#and in general i wanna see how many classics i can read. the whole classics shelf in the library is gonna be my bitch

[bones-sprouts]

thinking about all the books im gonna read when its not summer anymore and the mental block that stops me from reading during the summer is gone

[prettysymbiosis]

I’ve been trying to get these thoughts out for days but basically I feel like the unifying theory of s16 (as I see it) is a conscious exploration of the dichotomy between sunny as a classically bold and brash pee pee poo poo comedy and sunny as a thoughtful, nuanced and subtle show about flawed people and also about itself, at times (by that I mean the meta isn’t always about macdennis or the other characters but about sunny itself - win an award, clip show, big mo, etc). the trailer actually captures this dichotomy well through the dialogue clips and animations, as well as the pinned comment which said “get ready for a whole lot of subtlety.” it’s still so baffling to me that sunny can simultaneously read as one of the most loud, obnoxious, unsubtle shows ever on television, OR it can be so subtle and allegorical in the writing of later seasons that most viewers would think people like us are crazy for reading so much into it even though we’re really not. this kind of self-reflective flavor is another product of the rewatch/podcast project which has been almost universally agreed to have had a very positive effect on the writing.

anyway having said that, I want to just share my notes on the first two episodes without trying to edit them too much. I’m bolding the points that I personally haven’t seen anyone else mention yet and putting a 😎 next to ones that evoke a Classic Sunny VibeTM because that’s important to the experiment of this season.

the gang inflates

macden fun/domestic/DUMB again 😎

something something never committing to the couch when it was absurd not to and it ended up costing them so much macdennis blah blah

dennis hanging up on dee was so funny to me oops 😎

and the WHOLE dee (as a character and specifically the female character) thing about being minimized to an absurd degree. I like to think the bog was a turning point for dee and the show is gonna do better by her now hopefully by recognizing her plight in a more serious way, like the way the guys have been doing?

are mac and dennis…… you know…… like for real??? as many have said, it could totally be revealed kind of retroactively to undercut the shock and be like “honestly we’re surprised you didn’t notice sooner” I feel like that is something rcg would do. suggestive clues:

“I don’t wanna talk to you about–” “a TON”

or is dennis like well that’s news to me jealous vibes??

“I figured you were man” ??

“I’m getting a little concerned about our nut”

“you truly have no reason to be sleeping with frank”

they specifically put a lil reaction shot of dennis after mac says “that’s a lotta blowin” a la the lil grin in gets romantic and, well, I just think that’s a choice that was made

“it’s not homophobic” is that so?????

when mac is like “you think we got rid of our furniture too soon/that the business plan won’t work” it’s kinda like no it’s not the committing to what they have, it’s that mac still has big denial problems and dennis can’t work with that… maybe? but so does dennis tbh

in a show-meta sense it’s like, we should be less worried about whether the gay gay-ass love story will alienate people and more worried about how these characters are too ridiculous to even let the love story play out effectively. they need mental health days if we are ever to have nice things

it’s possible mac denying his reaction to the allergy has to do with his body dysmorphia?

also it occurred to me that maybe part of why rob is clean-shaven this season is so they could do those prosthetics more easily?

those handprints though…. I hate everything

oh also just the bed scene. its existence

the zoomed in neck touch of course

“I’m not going to do it!” “..okay” dennis keepin his cool :)

mac’s shirt! COOLER HEADS PREVAIL

just the sheer silliness of inflatable furniture - is there some metaphor here lol?

in a general sense could inflates be taken to mean flanderizes? also maybe it’s just implied but I noticed I hadn’t actually seen anyone mention inflation as a sexual kink and like, that was part of the intention right? if so, 😎

charlie “uhhhhhhhh… yep.” poor charlie :( he doesn’t want to live in a maze (like a rat)

“well then you’re just like being a predator” :( so here for charlie calling out bullshit with frank and mrs. mac and even his own mom so far in these first two eps

charlie just giving up and yelling in frustration which is kinda what bonnie does in ep2 (and ep3 based on trailer)

the gross horny male objectifying thing 😎

rob put his whole pussy into this episode

charlie saying “I don’t get why he doesn’t take me seriously” and dee saying “that’s gotta be maddening” 🙃

cats in the alley my loves 😎

gluing dee a pillow on the wall <3

“consider it an offering” “of war??” this says so much. must everything be a conflict?

charlie’s hair looks so crazy and good in the sleepover scene and also he’s so smart

charlie asks frank to “return everything to the status quo” by the end of the episode, sitcom style. full reset, no progression. except charlie is asking that frank not endlessly take advantage of the fact that mac and den can’t figure their shit out, not totally push dee out just because it’s easy, not make light of the trauma charlie has from what happened to him. all that stuff IS the status quo! so what is he really asking for? this is one of the bits of writing that I think is also about the show as a show, and how they’ve approached these dynamics forever. 

it’s funny that people are saying this season is such a return to form because it is, but it’s also so much more self-aware of what that form is/was and how deeper elements can coexist within it. they’re really walking with a foot in both worlds here and they’re doing it well. love this for them and for us, the people who know what it’s always sunny in philadelphia is REALLY about

“we’ll take you to the hospital, and they’ll have nuts. and you can– you can die there.” hahahah

[markipliers-madhouse]

Hello? Hello Hello?

...Well, this place has been dead for a little bit, hasn't it?

Mentioned a little bit before on that collab piece I did, but figured I'd be better to do a full post bout it here!

So, this AU...has been laying dormant for quite some time, and there's not really any excuses for that. I've just been a little busy with school and life in general, but mainly...haven't had much motivation to do it in all honesty, and their's two main factors to that unmotivation.

1. I kinda realized I'd be needing to write a lot for this story, and though I love writing in general...the scope of this would be like writing a few novels if I continued on, and I just wouldn't have the time or sanity to do that, but more on that later for a solution...

And 2. ...I kinda fell out of FNaF for a moment. Well- Not entirely, I'll always love this series, but I guess it was mainly...the state of the fandom after one certain game...Security Breach. After that game came out, it kinda broke the fandom in half. One half being those who hate the game and left the franchise entirely, now seeing it as nothing but for kids and not taken seriously, and the other...well, actually kids. Y'know the ones. You know.

So that kinda left me kinda unsure for my AU, since I thought if I put stuff out now...it wouldn't really be that appreciated. From the start it was meant to harken back to the original classics of FNaF, but with the fandom mostly filled with newcomers for just this one game, and the original fans gone and unhopeful for the franchise, I just kinda...left this place dorment till I felt motivated again.

...And then the Ruin DLC happened, which gave me a spark of motivation. Seemed this franchise was starting to to head to a better place, getting some old fans back, so that's nice. Got me thinking more bout this AU again...

And then the movie happened, and now i've been slapped in the face with motivation.

SO- Guess that's my excuse for why things have been so empty, but now...I AM READY TO OFFICIALLY SAY IT IS STARTING BACK UP! And not just that...but starting fresh! ...Which, isn't saying much, since I only wrote two chapters for it...y e a h - But there's a reason I'm starting fresh, not just for improved art or retconing some of the mistakes of what I did give out, but mainly because...

I'm turning the AU into a comic!!

That's right! Gonna be drawing the whole thing start to finish! Figured this would be better to me since it's quicker then writing it all, and get to show and improve more of my art, so works out! (You can already kinda see some of that with the new pfp and header) Maybe might get some help in the future, maybe might dable in some animation, maybe a lot of things, but guess we'll just hafta see where it goes from here!

What does that mean for the previous content though? All...f o u r of it? Well, that stuff is gonna be non-canon from here on out! It'll be easier this way since those stuff have either some continuity errors that'll effect the story in the long wrong, or just simply I've changed my mind on some things and it'll be a bit more different! I'm still leaving them up, however! Just cause I think it'll be fun to see how far I've come, and ey some art pieces there weren't bad! ...Too bad...okay like one or two were d e c e n t

TLDR of it tho is this: AU's getting a reboot, gonna be made into a comic now, previous stuff is non-canon, and this page should be a bit more active now!

But yeah! Big things are coming, and I am excited to start up this AU again! I have so many plans for this story that I'm just hoping you guys will love, wanna do justice to both sides of the story! So keep an eye on this blog, might take a little longer, but hoping to get things officially and finally started soon!

And to prove some of that, before I go...you guys deserve a a bit of a sneak peak of what's to come, so...hope you enjoy these redesigns >:]

EDIT: THE SERIES HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN- READ EM HERE- AH-

[itcamefromthetoybox]

Beach Party Himbo

We’re a little closer to the premier of “Barbie,” so that means more Barbie reviews! This week, I wanted to look at a doll made specifically for the movie, and I especially wanted to look at everyone’s favorite Barbie accessory, which means that it’s time for us to look at “Barbie: The Movie Ken!” Let’s take a look at how Barbie’s second banana came out and if this Ken deserves your money.

From what we’ve seen so far, “Barbie: The Movie” takes place in a world where almost everyone’s a Barbie or Ken, with the exceptions of Midge and Allen. Don’t worry, Midge and Allen, you’ll always have a place in my heart. Ryan Gosling’s Ken, whom we’ll be looking at today, is the beach-themed boyfriend of Margot Robbie’s Barbie, the star of the whole shebang. From what we’ve seen in the trailers, Ken is not exactly carrying a lot between the ears, but he adores Barbie enough to accompany her on her adventure. Until the movie comes out, that’s about all I got here. It’s kinda hard to talk about a movie character whose movie hasn’t come out yet. I could tell you about my many Ken dolls, but I don’t think that will be helpful. Though I do adore my Kens. Anyways, moving on.

The dolls for “Barbie: The Movie” are actually aimed more at collectors than kids or casual fans. What this means is that they tend to be pricier, but with really good articulation. These dolls also have higher quality outfits, which makes sense, since the dolls can do more than the average Barbie. You don’t wanna wear out the outfits. While Barbie products in general are very easy to come by, I actually haven’t had any luck in finding the movie dolls at mass retail yet. Based on everything I’ve read, they’re a limited edition line of dolls, and from what I’ve seen, they can only be found online. I’ve had pretty good luck with Amazon and Mattel’s website, but absolutely zero success at physical stores.

In terms of build, Ken looks very pretty. This is a guy who very much works out and definitely has a beach bod, which, based on what we know of the character so far, is exactly what we want. His head does a pretty good job replicated Ryan Gosling in doll form, but the lack of the stubble that Gosling has in the movie makes this Ken look younger and preppier than you’d expect. Also of note here is that this Ken, unlike most Kens you’ll find at mass retail, has rooted hair. It’s also gelled to hold in place, which I personally think works very well for this doll, especially since it’s a doll based off a man who’s supposed to be a doll.

Hair of gold, brain of lead

Ken’s outfit is very bright and colorful, which I absolutely love. It’s nice to see dudes in bright colors, especially since society keeps encouraging guys to wear drab, darker colors. The world of “Barbie: The Movie” is bright, fun, and colorful, and I am delighted to see Ken wearing outfits that go along with that. Ken’s outfit consists of white sneakers, beach shorts, and an open beach shirt, so that I can gaze upon Ryan Gosling’s sculpted (literally) abs and be reminded that I no longer have the metabolism I did in college and that I should probably eat healthier, but that I won’t because burgers taste too good.

I could look like this if I worked out more! And got extensive surgery! And dyed my hair! And was 12 inches high! And was made of plastic!

Ken, like every doll in the movie line, is heavily articulated, which is absolutely what you want for a doll whose whole purpose in life is to party on a beach. He’s got joints in his shoulders, arms, wrists, legs, knees, and neck, so you can put him in all kinds of poses.

Thirst Trap Ken

Aside from his clothes, Ken comes with one accessory: a blue surfboard. It’s proportionate to Ken, which means it’s pretty big. I am a bit let down by the fact that it doesn’t have any detail, but if the idea was to replicate what a classic toy surfboard from the 50’s would look like, then I guess mission accomplished.

Does this paint job have you feeling “board?” Surf pun! Delightful.

 The surfboard has two clips on top, which you can attach to Ken’s wrist, so he can hold the board, or feet, so he can ride the board. The clips are pretty strong, so Ken’s not going to fall off the board any time soon, but that also means that you might have a hard time detaching the board from Ken’s arm. Just keep that in mind so you don’t break something.

I know nothing about surfing culture, so anything I say here will sound forced.

“Barbie: The Movie Ken” has so far only been found online, where he goes for about $25, and is recommended for ages 3+, but is aimed at older kids and collectors. Would I recommend him? Definitely. He’s a very good doll and a fun addition to any fan’s collection. Besides that, he’s also the least expensive Movie Ken doll currently available. If his price seems a little high, remember that this is a very articulated, limited edition doll, which makes that price a pretty good deal in my book. Next week, we’ll be wrapping up our look at Barbie with one more doll from the movie line, so come on back and see what’s happening! This is JS signing off and wishing you Happy Toy Hunting!

[daybreakrising]

(for the canon questionaire) any odd numbered one you haven't done yet, answer it about Wrio!

canon questionnaire | no longer accepting

3. What's the best thing about the show/series/books/comics/etc.?

the lore. i live for it: all the little details you can uncover through reading info on artifacts or weapons as well as the lore that is fed to you through the story. i am a big fan of extensive lore and getting to discover it little by little, so to me, that's the best thing about it

5. What's the best thing about the fandom?

the small corner i have found for myself with all these brilliant, creative people. i am allergic to fandoms as a whole bc they're a clusterfuck, usually, so carving out a nice space with the good people is comforting. i love reading all the hcs people come up with for these characters, all the little details they add that make the characters their own or expand on what we've been given in canon. the people i follow are all so creative and clever and i just. i love seeing it on the dash.

13. Are there any other characters from the franchise you'd like to play?

oh man. oh man. yes, absolutely, to the point where i have a space on my roster that's been reserved for someone for months and will remain there for probably at least another year and a half bc we likely won't get him in game until the s.nezhnaya addition

and i am always open to suggestions people make for characters they think i'd be good at bc....... i have 0 self-restraint when it comes to adding muses, as i've probably made very clear-

15. What are your thoughts on the canon ships for the character, if any?

i mean, there are no "canon" ships, of course (as much as i joke about wrio and n.euvi being married-) so i will replace 'canon' with 'fanon' in this instance bc i wanna talk about the two big ones-

by which i mean, w.rio.lette & w.rio.rinde. obviously, i ship both of these fiercely (though very specifically, for the latter) & i am absolutely weak for both relationships. there's just so much potential with both & i really hate the discourse i've seen in the past over which one is better. (classic example of people hating on a straight ship involving one half of the very popular m/m ship bc 'ew women', mostly, but i won't get into that now-)

17. Are there any ships you can't stand, why?

quick disclaimer to say this is not commenting on people who do ship this, this is just my personal tastes, but: wrio & l.yn.ey

now i am with the people who place l.yn.ey as a young adult at least (short male model =/= teenager, people, there are many adult characters with that model), so it has nothing to do with a perceived age, but simply that............ the fandom is Very Weird about it, and there is a rampant fetishisation of the ship that i cannot stand (largely due to l.yn.ey's design, of course)

also, personally, my wrio has put that very rigid distance between himself and the siblings in general - he calls them children in canon bc that's how he views them, bc he sees himself & his own lost siblings in them. regardless of how old they actually are, he's always going to have that perspective on them, so for me, the only relationship i can see him having with any of the trio is a found family kinda vibe

i don't judge anyone who does ship this (providing they also see l.yn.ey as an adult, of course) but it's just not for me

19. Should people get into the franchise you're writing from, yes or no?

yes. absolutely.

[em-writes-stuff-sometimes]

Hi Em, hope you’re having a great day/night 💙☺️

I just had the opportunity to read the new chapter … SPEECHLESS

🥹🫠😭🥺😍

I don’t have the word, i think Lady Gaga said it best :

“talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before.”

I’m in love with the way you make the story feel like it was written at that old time and it doesn’t feel out of place which is realyyyy impressive , English isn’t my first language so I learnt a lot of new vocab through your TOE installments

( Can i just also say I REALLY LOVED and miss the little history book snippets that You did in the beginning of little sl*t’s chapters 🥹)

I’m really excited for Daddy Daemon & Mommy Babey 🥺 It was such a good thing that you told the delivery through Daemon’s eyes! I bawled my eyes out all the way through the whole thing! He was so panicked and scared and in love 🥺🥰

The whole birth story was so accurate too, I admire how much you have committed to accuracy through this installment, not that i thought anything less before💙 cause it’s really refreshing to see that in a birth fic; just wanted to thank you, personally I really appreciate the you put this much time and energy into each chapter even though you really don’t have to 💙💙

This part tore my heart apart 🥺🥺 there was so manyyyyy cute and wholesome moments… babey’s smile for her kiddos, Ulla getting emotional, Daemon ready to shred Gerardys to pieces,Rheanyra coming and comforting her,the i love you, the my heart, the you’re fire you’re grace, the mother reference … ugh 😩 i could go on and on 🫠

THANK YOU ☺️💙 I’m more obsessed than before ( if possible )

-🌙. My name’s Luna btw 🫣

HELLO, LUNA!!!!!!!! MY MOON FRIEND, THAT'S WHAT I CALL YOU IN MY HEAD! 🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙 aaaaaaaaaah

Ack, pleeeeez, I'm so happy you enjoyed the latest chapter! It was a fecking titan to write, and it stressed me out something fierce. The birth was going to be as detailed as I could get it, I knew that going into the instalment before this one - that way, I can ease up on the detail in subsequent pregnancies (I hope lol). So there was a BUNCH of research I had to do to make sure it was right. It always grinds my gears just a little when I see something I know is medically/ physically/ generally inaccurate as a reader, notwithstanding fantasy embellishments of course. I'm glad it seems to have been pulled off well enough!

I also do try my best to write old-fashioned, haha. I was that dork in high school who thought she was better than everyone else because I carried around 'classics' and read them in my spare time. God, I was an uppity bitch. Wanna suckerpunch that ho when I think about her, lol. As a fun result, I picked up that rambling hoity-toity prose they use in older novels, so I do my best to emulate that within the bounds of reason. I try to maintain very deliberate stylistic differences between characters, too - for example, Babey rarely ever uses contractions (i.e. 'I won't' or 'please don't' etc.) to reinforce her prim-and-proper nature, and when she does it is a moment of tension (i.e. sex lol or the birth scenes). Daemon is somewhere in the middle as a noble but free-spirited dude (he'll use contractions, but he's still a bit of a fancyword guy). Kid characters like Luke will use words such as 'wanna' to highlight their youth, and so on. This adds nothing to the story, but it satisfies a little itch in my brain!

I TRIED TO ADD AS MANY NAWWWW TEAR-JERKY BITS AS I COULD HAHAHA, because I wanted this to be a real 'epiphany/ spiritual awakening' experience for Daemon. Like, "holy shit, I'm a daddy now". So this birth was big drama to unpack all that trauma that's been built up over the past 200,000-odd words and get them set on the road to healing. Babey made it through the birth just fine; she survived something she feared above all else, and Daemon was right by her side for it. (On a side note, this is actually a canon book thing - Daemon was present for all the births of his kids with Rhaenyra, INCLUDING Visenya, which makes me think he'd also have been present for Baela and Rhaena's births and his little stillborn boy.)

I have one of those history book snippets coming for the end of the next chapter, kinda like a book-end! Because I consider gevivys, donus rinus and nuhus prumys as plot-centric fics, I bookend them with the quotes; and because ilibitsos was a smut-centric one-shot fic, I began each 'part' with a quote. There is a weird method to that madness, I promise, haha! I really enjoy writing the history snippets - and this upcoming one has been written and waiting since Chapter 5 of donus rinus! Very excited to end the instalment with it.

Thank you so, so much for your amazing commentary, Luna! Thrilled you enjoyed this chapter!

[littlerosette]

No!!! Thank YOU for indulging me!! Once I start speaking about history I literally can’t stop!! My preference has always been the imperial era and I just fell in love with late antiquity by reading about Theodosius and Constantine. There are many ways I think Eren and Mikasa fit in antiquity, but specially Rome. I think your idea of Eren as Hannibal conveys so well his immense drive and sense of enmity to the point of irrational hatred towards his enemies. Also it ends in tragedy, with Hannibal and Carthage defeated, which mirrors well with canon (though idk if that’s the route you’d like to take?)

I’d also though about one of them being early Christian during the age of persecutions. So one of them would be a Christian who practiced the faith in secret while the other would be a patrician from the senatorial class who’s supposed to hate and destroy the Christians, but just… can’t? Adapt this to the cult of Ymir the Founder to make it more in tune with canon? another way I thought was Eren as Spartacus. Because of the whole rebellion of slaves and the poor against the oppression of the patricians, and Eren’s desire for freedom above all, but, then again, they’re defeated and crucified. Or even better… do you know about Tiberius and Vipsania? This one is more tragic, but hear me out. Tiberius, the 2nd Roman emperor, was married to a woman he loved very much, Vipsania, and they already had a son. The 1st Roman emperor, Augustus, had seen his designated successors die one after the other. To continue the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Augustus then chose Tiberius as his sucessor. But the here’s the catch, to secure family ties, he forced Tiberius to divorce Vipsania in order to marry his daughter, Julia. Tiberius was always depicted as very sullen and duty-driven, so he accepted the role of emperor not out of hunger for power, but out of conviction towards Rome and divorced Vipsania, which caused him immense personal pain. It was recorded that the first time he saw her after their divorce, he cried in public, which was seen as major sign of weakness for any man, let alone the emperor of Rome. So, Tiberius!Eren and Vipsania!Mikasa in an angsty and emotionally charged moment alone in the palace right after their divorce, Augustus![insert character] is recently dead but Eren can’t forsake his new wife in the name of stability, but he has this whole dense and emotional moment with Mikasa were he professes his dying love for her, while on his knees begging her forgiveness? Like how in canon he has to forsake Mikasa for what he deems a greater cause. I’m just rambling. yes! I’ve read Mary Beard’s Rome! It’s a great book. It grasps Rome very well. You can always read the lives of the twelve Caesars by Suetonius too, it’s the definition of classic. Also every book in Cambridge University’s companion to Rome is incredible. Sadly I haven’t seen HBO’s Rome, though o have seen BBC’s old but gold I, Claudius, which I highly recommend. I had more to ramble about but this is too long and I really don’t wanna bother you!!!

constantine is such an intriguing figure. i can totally see why he sparked your interest in rome. okay! i’m going to address all your comments in points because i have thoughts on all of them so bear with me.

- i am absolutely including hannibal and carthage’s end in my interpretation of hannibal!eren. i think it suits him perfectly, and i can’t ever really see eren be militarily or politically successful without there being some major downfall in some way. there’s tragedy in his blood there just is. hannibal is such an interesting person. i think is legacy is fascinating in the sense that he was the terror of rome and one of the greatest generals of history, but also remembered as lesser than scipio, which i suppose makes sense considering the history, but. man. hannibal. who else had the fucking balls to cross the alps with battle elephants. anyway, the tragedy of hannibal and his relationship with carthage (as well as carthage itself) is definitely included with eren. i think it matches pretty well with his actual ending in canon. he sheds so much blood and expresses such absolute hatred for basically no reason. carthage/paradis falls anyway. so good.

- the christian/patrician idea is very good too. for the historical early christian idea (if we’re doing actual rome instead of rome-based paradis) i think it works better if eren is the patrician and mikasa is a christian pleb (or maybe slave even?) i can see him being the one to commit to the task of christian persecution until he meets mikasa and is like… uhhhhh. hm. nevermind! mikasa makes a more convincing christian in my eyes too. i don’t think eren would buy in much to the idea of loving thy brother LMAO. ngl this idea is scratching my brain a bit. i think early christianity in its cult days is fascinating. as for the cult of ymir angle, i can see eren being the practitioner there, if only to match it to canon. i don’t see mikasa being active persecutor of them (maybe levi or kenny) but she would probably be mostly ambivalent until she meets eren. then she might start thinking that killing all these cultists is a bad idea. in this scenario, i see eren being a slave and being Insanely and viciously resentful of that. he would probably be inspired by the cult of ymir’s story of ymir becoming powerful enough to break free of bondage and dedicate his life to that. this is similar with him being spartacus. maybe we can assume this all ends in tragedy.

- i LOVE vipsania and tiberius. i think i read the story of him chasing her around with tears in his eyes a thousand times. the fact that he spends the rest of his life hating her new husband too is great. i even read recently that some scholars are now starting the doubt the veracity of suetonius’ account of tiberius’ later life considering how out of character it seems. i think i’m inclined to believe that a little. roman historians lied about emperors all the time😭 anyway the julia-claudio dynasty is probably my fav of the imperial dynasties. everyone was just such a character. BUT! back to eremika, something in my heart weeps at the idea of eren having to divorce mikasa against his will. if he even goes through with it, i can see him eventually just killing her new husband, killing his new wife, and then marrying her again and adopting all her children as his own when he becomes emperor. but let’s imagine him tearfully following her around in public for a moment. let’s cry about it. eren would btw.

- i’m happy you’ve the read and recommend it!! i’m definitely gonna read it. i haven’t seen i, claudius yet but i know the show is a classic and the robert graves novels they’re based on are always raved about in most online circles i’ve seen. i’ve also seen colleen mccullough masters of rome series be highly rated. you should totally watch rome!! it’s not ~super~ historically accurate but it feels very historically authentic. rome is portrayed as such a colorful, lively, grimy city and it’s awesome. it also has one of my favorite tv romances (lucius vorenus and niobe). and you’re not bothering me at all😭😭 idk if you can tell but i’m having a lot of fun LMAO. i basically never get to talk about this.

[kareenvorbarra]

i can only think about you (Laela/Samira)

here it is...my Laela/Samira playlist

it's a lot of sappy gay pop songs about the frustration of seemingly unrequited love, or about not being able to tell how someone else feels about you, or just about being hopelessly obsessed with your crush. these are not in any particular order, so you can listen to them in the order they're listed or just hit shuffle. extremely self-indulgent notes about each song below the cut:

Wanna Be Missed - Hayley Kiyoko

I wanna be held, fragile like glass Cause I've never felt nothing like that

This is a classic pining song, so ofc it's about Samira. having unbearably intense feelings for someone and desperately wanting them to be reciprocated! the lyrics above also make me think of Samira's particular situation. She wants a kind of physical and emotional relationship that she's never had before - with someone who sees her as a person and cares what she wants.

2. Prophet - King Princess

I can only think about you And what it's like to walk around you And why they like to talk about you Cause I can only think about you

Samira's POV again. I picked this song mostly on the strength of the chorus and the general vibes, but I do think the lines about other people wanting to use subject of the song for their own gain vs. the narrator just wanting her (Like it's gold, you're a prophet/Someone's gonna profit/Don't you know, I just want it) fit Laela and Samira's situation pretty well.

3. Love They Say - Tegan and Sara

Love, they say it heals all wounds, Love removes the hurt in you, Love, I know that this is true.

This is the only song (so far) that has made it onto both the L/S playlist and the K/M playlist. I first listened to it at a time when I was thinking about all these characters a lot. the hope and conviction of the lyrics juxtaposted with the characters' actual situations really got me. For Samira at this point in her life, I think it's more that she wants to believe this than that she actually does.

4. Delilah - Florence + the Machine

Cause I'm gonna be free and I'm gonna be fine But maybe not tonight It's a different kind of danger And the bells are ringing out And I'm calling for my mother As I pull the pillars down

This one is a Laela POV song, so it doesn't deal head-on with her feelings about Samira, and is preoccupied with lots of other things as well. It mostly makes me think of her many, many worries during Thick as Thieves; the choices she makes that disrupt her own life and the lives of the people she cares about, her hope that things will get better, her fear that it will all fall apart.

5. Chance - Hayley Kiyoko

Does she feel the energy the way that I do In the air whenever we get in the same room? Cause I don't know how to read her mind And I don't wanna cross a line

More Samira, of course. This song reminds me of how she's feeling as of chapter 10 - afraid that her time in the household is coming to an end, and that it's too late for her to admit anything to Laela. If I ever take a stab at arranging these songs in chronological order based on the events of the fic, it'll probably end up much later in the playlist.

6. 1950 - King Princess

I hate it when dudes try to chase me But I love it when you try to save me Cause I'm just a lady

Putting all these songs in order makes this whole thing feel very predictable! Anyway this makes me think of Samira again, but it's more her imagining the relationship she and Laela might have than the one they actually have at the moment. Also, having to deal with unwanted male attention while constantly thinking about a specific woman who you can't pursue openly is a very Samira mood.

7. Ela - Andromache

You could be my only one

This song is in English and Greek, and the English verses are okay but the lyrics I like best are in the chorus, which is mostly in Greek (translation here). The mood is, again, Samira fantasizing about what it might be like if she could actually be in a relationship with the person she loves.

8. Solid - MUNA

She is not a screen on which you project She is not a scene on your movie set She is not a mirror in which you reflect Yeah, she is of material substance

If I'm being honest, a lot of the songs on here are just songs I got really into during the long process of planning and writing What We Are Allowed, and this is one of them. Not that it doesn't apply to them! But the lyrics are a little less spot-on than some of the other songs. I think Samira and Laela both admire each other a lot for their competence in their respective roles, and for their strength of character in general. The first verse in particular feels like a dig against those people (like Nahuseresh) who view Laela and Samira as purely decorative or useful rather than actual people.

9. Mudbira - A-WA

This song is in Arabic (translation into English here). It seems to me like it's about a young woman who feels trapped, like her luck has run out and she isn't sure where her life is going, which feels appropriate for Samira. In the chorus, other women talk to the protagonist of the song, acknowledging her problems and inviting her to join them, which also feels right.

10. Ease My Mind - Hayley Kiyoko

Haunt me to my grave Don't you ever fade away Seeing every delusion I dont want to face You keep me up You keep me up at night

Samira is pining, folks. I just really like this song, especially the line Girl, ease my mind. When I first heard this song, I was still in a long-term LDR and the idea that my mind could be eased by the presence of a specific person (a specific girl) really resonated with me. I think it works for Samira's situation, too.

11. Silk Chiffon - MUNA ft. Phoebe Bridgers

Watch her silk dress dancing in the wind Watch it brush against her skin Makes me wanna try her on

Most of the references in this song are pretty modern, and it definitely feels more like Samira's fantasy than anything these characters have actually experienced, but it also makes me think of post-canon Samira and Laela, once they're actually free to live their own lives. The fabric imagery also feels like it fits them.

12. Without You - Oh Wonder

And I'm digging down holes without you Can't be on my own without you I'm a little bit lost without you

Samira again. On its face I think this song is pretty straightforwardly about missing someone, but in this context it's more about her being afraid of losing Laela, who she has known and relied on for her entire adult life.

13. La novia entre flores - Renaissance Players

Lyrics and translation here (it's not an exact match to the version on the playlist, but all of the lines are there, even if they're not in the same order). This one is basically just vibes - it's about a bride, there are two women singing together at the beginning, and the whole thing is sort of wistful.

14. Mary - Agnes Obel

In the dark I hear you sing Fingers move and chords they ring Be the witness of my shame

Agnes Obel's lyrics are never very straightforward, but the whole song feels right for them, I guess. The lyrics above in particular remind me of Laela and Samira's scenes in chapter 10.

15. Steady - The Staves

Steady, steady, steady Your steady touch I love so much I'm sleepless Oh God, oh God, oh God God, I'm only human and I'm helpless

Another Samira song, about wanting someone so badly that you're afraid of the intensity of your own feelings.

16. Las casas de la boda - Aman Aman

A song about brides and weddings and houses (lyrics and translation here). You've read chapter 10, so you know why I have emotions about it re: these characters. Of course, there are a lot of Sephardic songs about brides and weddings, and this one in particular I picked because it talks about multiple brides and other women dancing.

17. Which Witch - Florence + the Machine

And it's my whole heart Weighed and measured inside And it's an old scar Trying to bleach it out

Another Laela song! Like the last one, this is about lots of things other than Samira, because Laela has too many things on her mind and is too afraid to let herself feel much of anything besides fear. Some of the lines speak to her fear of what will happen if she's caught (who's a heretic now?), others to her fear for Kamet (I'm miles away/he's on my mind), and others to her desperate hope that the plan will succeed in the end (I'm not beaten by this yet/you can't tell me to regret).

18. Lamma Bada Yatathana - Lena Chamamyan

Lyrics and translation here. This song is in Arabic; the lyrics, at least, are from medieval Al-Andalus, but I haven't been able to find out for sure if the tune is contemporary or not. I'm also not sure whether the narrator of the song is describing a man or a woman - different translations use different pronouns, and I don't know enough about Arabic to have any idea why. But if the narrator is talking about a woman, then it's a female singer praising the grace and beauty of another woman, which is perfect for Laela and Samira. I'm definitely imagining Samira singing this for an audience and only thinking about Laela.

19. I Go Crazy - Orla Gartland

Oh won't somebody hold me and tell me it'll all work out Say that there's nothing to worry about now Cause I'm so sick of the drama and I hate to shout But you drag it out of me

This entire song is VERY "Samira as of chapter 10": freaking out because you have no idea if the person you're in love with returns your feelings. The lines quoted above make me think of the scene where Laela tries to comfort Samira but botches things by saying that nothing bad will happen, which seems inane and insulting to Samira because she knows better. Part of Samira does want someone to tell her that everything's going to be fine, but she's too pragmatic to actually believe it, and she hates the thought of Laela treating her like a child who might be mollified by a comforting lie.

20. Anything 4 U - Banks

I say you shouldn't do something I wouldn't do The problem is I'd do just anything for you Don't tell me I can't choose, cause every time it's you The problem is I'd do just anything for you

Samira again...a combo of trying to figure out how Laela feels about her, wondering what's really bothering Laela, and wishing she could do something to help. Laela, of course, is not telling; I think she knows deep down that Samira would do anything for her, and that's one of the reasons she's keeping her at arm's length.

21. Doghtar-e-boyerahmadi - Minoo Javan

A traditional Persian song where the narrator is talking about their feelings for a woman, sung by a woman (folk music in general is great for these). The first version of this song I listened to is actually a video of a live performance, which has an English translation in the subtitles (available here). I would have put that version on the mix, but as far as I can tell the YouTube video is the only recording, so I found a different version for my playlist.

22. Going Home - The Aces

Well, you could name a place and time There's nowhere that I wouldn't go As long as it's just you and I It feels like I'm going home

Another song that could be Samira fantasizing about the life she wants to have with Laela, as well as some foreshadowing about where they might end up :) The lyrics about seeing another person at their worst and helping them through it also fit really well, because even though Laela and Samira haven't been able to talk openly about their feelings or be completely honest with each other, they both have to spend so much time pretending that it feels good to let their guard down at all, even if they aren't communicating perfectly.

23. Play Along - flor

We used to run as if it mattered We used to get lost, play along, play along I wanna run to break the pattern Are you missing getting lost? Play along, play along

This song is also basically a fantasy about being free, through the lens of nostalgia. Even though Samira was from a poor family and Laela was born into slavery, they both look back on their their early childhoods with fondness, when things were (comparatively) simple and the adults in their lives were able to shelter them somewhat from the worst aspects of the world. Maybe a little bit of a stretch thematically, but I like the song!

24. forever - Hayley Kiyoko

I am always willing if you're ready for it Cold like the ocean breeze, healed all your broken pieces Saw you and I knew what I was headed for Loved you since seventeen and our love is all we need

Mostly this is just a cute f/f pop song, which would be enough honestly! The lines that made me put it on this playlist were Take me back to skipping classes/Second chances, I just wanna be close to you and Loved you since seventeen, because they remind me of the fact that Samira's crush on Laela did originate when Samira was a teenager and Laela was one of the cool older girls, but then Laela became Samira's sort-of-boss which made things significantly more complicated.

25. Mantissa - Marina Satti

A Greek pop song that an acquaintance sent me like eight months ago, and I'm still completely obsessed with it. Basically, the lyrics (translation here) are about someone vowing to do impossible things to be with the person they love, which is pretty much exactly how Samira is feeling (even if she finds herself unable to actually act on those feelings).

[whoseafraidofliloleme]

Answering these cause I'm bored and felt like it 😂. It's all going in one post so after question 5 I'll put in read more.

1. Depends, if I'm writing on the the way to work or uni then I'm definitely listening to either Taylor Swift or K-pop literally got a playlist titled that 😂. If I'm at home and the idea has come I'm most likely not listening to anything 😂.

2. Nope. Very much Not Beta Read We Die Like Men. Probably why when I read back on various screenshots I see typos 😂.

3. Second person cause I write reader inserts 😂. In general as a reader I prefer third person or second person. Sorry I don't know what it is abt first person pov fics that I just can't stand them.

4. Man I barely know what tenses I write in and I'm getting a degree in English to go on and be an English teacher 😭🤷🏽‍♀️.

5. Eh, the one written fic Ive got Invisible is 32k and I thought it was gonna be short and sweet but that never happened. I guess novel length cause practically all of my smaus are over 10 chapters 😂. I haven't gotten to 40 chapters yet but knowing me it's a goal to have a smau be 40 chapters 😂😂.

6. Multi chapters. There's a reason I've only got like 3 one shots 😂. Most of my ideas end up becoming smaus that I couldn't contain in a one shot 😂.

7. I do enjoy a rarepair. Some of the rarepair fics that I've read are insanely amazing and I guess my thing is the lack of fics for a rarepair but that's the whole point isn't it 😂.

8. I'd like to think that in my True Beauty fanfic everyone was in character but since I mainly wrote K-pop smaus I guess I write the various idols as wildly out of character in terms of how they truly are compared to the stupidity in my fics.

9. I've got too many tropes/cliches that I love. So I'll name a few. Fake Dating has always been a fave. Arranged marriage is a fun one 😂. Sunshine/grumpy pair I love writing. Bad boy/good girl is a classic. Love a good screaming at each other then they kiss moment 😂.

10. Not really a fan tbh.

11. Do y'all have the time? I'll go the first ones that come to mind are Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Sherlock Holmes and Molly Hooper. Marinette Dupain Cheng and Damian Wayne. Kate Sharma and Anthony Bridgerton. (Fyi this are just my otps that I read fics abt. If we're talking general otps there's hundreds. )

12. Anything involving Snape. I just hate that man as a character and he doesn't deserve a happy ending. I said what I said.

13. Fluff. I don't mind smut but I'm skim reading it.

14. Both, in my writing I love a good bit of angst but in a fic I'm reading, sometimes I just want to cry abt there being too much angst.

15. There's no rhyme or reason tbh. Anything can lead to inspiration then it's just me constantly thinking abt it and talking abt this idea to myself out loud and figuring it out.

16. Write by the seat of my pants. I've generally got a rough idea of where I want the story to go and then it's chapter by chapter 😂. I can't plan fics or essays to save my life.

17. Invisible I didn't but I'm planning on going back and giving the chapters titles cause I think chapters titles are just fun and they help give me an idea of what I wanna do in that chapter 😂.

18. None. I think I've seen them all at this point that I'm not surprised by them or care.

19. Knowing that people like what I put out. The whole concept of people liking the stuff I write doesn't make sense to me. I'd like to think I'm better at accepting praise for my writing but I think there will always be that insecurity and doubt about whether my stories are worth the praise and love they get. Another thing is, I have people who reblog and I'm grateful but I wish they'd reblog with a comment or reply to the chapter or something that lets me know what they thought. Just a reblog while great and I'm thankful for doesn't tell me what you thought and thats what I'd like to know.

20. Don't let fear stop you from writing or a lack of engagement stop you.

[yinyuexuelei]

how can you say you have a classicism essay and dont drop it... do it yesss

Well, I did say that I’d elaborate at the slightest provocation….. Who am I to deny the one and only person who asked for this? 😂

I hope you didn’t expect an actual dissertation cause this is my disorganized 3000 word rant with minimal essay structure and it’s all I got

Warning: it’s long, and not everyone is gonna agree with me. I’m posting this for fun and you don’t have to read it.🙃 This rant isn’t an attack on you personally, the reader, because I don’t know who you are. I doubt many people are going to read this anyway but I still wanna put it out there. I am not here to argue shit and a lot of this is just me ranting and going off about stuff that I have feelings about.

Also JC stans might wanna skip this one 

To quote ye olde fanfic writers, “don’t like, don’t read.”

Starting with a disclaimer: I didn’t watch the Untamed drama and all my knowledge of it comes from the fanbase and so everything I talk about is based on the book. I honestly have absolutely no interest in the drama and from what I’ve gleaned from the fandom, I don’t like what they changed from the book to the drama. I won’t throw any shade here, but I just want to make it clear that the drama isn’t canon and I don’t have enough knowledge on the drama to include it in this 

Sorry to Untamed fans ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So obviously the MDZS story itself has themes of classism throughout, some things more obvious than others. The main theme most people catch onto (cause it’s deliberately pointed out by Wei Wuxian near the end) is the fact that the cultivation world is literally constantly waiting for the chance to tear apart people that they had previously respected and relied upon– especially the people who are “lower class.” The moment Wei Wuxian and Jin Guangyao are labeled as “villians” the cultivators instantly turn on them, and most of the insults are based around their low-status backgrounds. 

We can all agree that classism is a part of the story, but in this rant I wanna focus more on how the fandom interacts with classism from MDZS and how the fandom almost perpetuates some classist concepts. Note: when I talk about “classism,” I’m referring to class in terms of a combination of bloodlines, backgrounds, privilege, status, and wealth. Class is more than just money, after all.

My main, biggest point: it’s very commons for poor, underprivileged people to be stereotyped as violent, irresponsible, lazy, and stupid. Wei Wuxian deals with all of these stereotypes, even from the beginning of the story before he gets an especially bad reputation from his demonic cultivation… And of course it gets especially bad after that.

People within the story (primarily the Jins) use these stereotypes to discredit Wei Wuxian in the eyes of the public, making him seem unstable and unreliable. That's kind of the whole book: all of these negative assumptions about Wei Wuxian that, as you read, you see how they're not really true. And yet, its these assumptions that a lot of fans use in their fanfics/headcanons, portraying Wei Wuxian as lazy, irresponsible, and short-tempered. And my point isn't just that Wei Wuxian is purposely misrepresented in MDZS canon/by the fans, but specifically that these are all negative stereotypes of low-status/poorer people. 

These stereotypes are specifically used by people in power to lower public opinion of poorer communities to make it easier to ignore and suppress them. If people think of "poor people" as lazy and irresponsible, they're less likely to want to help them as they're made to think that its their fault that they're poor in the first place. If the general public lacks respect and compassion for poor people, they are less likely to stand up for them and more likely to support decisions that damage "low-class" communities. And by making poorer people out to be angry and violent, you discredit their objections and criticisms when they try to fight back against their situation making it easier to ignore them. The assumption of violence is especially used like this, as people tend to have a visceral reaction to a perceived threat of violence and a lot of the time won't even question the situation further if they think that the people in power are "protecting" them from the "criminals."

I don't think I need to go into the history of why/how poor people are painted in negative stereotypes for the purpose of manipulating them and the greater population lol. 

(Note: racism obviously plays a huge part in these stereotypes– at least in America, I can't speak for other countries– but race doesn't really apply as much in this case. I'm white anyway lol so it's not my place to lecture people on how racism works. I just want to point it out cause it's always important to remember how racism and classism go hand in hand!)

(This part isn't really part of the essay, but I’ve always noted the fact that Wei Wuxian was a very polite, nervous kid when he first came to Lotus Pier. It’s only after living with the gentry for a while that Wei Wuxian started to become more of a trouble maker. There’s definitely some trauma-recovery stuff going on there, as Wei Wuxian had more room to form his own personality when he wasn’t fighting for his life, but it’s still very interesting that it was while living among higher society that Wei Wuxian developed those particular personality traits that coincided with common “poor” stereotypes. I’m not saying that Wei Wuxian’s personality is faked or anything, but it is a part of his character that he’s very good at putting on a mask and pretending to be exactly what he knows people want from/expect of him. This is just an interpretation of mine, of course, but I thought it was an interesting thing to point out.)

And of course, while poor people are blamed for their situations, rich people don't often face the consequences of their actions. It really feels like the whole theme of MDZS: the rich powerful people are always given the benefit of the doubt and assumed to be good, hard working people while the lower-class characters are always made out to be morally gray and of questionable character– both in canon and by the fans.

(Obviously characters like Jin Guangyao and Xue Yang deserve the bad rep to an large extent (Jin Guangyao canonically murdered his infant son to hide his incesntual marriage and Xue Yang was a serial killer– I WILL NOT debate their morality lmao) but as I mentioned above, the way the cultivation world judges those people are very different from how they judge their fellow members of the gentry. Even Jin Guangshan (objectively the worst man ever) is never really insulted after his death– people very politely do not mention how he died, or even talk about any of his sins or crimes from his life.)

In canon is one thing, as its an aspect of the story, but it's a lot more frustrating to see fans adopt these stereotypical assumptions in their fanworks. I see it all the time in fanfics and in those weird Twitter-thread headcanons where Wei Wuxian tends to be made out as a lot less reliable or competent, often used as an excuse for Lan Wangji to "save him from himself" or whatever bullshit. It's also worth mentioning that these negative character traits are often assigned to Wei Wuxian specifcially when he's being compared to either Lan Wangji or Jiang Cheng– two rich, high-status bois. 

And of course, I want to point out that it’s literally a joke in the book that Lan Wangji could straight up be kidnapping a kicking and screaming Wei Wuxian and people would assume that Wei Wuxian was the criminal because he "looked" like a delinquent and no one would ever assume that a upstanding Lan cultivator would kidnap anyone– even as they’re listening to Wei Wuxian scream for help. Even the fandom gives Lan Wangji the pass on that incident, justifying it with shit like “it was for Wei Wuxian’s own good” or “Wei Wuxian knew deep down that this was what he wanted” or “but it’s cute cause they’re WangXian” which… Do I need to point out the red flags? (But that can be another conversation about MXTX works and consent lmao) But I guess everyone wants to get with the mean, hot, rich man, so they can’t imagine how someone wouldn’t be throwing themselves at his feet, I guess.

(I will say that my personal take is that Wei Wuxian really didn't do anything wrong in the story. He was repeatedly put into impossible situations by rich, powerful people and did the best with the resources he had and proceeded to bear 100% of the blame when those situations went to hell. But whatever.)

Also, I want to make it clear that the point of this rant isn’t to talk about how much I like Wei Wuxian (though I do lol)– it’s that Wei Wuxian was purposely discredited and vilified within his story by the rich elite by assigning him “low-born” stereotypes, and the MDZS fandom kinda fell for it. You don’t have to like Wei Wuxian, but I’m asking people to acknowledge that his character was purposely misinterpreted by other characters. It’s not about how you feel about Wei Wuxian personally, but about the way the classist propaganda in MDZS is apparently so good that people reading it fell for it too.

But anyway. I’m gonna break everything into three main points to address, being the three major stereotypes that I feel like relate to Wei Wuxian.

Wei Wuxian is lazy/incompetent:

This is the one I see the most often, in which people portray Wei Wuxian as someone who doesn’t put in any effort and spends all of his time slacking off.

Wei Wuxian, who was an orphan on the streets and had to fight to survive for years (I don’t need to tell you how bad of an experience that would be lmao) until he was taken into the Jiang sect. Wei Wuxian who was years behind his peers in the formation of his golden core, and had to not only struggle to catch up but also struggle to gather his spiritual energy inside a weak, malnourished body. (I also will assume that most people can at least agree that Wei Wuxian was directly abused by Yu Ziyuan and indirectly abused by Jiang Fengmian, so I won’t rant too much about that right now.) Can you really tell me that Wei Wuxian, who went through all of this and still somehow managed to become such a powerful cultivator and got number 4 on that bachelor list because he never put in any work?

I also wanna point something out about Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng. (This is the part that JC stans might wanna click away for, if you made it past the warning up top.) Most MDZS fanfics and headcanons involve Jiang Cheng being hardworking and devoted while Wei Wuxian is flighty and irresponsible– but what part of the story supports that? While he scolds Wei Wuxian for not being a good student, it’s more about Wei Wuxian’s deviant behavior than his academics– and especially for getting caught. Its not that Jiang Cheng doesn't also break rules and disrespect authority, its just that he cares too much about reputation to own up to it. In the book, almost every scene in which Wei Wuxian is slacking, Jiang Cheng is slacking off with him: drinking in the Cloud Recesses, slacking off from training cause it’s too hot, stealing lotus seeds– Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng did all of those things together. Just as the adults in the books ignore this fact and pin all of the blame on Wei Wuxian every time, the fans tend to just ignore what this implies about Jiang Cheng.

Plus, there’s no mention in the book of Jiang Cheng ever training or studying more than Wei Wuxian, let alone anything that suggests that he goes above and beyond the average disciple. Y’all just assume that Jiang Cheng must be a hard worker because you already had preconceived notions about the “kind of person” Jiang Cheng is and the “kind of person” Wei Wuxian is. Plus it justifies Jiang Cheng’s inferiority complex, and people are always looking for excuses on behalf of mean, hot, rich men.

(I could go on more about how Jiang Cheng’s character is all about entitlement and what happens when rich kids dont get their way– and how rich kids can't stand being shown up by poor kids. Anyone else notice that the person closest to Jiang Cheng’s personality is Wen Chao? 🤔 I ALWAYS be talking shit about Jiang Cheng though lol)

Wei Wuxian is irresponsible/reckless:

This ties in a lot with previous point so this section won't be long, but I feel like its worth pointing out as well.

There are multiple points in the book in which people blame Wei Wuxian for “acting without thinking” and all of those times made the point that he knew what he was doing the whole time and it wasn’t actually a thoughtless action. And anything that people try to argue that Wei Wuxian didn’t think through all the way is the stuff that he didn’t have a choice on– like taking the Wen Remnants to the Burial Mounds.

There's definitely a couple of instances in which you can't argue that Wei Wuxian made the best decisions (like going to Nightless City) but those situations were forced upon him and, once again, he didn't really have many options. Saying that Wei Wuxian should have thought it through more or implying that the situation they’re in is somehow his fault takes responsibility away from the people who are actually behind the incidents in the first place. I feel weird pointing this out, cause I feel like most people can agree that Wei Wuxian wasn’t in the wrong in what he did, and yet people still take these instances as examples of Wei Wuxian being reckless.

Wei Wuxian is violent/hot-tempered:

So we're starting this point off with a different hot take: I've always read the book with an assumption/interpretation that demonic cultivation isn’t actually “harmful” to the user’s mind or at least isn't as harmful as it's made out to be– but rather Wei Wuxian was traumatized and forced to remain in his trauma for a long period of time and the people in power just used his trauma-induced behavior as an excuse to persecute him. Even if you disagree on this, I still want to make the point that people’s assumptions of Wei Wuxian and resentful energy are what the gentry uses to manipulate Wei Wuxian and everyone else. 

Constantly claiming that Wei Wuxian had “lost his mind” from resentful energy any time he fought back or defended himself is, like, an extreme form of gaslighting. They literally just constantly used it as a tool to dismiss Wei Wuxian’s valid protests and criticisms. It’s just a running thing throughout the book that no one ever listens to Wei Wuxian when he protests or argues about something because he’s “unstable” or “the resentful energy is clouding his mind” All of his actions get painted as violent and malicious when he’s literally just trying to defend himself or other people. (It’s also just a huge robbery of agency.) The main scenes in which he’s angry and on the verge of violence are the ones involving the mistreatment of the Wen remnants, which I hope to God no one would try to argue were “overreactions.” The Jins easily used this to their advantage, however, since most people either didn’t know or didn’t care about the innocent people Wei Wuxian was defending. And yet even the fandom still thinks of the Yiling Laozu as being short-tempered and violent, even though we have the privilege of knowing what was going on that the rest of the world didn’t know…

And the fact that there are still people who argue the morality of either Qiongqi incidents really shows that you are not immune to Jin propaganda… Y’know, the incident in which Wei Wuxian killed labor-camp guards who were trying to murder innocent people in order to hide the evidence of their crimes and the incident in which Wei Wuxian was ambushed/cornered and accidentally killed someone in self-defense. Do we… do we really need to debate these?? The only reason people even care about the second one is cause Jin Zixuan died and nothing ever really matters until something happens to a mean, hot, rich man.

Tldr: all the MDZS fandom cares about are the mean, hot, rich men lmao

And this doesn’t fit into my main points, but I find it interesting that when you look at Jin Guangyao, Wei Wuxian, and Xue Yang (once again, not talking about their actual morals right now, but rather how the cultivation world views them), the amount of respect they get from the cultivation world correlates directly to how good they are conforming to the traditions and values of the elite. Jin Guangyao was the best at “fitting in” with the gentry and was obsessed with leaving his background behind, and he managed to become the Chief Cultivator and cultivate a reputation as a good, respectable man for many years. We Wuxian didn’t really try to conform at all, but at least was a good person who used to have a good reputation when he was younger– a reputation that held up as long as he didn’t directly challenge any major traditions. Xue Yang was a devient in all senses and straight up murdered, like, a hundred people and was (rightfully) despised from the get-go and the cultivation world had no respect for him ever.

Jin Guangyao was’t morally much better than Xue Yang, and yet public opinion was very high of him as long as he kept up this ruse as being “one of them.” Wei Wuxian is obviously a better person than Jin Guangyao, but spent a long, long time being hated while Jin Guangyao was lorded as a hero. It’s even funny that Wei Wuxian did most of the work for the Sunshot campaign, and yet the Venerated Triad, including Jin Guangyao, got credit for being the ones that ended the war. 

This isn’t a real essay and I’m not in college anymore so I don’t have to write a conclusion lmao this is all you get 😘

[leffee]

Alrighty let’s answer some of these

So I’m hoping the word you were looking for was dashboard for the car thing lol that’s the only thing that came to mind.

I also just had something come to mind with the letters what if after writing everything out feelings and all he burns them in the fire he like so much kinda like getting it all out of his head and then watching it burn 🔥🔥🔥

I get it lol I don’t speak another language so when you brought that up it made so much sense (props to anyone who can speak more then one you are amazing!) so what came to mind after reading that is I could see Russell also going to outside sources to learn as well like books, websites like duo lingo that teach you and google but Russell would hype Vinnie up as his main teacher to make him happy and excited that he’s needed and that he knows something Russell doesn’t and he can finally teach him something for a change.

He would definitely try to learn Hindi but I feel like it would be asking Sunil curse words first and once he got that down it would be other things like hello, I love you, bye,wanna cuddle? Things of anything else that he would use daily.

His hair has always been back and forth with me I’ve pictured it long, med, short in different styles I feel like for me there are other times I can see him with long hair! But I can’t help but picture his little short cut over anything. But question for you do you picture him falling more with his long hair tripping wise? I also love the fact that the long hair idea would give him so many style options in general I can also see him rocking the man bun, braids ect.

Ok the watch thing came about when I got the idea that since Russell already messes with inventing electronic things it only made sense that he would have the idea to solve a problem that they were constantly facing when Vinnie would more often then not have to get his temperature taken or be brought indoors for a bit to warm up and everyone being worried about him even though he’s oblivious to the danger he puts himself in because he just wants to be play outside with minka and pepper in a snow.

~Alright the toxic moms/girlfriend/ women will probably be it’s own thing~

I hope I didn’t miss anything let me know if I did haha

Hello, it is I, talking endlessly about my blorbo again

Yeash, I think it was that - dashboard, sounds right. English hard ;-; plus it's not like I know anything about car parts anyway, but yeah, probably that, he puts his pretty feet on that :]

Oh yes yes, a classic but it works nicely with that headcanon that he likes fire and seeing things burn :) burn those feelings away aha. I actually used to not believe this whole "write your feelings and they won't bother you as much" but then I started writing fanfics and you know what? There were certain plots that were haunting me for long long time, but then when I wrote a fic about them those thought stopped coming so often, so I can comfirm that writing about your feelings in a journal or something will actually genunely work. It worked for fanfic scenarios for me at least, they jut kinda dissipated uuu

Yeah yeah, I think Russell would definitely have to use other things to learn properly. I mean, there's a difference between knowing how to do something and knowing how to teach someone to do it, like I know how to swim, but would I be able to teach someone from 0 how to swim? Nah, I doubt it. Oh, but him hyping Vinnie up as his main teacher is absolutely precious! Vinnie just wants to feel important and needed, you know? And you're so right! That would be probably first time when Vinnie knows something that Russell does not and that realization would make Vinnie feel so blissful, since it's usually the other way around, I can absolutely see that.

Yeah lmao he would absolutely ask about curse words first, definitely. I can just imagine Sunil being like: "You want to learn Hindi? Oh, that's great, so "hello" is-." and then Vinnie interrupts him with, "No, no, how is "fuck"?" "...What." "How do I say fuck in Hindi?". And I just love the indication that Vinnie asks on a daily basis "wanna cuddle?" yes yes, that's important to know.

Oh me too, I think he looks great in all sorts of hair styles and lenghts, but the long down one is just my favourite and how I primarly imagine him. Would he fall over more due to his long hair is a good question actually. But no, I don't believe so, I never thought about that really but I wouldn't say so. It's not that long to really get in his legs' way, it is however easy to get his fingers tangled in his hair for Vinnie if he wants to scratch his back or example. And yes yes, his hair being long gives him soo many style options and I think Zoe (being Zoe) and Minka (being the group's impromptu hairdresser) would love trying out different hairstyles on him. He's the best option since literally five of them have short hair and Pepper who has long hair (shorter than him though) does not let them just sit her down and try our different styles for hours, Vinnie does though. Vinnie hair is important~

Yeah, I remember your headcanon that Russell makes robots so he already knows something about mechanics like that, good good, yes, it makes sense. W a i t. Ideaaaaa. So if it checks his temperature what if it also announced out loud if his temperature was really low or really high, like dangerously. And then, at some point when he's with Russell and let's say they're about to kiss (going with Vinnie x Russell) that watch is just loudly "Tempearute dangerously high" and Vinnie's like "p[skdaspjod" because it basically just announced out loud that he's flustered. Oh yes, Leffee likes that idea.

Alright, that's all, I don't believe you missed anything :D. The one I was most curious about was the toxic women in his life part so I shall wait for that ^^.

[endless-sketching]

Aha time to use my very obscure tumblr account to rant about making things

I kinda wanna make this entry public since I wanna air out my stinky thoughts about making things and stigmatism towards making certain things that are great but the fandom is horrid-

Yes it's about Friday Night Funkin Mods, scroll past now if you don't want to read it.

Ok now imma get into a niddygriddy. FNF mods used to be such a niche little thing to make that people can appreciate. And whenever I saw a new mod pop up in my youtube reccomendation feed, I would be curious and genuinely intrigued about the mod itself and what it offers.

Early years of the modding community kinda just uprooted the game's engines to make their own kind of thing. It was so cool that the vs Whitty mod was able to make an original story based on week 7's code, then vs Hex came out and that mod did a mid song sprite switch with zero lag!

Then later on uh hm I'm struggling with a specific mod to mention but later on there would be mid song animations that are probably based on BF's "YEAH" animation then later on shaders which not even I know how they did THAT

But then out of nowhere people started making their mods more gimmicky. A huge difficulty gap would just be the main reason why a mod is popular, when vs Whitty did it that mid at least had good music to pair with it that contextually makes sense. Combat Madness is a hardcore classic newgrounds series and Whitty is a crazy zombie clown so it only makes sense.

Then who the fuck thought Matt from WII SPORTS SHOULD HAVE UBER FAST SCROLL SPEED ON TOP OF A BUSY CHART BE A GOOD MOD TO MAKE??

I can't even say the music for that mod sounds good, it eventually just sounded like a Nokia phone ringtone.

Mind you later on bbpanzu made a neat little rhythm heaven inspired mod called Golf, and it's gimmick is like rhythm heaven. You press buttons to the cue. If the vs Matt mod had done something similar it would've been a delight to see people replicate Wii Sports mini games in FNF! Imagine tennis but you sing and swing to the beat. That would've been a better gimmick than horrid charting.

And now comes in the big thing FNF is now more imfamous for. A general toxic culture that's somehow worst than Twitter. Wait no IT IS Twitter.

Remember that bbpanzu guy I mentioned earlier? He's a talented creator, being able to make really amazing things like vs FL-Chan, helped with vs Miku, that Golf mod from earlier. He would then make vs Sky, a mod based on a kid's FNF OC that the mod takes the idea and makes it this whole vibe of 2010 YouTube animations with its music and everything.

I personally really liked this mod for its portrayal of a much more innocent time every content creator has, hell any 2000s kid would have. And it was really cool how she got annoyed mid song.

And then bam, porn. Some assholes bombarded the original creator's Discord server with porn of their character. Then talks about how old the Sky character and the creator cropped up questioning the morality of the concurring events. People were taking the very leverage of a kid's creation to justify a Discord porn raid, all because the original creator made a couple of edgy and suggestive lowbudget videos on their tiktok. What's worse was that bbpanzu saw all of this and blamed himself for the events and eventually took the mod down to divert the harassment towards the original creator of Sky.

But that was just the calm before the storm, then comes FNF's rushing popularity. Which said popularity comes with kids. Despite the fact that this very Friday Night Funkin isn't exactly for preteens. Hell the original game has blue balls pulsing on the game over screen how the fuck is this shit even for that young of an audience. But like how FNaF has its fair share of young audience and drama, so did FNF.

I want to at least preface that, this is the internet. People of many age range use it and post what they want. Which is a finnicky place for a growing mind to be at. Then here the script says things about bad things happening to young kids will always happen. I'm ranting, and I'm upset that FNF now just has this surface level impression of low respect. That people don't take it as seriously now.

And with that also comes with the usual content milking the internet will do and many people just get trample over just to get a quick buck by putting tits on a character and whatever click bait bs people use nowadays.

And then mods that were novel on top of a strong start ends up getting canceled because of internal issues and impossible demands.

FNF Modding is a nonprofit hobby.

And when people start demanding things, the enjoyment of that hobby will go away.

I'm just hoping FNF modding will still push on to making it more accessible for people like me that want to make mods for myself without much coding knowledge. In someways we are there but the instructions are still really confusing and people seem to have just stopped making tutorials on how to make FNF mods in certain engines.

Anyways rant over byeeeeeee

[ffxiv-resources]

Settings (1 of 2)

(for character settings click here)

System Settings

It is important to remember that these will be account wide. Every current character you have, every new character you create will share the same system settings. Open the menu with either ctrl+K on the keyboard or start > settings > System Settings on game pad and you get this:

[Image ID: cropped screenshot of the FFXIV system menu with the red buttons on the left labeled with arrows. From top to bottom they read: Display settings, Sound, Graphics, Gamepad/controller, Theme, Other, and Accessibility /end ID]

This is your system menu. Unless you Know what you’re doing I wouldn’t suggest messing with Display or Graphics* settings, though they do make it fairly easy to not fuck it all up. If you change anything on any tab, in order to save the changes you must remember to hit apply. I recommend pressing it frequently if you’re changing multiple things bc if you get one thing right and another bad but don’t remember the original or new setting of either you’ll have to fiddle with the first over again if you didn’t save it before moving on. I’ve had to do this many times when messing with volume.

(* Graphios settings, however, does let you turn off glare and Water Refraction. If either of these cause you issue, the settings to turn them off are towards the bottom of the tab and clearly labeled. Please keep this in mind bc the water refraction used to trigger my motion sickness.)

Mouse: lets you change cursor size, sensitivity and drag

Sound: breaks down all the different sounds in the game and lets you control the volume of each of them.

Gamepad: lets you decide to keep it enabled when tabbed out, turn vibration on/off, stick sensitivity, and some button shortcut options. If you play with a controller I recommend looking at it

Themes: Dark, Light, and Classic. Classic is the retro FF menu with the rich blue with white text, dark is my screenshots and light is the same coloration as speech bubbles

Other: where screenshots download, time before AFK, & cutscene audio language

Accessibility (PC Only): Visual Alerts for volume/sound and three color filters (Protanopia, Deuteranopia, and Trianopia)

[Image ID: four of the same screenshot of an aethernet shard. the top left is normal, top right is Protanopis, bottom left Deuteranopia, and bottom right Trianopia /end ID]

Sound Settings

[Image ID: two screenshots of the sound settings. the first is cropped to only show the top half of the tag with an * by the ambient sounds toggle and + by listening position. The second shows the whole menu scrolled to the bottom with an * next to the ambient sounds slider and ** next to the Performance slider /end ID]

Feel free to tailor these to your heart’s content! Turn the volume all the way up, all the way down, or anywhere in between! These are, obviously, my settings. As i play on PC, and have a tendency to watch Netflix or such while playing via window-in-window, I have my volume set so I can hear everything well enough to differentiate what is what- however those settings are, of course, different for everyone! 

Do note: that speaker button next to all of them is a mute button! So if you only want it off temporarily you don’t have to turn it to 0 and then remember where you had it later. Just hit mute!

*Ambient sounds, when turned on, adds general wordless chatter when you’re in heavily populated areas among other things (Limsa Aetheryte anyone?) and learning I could turn this off was one other the best things I could do for my mental health bc lord that wordless chatter can really be a psychosis or hallucination trigger in some people.

** Performance is specifically referring to people you see like at Aetherytes and Adventurer’s Guilds and such playing music. These can be fun to encounter but they can also be obnoxious or annoying (I’m all for you learning how to play but I don’t wanna hear it, type things.) Turning it down means it’s less likely to cut into anything else you’re watching/listening to and turning it off means you hear none of it regardless of anything. Performance can be fun bc people will just stand around and play songs or put on concerts, and some people even take requests if you’re polite! It can be fun to hang around and listen while in queue or otherwise AFK but if it’s not your cup of tea no one will be offended at you turning it off

+ Listening Position is where the in universe sounds are coming from. I personally put it at my camera bc it can be confusing to me to be hearing sound as my character hears it if my camera is like. Zoomed all the way out or such, as it often is in dungeons or raids. But putting it next to your character can ensure you hear things you might not otherwise if you’re more in tune with auditory cues than visual or, potentially, if you're hard of hearing. I’d suggest playing around with this one to find the position you’re most comfortable with. Or you can leave it be if it doesn't bother you.

[violettelueur]

— JUJUTSU KAISEN EPISODE ONE || RYOMEN SUKUNA

↳ featuring : itadori yuji + fushiguro megumi + gojo satoru + ryomen sukuna from jujutsu kaisen

↳ warnings : mentions of blood + mention of killing + mention of mass murder (word massacres is mentioned) + mention of death + swearing and EXTREME grammar issues

↳ form : story

↳ published : 07 february

↳ pronouns : she/her

↳ word count : 3.8k

↳ synopsis : within the jujutsu world, there were three famous clans to be aware of, the Kamo clan, Zenin clan and the Gojo clan. However, unknown to many sorcerers there was one last family that was known to be apart of the three, only for them to disappear after the golden era leading some to speculate that they had died in battle after the sealing of ryomen sukuna, but....

↳ next episode : for myself

↳ barista’s notes : to be honest with you guys, this little imagine here is such a mess and i had fun writing it since it have me an excuse to watch the first and a tiny bit of episodes one and two of jujutsu kaisen again ʕ￫ᴥ￩　ʔ 

BEFORE READING, I NEED YOU TO BE AWARE OF THIS:

1. all the ‘curse spells’ mentioned in this are related to Bleach (their use of Kido - credits go to: Tite Kubo) so these ain’t my original ideas since i started this at like 11pm on a saturday night. 

2. there is some dialogue missing since this is from your perspective as a reader and not Fushiguro’s or Itadori’s 

3. as you all know, the storyline isn’t mine, it belongs to Gege Akutami 

4. this whole thing might be confusing and please don’t expect a part two because i will do it when i am ready or feel like i can at the right time ʕ ᵒ ᴥ ᵒʔ 

5. i don’t know, if i am going to add this onto my masterlist since this was just for fun to be honest!

thank you so much for taking the time to read this and i hope you enjoy your free cup of classic black coffee (jujutsu kaisen) ʕ•ᴥ•ʔﾉ♡

“L/N, are you going to come with us?”

Looking away from the window you were viewing out from, you paused sipping from your carton of orange juice before turning your head to quickly discover two female students looking at you with anticipation in their eyes only for you to look at them in some sort of confusion. 

“Come one, don’t tell me you didn’t hear about it? Coach Takagi and Itadori are competing!” one of the girls complained, obviously slightly annoyed at your oblivious nature to the news that was going around the school at this moment in time.

“Competing for?” you then questioned, as you stood straight from your leaning position causing the other female student to then rapidly answer by saying, “Coach is trying to requite Itadori for the nationals, so if he wins then itadori has to join the track club to compete!” 

‘Huh? What a drag’

“So do you wanna come to the track field with us to see who is going to win?” the two students asked again in a desperate tone, leading you to look at the window you were previously looking from to see the exact location that they had stated. “I’ll watch from here, it has a higher and wider view, so I would have a better look” you replied, before pointing at the track field that was on the other side of the glass causing the students to look out before nodding.

“We really want to see it up close, so we’ll see you tomorrow yeah?” the first female student asked, leading you to smile and nod at them before seeing them rapidly take off to the track field trying to make sure they arrived before the competition started.

Turning your smile back into a straight line, you turn back to the window that you were looking through before being interrupted while placing your drink’s straw between your lips letting the sweet but citrusy juice flow down your throat. Admiring the view, you decided to let your eyes roam free for a bit to see if there was anything interesting to observe before the supposed ‘competition’ started, which then led you to pause at the sight of the closed rugby field down below.

Coming out of the ground was a horrific creature with four arms before climbing up the pole revealing its large teeth leading you to stare at it with complete boredom as you then mentally took a quick note to exorcise it later when the school closed. However, what also came into your sights was a single male student down before staring at the same curse you were observing causing you to continue analysing the situation.

‘Can he see it? I don’t recall a student here having any curse energy’

From what you could tell, the student had black erratic hair with his hands in his pocket but from what you could see that other’s couldn’t, there was a faint but noticeable aura of curse energy surrounding his body generating a feeling of curiosity but nervousness within your stomach as you place your empty carton away from your lips. Suddenly, the male turned around leading you to have somewhat a clearer view of him, only to discover that he also had a pair of emerald eyes which then made you come to the conclusion that he wasn’t a student from the school. How could he? You could tell this ‘student’, and yourself was the same age meaning you would have at least seen him once or twice down the hallways and there was no new information about a student coming in, if there was, it would have been a buzz.

‘Don’t tell me one of the clans managed to find out about me?’ you anxious thought, leading you to take a short step back ensuring this sorcerer didn’t have a vivid view of you when you did of him. Hearing some cheering, you turned your head to the other side to find a small crowd forming with a metal ball being flung as two students ran out to measure the length between the dip of the sand from the coach indicating to you that the competition had started.

“14 metres!’ the one student shouted, leading to a round of applause from the audience spectating the event. However, from what your ears were managing to pick up, there were cheers for Itadori leading you to wonder if you could recall the classmate they were shouting for.

“Ah~ Itadori Yuji ha?” you rhetorically asked the air around you, not expecting an answer in return. Itadori Yuji was a first-year student like you were, member of the small occult research club with second years Sasaki and Iguchi when he could be in any athletic club if he wanted to. However, understandably you knew some people would rather do something than what their natural talents indicated. Once again, you saw the metal ball being thrown - this time from the pink-haired students - only for it to land that the corner of the football goal, yet what was the shocking thing was that the metal of the goal was bent leading you to look at the sight within widened eye - of course, you knew Itadori was fast and strong but not to the extent of what you had just witnessed.

“Wow, no wonder he was called ‘Tiger of the West Middle’,” you muttered under your breath before quickly reverting your eyes to find the sorcerer you were wary of. Surprisingly, he was now on the track field looking upon the competition mixing well with the other students like a little chameleon. Although, before you could continue to observe the student trying to see what his intentions were, Itadori suddenly ran past him with his large backpack on, only for the erratic-haired sorcerer’s eye to suddenly widen the second they crossed each other leading him to reach out for your classmate. However, there was only dust to be collected as Itadori was suddenly out of reach.

“Just what are you trying to gain, sorcerer? It’s already a drag that you’re here,” you quietly mumbled irritation before turning away from the window you were gazing from to collect your school bag from your classroom since you left it there to not have the burden of carrying it on your shoulder. However, what you didn’t notice was the same sorcerer peering up at the same window you were looking from with perplexity painted on his face.

‘Was someone watching me?’

                                              ꕥ

“Don’t tell me someone got a hold of that damn finger?” you angrily stated, as you suddenly felt an immense amount of pressure invade the school causing you to wonder if there was anyone within the school with you right now, as you began to increasingly worry about whoever got a hold of the special-grade object that you found a few nights before.

“I put a protective seal on it, who the hell broke it!?” you muttered, as you panicky ran up the stairs trying to follow the presence of the object you were desperately trying to get a hold of before forcibly pushing a door open leading it to smash against the wall as you continued to sprint across the halls.

As you quickly turned the corner, you saw a large curse blocking the path leading you to instinctively flow your curse energy flow to your hand to the tips of your finger as you began to confidently recite the spell you were about to cast after you had finished drawing the symbol with your curse energy in the air.

“Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini! Look upon yourself with the horror and then claw out your own throat! Binding Curse Spell number nine: Geki!” you chanted, leading to a thin light aqua aura of curse energy to surround the curse causing it to become completely paralysed. However, before you could cast another spell to destroy the curse, there was a sudden interruption causing you to look at the person in complete shock as they flew into the corridor from outside the window only for you to discover it was your own classmate.

“Itadori!” you screamed, only for him to grab what seemed like two people away from the curse as it was still immobilised from your spell leading you to turn to the side to find that it was both Sasaki and Iguchi in his arms causing your eye to further widen only for you to be then distracted by the curse being blown away to your direction leading you to use another spell to make sure you were caught in the process.

“Binding Curse Spell number eighty-one: Danku,” you hurriedly stated, leading to a large rectangular defensive wall to shield you away from the decapitated parts of the curse as well as the technique being used for it to explode the way it did. Unexpectedly, once the pathway was cleared you suddenly came eye to eye with the sorcerer you were peering down on the track field this afternoon causing a wave of uneasiness to consume your body. 

“Who are you?” he questioned leading to the two dogs beside him to growl at you showing their sharp canine that could easily pierce your skin if he commanded them to. Slowly, your hand moved to the hilt of your katana that was hanging horizontally on your back, before quickly coming to the conclusion that it wasn’t difficult to slice the two dogs down if you desired to.

“Shikigamis huh? I should just cut the user down before they could reach me, then they would disappear’

“Oh L/N? What are you doing here?” Itadori asked in shock, leading you and the sorcerer to look at him before the sorcerer suspiciously asked, “you know who she is?”.

“She’s a student at my school, she is in the higher class since she’s smarter than me,” Itadori explained, as he took the time to check on his two club members with a sincere look on his face to then discover that they were unconscious with Sasaki in a decent state with Iguchi in somewhat the same condition but with injuries to his face. Letting your shield gradually disappear, you slowly walked up to your senior as you crouched down to hover a hand over his face letting a flow of curse energy begin to heal his wounds.

“Itadori, how the hell did they get the finger?” you angrily questioned the boy while continuing to heal your upperclassman causing him to look at you in shock - due to your acknowledgement of the object - as he caught the cursed object that slipped out of Sasaki’s pocket once he picked her up in a bridal style. 

“How do you know about it?” the sorcerer then asked, only to be quickly silenced when you gave him a heated glare only for itadori to then explain that he was the one that picked it up for them since they wanted to sneak back into the school to unwrap the talisman for research for the occult club leading an irk to appear on your forehead. “Wasn’t there like a talisman paper placed on the door? You know like those like sheet of paper with Ancient Japanese writing painted on it?” you asked in a stern tone as you completed the healing process only for itadori to give you a questionable look.

“There was a hint of paper being there, but it seemed like it was ripped off,” itadori answered wearily, leading you to look up at him with enlarged eyes as you let out a breath of complete shock.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN RIPPED OFF?” you screamed as you rushed to your feet before grabbing the collar of his classic yellow jumper. From what you could recall, there was no possible way for the seal to be completely ripped off by the hands of a normal person, not even a simple sorcerer could even go through the barrier you had placed on it leading you to turn to the sorcerer, who was looking at the argument that was occurring right in front of his face.

“Was it you? No, from what I can see, you ain’t even a high enough grade to even go through it...Ah shit,” you cursed as you let go of Itadori’s collar before beginning to try to think of all the possibilities that could have happened that led to this accident.

“So, is this it Fushiguro?” Itadori asked the sorcerer, completely ignoring you as you were in a state of shock and confusion on what was going on. “Yeah, that’s the special-grade curse object, Ryomen Sukuna’s finger,” the sorcerer confirmed with Itadori as he then quickly mentioned, “it’s a miracle that it didn’t get swallowed, thanks to L/N curse technique back there.”

‘Fushiguro huh? Not Zenin, that’s a relief’

“Why would anything eat it? Does it taste good?” Itadori asked in curiosity, leading you and Fushguro to look at the boy with a questionable look on both your faces.

“Don’t be stupid,” you and Fushiguro simultaneously stated causing both of you to look at each other in shock before you then explained, “you’d do it to gain stronger curse energy. It’s dangerous, so hand it over to Fushiguro, it’s best to have him keep hold of it since the seal I placed was broken.”

“Sure, sure,” Itadori casually said, as he outstretched his hand to pass the finger to Fushiguro. However, before the sorcerer could take the object away from Itadori’s gasp, a large hand began to reach down below the two people causing you to look up in fear before instinctively pushing the two boys away from the area it was trying to target.

“RUN!” you screamed, before the ceiling crashed down between both of you, leaving you completely alone and vulnerable as the dust invaded your sights. In a panic, you swiftly grabbed the hilt of your katana to release the blade from its casing revealing an all-black weapon your hands, but once the smoked clear you found Fushiguro trapped in the hands of the curse before being forcibly through to the concrete wall causing a few hints of blood escaping from his mouth, to which lead to the two dogs that were protecting Itadori as well as the two second-year to disappear.

‘Shadows? Don’t tell me…’

However, before you could even complete your sudden thought, there was a sudden flash of lights blinding you before the whole side of the school to be destroyed along with Fushiguro, who was thrown across. In a state of terror, you rushed outside before using your speed to jump up the height needed before stabbing back of the curse’s head with your katana before quickly retreating back, leaving it there as the curse screeched in pain while preparing another curse spell to use to finish off the monstrosity.

“Destructive Curse Spell number seventy-three: Soren Soka-” you screamed, but you were interrupted once you suddenly found Itadori aggressively punch the curse’s head leading Fushiguro, who was laying down on the ground with blood pouring down his face to angrily shout, “Itadori! Why can’t you understand to take those two and run?!”.

“You’re in big trouble yourself!” Itadori screamed back, before being swung around as he then suddenly was being dragged along the metal railings of the balcony before his body was then swung into the air.

“Only curses can exorcise other curses! You can’t beat it!” Fushiguro argued back, only for this attempt to fall on death’s ears as itadori continued to fight against the curse as he masterfully dodged its attacks before playing his own as he kicked its ruby eye.

“Besides, I have my own troublesome curse already!” Itadori declared, causing you to look at your classmate in complete annoyance since you didn’t have a single clue on what he was rabbling about. As of right now, all you were wondering was where the cursed finger was since the last time you had seen it was in Itdori’s possession. 

Suddenly, before you realised it, the mentioned cursed object had slipped out of Itadori’s grasp causing you to quickly stand up on your feet to jump across the cure to reach it. On the other hand, it seemed like the curse was blocking your way by how it used both its arms to capture Itadori leading to the student to jump as high as he could to catch the finger by the grip of his teeth.

“You idiot!” you screamed, as you tried to concentrate your curse energy to flow to your palms as your katana was still within the curse’s head. “Hand it over to me or you'll be eaten, too!” Fushiguro yelled in a panic as he finally got up on his feet to chase after the wanted object.

Slowly, you raised your right hand before using your index finger to use it as a guide to where to aim your next spell at the finger without damaging your schoolmate in the process. “Destructive Curse Spell number one: Sho,” you quickly chanted leading to a small amount of curse energy in a concentrated manner to shoot from the tip of your index finger, yet before it even had the chance to hit the finger away from Itadori’s teeth, he threw thing finger up in the air using the force of his head leading your curse spell to be a futile attempt.

“There is a way to save everyone! I just need some cursed energy right. Fushiguro, L/N?!” Itadori cried out, leading you to again attempt to shoot the cursed finger away from where you assumed Itadori wanted it to go, while Fushiguro looked upon the situation in complete fear of what was going to happen.

“Don’t..Don’t do it!” Fushiguro shouted in a hostile tone, only for Itadori to swallow the special-grade cursed object causing you and the other sorcerer to look at the scene in complete disbelief.

‘He’s going to die, that’s a deadly poison..but...there’s a one in a million chance’

Suddenly, the arms of the curse disintegrated into small particles of flesh before Itadori landed on his feet, only for the curse to attempt to attack the salmon-hair boy again, leading to being completely destroyed with a single wing of an arm to which caused your katana, which was stuck within the flesh of the curse, to fly into the air before landing with a loud ‘clunk’. 

Yet, that wasn’t your main concern.

Your feet were glued to the ground as you looked upon the sight right in front of you. Fushiguro was staring at the same scene with dread flooding his green eyes as Itadori was now covered with the black markings of what you both come to know from basic jujutsu knowledge.

‘Y/N dear, I’m so sorry for putting you through this, if Sukuna ever comes into this era, it is your duty as a sorcerer and the only offspring of the L/N clan to exorcise him, promise me that please?’

‘Why.....why did you have to die mother?’

“Ah, I knew it! The light feels best in the flesh,” ‘Itadori’ declared, as he then processed to rip his yellow hoodie in excitement before brisking his flesh to the moonlight that was shining right above him. “A cursed spirit’s flesh is so boring. Where are the people? The women?!” ‘Itadori’ questioned before jumping onto the railings as he continued his speech, “what a wonderful era to be in, women and children are crawling everywhere like maggots. Marvellous! It’ll be a massacre!”

Without the acknowledgement of who you deemed to be Sukuna and Fushiguro, you slowly raised your right hand with an open palm as you began to whisper another curse spell to make the exorcism a little easier for you, “Binding Curse Spell number sixty-three: Sajo Sabaku''. As you closed your palm, there was a sudden manifestation of a yellow electrified chain being created as it loosely surrounded the King of Curse before tightly securing its place around his body.

“Ah-” Sukuna said in surprise before taking a step back from the balcony to observe the yellow chains that encaptured him. “L/N!” Fushiguro shouted as he looked at you with widened eyes surprised at how you figured out how to retain him so fast.

‘At this rate, he should be somewhat easier to exorcise, Itadori has only one finger within his system, it’s going to be okay right?’

However, before you could even comprehend what to do next as your tactic you suddenly heard a change in tone of voice. “What do you think you’re doing with my body?”  Sukuna asked, only for you to realise that it was Itadori who was speaking at this moment in time, “give it back”.

“How are you able to move?” Sukuna questioned his vessel back, as he was in pure confusion on how the human still maintained some control of his body. “I mean, it’s my body,” itadori answered back, only causing you more confusion on what was going on since Sukuna’s markings were still visible to his body.

“Don’t move! You’re no longer human,” Fushiguro stated in a serious tone, as he crouched down before moving his hand in front of him as he processed to make fists. 

“Under Jujutsu regulations, Itadori Yuuji, I will exorcise you as a curse!” Fushiguro announced, causing you to look at him with surprise painted upon your face. However, since you were beginning to lose a certain amount of curse energy, your chains slowly began to disappear leading Itadori’s hands to now more freely while Fushiguro’s worries about you begin to increase.

“Wait, really. I‘m just fine!” Itadori stated in innocence, as he raised his now-free hands as if he was surrendering to the sorcerer while his markings began to fade gradually. “More importantly, you and I are both pretty beat up, let’s go to a hospital,” Itadori declared as he was worried for the male right in front of him. On the other hand, you suddenly realise that there were shadows slowly swirling around Fushiguro leading to your assumption earlier to be true.

‘Fushguro is a Zenin...I..have….to’

“What’s the situation?” 

All of a sudden, a new voice came into the area leading you to turn your head to the side to find a rather tall male standing next to Fushiguro. From a quick glance, you could immediately inform yourself that had spiky white hair with a black blindfold covering his eyes, as he carried a paper bag on his arm while wearing a similar outfit to Fushiguro meaning he was another sorcerer.

“Gojo-sensei?! Why are you here?” Fushiguro asked in surprise, as he turned to look at what you assumed to be his teacher leading to the shadows around him to immediately disappear from sight.

“Gojo…” you muttered under your breath as you looked at the two male sorcerers right in front of you in horror as you came to the realisation on the situation you were facing.

‘Mother…..I’ve been found…..’

© violettelueur 2021 : written and published by violettelueur - do not steal or repost

[shiftperception]

alternate take on legends protagonist, started as a self insert but I want to make them their own thing:

-Unhinged!! They don’t want to destroy the world per say, but becoming god? Harnessing the power of creation? Jokes on you they’re into that shit! You see the rift incident wasn’t a total accident on their part. Sure, they stumbled into it. But one does not simply spend their time creeping around spear pillar if they’re not looking for rifts to stumble into. Much like Volo they’ve been tailing arceus and the creation trio for years. Heard reports of strange activity, went to investigate. Oops I fell into the rift whatever shall I do~?

-Aside from Kamado’s general suspicions the village folk never truly question their intense fascination with pokemon, especially of the legendary variety. So easily impressed by their skill and quick to fall into praising their dedication to research and the Galaxy Team’s cause. They’re 100% a closet mad scientist, but it’s so cute how the professor and that sweet survey corp kid call them a hero! They don’t have the heart to ruin the fun! And of course free (not really) lodging is also a plus.

-Let’s 👏🏻 Get 👏🏻 Meta 👏🏻 !! I don’t wanna get into territory that implies a real ass person is interacting with what (to them) are literal game characters. Cause there’s a ship here and despite uhh everything I’m not that far gone. plz understand this. but plz also understand my whole point is to go wild with reality bending shenanigans. Case in point: This person is the only one who can read unown. Volo wasted hours of his life staring at inscriptions in ruins taking notes, cross referencing every language in recorded history getting absolutely nowhere. Because unown are english letters. The pokemon world has its own letters, they don’t look like unown.

-Occasionally slip in their vocab. People brush it off as them being from the future. In the thing I just wrote they go “at sp- The temple.” Ah shit it’s not called spear pillar yet. Call the lustrous globe and adamant crystal “orbs.” that’s future stuff. but then there’s other stuff. “Unown the pokemon. You’ve never heard of them? Little floating eyes, alphabet soup. Code of the world? Not ringing any bells?” *details their venture into a space time distortion* “Great haul this time! Grabbed a bunch of RGB shards too.” Think Narnia, Wizard of Oz, classic fantasy/fairy tale stuff y’know? MC is transported to a magical world. Which for the purpose of this AU is a very real alternate reality. Look the fourth wall and I have a history ok... I know what I’m doing. part of my hyperfixation is the excitement of getting to use my Thing™️ in a pokemon fic.

-The way they talk like a modern person in my time loop shitpost/ficlet is gonna be on purpose too. It’d sound pretty weird to talk like that in meiji period japan I think, and this character would know that. They’d edit their voice and dial it back a lot around... basically everyone. Except Volo. They get fellow mad scientist vibes from Volo and drop their guard for him quite noticeably. Especially after the time he accused the rift of spitting them out to get in his way and looked straight up, where their homeworld beyond the sky would be. If I were there now... he might’ve looked right into my eyes. They see him and think: He knows I don’t belong here, and that he doesn’t belong either. We’re the same! Mayhaps we can not belong together??

-Zero self preservation. Rushes into fights with creatures in the wilderness without hesitation, sees portals tear open the sky and bounces excitedly. “I almost wanna let Volo reset the universe just to see what would happen” wait crap don’t show your hand “but giratina would kill me before I got the chance so- anyway.” nailed it. People ask if they have a death wish. The truth is... they should’ve been dead yesterday. Maybe, in a way, they have died. Many times. Mauled by an ursaring in the woods, drowned, fallen off cliffs, fallen from the sky itself. But every time they “die,” they see it. Them. The code of the world. A sea of eyes drifting and swirling, arranging themselves into strange patterns. Singing an odd lilting melody. There are words they recognize, but the sentence structure is all wrong and the context the words are used in doesn’t make sense. It’s like a foreign language. A language within a language. coding class is kicking my ass And then they wake up. Back at base camp like nothing ever happened. It seems you were rescued. By what? Arceus? Maybe. But somehow... it doesn’t feel like arceus. Arceus has plans. Stories with predetermined endings. Plans that have no room for mine, they never did. No love for those who dare mess with the code of its perfect world. But the code itself? It holds no attachments. It cares not for wrong or right, fate, outcomes. It faces us only with openness. Acceptance. Arceus only cares for us when we play by its rules. Why strive for its approval when the eyes see us void of judgment ha gettit . Tell me Volo, if we could speak to them in a way they’d understand would they care whether or not we bear the name “almighty Sinnoh?” The eyes are pure possibility. If we could speak to them... in their view, what’s the difference between arceus and us? Quit your job. Join my unown farm. Fuck I have too many words I’m dying squirtle

[margridarnauds]

So, You Wanna Study Irish Mythology?

One of the questions I get hit with a lot is “If I’m getting into Irish Mythology, what sources do you recommend?” It’s a sad, sad truth about the field that a lot of really valuable info is kept locked away in books and journals that the lay person wouldn’t know about (and then we wonder why information about the field is so bad.) So, I decided to compile a list of sources that I’ve personally used and found helpful in my time. It’s not a complete bibliography because, frankly, that would take up a TREMENDOUS amount of space and you’d be scrolling forever to find what you wanted, and I don’t AGREE with every single thing they say, and it’s by no means exhaustive (keep in mind: scholars from all over the field use mythological texts to study things as diverse as law, geography, tribal names, material culture, etc. and here I’m mainly focusing on sources that are JUST mythological-focused) but they’re a good starting point to forming your own opinions. The journal articles are, tragically, generally kept confined to academia, but....perhaps....if you were to ask around, someone might be able to provide you with a copy. As a whole, Celticists tend to be quite generous when it comes to sharing articles. 

List subject to change, check back as time goes on to see if I’ve added anything. Also, as always, feel free to either drop me an ask or a pm if you’re curious about digging further into a given text/figure. I can’t act as a consultant on a religious question; I’m a very firm atheist with all the spirituality of a dull spoon, except with the existence of ghosts. My interest in the Tuatha Dé is purely scholarly; all that I can say is what I know about these topics from the perspective of the medieval sources, but I can definitely do my best on that one front, and I won’t reject anyone who has a different interest in the Tuatha Dé from contacting me. 

This list only deals with the Mythological Cycle, not the other strands of the literary tradition that is generally if not uncontroversially referred to as “Irish Mythology”. For Fenian Cycle traditions, a similar bibliography has been compiled by Dr. Natasha Sumner of Harvard, here. 

Editions/Translations of Texts (many of these are available at UCC’s CELT archive or on Irish Sagas Online): 

Tochmarc Étaíne, Osborn Bergin and Richard Best 

Cath Maige Tuired, Elizabeth Gray (If you can and you’re serious about the field, I highly recommend getting the actual Irish Text Society Edition, which includes a wonderful index of every time a given figure shows up in other sources. An absolute must for a mythographer.) 

Lebor Gabála Érenn, J.R.S Macalister, 5 vols. (The entirety of this is available on archive.org. Personally...while the rest of it is obviously important and worthy of study, if you’re interested in just the mythological stuff, I recommend Volume IV, which includes both the Fir Bolg and the Tuatha Dé. Unless you really, really want to read five volumes of medieval Irish pseudohistory, the last volume of which was finished posthumously.) i ii iii iv v

The Metrical Dinshenchas, Edward Gwynn. (5 vols.) (These are difficult, with many scholars outright ignoring them except when absolutely necessary. These are in a later form of Irish, which means that, while some of the contents in them could very well be Pre-Christian in nature, they very much do reflect a later medieval world. Some of them are just as much about contemporary politics as they are about mythology, and many of them also bring in content from the Ulster Cycle and the Fenian Cycle. My personal favorites to look up are Tailtiu, Carn Hui Néit, Duirgen, and Carmun, though there are MANY others.) i ii iii iv v

“The First Battle of Moytura”, John Fraser (Note: It’s a VERY late text, with the question of the Fir Bolg/Tuatha Dé battle and how far the tradition really goes back being one that’s very important to keep in mind. It’s a personal favorite of mine. But it’s very late.)

Baile in Scáil, Kevin Murray (Thurneyson also did an older edition that’s more readily accessible, hence why I linked it here, but Murray is the most recent and up to date.) 

“How the Dagda got his magic staff”, Osborn Bergin 

Oidheadh Chloinne Tuireann, Richard Duffy (This is an Early Modern Irish text, so it was written down comparatively late. That doesn’t mean that there’s NO mythological content here, it’s a personal favorite of mine, but it means that it very much reflects the cultural context of around....the 15th-17th century or thereabouts. It’s very chaotic, very violent, and the heroic figures are....not....heroic.) 

Scél Tuáin Meic Chairill, John Carey

Echtra Nerai, it’s available in a fairly recent translation by John Carey in Celtic Heroic Age (pub. 2003) , listed below, though Kuno Meyer also did an edition/translation for it that I’ve linked to here. 

Books: 

Proinsias Mac Cana, Celtic Mythology (Personally, I’d recommend this one first - It’s designed for someone who isn’t a specialist and, while a lot of what he’s saying has been disputed back and forth, it’s still a handy primer and will get you into the myths.)

John Koch and John Carey, The Celtic Heroic Age (Once you have an idea of what you’re looking at, I recommend this one, since it’s a sourcebook. A TON of material from across the Celtic world, featuring classical sources, medieval Irish sources, and Welsh, all of it in one place.) 

Mark Williams, Ireland’s Immortals (I personally recommend you read this one after you read CHA, giving you a bit of context for what Williams is saying here.)

O’Rahilly, Early Irish History and Mythology (note: A lot of what he says here is no longer considered recent in the field, but his knowledge of his own sources is, frankly, without any other peer. Use with a grain of salt)

John Carey, The Mythological Cycle of Medieval Irish Literature

Kim McCone, Pagan Past, Christian Present

Koch, Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia

Articles: 

John Carey, “Myth and Mythography in ‘Cath Magh Tuired’”

John Carey, “Donn, Amairgen, Ith and the Prehistory of Irish Pseudohistory”

Proinsias Mac Cana, “Aspects of the theme of King and Goddess in Irish Literature” 

Máire Herbert, “Goddess and king: the sacred marriage in early Ireland.”

Gregory Toner, “Macha and the invention of myth” 

Elizabeth A. Gray, “Cath Maige Tuired: myth and structure“

Thomas Charles-Edwards, “Tochmarc Étaíne: a literal interpretation”

Tómas O’Cathasaigh, “Cath Maige Tuired as Exemplary Myth” 

Joseph Nagy, “Close encounters of the traditional kind in medieval Irish literature” 

Mark Scowcroft, “Leabhar Gabhála. Part I: the growth of the text” 

Mark Scowcroft, “Leabhar Gabhála. Part II: the growth of the tradition”  

Joseph Nagy, “‘Talking myth’ in medieval Irish literature.”

John Carey, “The Location of the Otherworld in Irish Tradition” 

Máire Bhreathnach, “The sovereignty goddess as goddess of death?“

John Carey, “Notes on the Irish war-goddess.” 

Veronica Philipps, “Exile and authority in Lebor gabála Érenn” 

Kevin Murray, “Sources of Irish mythology. The significance of the dinnṡenchas”