honestly, it's actually baggy on him. Itto doesn't, um, really where a lot.

He has definitely given Diluc his coat in the rain, not realizing Diluc normally carries an umbrella with him.

Though I think Kuki has tried to get, Itto to wear something more, probably for a trial or something, and Diluc's worn that. And Itto nearly lost it with how cute Diluc looked. He probably got more shirts and things so Diluc could wear them.

Kaveh

So I feel Kaveh is actually the closest to Diluc. Probably a little thinner, but yea. Diluc probably alls perfectly between Kaveh and Diluc. But Kaveh defiantly buys clothing for Diluc... All the time. And he probably steals Diluc's clothing all the time. Diluc has totally lost a jacket or two to Kaveh.

Now we are back to sleep Diluc and image sleep Diluc with Kaveh's very, very open shirt.

Kaveh definitely enjoy it for like .2 seconds until he noticed Diluc starting to leave because NOPE. NOPE. NOPE.

Thoma

Ah, so you know what. Thoma probably smells really nice, and Diluc has absolutely stolen Thoma's little jacket. Because it's just comforting. And when Thoma was looking for his jacket, he found Diluc cuddled up with it. He probably just gave up on the jacket and got a new one.

He probably does make Diluc a lot of hats and scarves too. All of which Diluc loves and wears all the time.

Xiao

So again there is a big size difference between Xiao and diluc. I imagine Xiao has a runner or sprinter's body so thin looking but absolutely ripped. And he doesn't really wear extra layers because I don't imagine he really every gets cool and stuff.

Diluc has given him his jacket before.

And Xiao had to ask around about what he should do with the jacket. He probably still has it not that Diluc minds. And he ended up giving Diluc a nice coat that General Kapisas made that he'd been holding on too.

Zhongli

So Diluc can definitely fit into Zhongli's clothing. But I feel Zhongli wears a particular type of fabric the Diluc hates. It's too smooth and silk, and he feels it catches on his skin. So he hates it. He can barely handle touching Zhongli's clothing sometimes.

But Zhongli being the money spender he is defiant and buys sent of clothing that is comfortable for him and in a style he likes but also Is something Diluc likes. It is his special cuddle outfit. (That Childe paid for)

[opinions-about-tiaras]

Hoo boy. So the first look trailer for Wicked is out and... well, I'm concerned. Thoughts below the cut.

Let me add my voice to what everyone else is saying first and get that out of the way; it looks awful. Visually, I mean. "CGI sludge" is an apt description. I get that they're trying to evoke the feeling of the Judy Garland Wizard of Oz but yikes, it looks terrible. Just a riot of color that evokes nothing and feels flat. The wonder and majesty of Oz this ain't. Even the costumes look cheap and ill-considered.

And look, I get it. This is a movie adaptation, of a stage adaptation, of a book that's basically Wizard of Oz AU fanfiction. They're going to do their own think. But Wicked (The Musical) already sanded off so many of the rough edges of Wicked (The Book) and it looks like this thing is gonna continue in that vein.

But at a certain point when you pour enough water into your wine, you're just drinking water, and it really feels like we've passed that point.

This is an enormously big-budget musical that seems almost ashamed its a musical; you wouldn't know this is musical theater from the trailer, at any rate. That's not a great sign. Neither is the fact that they appear to be doing some sort of "Elphaba's magical power is driven by her being overly emotional and out of control," which is a questionable choice to make when you've cast a black woman in the role.

Actually, let's talk about casting.

Your leads are WAY TOO FUCKING OLD. I know that doesn't make a difference in a stage production. This is not a stage production. Ariana Grande is 30; Cynthia Erivo is thirty-seven. These people are not college freshmen, and expecting us to believe they are is insulting.

Yes, I'm also aware there's a long tradition of expecting us to believe people in their mid-twenties are high school students. There are limits and this pushes past them. The costuming and makeup departments are working hard, but the amount of makeup they're having to cake on Grande and Erivo in order to make them look like fresh-faced youngsters is extremely off-putting. We're not sitting a hundred feet away in a theater, the camera is doing close-ups a lot. Black Elphaba is an excellent choice, but you could have found a much, much younger actress for it.

They also made some... weird choices for diversification of the cast. Not in a "it is historically inaccurate for these people not to be white" kind of a way, but in a "you're sort of undercutting your own themes" kind of a way.

Wicked (The Book) is very explicitly about white supremacy, imperialism, and class. So is every other book in the Wicked Years, when they aren't also about gender fuckery. The musical cuts a lot of that away, but its still there. The Gillikinese (Glinda the Goods specific ethnic group in the context of Oz) are an explicit expression of this. They're economically, culturally, industrially, and socially dominant, and virulently racist against all of Oz's other ethnic groups (the Munchkins, the Animals, the Quadlings, the "Winkies") for whom they have a charming variety of racial slurs and race legislation towards.

Casting a white British person as Fiyero Tigelaar is absurd in this context. Fiyero's whole deal is that he's from a racially disfavored group and is treated pretty shitty because of it! Yes, I am AWARE the role on-state was originated by a white dude. This ain't the play.

Similarly, casting someone who isn't so white they practically glow in the dark as Madame Morrible is kind of a misstep. Madame Morrible is the enforcer of the Wizard's race policy.

And so I have to question... what the hell are they padding this out with?

The stage play is two hours and 45 minutes long. That would translate to the screen fairly handily, on the long side but about where you'd expect a big epic to be these days.

Only they're doing this as TWO movies, like Dune did. Is doing.

As this is likely to be marketed as a family film (I'm expecting a PG rating) they might just be making two ninety-minute films so that parents aren't off-put by the idea of their kids squirming in chairs for three hours. But given that the director and writers have spoken repeatedly about how this story was just "too big" to be contained in a single film, and that they're planning to add a whole bunch of stuff, that seems unlikely. I have a hard time seeing both movies clock in at a runtime of under four hours.

So what are you going to do here?

I had been hoping at first that they were going to re-add in a bunch of the themes and plot points from the novel. And maybe they are? But I sense that they're being timid here. That they're gonna pull their punches and make this a very straightforward, very paint-by-numbers story about a generically evil tyrant with the race and class stuff shoved way, way, way into the background. For that matter I expect them to dial the queerness back as well, which would be awful because my god is Wicked queer.

I dunno. This just seems like a lot of red flags.

[jaspersreprise]

My own connection with Paganism

Hello! Today, this posts particular penchant will be relating to my experiences and connection with a spirituality called Paganism, which is something you must’ve already heard before :) 

Before I continue on with it, I’ll define what Paganism is and how it impacts peoples lives for those who don’t know.

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Paganism is a collective term for a wide range of ancient and modern religious systems, many of which focus on worshiping or honoring nature, ancestors, gods, spirits, or other divine, supernatural, or mystical beings. The term 'Paganism' comes from the Latin word 'paganus', which means 'rural' or 'country'. In the past, paganism has often been used as a pejorative term to describe the religions of non-Christians, and was often associated with superstitious or 'barbaric' practices.

Paganism is often marked by a strong connection to the natural world, and many pagans believe in a deep interconnection between all beings and the surrounding environment. While different religions or sects within Paganism have different beliefs and practices, many pagans are concerned with a connection to the cycles of nature, and may celebrate the equinoxes and solstices as times of regeneration and renewal.

Paganism often includes worship or reverence of specific gods or spirits, and many pagans practice polytheism, believing in multiple deities. The exact nature of these gods may vary widely depending on the particular pagan tradition or group, and may include gods and spirits from many different cultures and mythologies.

Many pagans also practice witchcraft, which is a form of magic involving rituals and spells, and which may be used for both good and for ill. Pagans also often engage in meditation, prayer, and other spiritual practices, which they use to connect with the divine, to seek guidance, or to seek wisdom.

Paganism can also have a significant impact on the lives of individual practitioners, and many pagans find that their religious beliefs shape their sense of personal identity, their values, and their daily choices. Many pagans believe in the concept of karma, and may engage in acts of charity or service to others as a way of promoting spiritual growth and personal development. Others find that their spiritual practices help them deal with stress, anxiety, and other challenges in their daily life.

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Now that the explanation has come to conclusion, I will be discussing how I am drawn to Paganism and how it aligns to my own spiritual beliefs and values. But first, I want to essentially say this:

I believe we live in a world of indefinite possibilities, where everything is an enigma and we are all unique in our search for individuality. To me, mere labels do not contribute and define what or who we are as a whole person. They are just a way for us to make sense of the true meaning of life. At a young age, I look upon my journey as a perpetual student in life, and the people that I have met along the way, including my friends, who have a profound effect in shaping my views and thoughts. I would like to thank them for also being the reason why my mind had came this way 🤍

I’ll be moving forward now

From the age of 9, or maybe even younger(?), I have started questioning my own identity and grew even more intrigued and curious with discovering who I am as a person. With this yearning to know for more, I subsequently found new interests for myself and had opened my eyes to more knowledge. I wanted to learn more about the things I was passionate about, and so I did!

I am quite younger than you think, so I’m not surprised if I inadvertently implied and distributed subtle hints for you to discover my age. 

At the age of 10, that was when I’ve actually delved in more deeply to understand myself. That was when I’ve exposed myself to more new-found interests, such as behaviours and cognitive functions, psychology, superstitions and omens, spirituality, pseudoscience, angelic numerology, extraterrestrials, yadda yadda, there are much more to name :o) And that was all because of one particular book that inherently changed my beliefs and views on life. I started being more open-minded and increasingly became more curious to find a value to life. I don’t dismiss my existential thoughts; I try to find more truth to it, now look what happened 😭 My viewpoint is completely different compared to what I’ve had when I was 9, I’m no pessimist though LMFAO. Definitely not

I’ve been a witch since I was 10 years old, but even as a small child, I felt that there was a calling for me and a craving to reach for the divine. At that age, I began my research and study on witchcraft and it had already came clear to me that this was the path I had to take. It took some time for me to voice my own opinions and belief system to a few of my familial relatives, and it didn’t take much for them to process. I influenced them very well. They were superstitious people, which I am referring to my mom, aunt, uncle, sibling (who also partakes in this practice) and cousins. So I can comfortably, yet gradually, open up to them with my thoughts (by thoughts I mean existential thoughts and what interests me, my academic focus and ambitions, and also saying that I’m bisexual and have more of a preference towards women. Not opening up as in bawling my eyes out. To sprinkle a little humour.)

At the earliest times to when I’ve reached the age of 10, I didn’t know what Paganism is after initially studying and researching witchcraft. It took me a little while to find out, but after finding out what it is, I realized that it greatly aligned very well to my own spiritual beliefs, values, and perspective. Before having truly considering myself a Pagan, I needed more confirmation and delved a more deeper study in it’s spirituality.

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I’m not sure whether that was enough information, but I’ll probably update it later on and do a retrospective. I hope you guys had a great day or night. Please look after your welfare, and be hydrated!

Feel free to ask questions.

[justsomerandomplanet]

Hello! I just wanted to say I absolutely adore all of your art and thank you for all the ancient ones/Heian era content (especially Kenjaku 👀...) I would absolutely love to hear all of your drabbles about it! I have my own stuff too about them but I live for any JJK Heian era stuff lol.

Anyway, mostly wanted to drop by and say thank you for showing us your amazing art ❤️ I look at it every day, it makes me so happy!

Helloooo,

Thank you so much for your kind words!! I'm happy that you enjoy my silly self indulgent art hehe

As for my thoughts on em, I'll put them underneath here so the post doesn't appear too long on the dashboard ^-^

(I'll mostly just share my thoughts on the character dynamics bc I'm not knowledgeable about the actual history of the Heian Era)

Tengen & Kenjaku

Oh where do I even begin!!!

I genuinely believe the two of them are the reason the jujutsu system is the way it is in modern times (more so the former than the latter especially). Although we don't actually know much about what the two were like previously, the implications on their dynamic is so delicious.

For one, I definitely see that they care(d) about each other. The fact Tengen was still aware that Kenjaku was alive and yet still did nothing even though they had prevuously tried to sabotage the merging raises a lot of eyebrows...like why would you let a criminal in the jujutsu history go??? I understand that Tengen's whole thing is that she doesn't interact with the real world anymore, but she can definitely communicate with the other sorcerers to do her bidding when necessary (e.g. telling the sorcerers to let Riko enjoy her youth before the merging while protecting her). On the other hand, Kenjaku always seems to seek out Tengen. Calling her an old friend, always trying to bring her in a conversation, insulting her as if they could get a reaction out of her...oh there's definitely something here that can be explored.

I do believe they had a falling out and that falling out is the reason things have become this way. Tengen's innaction as a way to maintain the status quo (traditions) and Kenjaku's curiosity as a drive to break that status quo (innovation) has led us here. And I do believe Sukuna and Yuuji reflect that too, but that'll be for a different time to ramble on.

Tengen & Immortality

To me, Tengen can feel paradoxical/hypocritical sometimes. She states she did not want to evolve into a higher being yet allows others to treat her like she is one, to protect her and also isolating herself. She often speaks in a way that presents humble but has an arrogance about herself as well (e.g. she is the best barrier user even tho she hasn't really been challenged on it for the past 500-ish years or the merging of star plasma vessels was necessary for the greater good-which is true-but also as a way to maintain herself). She said change in herself was inevitable and detached herself from the real world yet built a foundation in jujutsu that relied on her barriers and did not allow change for like a 1000 years.

Whether or not she meant these things intentionally is hard for me to say bc i don't think Tengen is malicious or means ill-will, but I do think in some way, Tengen is more afraid of change or even death than anyone else and has built a foundation to a society that relies on her existence, leading to a stagnation. I find that fitting that her CT is Immortality, it sorta reflects that don't you think? But like a star, sooner or later, change and death is inevitable.

Tengen, Sukuna, & Kenjaku

These guys had a history. What that history is idk but personally I do believe Sukuna is the youngest out of them. I like to think Sukuna was the pet project of Tengen and Kenjaku. Not necessarily that they're his parents or anything (tho that would be funny) but rather more like...a pupil or a dysfunctional found family dynamic. Sukuna already knows he was an unwanted child but that doesn't mean he didn't have any connections with people growing up. I do think Tengen and/or Kenjaku helped Sukuna in becoming who he is.

Plus, Tengen keeping Sukuna's mummiffied corpse (with the implication that she was the one to do it) and Kenjaku seemingly being the only one able to hold some level of control over Sukuna's head just tells me something is up with those three that screams a psychological power imbalance. Also also, if Tengen had the corpse but the fingers were scattered, when exactly did Kenjaku split his soul? (this is more of a musing more than an actual question. I just think it would be delicious if Tengen allowed Kenjaku to see Sukuna's dead body-which led to the cursed fingers albeit without her knowledge but shrug)

Kenjaku, Love, & Motherhood

Saving da best for last, oh Kenny! I did a lot of rambling on Tengen but tbf there's so very little stuff on her I have more thoughts to share, but Kenjaku is really my favourite character in all of jjk. They're so fascinating, their curiosity driving them but also spite (just like me fr)

No but in all seriousness, Kenjaku is such a fun but sad character. Clearly, whatever happened between them and Tengen led to where they are, which I find fascinating. I know they're doing things cause of curiosity, but sometimes it does feel like they're trying to prove something (namely to Tengen). The implications that they may have grown up lonely, was friends with Tengen but had a break up, and still talks about making friends...AUGHHH

This leading to the theme of motherhood is also great. What's a better way to build a connection and to create innovation than from your own blood. Yuuji may not have a "role" as Kenjaku told Choso, but I think that's the whole point. Maybe Yuuji was made to hold Sukuna or cursed objects, who knows, but Kenjaku purposely letting him develop himself, for better or worst, definitely feels right.

And in a way I do find it enjoyable Yuuji doesn't actually care enough about Kenjaku. Yes he's trying to stop Kenny but there isn't necessarily any personal stakes that he's aware of, and I find that enjoyable for the irony: Kenjaku being so invested in Yuuji yet he won't even see it. Kenjaku, who is clearly obsessed with motherhood, fetuses, and children, cannot even get the attention of their own child.

[southernmermaidsgrotto]

Do you think love and light spirituality is toxic?

Definitely yes.

Now some of you will run away just from reading those two words, let me elaborate: It's not just toxic, it's actively harmful and racist, ableist, it's white cis hetero male supremacist in every way. Completely rooted in naz1 ideas from the very beginning of it. You just gotta look at the history of the whole movement and there's flaming red flags everywhere.

But even if you don't know the history and social context of how it came to be and popularized (which you should, do your research), just by looking at these people and how they move through life you can still clearly see the issues with it.

I have 3 main problems with the whole "love and light" thing that a lot of new age people spread, the first and biggest for me is spiritual bypassing. New Age "love & light" culture is not only completely incorrect (the dark is just as important, real and necessary for balance as the light, really, I'm saying it as someone with 10+ years of experience and a whole family background in ancestral traditions. The dark shit is Important and necessary, to understand all aspects of life, spiritual and not, to grow as a person and as a practitioner, to protect yourself and yours from both material and spiritual things and to fight either if needed.) but the whole "good vibes only" ends up being delusional at best and straight out abusive at worst, many times gaslighting people and denying racism, colonialism, oppression of all kinds, spiritual and physical illness, mental illness, basic history and science, all things that can have very real, physical consequences on people's mental health, overall health, and safety in general, not to mention the wider effects on society as a whole (having people running around with the emotional inteligence of a clam shell, scratch that, even clams are better than that lmao and spreading misinformation and harm like wildfire). The Second big mess is how much it promotes the complete lack of literacy and rational critical thinking. People will learn a new fancy thing and just run with it without knowing the full history and correct use of things and words, without questioning the source and context of the whole situation. Misinterpreting the little knowledge they have, either because it's something they overheard, or read in 1 book and never bothered to dive deeper into it's roots and history and true meaning, having the most shallow and incorrect "knowledge" of things, etc. It goes hand in hand with the 1st problem to create the 3rd issue: straight out willful malicious ignorance. They don't know any better and they can't be bothered to learn any better either. It's not just laziness or disinterest, it's straight out conscious denial of truth, repression of their own feelings and thoughts and identity even in some cases, to just be able to keep this facade of "love & light" that's killing them from the inside, hurting themselves and hurting anyone they come into contact with aswell, all to serve their selfish purposes and their own agendas.

All these three things feed off and enhance each other in an endless loop, that gets even worse in the kinds of conspiracy theory echo chambers these people move in. The ignorance and immaturity combined with someone who doesn't do any introspection at all and is straight out lying to themselves and others, either from a place of delusion, or in the case of most white people, priviledge. It's a huge system that only feeds white supremacy and keeps people of color disconnected from their true feelings and health, personal identity, culture and community, taking people away from any and every possible source of real power. It's keeping the priviledged in power and the disenfranchised in misery while denying the whole situation, spreading misinfo to confuse, divide and put the blame on the victims instead of the actual victimizer.

Priviledged people spread misinformation and lies because they don't know and don't care + actively benefit from keeping you in the dark, all while screaming from the top of their lungs that they have your best interests at heart and will "shine light on truths" while their actions are the complete opposite of that, then hide from the results of anything harmful they do under the "love & light positive thoughts only" thing to avoid conflict and consequences. It's bullshit. Call them out on their bullshit everytime.