#and its where people like us thrive

[alex-fa-gsmp]

i am plagued by Visions

[butchoftheblacklagoon]

places i would like to be kissed

empty stairwell

big field

little field

woods at night (deep)

kitchen

empty corridor

on a roof

on a bus but nobody is looking

in (against) a doorway

in a car in an empty parking lot after 1am

somewhere we have to hop a fence to get to

in the street in the suburbs at dusk (where everyone could see, but they dont)

one of those kids play places where they have like. big castle structures you can crawl through and interesting tube formations and a tiny inside treehouse and behind all of it theres this long hallway that circles it all with tall walls and no ceiling and it smells like paint and wood and the lights are off and no one is there but us

a hidden corner at a gay concert

against the car on a barren highway (at night)

graveyard (keeping a respectful distance)

a bed (not mine)

lighthouse (on the stairs. at the top but its really windy so we cant wear hats)

a barn where theres lots of hay and lots of corners and the animals are all outside and the sun is dripping through the cracks in the wall

library (paranormal section)

library (poetry section)

library (near the water fountains)

underneath a table at a halloween party

in a cave (absolute darkness. we can hear bats. we can hear every heartbeat)

underneath a willow tree (we taste like strawberries)

in the back of a truck under an endless sky

the back of a walk in closet (next to the winter coats)

across a low hanging tree branch (the bark is rough against our clasped hands)

the middle of a river (only one of us is tall enough to reach the bottom)

the center of a sports field, lying down, a secret against the blazing sun

somewhere that needs more love inside of it (somewhere sad. somewhere lonely)

abandoned train tracks (transitional space. the ghost of movement still thrums)

pulled over in a blizzard (safety)

outside a 24 hour diner (it is late or it is early. time isnt on our minds, but syrup is on our lips)

hotel room (i dont like them. i want to change that)

on a beach, alone, to bid the sun goodnight

near a bonfire (we have to keep moving to avoid the smoke)

on the last day of summer camp, when the lights are all off and we only have candles, and its late, and we should be in bed, and we just want to keep talking so tomorrow wont come, and even my hands on the grass (the same grass that yours are on) touches upon an intimacy i desperately want but im still afraid of (i cant go back in time)

someones backyard (hopefully ours)

anywhere but here

anywhere new

anywhere.

[thechanelmuse]

From Tennessee Lookout:

MASON, Tenn. – The Tennessee Comptroller issued an unusual appeal last week to residents of this small, majority Black town, which occupies fewer than two square miles in rural west Tennessee.

“In my opinion, it’s time for Mason to relinquish its charter,” Comptroller Jason Mumpower wrote in a letter mailed to each one of Mason’s 1,337 property owners.

Mumpower urged local residents to “encourage your local officials to do what’s necessary to allow Mason to thrive. There is no time to waste.”

State comptrollers, responsible for financial oversight of local government, typically communicate directly with elected local leaders and not their constituents. “We have not issued a letter to citizens like this before,” Comptroller spokesman John Dunn said, noting it is “unprecedented for us to publicly call for a town charter to be relinquished.”

But the Comptroller’s unprecedented public callout comes at an unprecedented time not only for Mason, but for the state. Mason, located in the southeastern corner of Tipton County, now finds itself with some of the most coveted real estate in Tennessee.

It’s one of the nearest towns to the massive new site to be built for Blue Oval City, a key component in Ford Motor Co’s multibillion-dollar pivot to electric vehicle manufacturing.

Mumpower’s letter has infuriated Mason’s part-time elected officials, who insist they have no intention of ceding their town’s 153-year-old charter – which would subsume the largely African-American, majority Democratic community under the governance of Tipton County, which is predominantly white and Republican.

“This is our home. We were born and raised here. The majority of the town is homegrown people that live here,” Vice Mayor Virginia Rivers said. “He is trying to conquer and divide us. It’s akin to a hostile take-over and it’s not hard to figure out why here, why now.”

Town leaders are accusing Mumpower and other state officials of big-footing a long-ignored, largely Black community now that major investment is heading its way.

Mason is 60% Black and includes descendants of men, women and children enslaved in the area before Emancipation. For more than a century the town was led by White elected officials.

That changed in 2016, when fraud and mismanagement allegations led to the resignations of nearly all City Hall officials, all of whom were White. Mason’s current mayor, vice mayor and five of its six alderman are Black.

“It’s because of the Black people that are in office,” said Rivers, who first became Vice Mayor in 2021.

“And it’s because of all the places in the world, Blue Oval could have selected, they selected here. There’s no way Mason won’t prosper and grow. And now they want to take it away from us.”

Read more

The Comptroller’s office:

Yet again like in the past. New day, new Jim Crow-esque tactics, perfectly timed takeovers. This Black American town needs to be promptly saved without handing a damn thing over. The town elected mostly Black officials back in 2015. They’ve been trying to pay off the debt from when the town was previously ran by mostly white officials. Literally playing catch-up. 

This ain’t nothing but a glimpse of what it looks like before eventually uprooting and displacing Black people off the land they have resided on since forever and where their ancestors labored said land as property in chattel slavery and the move into Jim Crow.  

There’s a change.org petition to sign and share to get the word out there.

This person suggested to put Ford in the hot seat by sending a letter like this. Others are suggested to call their office. 

This is the CEO of Ford’s twitter.

Something gotta give. 

This shit should be on the news. But as usual, they make it known after the deed is done or not at all and you end up finding out years later. 

[docholligay]

Help a Jewish Community Buy Back Its Own Damn Synagogue!

Firsty, thank you for reading this, and I hope you’ll get through it and give us the honor of a donation, firstly, and a reblog, secondly. Maybe even a note to any friends you have outside of tumblr! 

If you don’t care about the history, skip to the bold at the end! 

This is Temple Emanu-El, in Helena, Montana. At the time it was built, it was the only synagogue between Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Portland, Oregon. It was built with the hard work of the Jewish community that had come west to seek their fortune and stability, having heard that people were more willing to do business with Jews in the West, a place where social strictures were slightly relaxed. This turned out to be true, and the community thrived. 

This picture resolves small on tumblr, but you can see the love and care they put into it. It’s modeled after the great synagogues of Europe, with heavy stonework, onion domes, and intricate stained glass. The president of the congregation cried at its opening and dedication. 

As the years went on, the West became more settled, and for a series of socio-political reasons of which my History of the American West major ass is well aware but are ultimately unimportant to the issue at hand, Jewish communities left much of the interior west for metropolitan areas. By the 1930s, the Jewish community was so small that they could not justify the large and lavish worship center. 

They sold it to the city for one dollar. 

The promise made to them was that it would be used for the public good. The state readied the former temple for its new function as offices for Social and Rehabilitation Services, sandblasting of the Hebrew inscription, "Gate to the Eternal," above the entry and removing the star-studded, painted domes.. The copper was stripped from the building and likely reused to re-clad the State Capitol's dome at about the same time. 

That lasted all of 40 years, when the State of Montana decided to let it sit idle and decay, so they could justify the sale of the building, sold for a pittance to the public good, to the Helena Catholic Diocese for $83,000  (this is an opinion of mine, though it is not an uneducated one, and I do firmly believe it. I do not, however, represent that they allowed it to fall into disrepair to justify the sale as objective fact.) 

This is the building now

In a twist of fate, the diocese can no longer afford to maintain the building. They are selling it, and the Jewish community of Helena is trying to buy it. 

The Montana Jewish Project is being far far far nicer and more politic about this than I would be, but in fairness, they actually how to get Nice Goyim to donate, and I don’t, so. The Diocese is spinning this as selling the building for much less than its worth, which may be true, but if you bought it for $83,000, that would be $280,000 now. 

They are selling it for $925,000. And we have to have 70% of the purchase price by February 28th. Easy terms, right? 

Here’s where you come in! If the idea of Montana’s Jews getting back the building that was sold to the Diocese in spite of the original agreement appeals to you, you can and should donate to their capital campaign. They even have an option for your donation where if we don’t get Emanu-El back, your money will be returned to you instead of being used for other MJP protects and repairs. 

This place won’t just be used for the Jewish community, though I think that would be enough. They want it to be used as a museum and center for the community as well, to teach about Jewish life in Montana, with Jewish cooking classes, and social programs, and teaching non-Jews about Jewish customs and culture. 

I just want to get the cross off the top.

Donate here

[wastelesscrafts]

Some thoughts on fabric

Polyester has its uses, but we really lost something when it became the standard fabric for our clothes.

The warmth of a wool sweater is nothing like that of a polyester one.

The breathability of cotton underwear is nothing like that of polyester undies.

The comfort of a silk camisole is nothing like that of a polyester top.

The feel of linen on a hot summer day is nothing like that of a polyester dress.

I know a lot of non-synthetic fabrics are expensive. Some require extra care. Other might be a source of sensory issues or even allergies. That's where polyester thrives.

But getting more (second-hand) natural fibres in my closet has made me wonder how many people haven't had the chance to experience these other fabrics. Who assume it's normal to shiver in a sweater and overheat in a summer dress.

Because that's not normal. That's not what clothes were like up until fairly recently in human history.

(And I do want to emphasise the word "chance" here given the cost of some of these materials and the fact that not everyone has had the opportunity to learn about fabric types and their properties.)

[eyezpike]

Some dishes from a couple different empires! :D

Wrote down some of my headcanons below the cut

the codlands one is a fish soup that contains salmon, kelp, barley, ice plants and salicornia. despite being called the codlands, many of the fish they eat is actually salmon. jimmy ordered all salmon they could find to be killed which lead to an over abundance of it in the empire. he did not put a ban on eating it, so for the time this policy is in place most codlandian food contains salmon.

the salicornia and iceplants have been bred by the codlands to be bigger and more flavorful. most of the crops there are coastal plants.

the undergrove dish consists of stuffed pumpkin, fried mushrooms and wine/juice. the pumpkin is likely winter squash and its stuffed with a filling that consists of ground meat from chicken, rabbits or quails, various nuts and berries and tomatoes and it has an egg cracked in it. pretty much all the livestock in the undergrove are rabbits, chickens, quails or small sheep/goats, as they are easier to keep for its halfling population. a lot of the vegetables in this empire come from foraging or small comunity gardens and nuts are used for basically everything, even flour. the drink is either juice or wine made from forest berries.

the grimlands one is a steak served with potato wedges, a fried egg and wither roses. the grimlands are one of the few empires that actually have cows, as its one of the few ones with fitting terrain. the grimlands in general have a wide range of meat in their diet and are known for their fine preperation of it. however, vegetables are not treated the same way. the most common one they eat are potatoes.

wither roses and their stems are highly toxic in their natural state, but the people of the grimlands have developed a technique of preparing them that completely neutralizes the toxins. the roses add a very distinct taste to the dish and are commonly used for seasoning. the thorns may look spiky, but theyve been softened through cooking to a point where they have a way gentler texture.

the mezalean dish consists of flatbread, a horse curry kinda thing, cooked cactus fruit and some sauces. mezalean food is very spicy in general, as many different spices thrive in the arid climate. the curry consists of horse meat, bellpeppers and chickpeas.

mezaleans are masterful potters, which is why all their dishware are covered in colorful and lavish patterns. traditionally they dont use any cutlery, eating food with their hands or using the flat bread to scoop it instead.

the dish from the ocean empire consists of wide noodles, steamed fish thats been wrapped in kelp, steamed crab and octopus. fish in the ocean empire is usually either steamed or eaten raw. they dont really have vegetables in their diet, they do however eat a wide range of kelp.

their version of plates are mats that have been woven out of dried sea grass.

helianthias dish is quite similar to a charcuterie board. it has a hearty stew, some homemade bread and goat cheese, fresh grapes and beer. helianthias cuisine is rich in fresh vegetables and many types of animal products. the cheese from this area is considered by many a delicacy and can go for high prices in the far corners of the server.

the vegetables and fruit in helianthia are larger than normal, the soil there is rich and the people are talented farmers.

house blossoms dish is an assortment of various pastries and some flower tea. the people of house blossom use flowers in nearly all of their cooking, which gives their food a wide range of vibrant colors and sweet tastes. the empire is well know for its baked goods, jams, syrups and wines all produced from flowers. they also make a wide range of teas, all of which having some medicinal properties.

the one from the mythlands consists of a baked ham almost drowned in gravy, some local sausages, skewers and beer. mythlands food is kind of what youd find in your standard fantasy tavern. hearty and filling. they also generally contain a lot of meat in various forms. blood sausage is especially popular among the people. most meat consists of pork and sometimes beef, mutton is not eaten as often as its considered sacred by many.

mythland also does not fail to deliver on vegetables, many coming from within its own borders, but a good chunk of it stemming from trade with helianthia.

[the-clever-cupboard]

Wheel of the Year: Transition Between Sabbaths

Yule to Imbolc: Rest

During the thick of winter when it’s too cold to do anything and always dark, it’s the perfect moment in the year to rest. The focus is on relaxing, taking extra time to sleep and care for the body especially to not get sick. Winter is also ‘spa’ season because the air is so dry and harsh it’s a good time to soak in hot baths and scrub away dead skin and moisturize with protective lotion. Do not try to make new plans, yet sit home, rest and reflect.

Imbolc to Ostara: Cleansing

When winter thaws it’s a great time to clean the home and prepare for spring. Personally, I also like to do a body cleanse since I tend to eat a lot of processed (yet delicious ;-;) foods all year round. This also makes up for all the heavy foods I’ve been eating since Summer (all the BBQs) to Winter comfort foods. As I clean the home and get rid of stuff that has accumulated over the year, I clean the body. Also the focus is on cleaning the home as well. Breathing in the same air, especially if its full of dust, is really unhealthy and it’s good as the days are getting a little warmer to open up the windows for a few minutes to allow in fresh air to circulate. This is also the time of year I throw out old furniture, accumulated things and rearrange furniture in the room as well.

Ostara to Beltane: Sowing

Spring is a great time to germinate sprouts along with other seeds and clean the backyard or garden to grow plants. If you like to compost it’s a time to start mixing in the vegetable/fruit/plant scraps with the soil. Spring is also a great time to sow bigger changes in life as well. Something about the warm new season brings an air of flirtatiousness and ‘socialness’ that makes it perfect for making new friends or finding a partner. (Probably because people can finally come out of hibernation). It’s also a fantastic time to work on your image and portfolio and apply for long term jobs that begin in the summer or fall. Spring is the season for new beginnings and putting long term plans into action.

Beltane to Litha: Growing

A tradition I like to do on Beltane is repotting of plants and gardening. Repotting plants is a tradition I try to focus on every year because it’s very easy for house plants to die due to dead soil. Plus it makes the inside of the house super vibrant and lively to have fresh new soil in pots. From this point to summer solstice is the point of growth. Growth in the garden but also growth of personal goals. May and June feel like hectic months where there are so many events and opportunities to advance your work or change your social scene, that if I am not personally progressing, I focus all of my attention on my growth.

Litha to Lughnasadh: Thriving

Its the heat of summer! It’s time to get out and feel the intense hot energy and use its power to focus on goals and networking! Where I am there’s usually an exciting event every week where it’s an opportunity to make more connections and meet more friends but also since its warm and nature is so vibrant it’s time to take some days to relax and get away to enjoy the heat and life of nature. Go to the beach, go hiking, swim in a lake, sleep under the stars. Be active since the efforts will pay off.

Lugnnasadh to Mabon: Reaping

This is the time you earn what you’ve sowed both literally and metaphorically. If you have a garden its the time it will start giving back. If you are an active goer of a farmers market you will notice how beautifully abundant the stands are. If in Spring you’ve sent out tons of job applications, and in Summer got the job you’ve wanted and worked hard, then by now you should start seeing some results. If there are no results being seen it’s a time for reflection and re-strategizing. There is a second chance in this time to start again before the cold and the holiday season bulldozes through.

Mabon to Samhain: Harvest and Gather

This is the time to gather and harvest. Usually family tends to gather now since it’s the holiday season. There’s not much other than gathering to be done since family and holidays are bombarding you from all sides. Also there is an abundance of food. This is great to store for the next transition which is

Samhain to Yule: Preparation

This is the moment to prepare for winter. My wardrobe completely changes here, I take up knitting projects that were abandoned last Imbolc, and I store food and herbs for the winter to use. Also making preserves from things in the garden or hand knitting clothes make great presents for the winter holidays. This is also a time to prepare the garden for hibernation. Take in potted plants, harvest the last of the herbs and food (that are not potted). Make sure plants you do not want to die have a place to chill in the house.

[krakenartificer]

So my therapist and I were talking today about ADHD brains, and what "executive function" means, and we discovered a really interesting thing about how my brain works. I don't know how much it will extend to other people, but I'm throwing it out there in case it's useful for anyone else.

Usually it takes me about 1.5 - 2 hours each morning, to go from "booting up my computer" to "actually starting on my first task".  This is true whether I work from home or work in the office, whether it's a coding day or a meeting day, whether I jump out of bed when the alarm goes off or if I'm very seriously giving consideration to sleeping under my desk while my computer boots.  I don't want it to take that long, but extensive experimentation has shown that it definitely does.

Today I decided to try an experiment.  Instead of my normal morning routine (where I check email, IMs, to-do list, and self-care list, and compile that into an enormous to-do list for the day, then sort that list in order of "if everything goes sideways and I get to only one thing, what thing will be the most painful if it happens tomorrow instead of today", and then set up multiple desktops on my macbook so that each task -- including "brush teeth" has its own desktop, and then put the desktops in the assigned priority-order), I decided I'd just jump right into my first task, and see if I could get myself a hyper-focused hour of work before someone came into the office to bug me.

It. Was. Terrible.

I mean, I got the task done, in record time. Then I checked Tumblr. Then I checked Facebook. Then I composed a summary of David Graeber's argument that the European Age of Exploitation cannot be understood without knowing why the Chinese decided to abandon paper money.  Then I replied to all my Facebook messages. Then I helped Jessica at work set up her code. There followed a relatively productive afternoon where I helped my boss sort out a personnel problem, set priorities for our department, contributed to one meeting, ran yet another meeting, got consensus on a project, and helped Jessica again -- but I didn't eat my midmorning snack until 1pm, I never did brush my teeth, and my knees are killing me because all through the second meeting my body was sending "This posture hurts! Change position! Get! Up!" signals, and I couldn't summon the focus to actually move from the floor to the couch. By the time my therapist called, my phone was on 3% and I couldn't find my bluetooth headphones. I'm still 400 calories under my target for the day, because I missed 900 calories during my workday and I couldn't figure out how to add more than 500 calories to my dinner.

So my therapist and I talked about this strange mix of symptoms: knocking out task after task of helping people at work, but unable to feed myself; incredibly highly effective code debugging, but also getting lost in Tumblr for an hour. I wasn't under-stimulated, but I also didn't get to pick what I focused on.  And he talked about how executive function isn't just one thing, which I knew, but mentioned specifically that one element of executive function is taking your own initiative, deciding your actions for yourself, rather than just reacting to stimuli.  And it hit me ---

I can't do that.  

I thrive in hyper-focused development environments, where I react to each compiler error by debugging the error ... but I break down when the compiler runs without error; I don't know what to do if I don't have the error-stimulus deciding my actions.

I thrive in high-multi-tasking environments like running a retail store at Christmas, where I do a task, and then look around and see which notification is the highest priority, and then do that task.  But I struggle in January and February, when all the customers are gone and I don't know what to do.

And today, I was entirely stimulus-driven.  Jessica asked for help, and I helped her. Kathy commented on Facebook, and I replied to her. Ryan asked about a report, and I explained it to him. Mark brought up something that reminded me of David Graeber, and I typed up a history essay.  Anything that didn't have a notification -- brushing my teeth, eating my snack, charging my phone -- didn't get done.

And that's when it hit me.  My usual morning routing isn't a waste of 2 hours.  It's setting up my environment so that I will be stimulated to do the things I want to do.

I have barely any initiative-decide-for-myself at all.  I get one (1) intitiativon each morning, and I have to spend it wisely.  And what I do with it, each day, is set up the stimuli I will experience throughout the day.

I finish a task and close that desktop: the next desktop pops up with a note that says "Meditate."

I finish meditating and close the desktop: the next desktop pops up with an email I need to reply to.

I finish that email and close that desktop: the next one pops up with a note that says "Order groceries."

I don't have any initiative left by that point, but I don't need to: I get the stimulus to do my work, maintain my health, connect with friends, and clean my house, and I'm too executive-dysfunction-deprived to do anything but respond to stimulus, and so I do all those things. This explains why I need to leave such specific directions to myself: not “write chapter 5″, but “Open C:/Documents/Writing/NovelTitle/Chapter5.doc”.  The first one isn’t a stimulus to action; the second one is. 

It's also why I have such a hard time with "leisure", and why my "randomized leisure activity" deck helped me so much; because by the time I get to the end of the day, and I'm out of spoons and I have earned a fun and relaxing evening.... I cannot -- by definition -- decide what would be fun and relaxing.

Like I say, I have no idea whether that will be any good for anyone else, but it prompted some interesting introspection, and I wanted to share. Now if you’ll excuse me, I still need to go brush my teeth

[alyjojo]

PAC - What Career Is Best For You 🚑 - March 2022 (timeless)

Pile 1: Indigo 💜

Neptune - Aries - 1st House

As I saw this, I felt like I was going to pull The Magician, because this feels like that energy, and sure enough that came next. You want to dream something up and it’s brand new, and it’s all yours. The 1st House has to do with the self, Aries is a fiery pioneer that thrives on what’s NEW, and Neptune covers everything you can imagine...literally, your entire imagination.

With these cards initially I get an air of a psychologist, counselor, especially a drug counselor, helping people with addictions, helping people recognize their true selves, and teaching them to take control of their illusions or face their egos.

The Magician - Knight of Pentacles - 8 Pentacles

The Virgo & Aries energy of this reading is mind blowing. All three of these cards are Virgo, we have Aries with its own House, and you’ve also pulled House & Sun with the Oracles, which are 4 & 31. 31 is reduced to 4, both are The Emperor, which is Aries. You could have these signs in your chart, or someone with these placements could lead you to your path, or help you in some way.

These Virgo cards all represent hard work, slow progress, but creating something amazing as well. I really get a feeling of body sculpting, fitness trainers, nutritionists plastic surgeons, and still psychology because The Magician rules Mercury. You’re transforming people’s minds, possibly their bodies as well, into what they dream of, or you can be counseling them to make their dreams a reality through hard work. There is a Pisces/Virgo arc here, you’re pulling people out of Pisces and into Virgo, less of the imagination and more of tangibly making dreams REAL. This can be a teacher or professor, especially with the Knight, because it’s a daily application of effort that builds over time, work that leads to something of value and affects the whole self and how people are being perceived. Who they are. The Knight can represent young people, but not childlike, more young adults needing direction like high school - college level. You’re showing others how to take charge of their lives, and directing them where they may be confused, addicted, lost in some cases, you greatly affect the mind and put it to practical use, working hard every single day.

House & Sun

House mirrors The Emperor’s energy in that it provides boundaries, structure, rules, while also remaining a safe haven for those inside of it. Some of you may go into professions where you build houses and work outside, these can be taken literally, and also fall under these tarot cards of hard work. Manual labor is represented by 8 Pentacles, and with The Magician & Neptune being here as well, architecture design, planning, and building also fall in these categories. You’re using your mind and your hands, both. You could build models for architects, or any kind of design team, you give them the illusion (Neptune), creating the plan before their eyes (Magician), before the plan is put in literal physical action with these Pentacles. Sun brings success, vitality, optimism and victory wherever it goes, again this could be taken literally, and you work outside, or this can simply mean that you’re inspiring to the people you work with, or your job is to literally inspire people regarding the willpower & practical application of building their dreams, possibly even altering the outer appearance of themselves, their homes, their minds, or any other tangible thing you can see & touch.

Charms

Scarecrow 🧑‍🌾 on 1st House indicates more Pisces energy you’re working with, turning fantasy into reality, dreams into concrete visions, this can apply to writers as well, another form of turning imagination into a reality. Again, teaching others that are unsure how to take their power and build their dreams, this is a very important part of your career.

Message 💌 on House could indicate needing to travel for your work, perhaps your career is something that’s in another city or state, and you’re “writing” home. For the teachers, this can specify English or foreign languages, you could specialize in speech of some kind. For those that work at home, you’re in programming or communications of some kind. A lot of your work may be being done from your home, if so there is a lot of communication, phone calls, emails, Zoom meetings, a constant flurry of ideas. Some of you may be writers.

Pearl of Wisdom 🦪 on Knight of Pentacles fits with both psychology and teacher, again. Daily application of a little bit here, a little bit there, slowly & patiently applying yourself in dedicated ways are what leads to your dreams coming true, and you could be the one teaching that to others, either literally or through your own example. Especially with so much Mercury energy here, you’re very intelligent, and help others access that part of themselves, you give these pearls of wisdom to anyone who may need it, to teach & inspire.

Pile 2: Blue 💙

Moon - Sagittarius - 9th House

This is the second time this has happened, we’ve pulled the sign and the natural house it goes into, and that’s just cool. A lot of Sagittarius energy, your ideal career is something that causes you to travel, a lot. Could be from city to city, could be all over the world. Sag is a natural teacher, the Moon rules over emotions and 9th House is not only teaching energy, but spirituality. Here we have our diplomats, foreign relations, priests, ambassadors, religious missionaries. These can be people that volunteer for the Peace Corps, or any profession involving humanitarianism, activism (especially that which is founded by or centered around religion), the people that are working to save the world, wherever it needs saving the most.

King of Pentacles - 9 Wands - Ace of Pentacles - Page of Cups

I feel a very strong soldier energy from this reading, but not necessarily soldiers themselves. Could be. 9 Wands being the Wounded Warrior (a Sag card), could absolutely represent them as well, but I feel military is more involved than actual if that makes sense. These are the more the people that work for the Wounded Warrior Project, Soldier’s Angels, military social workers & nurses in military based hospitals. These are the priests that visit those wounded in hospitals and speak healing, hope & faith into soldiers and their families. The mending of the pain, the healing of the wounds type of energy here.

King of Pentacles is a businessman, and Ace of Pentacles represents opportunity and cash flow, with Page of Cups representing good news, surprises, loving emotions. Your career has something special to give to the people of the world that need it, whether you’re building schools in a town without one, or you’re dressing wounds, or raising money for a foundation that does these things, this is a social worker energy above all, especially one involving travel & foreign nations.

Oracles being Clouds & Choices, clouds can be literal and indicate flying a plane, this can include pilots of every kind, especially regarding the military. Clouds is 6 which is The Lovers card, also called “The Choice”, and you’ve also pulled Choices, which translates to The Emperor, very important energies here. Though your job itself is for a beautiful and helpful cause (maybe even a personal calling), there is a significant level of danger involved. Whether it’s flying or the countries themselves that you’re flying to, you always have to be 100% in control, on your guard, aware of the dangers surrounding you and ready to make the right decisions at a moments notice. There’s a need for training in regards to these as well, and you’ll be put in situations where 2 second decisions have to be made, could possibly be life or death. Or at least, you’re trained for those kinds of decisions. Or you work directly with people that have to make them. Again, I don’t see these folks being on the front lines, but they are THERE, wherever that is, offering support, money, messages, food, direction, backup, faith, medicine, whatever is needed, even if they have to hold drives and raise awareness in order to raise the money or get the supplies to give it.

That is the main, most intense energy. Other possible occupations are certainly a business owner with that King and The Emperor’s energy, top level employees that deals directly with foreign nations, languages or people on a regular basis, tourism, pilots and the travel industry are highlighted specifically, as well as Wall Street, the stock market, and anything having to do with the global economy, especially those with any kind of religious or charitable ties. I don’t get a heavy political vibe from this, but they clearly might be involved in some way as well, or at least having to navigate them & follow certain laws, customs or requirements.

Charms

Dragonfly 🌱 on Page of Cups can indicate you being able to see things ordinary people don’t see, or experience things that ordinary people don’t experience, in a way that brings awareness, opens the mind, something that effects your emotions deeply, but in a good way. This can relate to children for some of you, especially those in foreign nations, and you may work with directly with those children or organizations that do. This is about a wider perspective, Dragonflies can see colors we don’t even know exist, and in the same way you won’t just see the world, but really SEE the world, for what it is everywhere it is and everywhere you go. You’ll be able to write about this possibly, Page is news or messages, or communicate these emotions to others that would never understand otherwise. Some of you could be journalists of world events, others of you try to bring inspiration, love, and joy, good news, surprises and gifts to people that need it the most.

Starfish ⭐️ on Clouds indicates flying over the ocean in the most literal sense. This could be including Navy along with military pilots. It can represent literally rebuilding things that were broken, in places that have been wounded. It being on Clouds can represent this is the business you work for as a whole, what they do or their intention, whether that’s your actual job within it, maybe not, but it’s a good clue.

Ladybug 🐞 on Sagittarius, there’s a lot of luck for you relating to travel, sharing your highest ideals, learning about cultures, policies, laws, customs & languages, and then teaching what you’ve learned to others and spreading knowledge and awareness wherever you go. Foreign people and nations may have opportunities for you that you’d never find wherever you currently are, could be a love interest or where you end up moving to, something you fall in love with or discover. There is luck for you in terms of expansion of the mind & contact with the world.

Umbrella ☔️ on The Moon shows that along with Dragonfly, some of you are going to see things many people don’t see. That includes the bad, and some of these things are really going to affect you emotionally. Some things you can’t forget. Some people you won’t be able to help. Some situations are liable to break your heart, and for this Spirit says you have to remember every positive moment and cherish those memories to help you through the difficult ones. You’re not a superhero, but you can do everything within your power, and when you can’t, you have to accept that, though it may bring sadness. For some of you, this can also talk about disaster relief.

Swan 🦢 on 9 Wands could indicate your soulmate is someone wounded in battle, or your spouse is a military person. Not for everyone, but it’s here. Like I said, for most of this I get an energy of supporting the military rather than being in it, though it’s possible both are included here. There’s an energy of beauty, grace, sensitivity, forming deep bonds with and loyalty to people of the world that are wounded, whether by war, disaster, their own governments, or otherwise disadvantaged in some way. Some of you are a saving grace to the people that need you.

Pink Cat 🐈 on Choices...I was going to avoid this message, being gender specific, but Spirit won’t let me, there’s a divine feminine energy here that won’t be ignored, between The Moon, The Swan, and now the divine intuition of the Pink Cat (half of The High Priestess). Some of you may work directly with women, women’s bodies, women & children for some of you with that Page as well. You could be advocates, activists, social workers, or doctors specifically for women in countries where women don’t have much freedom of choice. Along with training, again there is a level of both expertise and intuition involved in the choices you’ll be needing to make in regards to your career, some of them could be dangerous or even life/death decisions, some may be very difficult, and some require deep levels of sensitivity, empathy, love. These aren’t workers that rush in guns blazing, though some may be, these are primarily workers that rush in with big hearts and bear gifts after the others came in guns blazing, and there is a huge spiritual influence to this level of work, or it’s almost necessary to have some kind of spirituality involved in this work. You could also be working with foreign people that practice strict religions. Literally or figuratively, however it applies to you, you’re a helper, giver & healer.

Pile 3: Black 🖤

Pluto - Aquarius - 5th House

This pile already feels intense, Pluto is intense, but there’s a feeling of making this intensity FUN or creative in some way with these cards. Here I can definitely see the actors, artists, musicians, costume designers, makeup artists, the TikTok gurus and the social media activists. You’re doing something very creative in a way that is intended to crush “the system” in some way, very free thinking and expansion oriented, this could be via social media or some kind of internet base as well, being Aquarius, and it’s something that breaks boundaries and includes all walks of life, especially those without public representation of some kind.

King of Swords - 6 Pentacles - The Sun

I’m loving this energy, similarly to pile 1, there is a sister sign arc here with Aquarius in Leo’s House, we have Aquarius’ major arcana with The Sun, a need for balance between these two opposites with a mind for reciprocity, giving, generosity & profit with 6 Pentacles. With the Oracles, we’ve got numbers 6, 19, and 3, The Lovers (or choice), The Sun & The Empress. Some of you may be leaders & activists for women’s rights, children’s rights, Planned Parenthood, LGBT specific organizations. Some of you may be artists that tackle tough subjects, things that need to be said that people aren’t talking about. Racism, poverty, specifically who you love plays a role in this, and LGBT 🏳️‍🌈 energy is really highlighted here. Pluto & 5th House both refer to sexuality & taboo subjects, Aquarius is all about free thinking and Leo shines a big spotlight on what it touches. There’s an energy of bringing enlightened awareness to overly controlled situations, shining a light on humanitarian situations, making what’s “different” about people or situations - famous, public, or recognized by many, and this can involve a charity or some kind of humanitarian work with 6 Pentacles.

For the artists of every flavor, you’re tackling these kinds of topics in your art, trying to normalize what some people may consider “taboo”, bringing the conversation to the table on a much larger scale, for people to discuss.

Oracles - Tower & Ship

This Tower is not the tarot Tower, this represents politics, controlled environments, the establishment, government, authority, the rules, and Aquarius lives to break (or improve) those rules and defy authority. Or improve them. Pluto is the ruler of Scorpio and Death. The great (small) destroyer...so that things can be rebuilt and improved (Tower energy). Pluto is actually entering Aquarius in 2023 for the first time in hundreds of years, this could be a nod to something going on then, a movement along these lines, that you’ll be motivated to join. Pluto Aquarius is considered the “Age of Enlightenment” and “giving power back to the people”. In the most fun and dramatic, artistically expressive (Leo) way with the 5th House. “Fighting” the power with murals & graffiti - type of energy. With Tower nodding towards Scorpio and Ship nodding towards Taurus, there’s a lot of fixed energy in what you’re trying to do. Fixed doesn’t give up, they’re very loyal and consistent with their goals and they are the structure and solid foundation built for the rest of us to lean on, live on, depend on. Fixed is foundation, no matter the sign. Your career is something that is trying to change the fabric of the very foundation we’re built on, creatively. And destructively. The most positive way.

Besides art, music, theater, writing & humanitarianism, there is an intense political vibe from these cards with Tower here, some of you are likely to go into local government and try to make the changes you feel need to be made from the position you can make them in, however small. Some of you are liable to rise pretty high with The Sun here, and actually do what needs to be done on a larger scale as well. King of Swords is a very intelligent person, an Aquarius card, and though there is a level of creative expression in whatever you’re doing, it’s being done in a strategic, intelligent & logical way. Intense focus is required, as well as a level of detachment from these things or beliefs you may feel obsessed about personally, you’re having to act professionally, it’s a fine line. Especially being on a public stage (Leo), and you’re working directly with the public. Ship is regarding moving out of your comfort zone, possibly traveling in a literal sense, it’s the path of life and the journey we all take. Some of you may be teachers or in any establishment built around children, raising them, teaching them, creating activities or expansion of awareness towards them. Raising a new generation with better ideals energy. Where Pile 1 has the older students, Pile 3 represents the littles with 5th House. There isn’t much of specific jobs but the feeling behind those jobs, it depends highly on what you feel most deeply needs to change, and then choosing a job that can make that happen, but social media does seem to play a big role in this, no matter what area you’re choosing. You want to create or assist in profound changes, where necessary.

Charms

Fox 🦊 on King of Swords is like I said earlier, you’re needing to be very strategic in the work that you do, or who your target audience is. There’s a level of controlling your emotions, especially for the acting & artistry careers. You’re trying to bring awareness to specific topics through a career that brings joy. There is a lot of clever planning that goes into whatever it is that you do, and 6 Pentacles you’re not alone in this endeavor, but you work closely with other people that give to this as much as you do, everyone has a role to play in the larger picture, and fame (or at least the public as a whole) could be an element of this for some of you. These can be writers, directors, producers, musicians, actors, storyboard artists, game design, digital artists, marketing, musicians, theater production, comedians, something where timing, strategy, emotion, music, all of these things are strategically manipulated to create a masterpiece that sends a message in a big way, publically.

Peace ☮️ on Aquarius literally translates to world peace. You want everyone to be noticed in beautiful ways, whether it’s race, sexuality, gender, religion, you name it, we are all equal and that belief is at the very core of your life path & ideal career. This includes every level of social work, government for some, activism, charities, humanitarianism, even the protesters with signs in some cases.

Red Moon 🌙 on The Sun is very important, because when going up against these establishments and outdated rules & belief systems, you’re having to confront all of the paranoia and fears that went into making them the structure of society in the first place. Being on The Sun, you’re directly confronting these fears, bringing what’s dark into the light, and providing clear & factual awareness on a very public scale, in an artistic & dramatic way.

Pile 4: Pink

Jupiter - Libra - 8th House

This is screaming investments & sales to me, especially insurance sales (being a life or death issue). Law can always fall under Libra, especially criminal law, being 8th House, the point here is that you’re making money by expanding other people’s money. If they make more, you make more, is the biggest vibe from this reading so far. This is working with stocks and trades, financial advisors, every form of law, sales associates, project managers, analysts, pretty much any higher position in any company with a bonus incentive package to be honest, but business really feels like the correct lane here. Other than that, I’m getting EMT and all forms of emergency responders as well, needing to work with others very quickly in life or death situations.

4 Wands - Justice - Strength

Wow, yeah this is most definitely law, and every form of law falls under these categories. With Strength, police officers, high level security, government officers, investigators, judges, lawyers, child social workers, even family court and estate law is covered by 4 Wands, this is the pile of complete Justice. For some, there may be careers surrounding the inspection of homes and businesses, building & zoning codes, or work involving the safety of a home, whether involving electricity, water, gas, or the very foundation it sits on. This reading is staying short, sweet, and to the point, there’s not much wiggle room here.

Oracles: Scythe and Book

Book indicates a career you can never stop learning about as things are always changing and you’re having to keep up with new laws, methods, economy changes, codes, however this affects you, it’s an environment of always learning more, ever evolving.

Scythe indicates that you’re in a position to take things away from people, quickly, and sometimes that’s difficult. It plays on the life & death situations of EMT, every Justice situation already mentioned, as well as having the finances of others in your hands. You have the power to change someone’s entire life in five minutes, so people depend on you to make the right decisions, every time. These cards together show The Wheel of Fortune, situations being out of your control on a daily basis, but also luck, fate, destiny, along with Strength which we’ve already discussed. You are an incredibly adaptable and versatile personality to be able to handle the situations you deal with every day, because you never know what you’ll be up against, and you have to mold quickly in order to suit the situation.

Charms:

White Heart 🤍 on Justice calls for a natural sense of purity, balance, non biased behavior, and it’s something you need to feel with your whole heart to face the kind of situations that require someone like you. You’re heavily focused on the law, what’s right, or what is SAFE and above all, you’re concerned for the well-being of others, no matter what they’ve done or not done, how they act or don’t, you treat everyone equally. Everyone has rights, every emergency calls for quick responses, it doesn’t matter who you’re dealing with.

Wine 🍷 on Strength made me chuckle, this job might make you want to drink 😆 But no, seriously, it’s a very stressful career to have, especially being police or emergency responders, anything in law, all of these things face injustice on a daily basis, and all of these things have to face things they’d rather never have to see. Some are hard to forget. Sometimes alcohol is almost necessary. Some of these careers may have to deal with drugs and alcohol on a regular basis, or people that are on them, and some people may even be selling them...medically, hopefully. Strength can also mean holding back, this can talk about drug counselors and very strict careers with zero drug policies. Border patrol and every kind of justice involving drugs of all flavors can relate.

Witch 🧙🏻‍♀️ on 8th House indicates you’ll witness magical events a time or two, even miracles, or at least things you can’t explain, in regards to finances or life & death situations. Your career definitely gives you interesting stories to tell others, which may be something you literally do with Book here. You could write one, based on all of your crazy experiences.

Squid 🦑 on Scythe is an indication of feeling threatened, often, and having to deal with highly emotional people or situations, having to maintain a clear head in difficult circumstances. It is a constant struggle to maintain a sense of balance and self control, but it’s necessary, and you’re very intelligent & adaptable to every kind of situation. You keep a healthy detachment from the people you have to deal with, which is good, but this may also extend to your personal life. Be careful of treating close loved ones as expendable simply because you’re so used to having to detach emotionally to maintain peace of mind. This career requires a lifelong battle for balance - Libra.

Pile 5 - Yellow 💛

Sun - Pisces - 4th House

Interesting. I love that we have yellow & The Sun together. Clearly, we have our work at home crowd, which is a necessary reality in today’s world. You’re the kind of person to put your family before everything else, including work. These are the entrepreneurs, the social media influencers, the guy on YouTube that didn’t have a dad so he teaches everyone “Dad” stuff they might not know. These are the people that will choose a job -specifically- because they can do it at home. Telemarketers, farmers, some levels of fashion design, Etsy shops, real estate agents, spirituality gurus, many tech & communications based jobs, in-home daycare workers. If you have a skill, you can make it a business, people do it every single day. Most reasons for this of course, are children, and either wanting to or having to be home with them. Not always. What I love about this most is there is no gender singled out. The 4th House is childhood in general, and specifically the mother, and The Sun is the father. It’s a common reality these days for any gender to have to walk a fine line between what’s best for their family and what’s best for their career, and Pisces specifically refers to an “ego death” due to sacrificing for a higher purpose, in this case choosing love, family, and TIME. This could also cover anything to do with family, like a family business of any kind, restaurants are probably the most popular, but anything applies. Family counselors, pediatricians, obstetricians, crisis center care workers, foster parents, stay at home parents that don’t work at all, anything to do with the family unit would apply here as well.

2 Pentacles - The Devil - 9 Pentacles

Yep, entrepreneurs are definitely being highlighted. This indicates it’s a constant balancing act between home needs and work needs, a constant balance of needing to make a successful business profitable, and taking time out to connect & bond with your family as well. Planning what can be planned and trying to be prepared and flexible for what can’t. It’s about always keeping a savings and managing what may or may not happen. Being “controlling” is necessary, to some extent. It seems easy to some, but when your business is at home, it can be incredibly difficult to detach from a job that literally becomes your life, you never leave it. With The Devil, materialism can be a heavy weight, and with the 2, sometimes not even knowing how profitable you’re going to be this month, or next, not being able to predict whether you’ll be able to be self-sustainable due to anything...something goes out of fashion, something is too expensive, no one is buying houses because the market is insanity, suddenly you can’t buy wood because the prices skyrocketed, the wheat crop froze over and died due to crazy weather out of season, a plague of sickness hits the earth and no one is eating at restaurants anymore 😣...there are many variables to this type of work, both seen and unseen, that can cause a lot of stress on a daily basis.

For those that would want to work in a crises center or homeless shelter, social work, psychology or counseling of any kind, there could be a constant facing of addictions, greed, obsessions, mental illness, the negative or toxic cycles of other people that you’re having to both deal with and try to get through, to some kind of progress, to help them get better. People have to do the work themselves, you can only show them how. And you can’t always win. If you’re a helper, helping people out of some of the worst situations imaginable can also take its toll on you. It’s hard to leave some things at the door at the end of the day. In this case, it’s helping others be self-sustainable that’s the challenge. For the business owners, it’s doing this for themselves, on a regular basis.

Oracles: Lilies & Whips

Lilies nods towards long term relationships, family business, legacies, and traditional values, which would explain why this path would mean something deeply to you in the first place. Honoring a marriage, a family, children, raising them how you were raised or following a path set by your parents’ parents and their parents and leaving a lasting effect on your own children and their futures.

Whips refers to repetitive things you do every single day like clockwork, cooking, cleaning, every variation of hobbies, habits, our daily lives, but for you it’s work too, in some way. This also speaks on the other level of this path, healing family wounds involving conflicts, arguments, bickering, violence, difficult situations you’re helping others to face & heal.

With Justice & The Empress being shown here, I feel both main paths described are being represented perfectly. Trying to do the right thing for your kids, your family, other kids, other families. Creating artistic growth & opportunities, providing while also playing a dominant nurturing role where it matters. These are the Kings & Queens of the “side hustle”, being role models for their own children to truly live out their dreams.

Charms:

Palm Tree 🌴 on The Sun indicates that to many people, you’re living the dream, because if your business takes off, you can set your own hours, follow your own rules, live out your best life profiting off a talent that you love. To others, your life will seem like one big vacation, but only the ones that don’t see how hard you work every single day. Also, you can take vacations whenever you want, for how long, and some of you can check in on work while you’re there too 👏

Butterfly 🦋 on Pisces shows deep emotional transformations are a part of the job for some of you, especially the counselors, and The Devil plays on this same message in the more negative sense. Especially with The Sun, this is about being a part of something greater than yourself, even if it’s YOUR dream, you’re bringing your creativity, passion, warmth & kindness or emotions as a whole to what you do, and some of you have had these dreams since being a child yourself. While your ego is very much involved with The Sun, Pisces balances Leo in a way of using their gifts to serve others, especially in regards to their family and the people that mean the most to them, and there is probably a deep spiritual tie to what you’re being called to do, no matter which lane you’re going down, Pisces is directly connected to Spirit and your path is more often than not, your true calling. Your job may involve directly shining light on The Devil, helping others transform, because people can’t see where they’re going wrong, especially when they’re trapped in negative cycles or addictions.

Blossom 🌸 on 4th House shows you literally blossoming within your home or family unit, and helping others to do the same in theirs, even for those of you working only within your own family. You show your heart and everything you love deeply, in your daily life.

Moon & Star 🌙 on The Devil again indicates the more negative qualities of something like family counseling, all of the trauma and emotional demons that come with negative experiences. There are secrets, lies, hidden information, many clouded paths to have to navigate and figure out, but the fact that The Star is here with it shows that healing plays more of an important role than the negatives in the first place. Many of you are healers, shedding light into dark situations and pulling people out of mindsets, emotions, or hard times they might not have been able to otherwise.

Pile 6: Orange 🧡

The North Node - Leo - 6th House - 11th House

I know it’s odd, but two came out and Spirit said take both so we take both. This has to do with destiny, the direction we’re all headed in life collectively, our futures, big moves, being of service to others on a daily basis and social media, awareness, working together as a whole. Right off the bat, I’m feeling the health industry as a whole. Nutritionists, fitness trainers, health gurus of all kinds, PETA, vegetarian/vegan/allergy free companies, dancers, body builders, the sports industry and its players as a whole, along with most medical specialists, surgeons, and plastic surgery as well.

With the 11th House here, I also feel environmental science, geology, meteorology, the clean energy & technology industries. Working on how to clean the ocean, wildlife sanctuaries and any other form of working with animals, reducing pollution, the clean water industry, revolutionizing the waste & recycling industry, and every other major environmental issue Earth is facing in the next few very short years. 2030? That’s the last update I heard. Politics also play a big role in this on all fronts, all positions, especially with Leo here. Here we have our scientists that have to have an eye on the future before the rest of us even consider it.

Queen of Pentacles - 9 Cups - The Empress

The Queen of Pentacles and The Empress both work to nurture, domesticate, they create harvests, abundance, growth, and can literally represent Mother Earth. 9 Cups is wish fulfillment, dreams come true, 9’s themselves represent the sustaining the self and having more than enough, with cups it’s love, and pleasures. The agricultural industry is being highlighted especially as well, all forms of food & drink, possibly alcohol, marijuana, drugs and pharmaceuticals with 9 Cups as well. This is the group that wants the world to be in better shape for their children, and their grandchildren, these are the realists, the conscious, and the truly woke. These cards can be a message that humanity is heavily overindulging on Mother Earth & her bounty, reflecting the soil’s nutrients, clean water, oil 💯, coal, pollution, how humanity as a whole (but particularly in the biggest industrial countries) are destroying the planet, and these are the people that recognize these things on several different levels, in several different industries, all with one goal. Having a future where we can have water, breathe, grow food, co-exist with as many animal species as we can, thrive & survive for generations to come.

Oracles: Mountain & Birds

Here we have 21 and 12, both representing The Empress, and Mountain representing near insurmountable adversity, whereas The Birds touches on “fake news”, over-hype, teaching, speeches, articles, and communication. When it comes to both the environment and health, we face similar issues, no one cares until it’s them personally, and everyone argues what they don’t know or understand. They read an article, the article was a lie, they shared it to 10 million people who now all believe this garbage. Misinformation is a detriment to this line of work, and something you will have to tackle throughout your entire career, with patience, and correct learning. Being 21 and 12 shows you having to approach things from several angles, even opposite or “backwards” ways depending on what you’re trying to accomplish. Or having to undo what’s already been done. Besides The Empress, numbers here symbolize The World, Strength, The Hanged Man & The Chariot. Literally, the world is holding back from taking action. Ending the cycle of everyone not taking enough action, a new perspective is needed collectively.

Charms:

Feather 🪶 on Mountain, also having the bird, can show conservation efforts made specifically towards birds, for some of you, all animals and conservation for others. Feathers can represent guardian angels, messages from heaven, and Spirit working through you while navigating these obstacles. They show freedom, awareness, a higher vibration and a wider perspective, being the Feather nods towards Birds, large groups of people needing proper education and awareness. Mountains can literally symbolize somewhere you’re wanting to live or work, or the literal Earth 🌎

Charms:

Palm Tree 🌴 on Queen of Pentacles is agriculture, horticulture, the process of growing and harvesting, especially with The Empress here as well, and quite literally - trees. Plants. Crops. Protecting our world, and giving back to it. Being a Capricorn card, and ruled by Saturn, it can be a warning to everything we lose if we don’t wake up to reality, the consequences we will face. Changes being made by everyone in manageable ways, practical ways, that people can handle and implement easily, especially if they feel they’re playing a direct role in nurturing their planet, food, health, etc., by appealing to the sense of duty.

Unicorn 🦄 and Peridot 💚 on Leo, particularly the line “self-confidence to create”, there is magic in your calling, and Leo is a very social and magnanimous sign that can reach the heart of people on a very large, public scale (especially with 11th House here), and they can sell ice in Alaska. They can make a TikTok challenge to curl your tongue a worldwide affair. This same kind of energy, towards conservation & health efforts, the future. Peridot is good health, luck, restful sleep, protection from the negativity of others. Also Leo’s birthstone, there could be a lot of Leos in this pile. The wider you aim, the more opposition you’ll get, but not more than supporters, and that’s what counts the most.

Lips 👄 on 6th House also nods towards Birds, which is represented by The Chariot, and in order to create the action that is necessary, a lot of talking needs to happen. Educational seminars, rallies, community fairs, related businesses, charitable foundations, TikToks, music videos, trendy things regarding serious topics. Information readily available, easy to understand, and 100% truth, on a much wider scale than it currently is, regardless of your chosen path, educating people about whatever this is plays a huge role in making this a success. With Leo...it could be a nod towards success, not to feel defeated.

Key 🔑 on 11th House shows that the key to making this a success is by making it public, trendy, popular, seen by everyone, shared by everyone. And not just once, but all of the time, consistently. You’re meant to be a “fixer” and fixers need help, especially regarding topics that require a whole world putting in the effort. This nods to all of the careers that are sports related as well, they’re not as highlighted but they are included. People investing in your career are what make this a success.

[faithsbookdiary]

Come Back to Me: BELLE is a journey of rediscovery

I cried in the theater. Ugly cried. I was by myself in a one o'clock showing on a weekday, so I figured I had every reason to be as loud as I wanted, and I did not hold back.

I'm an avid fan of Mamoru Hosoda and Studio Chizu's work. That, with the combination of Beauty and the Beast being my favorite fairytale princess story of all time, made the anticipation of Belle unbearable.

I've been waiting for this movie to come to the US since its announcement in December of 2020. I watched The Boy and the Beast in 2016, a trip that forced my sister to drive me some odd 50 miles to the nearest theater that was showing it. Mirai was an emotional force of nature (part nightmare fuel with that top-of-second-act train nonsense) that I enjoyed in the comforts of my own bed. We don't need to mention Summer Wars or Wolf Children or The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. We know.

These gorgeous films are just a few of the many that have risen in the wake of Studio Ghibli's success, and each one tells emotion-driven stories of rediscovery and family and wonder. Actually, I shouldn't compare them to Studio Ghibli; Hosoda has once again proven that his style and storytelling is more than capable of standing apart on its own two legs, and fantastically so.

GKIDS tagline for Belle, for those unfamiliar:

Suzu is a shy, everyday high school student living in a rural village. For years, she has only been a shadow of herself. But when she enters “U”, a massive virtual world, she escapes into her online persona as Belle, a gorgeous and globally-beloved singer. One day, her concert is interrupted by a monstrous creature chased by vigilantes. As their hunt escalates, Suzu embarks on an emotional and epic quest to uncover the identity of this mysterious “beast” and to discover her true self in a world where you can be anyone.

At the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, Belle received fourteen minutes of standing ovation. And rightly so. Belle tackles a heart-wrenching narrative of a freckled princess and her beast that have faced both trials and the need to escape them, and as much as this is a story of coming together to overcome obstacles, this is also a story of rediscovery, healing, and personal growth.

Buckle up for a very long and thorough deep dive as to why this movie was such a special experience for me!

THE FOLLOWING CONTENT WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS OF BELLE.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

What initially attracted me to Mamoru Hosoda's films was the beastly aspect to them. Belle from Beauty and the Beast was my favorite Disney princess growing up because she thrived in a story that focused on inner beauty and the process of forgiving past behaviors and mistakes, a "good girl x bad boy" cliche dressed up in beautiful gowns and monstrous creatures and books (lots and lots of books). It was another example of how love could heal deep emotional wounds.

Any version of this story was welcome in my rolodex of fairytales, so imagine my excitement upon discovering that most of Hosoda's films herald beastlike creatures, whether that's through internet personas or beast men in a parallel world or child werewolf transformations. Hosoda likes to approach humanity by contrasting people to their animalistic counterparts, because that's what we are: animals with our own version of order. It's especially telling when the true monsters of the film are human- that evil is a human-constructed concept, that you can't truly judge a book by its cover, etc. etc. I'd love to make a series of Hosoda's movies for this blog and address the use of beasts as one of his central themes, but that's for another post. I'll get there.

Where The Boy and the Beast touches on a world of beastsxhumans and loosely ties the narrative of Beauty and the Beast- because there has to be some connection there, a familial one- Belle is a direct retelling. I kept looking for the telltale signs of the classic and unconsciously made comparisons between the two. Belle's entrance to the castle was reminiscent of Disney's. The roses were present, though their functions were different. Beast's room was torn to shreds, a rejection of a past haunting him. There's a rescue scene; despite his harshness and initial inability to accept his mistakes, the Beast is altruistic, and doesn't let his negativity cloud his judgement when it's essential. There's a gorgeous, iconic dance between the two. I can go on and on, but my point is that Belle is definitely Beauty and the Beast.

But as well as the narrative keeps true to its plot points, Hosoda turns the classic on its head. This isn't a romance (this doesn't include the little side plots of crushes sprinkled in) but a story of platonic love, one rooted to a deep sense of care and empathy. One of Hosoda's strengths is his exploration of love outside of the romantic, as most of our own connections to the people in our lives lie in the realm outside of our significant other.

Belle's motivation was also a refreshing twist compared to the original. The Belle in Disney's film was led by her curiosity (and her eventual love) towards The Beast, which originates from the small seeds of kindness in him and her ability to transform his selfishness and pain into care. Hosoda's Belle, on the other hand, was motivated by her sympathy. She recognized the Beast's pain as her own, and unconsciously realized that if she could heal his emotional wounds, she could heal hers.

That's what I love about this movie, and why it's a stand-out among its collection of other retellings: Belle isn't a movie about fixing someone else but about healing yourself. Our titular character is not bored of her provincial town or looked at weirdly for reading books or belittled for her larger-than-life ideas- she's in her own pain, in her own castle, facing her own demons, "a shadow of herself."

There are many things to explore in this film. The animation? Superb. Gorgeous. We got whales- another popular Hosoda theme. Alternate realities/personas? Check. How media transforms the accessibility of a crafted world, and how that connectivity differs from large-to-small scales? Sure. Belle is also a story about a normal (albeit shy and detached) girl with the sudden pressure and burden of becoming a global sensation overnight, and as much as I want to tackle this and everything else, I've managed to pace myself and condense my many thoughts into the five concepts/themes that impacted me the most, disguised as songs from Belle's own setlist because I saw an opportunity and I took it.

"U"

Belle is built on a vibrant virtual reality called U, an alternate scape that boasts an expansive internet society full of countless possibilities. The avatars (AS) are "automatically generated based on personal biometric information", and promises an opportunity to start over, a second chance at life. It doesn't explicitly state that you can be whoever you want to be, but we can all read between the lines. U is everyone's dream escape from the cruel reality we live in, and when Suzu is given her chance, she takes it. Of course she does. She knows that her life isn't satisfactory.

Despite the appeal of a second life, it's interesting how users aren't given a choice over their persona. Some of the users look monstrous, and I wonder if it was a theme that some easily accepted knowing that it was their own biometrics that built that image. Suzu's biometrics give her Belle, the gorgeous princess that even she wasn't sure belonged to her (but sweetie those are your freckles!!), which ends up becoming a visual representation of what Suzu is like on the inside- she's kind, sensitive, talented, gorgeous. The beast is also a shadow of his true self- a poor kid angry at the world he has to endure. I wonder, however, if the two would have looked differently if they were given a choice?

U offers that escape from reality, sure, but it only does so by presenting a different one, one that almost seems more vulnerable. It touches at the deepest roots of oneself and draws out hidden strengths and potential, like Suzu's ability to sing in the virtual world instead of the real one. The initial idea I had about U was that it was that chance to be different, that there's a general fear of being "unveiled" and revealing your true self, but isn't that backwards? Isn't your true self the one that's deep in your core, the one that only you know? The one that AS ends up building?

I walked into this section totally ready to tear down the concept. I had this idea of "if U was about being anyone you want to be, then what happens to the theme of accepting oneself?" But what Hosoda did sent me on a loop. Suzu knew who she was all along, but her trauma and self-esteem prevented her from being that person. U gave her the chance to step out of that shadow, and eventually embrace it during her own unveiling.

The contradiction of accepting yourself by becoming someone else somehow contradicts itself: Suzu's transformation was not a step away but a homecoming, and allowed her to fall back in love with the person she already was.

Here, I'll introduce a common thread that I've found while listening to the songs I've chosen on repeat: all of the songs have a common line between them. Suzu's "lalalas" scattered throughout her music are symbolic of her return to singing, the skill that sent her into U to find. Our opening song "U" starts us off with a rapid "lalalai/lalalai", a confident bell-like opening ringing in the beginning of Suzu's journey to reunite herself with her passion.

"GALES OF SONG"

The reveal of Belle's arrival to U, "Gales of Song" is a number teeming with anticipation. Suzu had just brought the audience along for her traumatic backstory of loss and grief, and we got to know our mousy high schooler who didn't think much of herself in the wake of her peers. She has a desire to sing, but trauma prevents her (emotionally, psychologically, physically) from opening her mouth. It's tragic. The scene of her losing her mother ripped my heart out of my chest; I can still hear the screaming.

So what does losing your mother in an accident have to do with losing yourself? Great question. We can always delve into that well-known narrative of a loved one always being a part of you, even when they're long gone, but I'd also like to touch on the opposite- that when someone leaves, they take a part of you too. In this case, Suzu lost her music, a gift from her mother. Her happiness stemmed on that part of her life, and suddenly she had no access to it.

There's self-depreciation here, too. The climax of this movie anchors heavily on one sentence that's mentioned in act one, when the news of Suzu's mother's death is being played in the back of Suzu's mental anguish of not being able to compose. She asks herself, "Why did you choose to save that girl instead of stay with me?" And it was that question that became her undoing. It was such a small line, I would have missed it if I never felt the same before. There's a reason I'm writing this post. This movie touched a part of my soul.

When you believe you're not worth it, when someone's choice puts your value into balance, you minimize your impact on the world so that no one has to make that choice ever again. You make that choice for them. When Suzu denies her love for her childhood friend in order for a more popular friend to get a crack at him, she breaks down, but she'd rather nip a loss in the bud then experience it out of her control. When sadness is manageable it's easier to carry, even if it consumes you.

That's why this song is so powerful. It's ranked 3rd in my top 3, because it's Suzu's release from her sadness. I gasped audibly- "thank god, she can breathe now" is what I must have thought. She's finally detached herself from that shadow she's trapped herself in, which is why the entire scene afterwards sees her grinning from ear to ear. She's finally found herself again. Things are working. Living has become a bit easier.

There's a desperation in this song, of her hoping that the "gales of song stay by her side", as it's a plea for happier times. This song starts with our "lalalas" as a tentative step into a new world, a test to see if her wishes will come true- and when they do, she embraces herself, and the love for what she does spreads to those who watch her. She has finally found her voice.

"LEND ME YOUR VOICE" (+ draft)

THE. BEAST.

I love foils in relationships. Give me a good girlxbad boy pairing and I swoon. The reason that bad boys are attractive (to me) is their confidence, a tangent I can go on for a long time if you'll let me. But I won't subject you to that. Not here. Here, we talk about The Beast.

Our dragon is a large, monstrous creature, defined by his ruthless victories in battle and the bruises muddling his back. The narrative spends much of its time deciphering his true identity, a search that seems strangely motivated at first. Because why search for the beast? What draws you to him, Belle? What makes an angry, violent guy like that worth paying attention to?

Suzu has a special way of looking at the world, that's why. She's seen things she wishes she hadn't. Her world is a dark and lonely one, a place where she shies away from a group photo with her friends or a microphone at karaoke or talking to the boy she likes. And when she spots our beast for the first time, she doesn't see him for the monster U makes him out to be, but immediately his eyes stray to the bruises on his back. He's hurt. He's hurting. Who is he?

He's you, Suzu. He's hurting just like you are.

Belle's motivation to help the beast is led by her empathy to his pain rather than her kindness, and this detail is what makes Belle a powerful narrative. She goes out of her way to uncover his secret not because she's swept up in the craze of his identity, but because she sees someone who needs help- desperately- and there's an internal clock ticking in her to reach out before it's too late.

It is later revealed through a strenuous search that the beast is a fourteen-year-old boy who spends the days after his mother's death protecting his brother Tomo from their father's abuse.

Despite experiencing similar losses in their lives, Suzu and Kei deal with their trauma differently. While Suzu minimized herself and navigated her life with indecisiveness, lack of confidence, and stifling self-inflicted loneliness, Kei lashed out as aggressively as he could. The world wasn't fair to him, and he wasn't going to live by the rules because of that. He became violent so that violence could not be done to him.

Belle mentions that the bruises on the Dragon's back are a sign of strength, but it's one of endurance, a lonely strength. It's the layering of pain that hardens one's shell. This pain does not lessen- it really can't- but instead, the body gets used to that suffering and gains the ability to carry it around. It's a method similar to how Suzu carries her grief, but these are defenses against attacks, not from a world reaching in to help. The fact that these bruises come from verbal abuse (it's hinted, but we're not sure if it's physical) shows that Kei is just as affected by the cruel words of his father as he would be if he was struck.

There's another lesson of worth here, too. Kei's been protecting his brother for who knows how long, but those words are nasty, and the saying "sticks and stones" has no power here. There's a point when victims start to believe their abusers words, because it's what they're used to hearing, and nothing has happened to prove them wrong. Kei's dragon persona may be a version of his strength, but I wonder if it's also the version of himself that he's convinced he is. He certainly acts that version when he pushes everyone away.

"Lend Me Your Voice" is our "Beauty and the Beast" of Belle- #2 on my list of top songs. Here, we see Suzu using what she's best at to reach the heart of someone she feels attuned to, and it's incredibly important. Not because of the dance sequence. We all loved the dance sequence. It was gorgeous. But this is our penultimate midpoint to our film- Belle's intentions change for the better.

Let's start with the draft of this song. Suzu is given the idea of writing a love song to Beast from her mother's choir friends, and on her way home she gives it some thought. Under her breath, she starts to hum a tune. That "lalala" comes in, shaky, and she trots along, but she's singing. This song is the first song that Suzu sings in the real world, and it's a powerful moment because she's singing for somebody else.

What made Suzu's detachment to music unbearable was that her mother was no longer there to listen to her songs. Sure, Belle has an audience of 5 billion people, but what got Suzu composing again was that she knew her song would touch the heart of someone that mattered to her, and her understanding of the Beast is a mirror to her getting to know herself a little better. Suzu is undoubtedly at her brightest when she sings songs dedicated to others.

And THE. BEAST. He's so taken in during her performance. This moment is just for him. It is a labor of love, a girl asking permission for him to open his heart and be vulnerable for him because she'll accept everything. And that's so important for fourteen-year-old Kei, who had to handle the burden of taking care of a broken family, of being dealt pain and abuse and suffering. He probably forgot that he was worth loving, too.

Belle asks the Beast to lend his voice to her, so that she can become his strength and source of love when he himself can't muster it.

And this. The light in his eyes. The pure adoration and wonder of this hug. She accepted him. This was everything.

"A MILLION MILES AWAY"

"But she cried in the theater, didn't she?? Where? Where did she cry??"

I cried at the climax. Obviously.

I wasn't the only one that cried. Didn't you see? The entire universe of U did too. Wonder why? Let me break it down for you.

Desperate to search for Kei in order to help him from his abusive scumbag father, Suzu has to take the leap and sing as herself in order to gain his trust. This decision was highly debated by the friends who rallied by her side for support (which I loved to see, because even when you make yourself small and insignificant there's still so many people who love you). Hiroka, her bestie and producer, is terrified of what'll happen if Belle's true identity is revealed, because all of Suzu's self-confidence will return to what it was before. Shinobu (oh handsome heartthrob Shinobu) urges her to take that step- not for Kei, but for herself. It was necessary to unveil herself, because she needs to be vulnerable to reach him. He has ulterior motives, which we'll get to shortly.

Suzu makes the move to unveil herself, and to everyone's awe the famous global superstar is... a normal high school girl?? What a power move. There were snickers from those who thought ridiculing her would make them somehow superior (she's just a normal girl), but I HAVE to mention Peggy Sue, her briefly mentioned rival who at the sight of Belle whispered, "She's just like me...."

Suzu starts to sing an emotionally charged song. She's asking Kei to reach out and return to her. "Come back to me." She's turning herself into a beacon so that the wounded boy can find her- and in turn, find solace.

Right?

Remember what the title of this movie is?

Belle is a story of rediscovery. It's a story about a girl who's lost her way, who finds a boy who's lost his. It's a story of this girl saving this boy, but she is not worthy of saving him until she is able to find the courage and strength to save herself. Shinobu knew this. That's why he told her to sing.

"A Million Miles Away" landed as my favorite song for a reason. It is not only a call for The Beast's trust, but it is a song for Suzu. Suzu's love for herself- one that could stand alone from her mother's affection- drifted out of her reach alongside her mother's death. There's a stark image of that child in the river during the middle of this song that stops Suzu in her tracks and dries her throat. She's asking for her happiness to come back to her, but does she deserve it? Is she worth that happiness, for even doubting her mother's decision in the first place?

When depression takes a hold of you, there's a desperation for returning to what once was. Happiness is a faraway dream, and you forget what it feels like. Even in my own dark moments, I wanted nothing more than to be able to write again, and it was hard knowing that the inspiration just wasn't there. But being desperate for happiness shows just how important is- the desire for light, for an unbothered breath of fresh air, for a moment of peace. Suzu's been in the dark for so long now. When she sings "come back to me", she's begging for that pain to finally leave her.

She gains an understanding. Just as her mother sacrificed herself for that little girl in the river, Suzu sacrificed the security of her persona in U so she could save Kei. This was never about worth- in order to save Kei, she needed to save herself, because how could she live with herself if she didn't?

The "lalalas" of this song are the most prominent. Her breath is shaky. She's startled by that flashback. She wavers, confused, unsure of herself, but its then that the voices of U's users sing back to her. They're all crying. We're all crying. They know that this world is an escape for them, and the desire for healing is strong and overpowering. They're rooting for her. They want happiness to find a way back to them, too.

The voices of those around her urge Suzu to be strong. They care. She matters. She's worth it. A celebratory motif sweeps into the soundtrack, her hope returns, her voice builds. Suzu urges herself to sing. She's found her voice, and she's never been happier.

Community is also a strong theme Hosoda carries through his films. It's a security blanket that wraps the protagonist in warmth and care. They're never truly alone, despite what they believe. Kei isn't alone now. And Suzu isn't, either.

"FACES IN THE RAIN"

There was one thing I was looking for in the final act of Belle, and I'm properly convinced that everyone else was looking for it, too. What happens, now? Will our antagonist get what he deserves?

Because we have an antagonist now, don't we? Kei's father is abusing his kids, and abusers must be punished so everyone can have a happy ending. Right?

Suzu makes it her mission to save these boys, despite the negative reaction from Kei when she offers her help. He's convinced that this is a situation he can never escape from, and he has to endure. Endure. Endure. So when Suzu does everything to find him against impossible odds, it's a moment of shock for everyone. Belle came for them. She's here.

But what can a high school girl do?

Scare the crap out of a grown man, that's what.

I love how this was handled. I know that there's a sense of dissatisfaction to the resolution- because their father wasn't arrested or even punished, as far as the audience knows. I was hoping to see that bastard in the back of a police car or behind bars- and maybe that's what happened to him.

But this story is about Suzu.

She arrives and takes both of the boys in her arms, and when their father tries to claw her away, she stands firm. Suzu is not that cowering girl in the beginning of the film. She doesn't say a single thing. She holds onto those boys as tight as she can and protects them with everything she has, and when she turns and stares down the true monster, he cowers. How could he not? This girl comes out of nowhere and sees him for the monster he is. She is not one of his victims. He has no power over her, and that is a terrifying realization for a man pushing people down for his own... ego? It's an awful thing to find a reason for why people hurt others, and I'm not here to find that out.

The open ending of the brothers is frustrating, sure, but Suzu's grown so much throughout the story that it's forgiven. She's found her voice. She's standing on her own two feet. She's protecting those that need her. "Faces in the Rain" is only her "lalalas" drifting against an orchestral accompaniment, and here we know that Suzu is who she's meant to be. This is her song. She's filled her voice in quite nicely. I love her for it.

Belle is a call for self-love and healing. It's a wonderful addition to Hosoda's collection, and I'm grabbing at it as soon as it gets a home release. It touched me deeply as someone looking for reason to return to better days, and I highly recommend it for those who haven't watched even though this post totally spoiled it for you. I hope you get as much out of it as I did, even though watching for the sake of the animation and the gorgeous music is a wonderful experience in itself!

I could say so much more about the importance of rivers or the cute sidebar of Ruka and Kamishin or even do a cute little post about avatars because how fun are those!!! But I'll leave you here.

This is my first post for my new blog, Faith's Book Blog, and even though I started out with a movie analysis post, I hope you can stay for future content! I'll also be doing some more deep dives on the other Hosoda movies because they're very near and dear to my heart, so a follow would be much appreciated!

Thank you for reading this ramble. Have a wonderful rest of your week!

(My favorite shot in the movie for your viewing pleasure.)

[aly-writes]

Hey Aly. I loved your chishiya confessing headcanon and was wondering if you could do a one shot based on it. Like a story prompted by it? Sorry the request isn’t detailed but I love your writing and wanted to see where you would go using the hc.

i'm glad you like it, nonnie! thank you so much for requesting, i would be happy to write this out for you! there are a few differences from the original so it doesn't end up being a carbon copy (location is the only major change) but the premise of the game is the same

you can find the original confession headcanons here !

i also changed the riddle bit simply because i was too lazy to come up with riddles that actually made sense haha (naturally, this changes the suit of the game as well)

word count: 3,293

warnings: near-death experience, fluff

an unexpected adoration — chishiya shuntaro

“Registration has closed. The game will now commence.”

The robotic voice of the device in your hand rang out and you observed the players around you. Not too closely, of course. Residents of the borderlands were naturally suspicious people. If they were to notice you giving them a strange look, there’s no telling how they would treat you in the game.

Luckily for you, you had Chishiya on your side.

You had trust in him. Maybe it was misguided and you shouldn’t have put an ounce of faith in him at all—he was quite deceptive from what you had observed. Falling as hard as you did was a grave mistake, but one doesn’t always have full control over their feelings.

You were sure he would never feel the same. Yes, you were put into games together more often than anybody else at the beach (and you may have been his shadow outside of the games more times than you’d like to admit), but there was never a hint at any type of feeling towards you. Nothing negative, nothing positive. More often than not, he remained neutral.

It didn’t bother you too much. If it did, you wouldn’t have fallen for him in the first place.

Because of his cold attitude, you tried to make it a point to not show any sign of your feelings. You preferred admiring him from afar, swooning where nobody else could see.

You glanced over at the said boy, taking in his appearance as the voice began to read out the rules. Stoic as ever, leaning against the wall with his hood zipped up and closed-off body language.

“Game: Scavenger Hunt. Difficulty: Three of Clubs. Location: Aquarium.”

“Clubs game, huh?” you mumbled to yourself, contemplating what could come next. After playing through a variety of different card suits, you had ultimately decided that clubs were your strength. They were based on a team effort, which was something you worked well with. As for Chishiya… you weren’t sure you could say the same.

He specialized in diamonds because it allowed him to use his intelligence alone. He didn’t need the assistance of anyone else, and as a result, he thrived. Nonetheless, this was your specialty. If he cooperated with you, it should be a piece of cake.

“Rule. One player must be locked inside of the container ahead. If this task is not done by the game’s start, it will result in an immediate Game Over for all players.”

You shot a look over to the container the voice was talking about. It was large and intimidating. At the top was a tube with a large diameter. You noticed that it was completely sealed, and the only way in or out was the clear door at the front. On the door rested a keypad, and you could only assume that would be what locked the player in.

“Each player will receive a picture on their device one at a time. They must use this picture to figure out the accompanied code to the keypad. When all numbers are found and the keypad is unlocked, it is Game Clear.”

It seemed simple enough. With good communication, you could have this done in five minutes. You were about to begin speaking to the other players but were quickly cut off by the voice resuming its speech.

“The container will begin to fill up with water. Your time limit will last until the trapped player drowns. Any attempt to break the container or disconnect the hose will result in a Game Over. Please choose a player to enter the container before the game begins.”

Your blood ran cold at the words. There were two ways this could go. The first option seemed to be the nicest; somebody would volunteer themselves and trust in their teammates to get them out before they died. The second, on the other hand, seemed much more realistic and true to the character of the borderlands. The group wouldn’t be able to decide and would force somebody in there, leaving mistrust and poor communication left with the remaining participants.

You bit your lip harshly, feeling the slight taste of blood at the tip of your tongue. Damn it.

Nobody spoke up at first. You could assume that the common belief was that by speaking up, you would put an immediate target on yourself and be volunteered by the other participants. From what you had seen from previous games, this option seemed accurate.

“I have severe asthma,” the youngest of the group spoke up. She was in a school uniform, and from what you could see, she was no older than seventeen. “If the water fills up and I have to hold my breath, I can only do it for around fifteen seconds.”

The woman next to her seemed to gather a bit of courage after hearing someone else speak. “I’ve always been bad at holding my breath…!” It was clear she was nervous by the way her voice wavered. She fiddled with the ring on her left hand. Your eyes trailed down to the floor after seeing it, shaking your head with a frown.

“Bullshit,” the man to her left accused. “You’re lying.” His voice was filled with anger, but it wasn’t the red-hot anger that was typically used. It was cold and dark, one that sent a shiver down your spine. You could tell that he would refuse to go in the container and would put up one hell of a fight if forced.

With those three out of the question, you glanced at the other two by your side. There was Chishiya, yourself, and an older man, hair becoming gray and wrinkles forming on his face. From his posture, you could tell he was on the frailer side. It seemed that the other came to the same conclusion, immediately turning their gaze over to Chishiya.

Your brows furrowed in protest. Chishiya had a brilliant mind. If there was one person that you could trust to get you out of here, it was him. Because of that, there was no way you could let him be locked up and out of commission for the entire game.

You mustered up all the courage you could, releasing it out of your body with a single sentence.

“I’ll do it.”

The group turned to you at your sudden declaration, some with open jaws and others with a grateful look on their face. You shoved your hands in your pockets, giving them a shrug.

“If I drown, you all die too. I’m counting on you.” The sentence turned most of them as stiff as a board, finally realizing the reality of the game. It was a race against time, and what mattered most was how long you could hold out.

Just before you walked over to the container, you turned to Chishiya. You weren’t expecting to find him staring straight at you with an unreadable look on his face. You shot him a lopsided grin, whispering a phrase so small that only he could hear.

“I trust you.”

It was a simple expression, and if you were being honest, it could be seen as an empty encouragement said for the sole purpose of motivating somebody. You’re not sure how he took it. You said it with all the feelings in your heart, but there was a chance he received it in the opposite way. You could only hope he understood you properly.

With that, you shut the door of the container behind you. It was now locked, and the voice on your device initiated the oncoming events.

“The game will now commence. Begin.”

The first sensation that dawned on you was the coldness of the water splashing down on your form. The second sensory stimuli that your brain processed was how loud it was in your closed container. The sound had no other area to run off to, resulting in the waves bouncing off of the walls directly back into your ears. It was unwelcome and overbearing. Aggressively entering your ears without a second thought—you couldn’t hear yourself think.

You could only hope they moved faster than the water, which by now had made it’s way past your ankles.

Chishiya was lucky enough to be the first player to receive their image. He was quick to start, not wanting to waste any of his time when there was a possibility he would have to pick up the slack of the other players.

The image was a simple picture of a dolphin, and it didn’t take a genius to understand what had to be done. If he wanted to enter the combination correctly, he had to find the numbers, and it seemed that the first number was by the dolphins.

As briskly walked over to the area they would be in, the other players hesitantly followed him. The trick was finding the correct number, there were multiple possibilities. Was it the number of dolphins? Or was the number hidden around the area?

He arrived to the big pool of water, quickly analyzing the perimeter. As far as he could see, there wasn’t a sign of any number on the walls. He pursed his lips and walked towards the dolphins. It was hard to see with the ripples of the pool and the unnecessarily bright lighting, but at the bottom of the pool was a number painted onto the ground.

With a closer look, Chishiya managed to make out the number.

3.

He rushed back to the container and immediately punched the number into the keypad, relief crossing his features as it lit up in a neon green. The players behind him spent a moment cheering at his success.

From the inside, you let out a sigh that contained all of the worries in your chest. He understood what he had to do and it showed by how quickly he solved the first number. You saw his lips move as he spoke to the players behind him, and before you knew it, they ran off.

The rushing water emitted too much sound for you to be able to tell what they were saying. Not to say that you would be able to understand without it, the thickness of the container was a feat in itself.

Over the course of the next three numbers, the water was now up to the top of your ribs. Your hair was sopping wet and you were shivering; the frigid temperature of the liquid was nothing to sneeze at. Each time Chishiya came rushing back with the other players, he always shot a look up to you.

You weren’t sure what he was doing in those moments. Whether it be making sure you were okay or making sure you weren’t screwing things up for him, you didn’t care. The moments his eyes met with yours gave your chest a little bit of warmth compared to the iciness of the rest of your body.

They had successfully gone through four of the five players and were currently discussing the final location in front of you. It seemed as if the image was displayed on the teenager girl’s device, and Chishiya was taking the position of leader amongst the group.

It was surprising seeing him in such a role—you knew that he normally liked to things alone. Clubs games were always his least favorite, he was most likely cooperating with his fellow players because he would die if he didn’t.

Before he ran off, the blonde derived from his typical glance to one full of meaning. The emotion behind his gaze was something you hadn’t seen before from him. Before you had time to process what was happening, he had ran off with the others.

As the water continued to rise, the only thing keeping you sane was the small remaining comfort of his gaze. It was slowly fizzling out like a candle at it’s wick’s end, the light getting dimmer and dimmer until there was nothing left. The metaphorical light was little to nothing at this point, and you weren’t quite sure how much longer your hope could hold out.

By the time the group dashed back over to the container, there was only a few inches between your mouth and the top of the container. You were fighting against the water for air, and you were fully aware that there was only a minute or two left until you were fully submerged.

An immediate feeling of relief washed over you when the keypad flashed green, and the emotion was reciprocated by the rest of the group as well. It didn’t last long.

The group stood in silence as water continued to pour down into the container, your breathing space getting smaller and smaller. They were dumbfounded, unsure of what they did wrong. Each number lit up green, they had done everything correctly and followed the rules… why wasn’t it working?

You were confused and desperate as well. You had no longer than ten seconds until you had to survive off of the leftover oxygen in your lungs. What went wrong? You thought back to the rules, playing them over and over in your head.

One player must be locked in the container—check.

You tilted your head farther back, taking in a deep breath as the water completely submerged you.

Each player will receive a picture on their device one at a time. They must use this picture to figure out the accompanied code to the keypad—check.

When all numbers are found…

Your thought process trailed off and you contemplated the phrasing of the rules. And then it clicked.

Each player will receive a picture on their device. One at a time.

You opened your eyes, ignoring the foreign feeling of icy cold water making contact with your optics. You looked down at your device, almost letting out a gasp at the image on your phone. As quickly as you could (which wasn’t incredibly fast, given your slow underwater movements), you pressed your device up against the glass, praying that they could figure it out in time.

Through your blurry vision you watched as a head of blonde hair sped away.

Chishiya was frantic.

The average human could hold their breath for around thirty to ninety seconds, but you were more than an average human. You had determination and you cared for other people. Not only was your own life resting on your shoulders, the lives of five others were as well.

Critical brain damage commonly occurred after four minutes without oxygen. There was no way of telling how long it would take your brain to force you to pass out; it was different for everybody. This is why he had to move fast.

You could still survive with brain damage, but you would never be the same. The other would get out without a scratch. They secured that fate the moment they chickened out of volunteering. But you were different, you willingly entered that container knowing the dangers, and you left Chishiya with a sentence that had been resting on his mind for the entirety of the game.

I trust you.

“Shit! She’s out of air!”

He recognized the distinct voice of the loud man in the group; his outspoken ways were hard to miss. The least of his concerns were who had said it though, he needed to get this number to save both his life and yours.

Your lungs felt as if they were shriveling up and burning to ashes. When you were a child you’d have silly contests of who could hold their breath the longest with your friends, but the moment you felt uncomfortable you could pull out of the contest. You were always the determined one and reigned victorious most times, but it was nothing like this.

The oxygen in your lungs was gone. And it was painful. You squeezed your eyes shut as you attempted to hold on—the thought of water flooding through your respiratory system was much more unappealing than the thought of passing out.

You had initially volunteered not to be the hero and gain admiration from the group, but to make sure Chishiya wasn’t the one who was going to be trapped in this container. Even in the event of death, a laser to the brain seemed so quick and painless compared to the cruel fate of drowning.

You felt your mind get heavy. You were losing all cognitive function. You knew that your time being conscious was quickly coming to an end and death was nearing you faster than you had hoped, so in these last moments, you thought of the first thing that came to mind.

The feelings that had somehow blossomed for Chishiya. You had never expected to get something so beautiful out of a world like this. Something that gave you butterflies and made you feel like a giddy teenager once again. It was… comforting.

You let the darkness take over your mind.

It felt cold—it felt like nothing at all.

That was until the feeling of fresh oxygen entered your lungs, your eyes opening slowly as water trickled down your chin. Your senses came back to you. Your hands, your legs, your torso and your neck, and… something on your lips…

Huh?

You blinked rapidly, clearing your vision and finding yourself being met with Chishiya, lips against yours as he tried his hardest to bring you back to consciousness. His lips were warm, unlike yours which had been submerged in ice cold water.

An uncomfortable feeling came across your chest and you felt water rise up your airway, coughing out excess water as Chishiya lifted himself up. He looked at you blankly, giving you a nod as your E/C eyes met his.

“Game Cleared. Congratulations.”

The voice from your device rang out and the tension from the group immediately diminished. You were alive and okay, and that meant that they were going to live too. They didn’t overstay their welcome in the area, quickly leaving to go relax as they enjoyed the extra days added to their visa.

As much as you wanted to get up and go back to the beach so you could get a fresh change of clothing, it proved to be difficult. Your body was weak and so was your mind. You had almost died, after all. You needed a moment to gather yourself. Chishiya stayed by your side, staring out at the large amount of tanks surrounding the two of you.

You were surrounded by silence, the both of you finding comfort in each others presence. It was a close call for both of you, and you could only imagine he was somewhat happy that he got to live on for a few more days. You knew you were.

“Y/N,” Chishiya called out, not moving his gaze. You perked up at his voice, about to give him some type of response to let him know you had heard him, but you were quickly cut off by a straightforward sentence.

“I like you a lot.”

You froze. Were you hallucinating? Had the near death experience given you brain damage, or did Chishiya just confess to you? You felt your face heat up, fighting the urge to squeal in joy. But you had to play it cool, you didn’t want to come off as overbearing.

You sat up, scooting closer to him. Wrapping your arms around his shoulders from behind, you whispered a simple, ‘I like you too,’ into his ear. He stuck his hands inside of his pockets, his lips twitching into a smirk.

If you had known a near death experience would lead to a confession from the man of your dreams, you would’ve done it sooner.

[kumiko-desu]

Nijisanji Vox Akuma | His Lady

Pairing: Sengoku Period!Vox Akuma x Reader

Tags: reader insert, pov second person, female pronouns used, fluff and angst, lore heavy, lore based, reader is originally human but is cursed, hurt and comfort, an attempt at angst, vox akuma but 400 years ago, established relationship, displays of affection, suggestive themes ?

Notes: Phew, this fic had me poking every corner of my brain to get the ideas out. My first and one of many to come contributions to the Luxiem boys ! I hope this is a nice enough gift for my return. Anyways, enjoy fellow kindreds !!

The night shines bright as the moon reaches its peak in the sky, cool ocean wind comes and goes, the crowds disperse and civilians retreat into their homes and blow out the candles, darkness engulfing the village. But there was one candle left lit, by the doors to a balcony at the top of the Akuma castle.

The room inside was filled with luxurious items, elegant paintings, stunning crafts, and a view watching over their people. It was your room, his lady’s room.

You were always observing, commanding, looking after the clan from the top in solitude. There was a reason for it however.

Before Vox met you, he was a leader for his little clan with a population of under sixty members. He was known as someone people could rely on and follow. There was a small forest near the peninsula, where his clan resides, and it is where he found you, sitting on the ground and talking among the animals and trees.

At a glance, he knew you weren’t a normal human at all, a being that is cursed by the angered gods. You stepped out of your line of mortal privileges and the gods deem you undeserving and brought you a curse fatal to human kind for eternity. A single glance, a single touch, a single sound that could be seen, felt, and heard by a human will cause their fragile life to wither away in front of you.

He could also sense your loneliness from lack of social interaction. In return, he noticed your dignity, your grace from the time spent in nature, how you move with confidence, touch with the gentlest of hands, and gaze with the softest eyes. But Vox also noticed your euphoria during the first meeting was genuine. Even when he asked for your name, your hesitant tone was not uninfluenced by the power he possesses.

He knew. The voice demon knew at that moment, as his heart was captured, you were the one to lead the clan besides him.

It was proven right, the clan grew and thrived with you by his side. It was a safe haven for the abandoned, the lost, and the scared. Anyone could come in with a price of loyalty. It was perfect, Vox being the representative of the clan while you worked on the system and structure in the background, away from the public's eyes.

From time to time though, he wished you were free from the curse so he could let the whole clan know of his wonderful lady whom he adores very much. Vox would want to have your arm looped in his and walk through the town with you, occasionally passing a few shops and greeting the people they look over.

He’s not uncomfortable with many eyes on him, although the privacy you have is comforting nonetheless. When days are more relaxed, he would have his head on your lap while you kneel by the open balcony at the top of the castle, sunlight accentuates your features and your hands brushing his hair.

You could hum, you could sing, you could have conversations about the most mundane topics and Vox always finds comfort in your voice, despite being the voice demon himself.

He likes to sit beside you by the balcony, looking down the rowdy streets and listening to you point out your curiosity and observations on the habitants. Vox especially loves it when you ask him to recreate the actions some humans made, specifically those that are done between lovers like kisses on the forehead and cheeks, him carrying you in his arms, dancing with each other, even courting each other as if you two weren’t together yet.

In his eyes, your laughter and smiles are akin to a pure maiden, but he fully knows that you are far from one.

Vox understands the feeling of seeing those who you once cared for to look at you in fear. He moved on eventually with time, however the feeling still lingers. It must’ve been hard for you as you couldn’t talk to anyone else but him.

The voice demon doesn’t have many desires, but his biggest one would be to grant you happiness and safety as yours were ripped off unwillingly.

Those desires are meant to be broken however, as the time of war has arrived. Soldiers under the command of Tokugawa Ieyasu swarm the castle, prepared to attack and reclaim the land. Clan members gear up and defences raised, those who couldn't fight were told to flee as the Akuma clan were close to its demise.

The lord himself advised you to run, he predicted he could not last very long after all, the clan was very short on manpower. Even with your stubbornness saying your curse could help during the war, he still refused. Vox explained he wouldn’t want to cause more trauma for you, to keep as much purity as you can, to be as far away from harm as you can.

The day was coming closer, you fled to the forest nearby when the moon reached its peak, constantly looking back as you travelled. You couldn’t give him your goodbyes as the lord was training among his soldiers.

Battle horns were sounded and bloodshed was caused. The small clan held no challenge towards the Emperor’s troops. Fear and grief gripped your chest as you felt it yourself, his warmth in your heart diminished into ashes.

Days passed and you returned to the castle, or what remains of it. Decaying corpses, dried blood, debris, and lastly, his sword. It was pierced on the ground by the edge of the peninsula, but stood straight like his resolve.

You drew the black blade from the ground and felt his fading warmth surging back into you, it was as if he was never gone in the first place. What you also felt was his resonance in your heart. It brought you reassurance when you heard his words in your head.

“Wait for me, my love. I will come back to a time where peace is prominent and we shall raise our clan once again without bloodshed, without war, and without fear.”

[wastelesscrafts]

Give-away shops

I'd like to tell you all the story of Jan's give-away shop.

The story:

Jan was a guy who lived in my hometown. Financially speaking, he was well-off: he owned the house in which he lived alone, and had gathered a lot of stuff throughout the years.

One day, Jan realised all of this stuff wasn't making him happy. He decided to move to a small apartment and to get rid of most of his possessions.

Jan also realised the privileged life he led: he owned much more than he needed, and was able to move on the fly just because he felt like it.

All of this made Jan decide to open up a give-away shop. He moved everything he didn't need to his living room, simply opened up his front door, and told everyone they could come and pick up whatever they wanted for free.

His friends declared him an idiot: humans are selfish, they said, and would just take his valuables and sell everything they'd gotten from him. They were wrong. Sure, some people did this, but they were only a small part of those who came.

Those who had less than Jan (including yours truly) came by and found things they needed but had been postponing to buy because they couldn't afford to. Others came to pick up things they could use for their charities, or for the classrooms they had to teach on a too low budget.

The biggest surprise was how Jan never ran out of things to give away: rather than taking things, a lot of people started donating items they didn't need anymore!

Objects weren't the only thing people donated: Jan quickly amassed a team of dedicated volunteers to run the shop for him whenever he was absent.

And that's the story of how my town got its first give-away shop. Unfortunately, the shop doesn't exist anymore: they closed down after about five years because Jan eventually had to sell his house.

His shop has left an important impact on my town: inspired by his shop, we now have a thriving freecycle community, town hall frequently hosts give-away markets (flee markets where everything's free), and individuals have been putting up give-away cabinets, fridges, and libraries all over where people can leave their unused goods, leftover food, and unread books for others to enjoy.

The take-away:

Not all of us are as privileged as Jan: if we were, we wouldn't have much need for projects like these. However, we can still learn from his story!

If you've got an unused cabinet lying around, why not turn it into your own give-away corner? If you work in event planning, maybe consider hosting a give-away market some time. Do you work at a library or a community centre? Those are the perfect spots to put a give-away library or a leftovers fridge: just make sure to keep an eye on anything food-related and to clean out expired goods when necessary.

Another popular variation on this idea are plant cuttings corners and seed banks. These are a great way to share native plants with fellow gardeners to improve the biodiversity in your neighbourhood.

If this post has inspired you, try petitioning your town for projects like these: they're often welcomed because they don't cost much to set up and can have a big positive impact on both your community and the environment.

(Image source) [ID: a small outdoors wooden construction with a see-through plastic roof containing a cupboard with toys, cookwares, and shoes, a hanging rail with clothes, a shelf with books, a bulletin board, and a box and a bag. The text "Give Box: sharing is caring" is painted at the top of the shed, and purple flowers and red hearts are painted on its sides.]

[miraculouslumination]

“There’s an actual dilution of the term lesbian going on”

No the fuck there isn’t!! You know what’s actually happening to the lesbian identity? People are finally seeing and calling out the radfem poisoning inside of it and are actually learning its history.

Literally what kind of fearmongering exclusionist bullshit is this. This literally reads like some pearl-clutching radfem or TERF wrote this shit - you know why? Because TERFs, especially those who hate trans women, say the exact same goddamn thing!!

“By letting trans women be included in lesbianism, it’s diluting and tainting it!” is NO different from “By letting mspec/male/masc/aro/ace/non-binary/intersex/he/him lesbians be included in lesbianism, it’s diluting and tainting it!”

It’s literally all the same radfem rhetoric where the only good lesbians are the white cis she/her abled bodied perisex neurotypical perfectly privileged upper class lesbian radfems and TERFs.

Back before Radical Feminism took to the fucking streets, do you want to know what lesbian used to be? What it used to be for AGES?

“A woman who feels immense and primary love towards another woman”

Now, obviously this was before gender became a much more nuanced topic. But that’s why today some of us are hoping to bring back pieces of that original meaning. Hoping to make it “An individual who feels queer/non-straight love/attraction towards women (and non-binary individuals)”. Because it’s inclusive, it’s broad, it’s to the point.

No “non-man vs man” binary bullshit where it’s so muddied and gray you can’t tell what it’s actually trying to convey. No “Women and women-lite only” bullshit either. Just “I am someone who loves women immensely, but not in a way that can be categorized strictly and/or remotely as ‘straight’, despite what my gender identity may be”.

Lesbian was always an umbrella term. Lesbianism was always an inclusive group and community. Lesbianism was a home where the front gate was open and so many more people could fit inside.

And then radfems and TERFs came around and ruined it for everyone. And I mean EVERYONE.

Lesbianism is not being diluted. Lesbianism is not being pushed into endangerment or extinction. Lesbianism is not in any danger. Lesbianism is THRIVING and GROWING and EVOLVING back into what it used to be. And that’s a good thing. If you think otherwise, then I’m sorry you’ve chugged that TERF kool-aid but it’s ultimately not my problem.

And before it’s asked or questioned or whatever; YES! You CAN still call yourself a lesbian EVEN IF you are a woman or non-binary person who is ONLY attracted to women (trans women included) and non-binary people! No one is taking that away from you. I can promise you that.

[absolutebl]

I may have asked this before but we're seeing more of a blurring between BL and queer genres. Do you think we'll eventually reach a point where BL just becomes queer?

My dearest you opened up a can of... worms. Erm, can of pink milk? Eh, anyway. I got ranty and sentimental. 

Will BL Get More Honestly Queer?

You mean will BL be made by queers for queers with a queer lens? Maybe one or two (stuff out of Taiwan most likely, maybe Thailand) but those will be the exceptions not the norm.

But in general, no.

That's not its market. It's still a product that has to be profitable, which means it needs a broad market share.

Now while I personally think the world is not only queerer than we expect but queerer than we CAN expect; the world, and its business practices, doesn't act that way.

I'm not sure this is entirely a bad thing though, and Imma try to explain. 

I want global normalization more than anything.

Quickly Some Background Info  

1. Statistically speaking, numbers of people who identify as queer is rising (especially in countries that have legalized gay marriage). This is not because there are more queers, this is because there is a general shift in acceptance and because it is now safer to be out in these places. But there still just aren’t that many of us. 

Part of that has to do with pop culture. But most of it it safety. 

2. We queers will still always be drastically in the minority (especially if queers continue to bifurcate, dive into tribalism, otherize, and ostracize - i.e. the gays vs the lesbians vs the bisexuals vs ace vs trans. Or force outings and self-identifications in order to participate in the culture, shit like that.) If we aren’t a cohesive group there are even fewer of us. 

3. Because we are a minority, purely queer serving recognition by the entertainment industry will always be niche (small indie and specifically queer brands). Our spending capital is too small (and too varied in taste) for most major brands and production houses. A thriving entertainment industry is a capitalistic endeavor that requires large target demographics.

Normalization

Here's the pitch. I genuinely believe that Will & Grace did more to normalize gay acceptance in the US than most other shows before or since. It came at the right time, packaged sanitize gay (and gay stereotypes) in a prime time slot to a massive family market. (I may or may not have written about this academically a time or two.) It's not a good show, it's not at all queer friendly, but it was effective. It made gay okay. 

The path to cultural acceptance is insidious. It's through misrepresentation and tokenism. It starts with kill the gays (at least the straights are crying for our suffering) and punish the queers and moves into punching down humor and romcom snarky besties. Eventually, it becomes representation. This takes years, decades. I’m not defending it. It just is. 

Yaoi and then BL is an entirely unique form of this. It has so many issues precisely because it comes without a queer lens, but slowly and surely it's being called out on this by queer folk and internally starting to check itself.

Slowly but surely it's gonna get better and better about it, while still serving its largely non-queer consumer base (see Not Me and Bad Buddy). It will never become fully queer because the watchers want the sanitized (or eroticized or fetishized) version of gay.

And I'm okay with that and here's why... 

There are only 30 countries where same-sex marriage is legal and still 69 countries that have laws that criminalize homosexuality. 

This Bit Might Make You Cry 

Because of BL, just maybe, that housewife in Texas smiles when the gay boys in front of her hold hands, instead of finding it disgusting and spitting on the street. Because she secretly watches BL when her husband is asleep.

Because places where being gay was once literally, actually, cultural taboo are become (just) homophobic and that's gonna be a fight, but at least that's fightable, where taboo is not. 

Because people pin images and make gifs of gay boys kissing in BL, and those tiny insidious things transcend firewalls. And maybe the first few times when she sees it, she winces, but maybe the sixth time she pins in to her secret board and thinks, “hey that’s actually kinda sweet.” 

Because of BL, when her kid comes out to her, maybe she remembers those horrible parents in that one BL series and how badly they handled it, and how much it hurt the child. So maybe she’s a little less harsh about how his coming out effects her status and identity. 

Because in places where BL watchers vote, and they're mostly women so they don't vote everywhere, when marriage equality comes up and no one is looking over her shoulder, she might vote yes. Because she watched fucking TharnType get married and she thought it was cute.

And that's fine.

Because we REALLY need her. Them. All of them.  

Yes, we personally, as queers, need these narratives, badly. We need the happiness that they show us. 

But we really really need the normalization they provide to non-queers.

Supporting articles of interest: 

The Development and Influence of Parasocial Relationships With Television Characters: A Longitudinal Experimental Test of Prejudice Reduction Through Parasocial Contact by Bradley J. Bond (University of San Diego, CA, USA) January 30, 2020) 

Streaming Content Influences Koreans’ Perception of Sexual Minorities by Lee Si-jin for Asian News Network, July 12, 2022. 

In Conclusion

Don’t be a shit to straights who like BL. Think of it as an opportunity to be kind and to educate. BL can open their eyes and we can turn wonder into allies. And some of you might be far too young, or feel far too safe now to remember, but holly shit do we need all the allies we can get. Especially on a global scale. 

And guess what we get to do in response to all this? 

We get to give back love.

That's a privilege.

Because they are gonna make it a hell of a lot easer for us to exist and to love with dignity.

That's our right. But it's not one most of us actually have.

BL is genuinely fighting for us. And maybe it’s warped and crippled and not truthfully queer or exactly what we want. And it probably never will get there. 

BUT IT IS FIGHTING FOR US. 

One of the guest talents in Until We Meet Again. 

(source)