#did any of these people actually read the books or just consume certain parts of fanon???

[oh-wow-im-still-here]

Everytime I come across an anonymous ask from one of those danmei confessions blogs that is so utterly, bafflingly wrong I take psychic damage.

[alpaca-clouds]

About the international vampires (that are not really vampires)

You know what? Based on the rant I posted last week about the James Somerton video, let me vent about this one specific thing that I have seen around since basically forever. The thing even I believed, because the non-fiction books on vampire mythology I read as a teen claimed this as well. The claim that there are vampires all around the world, that basically every culture has a vampire myth. And that... it is just bullshit. And not only bullshit, but colonial bullshit.

Let me ask you one thing: What do you think of, when I say "vampire"?

I would guess your thoughts are:

Undead (and hence probably immortal)

Drinks blood or maybe consumes human life energy

Probably some sexually charged stuff

And, well... Those things are only really a thing with some of the vampires we find in Eastern European Mythology, which later spread into other parts of Europe (especially England). There is one of the wanna-be international vampires, that kinda fit the deal - though only through more modern interpretation. And that is the Aswang from the Phillipines. But even here, this is not part of the original myth but more came to be through mixing of the myths of the culture with Western mythology.

And that... is actually the big issue here.

See, vampire mythology as we know it is mostly a thing from Victorian England. While we will find some of the ideas in the Eastern European mythology that Victorian England based their ideas on, most things we associate with it come from England. And you know what England did over the years? Yeah, that is right, they colonized most of the fucking world.

And that is where the issue comes in.

See, as someone who is very much into comparative mythology I can tell you: Yes, there are certain ideas in different mythologies that repeat. Showing up in myths around the world. (One of my favorites is the "magic tree connected to knowledge".)

But a big issue with comparative mythology is, that some parts of it are also Western researchers (or people who wanna be such) looking for imagery that confirms their preconscieved notions. And as such they want to find those creatures and gods and patterns that are "just like this thing from our mythology". It is a big thing that happened with Campbell.

And that... kinda has just happened with vampires as well. If you look into the claimed to be vampires all around the world, you will find, that most of them are not vampires at all. At times they do not consume blood, are not undead and also do not have anything about themselves that could really be considered vampiric. Or they are undead, but if we were honest, if anything they are more like zombies than vampires (the hungry dead of Chinese mythology are a good example of this).

And, yeah... I am sorry, but that is just colonial bullshit. It is taking a Western thing and pressing international mythology through this one specific lense. That is not how any of this works.

It is disrespectful towards those other cultures and their mythology. Those creatures are not vampires, they are their own fucking thing.

Now, by all means. If you wanna put other European creatures through the vampire lense... Fine. But don't go around and claim that stuff from other cultures is actually "totally like this one European thing". It is... just horrible.

And yes, I am looking angrily at fucking World of Darkness here, too. Because boy howdy, do they like to do that with their rulebooks, too. (For heaven's sake, White Wolf, just hire people from other cultures. I am begging you!)

[olderthannetfic]

Hi ONTF, sorry to vent in your inbox but I’ve just stumbled into 3 different posts in rapid succession that had me boggling. I don’t know, they were probably just vent-y tumblr hyperbolic posts but is this really how a lot of people on here are about the media they consume?

One was about how another show ended in a queerbaiting mess (did it? Really? Does queerbaiting mean what you think it does?), the second one was about how people should boycott any show with even a hint of queerbaiting (which, in context, seems to mean with any shippy dynamic that doesn’t become canon in 2 episodes!) and the third one was about people insisting that a show is actual representation when, as much as I liked Good Omens, it just isn’t.

I was left staring at my screen with the impression that these people are either looking at meh shows they don’t actually think much of with their slash goggles firmly on and basing their opinion of the show’s worth on weather their ship becomes canon or trying to shoehorn representation in shows that they did enjoy because otherwise they wouldn’t feel as good about liking them? Idk, I guess what I’m asking is was it just 3 badly worded posts or is this an attitude you’ve noticed on this hellsite?

And at the same time if representation, no, let’s be honest: if the canonical status of their specific ship is so important to them that they can’t enjoy a show unless it’s there why do they seem to mainly be watching mainstream stuff with low chances of an actual payoff? I keep rewriting this part, I keep getting sidetracked. Basically I agree with you that people on here seem to put way too much faith in the idea that mainstream shows are writing things a certain way to bait queer audience when I think they’re just doing what mainstream shows have always done and most just don’t much care. But I wonder what has caused this idea, what gave people the expectation that their queer ship, often between well known main characters, has a chance in hell of becoming canon? Is it because roughly ten years ago a couple of shows went “actually yes, this infamous cannibal is in love with the fbi agent! Straightbait! Our main pirate is queer!”? But Hannibal and Black Sails were both pretty niche, not super popular shows. They were, and remain, exceptions. Sherlock and, idk, Got, were whole other beasts popularity wise. The fact that it is still unusual is why people where so happy and excited about ofmd! But statistically? Either a show is clearly marketed to a queer audience or the chances of a queer main character/ship are abysmally low and I don’t get why people keep doing this to themselves. Sorry, I’m rambling and confused at that absurd boycott idea and I’m curious to hear what you and others think.

--

Well... when you mostly read books by AO3y people and hang around in fanfic space, reality does cater to you. One forgets how different the rest of the world is.

And in many ways, that's a good thing.

But I spend a lot of my time on original m/m rather than big name shows, and it definitely helps.

When one swims in the AO3/Tumblr/Tiktok/whatever waters all day long and then goes back to really big media, expecting the same status quo, one is disappointed.

[mermaidsirennikita]

Not to do the whole "I read those books and I turned out fine!" argument but I really don't think it's a big deal? Not saying we should be encouraging teenagers to read them but I grew out of ya fast and the new adult books I was reading were uh...not great so reading more mature stuff was just a natural progression. I just wish they were reading better stuff and not Colleen Hoover or Gothikana or whatever grabage is currently popular on booktok. Also let's not kid ourselves fanfiction is more explicit than your average trad published romance novel nowadays, and more easily accessible.

I also turned out fine, and in theory I don't have an issue with underage people consuming explicit content. Obviously, they will.

But a large percentage of the time, when kids BUY content, they are buying it with their parents' money; and I don't think it's great for parents to not know where their money is going, for one thing. Now--could they (and should they) research the books? Yeah. However, it was a lot easier for them to do that in the past when these covers were very clear re: the book's audience and I think it should remain easy. Especially when, as some people have pointed out to me, some parents actually do have to work around language barriers. The covers themselves used to have a language; now, they no longer do.

I also think that, despite the fact that kids will inevitably consume shit their parents don't know about, it's a great idea for parents to know WHEN POSSIBLE. (Not always, obviously--there are ALWAYS outliers when discussing any topic, which is why we allow for nuance.) For example: my mom let me read her romance novels. And I'll tell you what--part of why I turned out just fine is that we actually did talk about shit. We discussed things. There was an open dialogue.

It's not that I don't think kids should read explicit content. It's that I think that it's absolutely not a bad thing for people to think (good, non-abusive) parents should know what their kids are getting into... and that kids should be marketed content that is for THEM.

As I said in my original post--there is absolutely no way that books coming from big 5 publishers have confusing covers just because people think they're cute, or because adults (who typically have more access to ereaders financially than kids) don't want racy covers. These publishers know that there are both parents and kids picking up certain books, not knowing what it's about, and getting into shit they didn't actually want. It's purposefully misleading marketing. None of this is accidental.

And the kids aren't the only ones who don't know what the fuck they're buying anymore, but I digress.

Obviously, people can, again, look a book up. But why do we have to go down rabbit holes to find a Goodreads review that mentions a heat level~, why do we have to use unreliable ratings from users, to know what a book contains... When there used to be a pretty clear way of communicating it through covers. Books have become more expensive in a big way, and at the same time they've become harder to decipher quickly and efficiently. Which, to me, is a pretty big fucking problem when you're working within a genre that is commercial.

(Also: some kids genuinely don't wanna read that shit or find it uncomfortable, and then spend $20, which is all that's in their 12 year old bank account, on Icebreaker because it's on a table with books for an assortment of ages and the cover looks like it's for teenagers. Kids can see ratings for fics and proceed knowing what they're getting. For free.)

[seven-ivy]

About me!

┌────────── ・ ・ ・ ・ ✦

│⁻ ˏˋ꒰ Basics ꒱ ˊˎ⁻

✧ Nikki ♡ 21, she/her, INTJ

Hello! I'm Nikki, the author of Seven (a JJK fic) and this is my page to share my work and other interests and finally start interacting on this platform with other users.

Seven will be slowly updated on AO3 as I have already pre-written some chapters but these chapters are lengthy and take a while to write and read over. Mind the tags!! There will be violence, trauma, and gore in this fic so I will do my best to display trigger warnings.

My ask box is always open, so feel free to ask anything, or just leave a message on whatever you like. At the moment, I don't take requests but that might change in the future.

I will continue to update with my latest work(s) as well as what I'm currently writing.

More about me and my work(s) below the cut! Happy reading!

│⁻ ˏˋ꒰ Writing Q&A ꒱ ˊˎ⁻

✧ Why did you start Seven?

Seven, like all my other writing endeavors, started as a little fantasy in my head as a way to self-insert into every piece of media I consume. I didn't ever think to seriously write it until Gege started upping the angst and breaking my heart in gut-wrenching scenarios when I decided to give into the delusion and finally write something that would distract me from what was going on in the manga.

Being said, as you read Seven you will start to see that it doesn't exactly follow the plot. This is mainly because I wanted to exercise a little creativity with the plot and Gege's mind, though tortured, is genius that I could never try to imitate.

I also feel like there is a lack of OC-driven multilength JJK fics in the fandom (that, or I don't know where to look) so I wanted to try my hand at filling that niche.

✧ How long will Seven be?

... I don't know? Certain parts of the plot have been running through my head over and over for months, but some things I just leave up to the madness that consumes my brain when I'm writing at 2 AM.

Like Nana, even though is an independent original character, I haven't planned out fully what she looks like (just vague references that she resembles Gojo). As I write more, I get to know more about her character, and even though it isn't a very author-like thing to do, it keeps things exciting for me as well.

But don't worry, I have some arcs briefly planned out, and the manga is still ongoing so there will be lots to keep writing about.

✧ What do you write on?

Google docs. Just one very long Google doc that I keep updating. Maybe it's not the best loading wise but I like to keep it all in one place so I can re-read everything in one go to make sure I eliminate any plot-holes that arise.

I also enjoy Grammarly a lot (my savior) and without it there would be many times Nana would become Naan :(

✧ Writing inspo/tips

This isn't my first go at writing a long (40+) chapter fic so I have experienced an immense learning curve during this writing journey.

The first is one that I used to groan at too but it's honestly the best advice. If you want to be a better writer... read more. And I don't mean on tumblr/wattpad/AO3 (how I wish it could be) but actual published novels.

And read from many different genres from many different origins from many different periods. By doing so, you will diversify your vocabulary, your knowledge, and learn the nuances of writing that can only be learned from reading a really good book.

The second is to take the time to find what works. Writing isn't going to look the same for all people. Some people can only write in the early morning, some at night, and a lucky few aren't constricted by the silly hours of time.

Some writers can listen to music, others can't. Some need to plan everything out in obsessive detail, while others just go with the flow.

Take the time to figure out what works best for you and make use of it.

The third is to write more. Simple, but to improve your writing, first you need to get all of the shaky, baby lamb trying to stand on its own, in other words, "bad" stuff out before you can start to see progress. Looking back at my first attempts at writing... I am appalled but grateful that I got through it to get to where I am now. you don't necessarily need to publish it on a platform, but just get it out. Like letting the murky water run out from a tap first before you get it clear.

✧ My recs

Don't know where to start? I'll help you out. Here are some of the media I consumed that put a passion in me to write.

JJK (obvi), old poetry classics, Greek myths and tales, research into Buddhism and Shinto, Madeline Miller novels, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, Agatha Christie novels, Secret History by Donna Tartt, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

There are many more, but these have stood out to me particularly.

│⁻ ˏˋ꒰ Other fandoms ꒱ ˊˎ⁻

If you've made it this far I'll let you into some other fandoms/communities I enjoy besides JJK:

Mob Psycho, Saiki K, TWST, Demon Slayer, MHA, Castlevania, Mystic Messenger.

I'm not always active in those fandoms and I'm def forgetting some but at some point in my life I'd been very obsessed.

[majormeilani]

8 9 and 12 for the ask meme?

autism ask meme

8. If you have any, what are your special interests?

i have a strong special interest in miniatures as in those really teeny tiny things that look like common objects like chairs or books or cookware. even better if the thing is made of realistic materials or actually functional like these one miniature playing cards i have that are an actual full deck you could quite literally play a card game with. they are actually sooooo cool. i also love dollhouses (esp calico critters bc they're so detailed) and miniature scenes.

i also enjoy dancing and choreography as well as watching people act. performance arts are very fun for me as they are both entertaining to watch and be a part of. i also love to imitate it just for fun.

i also enjoy art and its history as well as the process of game development and story building. reading and writing are also tons of fun for me. media analysis is very fun to me too as i find it fun to both consume a story and break things down about it to analyze and consider different perspectives on and i especially love talking to people about them.

psychology and behavioral studies are also very interesting to me. i love to consider the multiple possibilities of something in accordance to the circumstances that someone finds themselves in and i find human development fascinating. i also loveeeed science as a kid especially animal science and botany but in general i always found everything about it fascinating.

there's more like specific special interests i have but i can't think of them right now…. i know there's definitely media i'm interested in in regards to shows and games too but people usually mean more general things in regards to special interests than say the games that i like or something lol. but i still think they can be considered special interests too :) tho most the time i call those hyperfixations as i have adhd too but tbh they overlap most the time.

9. What was your first special interest?

i want to say probably stuffed animals and maybe cats and hamsters. i had and have many stuffed animals still as i always felt like i needed more little buddies to be my companions with. i also for a time remember being really really obsessed with this pumpkin i got to decorate in kindergarten and i was always writing about it in my little daily journal that they had us do until it unfortunately rotted and i had to throw it away. i remember the little drawings i did of it though with orange crayola markers but sadly i don't know if we have the journals anymore 😔😔

12. Do you headcanon any characters as autistic? If you want, tell us why you headcanon them as autistic.

oh for sure!!!

when it comes to hattytime i believe quite a few of the characters are autistic, namely bow kid, hat kid, snatcher and conductor. they all have a certain vibe to them that gives me the impression that they are. though i'm sure if i thought about it enough, i could most definitely see many of the others as autistic too.

bow and hat also appear to have selective mutism, which is a trait that i share with them myself so i always found that to be the one clue to that. they also appear to both be very analytical about their approach to things and seem to have respective fixations in regards to their manner of dressing, where hat kid seems to like more simple and loose, flowy, comfy clothes and bow kid seems to like more decorated styles of dress and i think that is a part of how they express themselves. not to mention i always saw some of their idle animations as a stim of some kind.

snatcher it's hard to explain exactly but i feel like with how consistent he is in his social interactions and desire to be left alone gives me the impression that he is autistic. he also seems to have a special interest in reading and studying things, even the subcon time rift cluing to a possible interest in science and experimentation. he also seems to share kind of a lack of social understanding especially when he was still the prince and how he's portrayed within the storybook not quite understanding why vanessa was so upset with him. also, the way he has a default stance that he stands in with his hands clasped, something that i often find myself doing too in finding a very comfortable position to be standing in.

conductor i find to be autistic as well just because of his special interests in movies and his train. he also has a similar way of standing in a default way with his hands behind his back or fidgeting constantly as a form of stim. he also seems to struggle a lot in social settings and comes off very direct and blunt and seems to struggle a lot with emotional regulation. it's just very obvious to me that he's autistic. i also think on top of his autism he has a form of ocd too, something that is comorbid with autism.

i think maybe grooves i could argue similarly that he could be autistic too? but i'm not sure because i hadn't really considered it but i'm open to the idea of course ❤️ :) though i mostly considered his to some anxiety disorder or adhd explaining his behavior but i could also see him being a bit autistic .

outside from hattytime tho, i believe max caulfield from life is strange to be autistic. she shares the same traits that i personally do and has a special interest in photography. it's also possible that chloe also is too just by how she interacts with the world and how she had a special interest in science.

when it comes to mgs, i believe naked snake/big boss and the other snakes to all be very autistic. they all seem to have their respective interests and just how they interact with others socially and romantically really gives me the impression that they are. i want to argue possibly that revolver ocelot and some the cobra unit are definitely autistic too. also otacon and the rest of his family for sure given me the impression that they are too.

from toh, i know that i definitely like to think of gus and luz as having autism. luz of course adhd and autism at the same time and gus i think is very much autistic. i don't often have many hcs for the toh characters but just solely based on vibes.

rena ryuugu, rika furude and satoko houjou from higurashi i also believe to be autistic and it's solely based on how their personalities come across and their means of expressing themselves.

i'm sure though if i went through the many other medias that i enjoy and made a list i would be able to point out characters in each one who i believe to be autistic but ough this list has gotten very long as is. thank you so much for asking though!!!!!!! ❤️

[lavishpink]

Bilingual Thoughts

How many languages do you speak? I mean fluently... that is. It is nothing to bost about these days but I speak two and have been studying for third..

I speak Korean and English. Back in the days (long long time ago) when I went to middle school and high school in the States, i used to have my thoughts in English. I guess that is natural when you live in an English speaking country and is exposed to everything English minus your immediate family.

Nowadays, even though I love to consume English contents, I do not have that many chances to speak English. I do watch Netflix in English without the subtitles and I do love reading books in English but as for speaking... there just aren't that many options.

So I find myself rusty sometimes. The incredible thing is that, whenever I travel or interact with group of English speaking people for over certain amount of time, I can feel my wheels turning and getting better at speaking within a very short amount of time. Human brain is amazing!! It is like there is a dormant part part of me that awakens sometimes.

Last Friday, my bookclub had our monthly booktalk meet upat a hummus restaurant at COEX mall (in Seoul). For November, we read "Crying in H Mart" by Michelle Zauner. Even though I had my teenage years in the states going to school as an asian girl and having super Korean parents, I had hard time relating to the author and did not find significance of reading this book. I was happy to find most of our members agreed with me and we chatted away~~~ in English. This book club is very special where it is consisted of small group of people who loves reading "actual" books, speaks English, and lives around Seoul all at the same time. It is rare to find these kind of people and I am very grateful to have met these wonderful group of readers. Our book talk usually bounces around a lot, and our conversation jumped from our book to topics in our lives and our experiences living abroad and so on. (not everyone in our group has lived abrod actually). I had so much fun that day, talking away in my second language and felt like there's this other version of me that comes out whenever I speak a different language. I am not saying which version is better or worse, but this is a very special experience.

Do any of you feel this way? ever? I am curious.

[woainirecords]

Sup

I feel like I love danmei but I cannot bring myself to read my huge library of it which doesn't make sense. I am a writer and shouldn't I be reading more ? But the feeling is that I've read enough - which I have - and enough of every genre to know that I won't encounter new ideas. Maybe twists done in new ways but in general, and I find this odd to admit anywhere, but reading feels exhausting these days. I went from being a bookworm who sold things for money to buy books (and I loved second hand books so much) to not wanting any physical books around me and everything online to not even that. How can a digital library that I can't see or touch feel so burdensome ?

My mother said that in her thirties with a kid, she too lost interest in reading (my grandparents built an actual bookcase for her, something I never got) and that returned only when she was forty-fifty. Then too she said that I have very specific tastes in reading and any author past 1920s won't make me happy. Luckily there were a couple who did - and there's danmei. But the person who was known for reading and being bookish is now shying away from books. This is so weird. So...so weird.

Books I guess are no longer an escape. I have moved to non-fiction in recent years because I said, the plots don't seem to have sufficient meat these days. Maybe I need to move to a different genre or find a new hobby. Maybe a bookish person can become non-bookish in later life - something I never thought would happen.

I have tried audiobooks even and boy is it painful. It takes forever to finish an audiobook. And I am not an auditory-learning type of person. Speaking to me does not engage my full attention at all. Yet I did persevere and now I have about what - hundreds of hours of listening to do and no patience to do it.

I wonder if I have become part of the doomscrolling generation - I was always a willing victim of it. Videos are easy to consume but so I say are books. Maybe it is a patience problem. But I never considered books to be difficult and even gently ribbed people for saying things like 'Oh I never read books' and 'Reading is such a difficult hobby'. In fact I did it last week. And here I am doubting my ability to stick with a book for any amount of time.

Apart from rereading books I have always loved (the exception being danmei), I have only encountered one writer in the 2000s who is somewhat alright. Just one and that too in the YA space. I did give another YA writer a chance - read their whole trilogy - actually I gave 2 of them a chance - Six of Crows (before the Netflix series came out) and The Folk of the Air. They weren't bad - but they never hooked me like Rick Riordan did. And that's about it. I feel like I am never fully engaged in other books, especially the ones that shoehorn in juvenile romances instead of focusing on the worldbuilding. Again, maybe that's just me - for sure I am not the teenager targeted by the typical YA author.

Coming to danmei, they do have significant world building - pages and pages of it and the romance is there as well, sometimes tastefully done, sometimes overt. I also have to skip over bits because I want to read 'clean' books - that's a me problem though. Anyway danmei satisfied a lot of my criteria but....I feel overwhelmed by all the books I have and also, the genre itself (which I love) means cumulatively it is a lot of romance, after navigating through the circumstances. Maybe I have pigeonholed myself by choosing danmei BUT I feel like I can't do it. Which makes me think - if I have found a thousand authors writing in a genre I like and still think I can't do it - then that means that I am the problem here.

Whether it is my patience, or ability to concentrate, or the feeling of guilt that I should be focusing on other things, reading feels like not a priority and a tiresome chose. And I hate that. But even I acknowledge, certain authors have ruined certain genres for me. There's no one who can write like M.R James (not even Le Fanu) and that's the end of that genre. Even now, listening to James via the audiobooks, it is just different, it's amazing - his writing brings out an indescribable feeling that I do not think I will encounter again in the genre. Yes, it sounds like I am blaming dead and gone authors for being too good but that's where we are at.

To sum up : Idk what's happening, what's been happening with me. Bookshops were my paradise on earth - now I am not so sure about that. And itfeelsbadman.

[starlling-writes]

Tag Game

[first time I was actually tagged in one lol]

Tag nine people to get to know better

Three ships: part of me wants to be a smartass and say like junk, Ever Given, & sunken, but uh... Shadowgast (Critical Role), Gajevy (Fairy Tail), Zelgen (Legend of Zelda) - bonus answer Primm (Death Head's Deal) uwu

First ever ship: first one I can RECALL is ByakuyaXMarik (Yu-Gi-Oh) lol

Last Song: that I listened to - Sugar Crush by ElyOtto, Kim Petras, & Curtis Waters. That I discovered and got addicted to - Look Alive by Oxymorrons

Last Movie: Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse

Currently reading: King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo (it's taken me way too long to finally get to this book), & also a bunch of Edgar Allen Poe, specifically the stories I haven't read before that are featured in netflix's new series The Fall of the House of Usher (it was definitely more fun knowing the stories before watching the respective episodes, imo)

Currently Watching: technically a live stream (watching ChilledChaos and a bunch of his friends play Code Names rn) but I was trying to watch Blue Eye Samurai on netflix - however, I stopped bc my historical-fashion-loving ass just got too annoyed by the lack of undergarments under all the kimono. I also got super annoyed by some shibari in ep4? because the rope just did not look correct at all (it's like they wanted the look of a hishi karada but without doing a hishi karada. also everything looked to be a single line of rope instead of having 2 next to each other (like most rope bondage I've learned) which just seemed super odd to me). It felt like someone who isn't into bondage at all just looked at some references and then did whatever. Lastly, it just feels weird bc it's such a Japanese story but it's made by an american/Canadian studio (yes, I know one of the creators is Japanese, but it still feels off to me and I can't stop wondering how accurate various things are). All that said - I do know certain things needs to get cut/simplified for animation's sake; but it all still added up to bother me more than I was enjoying the show, so I stopped :/

Currently consuming: just finished some left over pizza and some ginger ale

Currently craving: tea, and fresh raspberries (omg it's been way too long since I've had fresh berries and now I'm mad I don't have any T^T)

Idk who to tag, partially bc I don't have a lot of mutuals, partially bc of social anxiety, so answer if you want <3

[suspicious-pools-of-blood]

🎃 pumpkin: do you have any favorite brainstorming techniques? how do you like to gather ideas for your wip?

I'm not a very consistent writer, so I tend to write when I feel ~inspired~ rather than actively trying to come up with ideas (wouldn't recommend, don't be like me), but I tend to get ideas when I'm consuming other media, especially historical fiction or history non-fiction. I just finished a book about the historical influences for the myth of the Amazons, and now I'm reading a paper about the structure of nomadic tribes, which gives really good context for part of my setting. I also just spend a lot of time on the ancient world side of Wikipedia :P Also for more vibes-based (potentially less historically accurate) influences I really like certain TV shows like Resurrection Ertuğrul and Destan because they are high budget historical fiction productions about the Turkic nomads of the Eurasian steppes, which are a major influence on my WIP, so it's cool for ideas about setting (like what kind of clothes people might wear, what they eat/drink, how a 2000 yurt encampment might be set up, etc.); I also quite enjoyed the docudrama miniseries Rise of Empires: Ottoman, which was about Mehmet II and the conquest of İstanbul (it was a blend of historical fiction TV show and actual documentary with historian interviews). On the more whump side of things I get a lot of ideas from reading about the ancient Roman empire, because holy fuck they did some fucked up shit irl (the Spartacus TV show on Starz gave me A Lot of evil fiction ideas and I started reading about the historical context and only then realized how much of the fucked up shit on that show wasn't actually fiction lmao)

[buggyrpt]

hiiiiii!!! you're my absolute favorite blog in the rpc rn especially as another puerto rican person with taíno roots. as someone who was raised pretty far from my culture though i am very careful about not claiming taíno or anything, but i'm very interested in connecting with that side, i'm just not sure where to start! were you raised with knowledge of your taíno background or did you also have to reconnect? ❤️

MABRIKA BESTIE!!!!! this got long sorry dkfghkfdhg

EDIT: i forgot to include this but another great way to reconnect is signing petitions/donating to any taíno causes you find online!!!!!

yeah i'm definitely having to reconnect. my close living relatives with taíno ancestry don't really claim taíno (there are ones that do and are alive but i've never met them and they live hours away) and my last living relative who did that i knew was my afro-taína great grandma who used to tell me que ella era india but she died years ago and back then i was little, i barely remember any of her stories and i obviously wasn't as educated as i am now and wasn't really interested in claiming taíno especially because they taught us at school that taínos were basically extinct so i probably thought she was crazy lmao. i really regret not asking her more about her culture and her upbringing back then, especially now knowing that learning from elders is a very very important part in reconnecting. the only thing i'd say i was left with from my ancestry are certain words in my vocabulary (a lot you'd think are puerto rican slang, but are actually taíno words like sanako, motetes, fotuto). if you're interested in connecting, PLEASE DO SO!!!!! it is so important that we do so we can keep this culture alive and let people know that we're still here!!!! you're carrying taíno blood in your veins no matter what percent and we have to honor and live for our ancestors so they can continue to live through us. i'd say the best place you can start is reading, connecting with and following fellow taíno people on social media (there's an amazing taíno community on tiktok, just be mindful of who you're consuming content from because some people spread misinformation on there. @tainolibrary is the best and they have links on their page to FREE books that you can read and other resources), and once you feel like you have a strong foundation of general knowledge, DEFINITELY try to enroll in a yukayeke so you can get involved in the community and learn from elders. enrolling is free and literally all you need is to be taíno. that's all. the only reason i don't consider myself fully connected is because i'm not currently part of a yukayeke, and regretfully im at a point in my life where i cant enroll in one in borikén because i'm leaving in a week :/ but there are yukayekes all over the diaspora so i'm definitely gonna be looking for them in my area!!!! i hope this helped, and if you have more questions pls feel free to ask!!!!!

[cinnamonest]

Kaeya Alberich - Yandere Profile

YES I love my eyepatch boy!! I really like him as a yandere, because he's definitely got several traits and behaviors that would make him a very unconventional/different yet absolutely terrifying one to have. Him or Diluc as your yandere is basically like playing a game on maximum difficulty. He's so arrogant dammit why does he have to make it hot

More importantly, someone take the ability to write n/sfw away from me I s2g... I go from trying to make serious content to nasty weird kinks and completely feral in .002 seconds the moment I add that readmore

tws: gaslighting, manipulation, yandere, mentions of mutilation

tws (below cut): noncon, a good deal of sadism, mentions of an*l

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What are they generally like? Lucid, aware? Obsessive? How do they behave?

He's actually one of the worst yanderes you could have in almost every regard, for two very simple reasons: his crippling psychological issues, and his intense selfishness. The first manifests as severe abandonment issues. It's the origin of his unhealthy feelings, most likely. Kaeya doesn't like the instability of people - based on his backstory, people always leave, or die, and even if they don't intend to, somehow it feels like abandonment, and he resents it. People leave him all alone and afraid and uncertain. That's generally all he knows, and despite the smug exterior, he's actually pushed people away quite a bit, keeps everyone at arm's length to ensure they can't become someone too important for him to accept their sudden absence. He can't care about someone, because that someone is fated to inevitably leave him, no matter who it may be.

That's why, once you manage to worm your way into his feelings and heart despite his best efforts, once he finally caves to acknowledging the feeling, he's aware. Painfully aware, because be can't stop worrying every waking moment about you, your well-being, your location. It reaches a point where he can't go about his job because he's simply too consumed with his worry.

The solution that kept him safest in the past was to avoid developing emotional attachments, but when he does, he's terrified of both your safety AND you intentionally abandoning him. Really, the latter would hurt worse, since he can't fault you for dying, but to abandon him? It would break him.

And, to some extent, he's developed a lot of  prideful anger about it, deep, deep down. He feels that he doesn't deserve to be abandoned, doesn't deserve to just be left behind under the guise of some greater purpose, and he'll be damned if he just lets you toss him aside like he feels others did. Even if you reject him, he won't accept it. You don't get to reject him. He won't allow that. What has he ever done to deserve everything that's happened to him? Nothing. You're the one person who has stayed with him, and you're going to continue to be with him. Forever.

That being said, he's still somewhat confident because he's got that arrogance about him. He doesn't perceive rejection, because he's always gotten a lot of attention for his looks, even if he's never actually followed through on anyone else's attention out of those same fears. He'll write off any perceived rejection as being for some other reason, something besides an actual rejection, and he'll seek to eliminate whatever he feels is keeping you from just accepting him.

Honestly, one of the most likely to have a full blown, classic-yandere-style psychotic breakdown. He can be driven to a snapping point, if there's enough stress or obstacles, and in case of that, he'll be a lot more willing to kill, and a lot more willing to hurt you, but it's a point that would still take a lot to reach.

But what's really terrifying about Kaeya is his delusions, primarily his ability to mentally justify everything he does without hesitation. Even most delusional yanderes struggle - they feel like it's wrong, they know it is deep down, and they take time to convince themselves of their delusions, tell themselves it's ok over and over, beg for reassurance, and get defensive when called out because they know they're in the wrong. The same isn't true for Kaeya. He automatically justifies his actions by default, and has absolutely zero doubt or hesitation to do so. He doesn't even need a complex reason for justification - it's a simple one. He deserves what he wants. Anything necessary to achieve that is fair.

How likely are they to kidnap their darling? How quickly will they do so?

Highly likely and very quickly, right up there with Diluc and Razor. And he's absolutely remorseless about it. It ties back into his delusional state and ability to justify anything he does - this is what's best for you. If you don't get that, that's your problem, not his.

He's another one to not want to pull some barbaric move like knocking you out, rather, he'd rather just trick you into walking right into your new home. He gets that you'll be upset about it, but to him, that's just part of the process. Not that he'll tolerate it for too long. 12, maybe 24 hours is enough time for you to reasonably be upset, but if you're still trying to fight him on this after that, he's going to get snappy about it, thinking you should already be over that by now.

How difficult is it to escape from them? How do they keep you restrained? How do they deal with attempted escape? 

You're not leaving.

It's not worth trying, really. How he manages to do it is a mystery to you, but he'll manage to keep you locked in right there at the headquarters with him. How Jean and Lisa haven't found out about you being there, how he convinced all of his guards to be on his side of things, you have no idea. Realistically, if you get out, he's likely to make you out to be some kind of criminal that needs to be found -- just not to hurt you in any way, so goes the order, and the knights know better than to question why.

He has eyes and ears everywhere, it won't take them anytime at all to find you. He's so confident in that, and combined with his pride, he doesn't feel the need to go get you himself. No, it's a lot more satisfying to sit back and watch as they drag you through the doors of the headquarters, slowly pull you to the end of the room and drop you down at his feet, where he can look down on you with that closed-eyed, artificially wide smile that tells you that you have seriously fucked up.

Escape attempts aren't going to be met with a single shred of mercy, really. The thing about Kaeya is he's ultimately a selfish, selfish bastard with a lot of deep-seeded, highly repressed emotional issues, and he has absolutely no problem with keeping you bound hand and foot, or maybe even make some permanent modifications to your body if that's what it takes to keep you. It's not a wise idea to even try unless you're absolutely certain to succeed, otherwise you may find yourself never getting the opportunity again. You don't really need those Achilles tendons intact, you know. And your ankle bones are just so fragile, they'll snap with just a little twist. Actually, that wouldn't be too bad, giving you more reasons to be grateful when he's doing everything for you.

He's not one to just let it go, either. No, escape attempts are the one unforgivable thing for him, the one thing that will make him totally and completely snap. You don't get to do that. You're the one thing that doesn't get to just disappear out of his life in a flash. Half the reason he sends the knights to get you rather than going himself is to give him some time to let the rage settle down, otherwise he knows he might not be able to control himself and might end up hurting you even worse than he intends to. He's not going to buy any excuses and won't go any lighter on you if you beg and grovel or anything. But you will apologize -- you get to choose how hard it is. You can apologize the easy way, or, if you don't want to, there are many ways to force it out. But by the end, he'll get an apology, and a promise to never try again, out of you, no matter what that takes. It's by far the worst state you'll ever see him in, and really, once is enough to dissuade you from trying again.

How easy are they to trick, deceive, or manipulate?

You'd have to try pretty hard. He doesn't have the sheer amount of years of life experience like Venti or Zhongli, but he's not the captain for no reason - he's perceptive, and highly intelligent.

Rather than simply mastering reading human voice and facial expressions for telltale signs of deceit, he's good at learning individuals in particular - memorizing the patterns of thought and action of a particular individual, and predicting how they will act. He can do it with everyone else with ease, how much more, then, with the object of an obsession? If you're trying to formulate some plan to trick him, he'll already predict what you'll do, if you lie, he already knows. It's creepier than the others, really, because it's not just that he can tell when you're lying, but rather he already knows you're going to lie or try some scheme before you do it. It feels so tailored and personalized to your thought patterns, it almost feels like an invasion of the privacy of your mind, which, really, is the one privacy you thought you had left.

He's great at gaslighting himself, too. He's a very good liar, and can make you believe anything he wants. He'll target your fears and paranoias, make you believe you're going crazy, and he'll do it all so perfectly you'll never suspect a thing. You'll end up coming to him for protection and guidance, exactly as planned.

How lenient are they? What privileges can you have, and what will you be denied?

Pretty strict. He doesn't let you have any outside contact, and you're limited on what you can do when he's gone. He'll bring you some books, maybe something to draw on -- no sharp writing utensils, though. In his mind, that should be enough to occupy you.

You won't get outside walks or visits. It's just too risky for him, and he really doesn't like seeing other people look at you. If you really, really beg, and you've been on amazing behavior, and you're well into your relationship, maybe a few months or so, there's a chance he'll take you out at nighttime, or sunrise, but at the slightest sign of intentions he doesn't like, you'll be dragged back, and you won't see the sun for a long time.

You'll have a very limited wardrobe, he doesn't see why you even need to wear anything, but if you're going to be stubborn, he can get you something simple, like an old shirt and some underwear, but that's about all you can have. Any requests for actual clothing are going to be denied. It's ridiculous for him to spend money on something you don't need, and besides, he prefers it this way, y'know?

What kind of rules do they have? What kind of punishment would they use?

Generally, it's a simple one: obey. You do what he tells you to do, and you don't do something if he tells you not to. This stems to similar rules that develop: be submissive, don't be argumentative, don't be defiant. Follow those, and you can both be happy, and that's what you want, isn't it? It had better be - he's not very lenient, and will harshly punish even small offenses. As for that punishment... most of it isn't going to be sfw. That's just how he is.

What he will do is emotionally manipulate you, and he's rather good at it. You wanted to escape? Ok. He'll let you have your way, let you be alone. All alone. All by yourself, in a little room, with no one at all, which is exactly how you would have left him, had you succeeded. He knows very well how that kind of loneliness bites. He's not totally cruel, though, and he won't withhold affection from you by the time he returns -- he doesn't need to, you'll already be crying and apologizing, which is exactly what he hoped for. Not that he won't briefly mock you for it.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're crying like that because you actually missed me. Oh, you did? Being all alone isn't particularly fun, now is it? I'm sure you understand that now."

How do they deal with rivals, or perceived rivals? Will they get rid of them? Will they kill them themselves, or find another way?

Kaeya's an insanely jealous person. It doesn't show on his face, but it eats at him internally. It doesn't matter if it's a love interest, a platonic friend, even a family member. It's all the same -- people who want to take your attention away from him, people who you smile at that aren't him, people you love that aren't him. He's not one to delude himself into thinking everyone secretly loves you romantically, rather, it doesn't matter. Romantic interests are the worst threat, sure, but friends and family aren't much better.

He sees himself as above killing, though. He has people to do that for him, and he likes knowing that he has that much power. He's not going to dirty his hands with it, and frankly, they're not even worthy of his time and effort to kill them. Knights and other connections can take care of it just as well.

How easy is it to make them mad? What does their anger look like?

As somewhat previously discussed, the primary form of making him mad is attempting an escape. That's on a whole new level of anger because it strikes at a very deep, wounding insecurity. On a normal day, though, he's more easily exasperated than angry. He gets frustrated somewhat easily, especially if you're trying exceptionally hard to be a brat. He has very clear warning signs. His signature little smirk drops, he gets quiet, he balls his hands into fists and digs his fingernails into his palms. At that stage, he's irritable and might snap at you, but won't get too angry until you ignore those signs and push it.

If you do push him, though, he gets genuinely mad, which is a very quiet anger at first -- he doesn't talk much when he's mad. He acts. You'll know he's snapped when he puts down whatever he's doing, and just silently stomps over to you, face completely empty and flat, looking down at you with a cold expression. It's enough to put fear in you, but at that point, even if you apologize, you're not getting out of whatever he's planned.

So they see you as above them, beneath them, or equal to them?

Strongly in the "below" camp, a rather unusual stance for a yandere. Like many things with him, there's an inexplicable duality going on there.  You would think that if you loved someone so strongly you'd kidnap them, kill for them, and potentially suffer consequences just to have them, that you would really think highly of them. On the flip side, you would think that if you really saw someone as lowly, you wouldn't care for them, you'd see them as disposable.

But neither is true for Kaeya, no, he balances both obsessive love and complete narcissism regarding you. You're not disposable, no, he can't live without you, he needs you. But at the same time, you're not gonna be on any kind of pedestal. No, if anything, he sees himself on one, more like a throne, and you on the floor before him, how things should be.

He has a similar mindset to Zhongli or Albedo - you're fragile, you're dumb, you're incapable, and you need someone to care for you, protect you, guide you, someone who knows what's best for you, since you clearly don't. However, he's lacking in the attitude those other two have -- there's no seeing you as an angel here. There's no viewing himself as being absolutely honored to take care of you, or viewing protecting and caring for you as some kind of privilege that they're blessed to do, the way those two do.

No, as much as he loves those things, he'll never admit it, not even to himself really. Rather, his mentality is that you should be grateful. Here he is, a very highly respected, accomplished, capable person, and you...? You have what to offer, exactly? That's right, nothing, really, only cuteness and obedience, the latter of which you refuse to give him even though you really ought to. He's taking on the burden of making sure you don't get yourself killed, and how do you repay him? By getting mad about it, throwing a fit like some little kid? He puts up with your tantrums, which are really undeserved, by the way. He puts up with your disobedience and repeated rule violations, your sheer determination to defy him when he's going out of his way to do what's best for you.

One day, he thinks, you'll mature a little bit and understand why he does what he does, and when you do, you'll come groveling and sniffling about how sorry you are, how you'll never defy him again, how you'll be good and obedient from now on, and he'll love every second of it. He looks forward to that day quite a bit.

"Sigh... you know, you're pretty lucky I love you so much. You could stand to show me a little thanks, don't you think?"

How determined are they for you to love them? How hard will they try to make it happen? Or are they content just having you?

He's strongly determined, and yet... doesn't do much to try. It goes back to his mindset that really, you're the one who should be grateful for him, and eventually, you will love him. He's not gonna grovel to you or try different ways of making you love him, no, he's far too proud for that. But he's a smart man. He knows the effects that complete and total isolation other than one other person can have on someone. He's just going to sit back and wait for that effect to kick in, and slowly watch your fragile little mind deteriorate until you're desperate for affection. At which point, well, he can use it against you.

"You were so mean to me before, weren't you? You fought me every step of the way, and now you're just going to turn around and act like that didn't happen...? Well, if you're really sorry, I'll forgive you. But how am I supposed to believe you really are...? Maybe you can think of a way to prove it, hm?"

Bonus: Is there anything that makes them unique, in comparison to other yanderes?

Probably the severity of his degradation. As aforementioned, most yanderes, even the more confident or cocky individuals, either worship the ground their beloved walks on and sees themselves as beneath them, OR sees their darling as some sort of fragile, angelic being, and they are simply a protector or caretaker to that being.

It's a bit different with him, ever the narcissist. It's a strange duality born out of a rare mix of neediness, obsession, and pride. You're more like a toy, or a pet - an invaluable pet that he could never part with, but a pet nonetheless. He certainly looks down on you more than the average yandere - he mentally associates you as naive, fragile, even dumb like a lot of the aforementioned protector/caretaker types, but without the reverence to make up for it.

It's a bizarre duality that not even he fully understands - don't think for a moment that that means he'll ever tire of you, or view you as disposable. No, he's actually one of the most obsessive ones, yet very demanding of attention and praise, rather than giving it.

He frequently tests you - things like leaving the door unlocked, waiting outside just to see if you'll try it. Seeing you open that door, watching your face go from ecstatic excitement and drop to wide-eyed terror, it's priceless.

"My, my, you didn't waste any time at all, did you? Why do you look so surprised...? You should know I wouldn't slip up that badly."

Pet names, but in the most infuriatingly condescending way, and uses them more often when he's mad and trying to warn you that you're pushing his limits. Particularly fond of "sweetheart," especially with a low warning tone and clenched teeth.

General perverseness: how sexual of a person are they? What’s their drive like? How touchy do they get? Do they have any reservations about sexuality?

Horny fucker, all the way. The man has a lot of stress and frustration in his life already, that much more if you're... less than compliant with your new lifestyle. Sex, especially rough and hard, is a fantastic stress reliever.

Very little reservation. He's not crude about it, but he tends to make subtle innuendos very frequently, and laughs at your embarrassed reactions. Definitely the type to pull the whole shtick in which he says something with a blatant sexual undertone, then elaborates in a way to make it sound like having meant something else, follows with that smirk and says, "Why? What did you think I meant?" It's something he really enjoys doing, and loves to get embarrassed reactions out of people, particularly yourself.

"Touchy" doesn't begin to describe it. Pretty much from the moment you meet him, he's got his hands somewhere on your person. He grabs your shoulders when he stands behind you, he wraps an arm around you from the side when he walks up to you, he's always pressing his hands on your back and sides whenever you're navigating the streets, walking through doorways, wraps an arm around your waist when sitting next to you. It's highly uncomfortable, but really, he's just got something very subtly, but very strongly intimidating about him. You almost don't want to confront him on it. If you do, he'll laugh it off, and stop -- for maybe 48 hours or so, and then he'll be right back at it.

To the surprise of, well, everyone who's ever met him, he doesn't actually live up to the rumors of having been around the block, so to speak. His experience is actually little to none - that kinda happens when you push everyone around you away. Not that he'd ever let you know that, of course, and will probably lie if asked, but you can gleam a little bit of truth from slightly awkward movements and a bit of noticeable shakiness.

How forceful are they? Do they care about your willingness?

Kind of like Razor, the issue is that he loves you, and what better way is there of expressing love? He's not much for gift-giving or words of affirmation - no, he's a lot better with words of degradation, it comes more naturally to him. And he's certainly not one to enjoy acts of service -- well, not doing them, he'll gladly take them as a sign of your love, though. No, he expresses love through touch. It's like how, when you hug someone you really love, someone you missed, you squeeze them extra tight - the love manifests as a physical urge for some strong expression. Humans are physical about their emotions -- we punch walls when we're mad, we jump up and down when we're happy, and when you love someone, sometimes you just really, really want to pound them into a mattress as hard as physically possible. That's normal. That, and really, he's got his vices. He's actually fairly weak when it comes to resisting temptations, and prone to give in to urges for physical sensations like drunkenness and sex.

Is another one to be convinced that, with time, you'll come around. And is absolutely the top candidate to be one for using your own body against you - if you get wet, if you whimper, if you cum, that's just proof that you really do want this, that you're just being difficult because you enjoy being a brat, and he'll be sure to tell you that.

What sort of kinks or fetishes do they have, or would they fill?

This is nearly indistinguishable from punishment, sadistic bastard

D/S dynamics

Arrogant fucker wants to be served and worshipped, you could see it coming from a mile away. Anything that puts you beneath him is going to make him happy - anything where you're where you're supposed to be. There's a lot of options, but it doesn't really matter, as long as he feels like he's in control and ownership of you in some way, and as long as you act accordingly.

He wants it to be something that’s not just for sex, but rather, he’ll end up carrying it over into normal life, whether you like it or not. If you just went along with it in hopes of getting it over with once he cums, you’re going to be in for a treat when it starts to carry over. He gets a little too used to being worshipped, and decides he likes that submissive attitude on you enough to want to see it all the time.

Petplay/Collaring

It really helps that he sees you as something of a pet already, but really, the collar is the selling point. Even if you never go outside, there's something unbearably hot about the possessiveness of it all - really, it's there to remind you of your status as property. He wants to own you, and for you to be forced to acknowledge that he owns you, and there's really no better way to do that than something with his name on it. It's even better with a leash, one he can pull on when he's fucking you to pull you back onto him over, and over, and over, hearing it choke you the more he shortens it.

But really, having you crawl towards him on all fours and obey little commands so simple they're humiliating is pretty nice, too.

Impact pain/painplay

There's really nothing quite so powerful feeling as watching you cry and squirm from it, y'know? He's another one that just likes the marks his hands, belts, or anything else can leave all over the skin of your ass and the back of your legs. The thing with him, though, is it's not even always a punishment, he just does it for fun, and that makes it unpredictable. Will definitely make you count, it's a sadistic torture for your mind and body.

Throatfucking

May be used as a punishment measure, may just be because he's craving it, either way, even if you have a gag reflex, you won't for very long. He'll train it out of you gradually, grabbing the back of your head and just slamming all the way down into your throat, holding you there, making you choke - it's a beautiful sound, really, listening to you gag, all while your throat spasms around him, it's the best feeling, really, and will definitely be used as a threat if you need incentives to behave.

Choking

Ties into the dynamics, but really, there’s not much to say on this one. He likes the power trip from having his hands wrapped around your throat, seeing you struggle, watching your face go red, hearing those little choking noises. It puts power over you into his hands, and if you get pleasure from it against your own will, that’s even better.

How do they feel about pregnancy or babies? Do they want them?

Absolutely one of the ones to use it as a tool. If you have a baby, you'll be so much more bound to him. You'll need him more, you'll want him around more, you'll be much less likely to leave, and in a way it feels a little bit like a sign of ownership over you.

That being said, he's also acutely aware of his jealous tendencies, and realizes he would also be very likely to become jealous if he felt like you loved a baby more than him, or gave it more attention and affection than you do him. He doesn't like the thought.

So ultimately, the latter side prevents him from willingly trying, but if you really, really have defiance issues even after he's tried everything he can to break you help you adjust, he might consider it.

What kind of (nsfw) punishments would they use?

If it's mild enough, he can just take the route of extremely rough fucking - it gets rid of the frustration, he likes hearing you whimper and squeal, and he can leave lots of little bruises as reminders of what not to do in the future.

But, again, he already gets off to putting you in pain - it'll be that much worse when you've done something to deserve it. Harder hits, no mercy whatsoever, and he just loves all your little cries, wiping away your tears and smiling at you, right before bringing down whatever instrument of pain he's chosen again. If you really, really make him mad, and he really wants to make you cry, he's not above fucking your ass, either, watching you cry and beg, but you'll learn with time that begging doesn't ever get you out of anything.

What body parts of their darling do they like the most?

Definitely an ass man. Likes fucking you in doggy, seeing the ripple every time you bounce back off of him, pulling your hair or arms to add some force. He likes seeing all the little red marks that his hands and belts and anything else will leave on the skin, views it like marks of possession. Grabbing, beating, fucking, it's all good.

[balioc]

The core fannish way of interacting with a story is to pretend that it's real.

(...or maybe that's just me. Maybe I'm extrapolating from my own experiences -- starting when I was a tiny child reading my first fantasy books, going all the way up through now -- and completely failing to understand the rest of humanity. But I really, really don't think so. Everything about fandoms and fandom fights makes a lot of sense if you assume that a lot of fans instinctively do the thing that I instinctively do, and makes no sense at all if you assume the opposite.)

This isn't the only way to interact with stories. It's not the only way that fans interact with stories. Most people, as they grow up, learn how to do the critical-distance thing. They come to appreciate stories as experience-generators, and as artistic artifacts, and so on. They think about themes and symbolism, about skillful execution, about the delight of novelty, etc. etc.

But underneath all that stuff -- at least, if you're talking about a certain kind of nerd, consuming certain kinds of media -- there's likely to be a little kid squeezing his eyes shut and letting himself imagine that it's all completely true.

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If you try to analyze the heated discussions that fans have about canon or IP or petitioning-the-official-storytellers-to-make-things-right, and you don't understand this, you're going to get very lost.

If you're fully in critical-distance mode, canon doesn't matter. If you want a story, you can make up any story you want. If you want to enjoy a story, you can enjoy it in whatever way works best for you. If you want to talk about a story, you can slice and dice it any which way, so long as the result leaves you with interesting fodder for thought. It's all wind and ghosts, anyway.

But if you're acting like the story is real, then there has to be some grounding for the pretend-truth, in the way that actual events provide grounding for the real-truth. What actually happens after the second Death Star blows up and the Empire is defeated? This matters to me, because Luke and Leia and Han and Chewie are people who matter to me, and their lives and legacies are in the balance. It matters in much the same way that it matters whether or not my friend gets a job after he leaves college.

And in a fractured hypercommunicative age where it's just really hard to sit alone with your fantasy-thoughts, where you can hear everyone's competing theories about what should happen or what will happen or what did happen -- having an official agreed-upon repository for that grounding truth is immensely useful. And the logic of our society is such that "the text's official author" or "the text's official owner" is almost certain to serve as that repository. (If those things are in direct conflict, there may be problems.)

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So, for example...

...the argument about PC racial modifiers in D&D is, in part, an argument about who gets to feel centered and validated; in part, it's an argument about who gets to control valuable pieces of cultural infrastructure; in part, it's an argument about what it means to engineer a "good game" (whatever the hell that means). But it is also an argument about what elves and dwarves and orcs are like. The fact that elves and dwarves and orcs are pretend creatures does not make this any less true.

[mermaidsirennikita]

Can you rank all the daddy heroes from HRs that you’ve read? (across multiple authors like Kleypas, MacLean, Heath etc) Thanks!

Honestly I don't know if I could rank all of them because that's probably... waaaaay too many, lol. But I could give you some standouts off my ~daddy vibes GR shelf!

Dominic le Sabre, Untamed by Elizabeth Lowell--A very daddy hero, super dominant and knowing and aggressive. Also, notably a daddy in that he very much is focused on becoming a father due to his desire for an heir. Like. He's SUPER focused on getting his wife pregnant. And if she's cursed to be barren unless she comes during sex? A sacrifice he is willing to make!!!

Duncan Maxwell, Forbidden by Elizabeth Lowell--Actually a sub-villain of the previous book, he then goes on to get conked on the head, end up as an amnesiac in the Disputed Lands in his own book, and find love with a girl who feels pain when she touches anyone but himmmmmm. A daddy in that he has a mustache, which is mentioned fairly frequently, but also in that he's like..... Reeeeeal aggressive about some shit Certain People keep from him while he's in amnesia mode. And he goes FUCKING INSANE when Certain Things are revealed. Much like Dominic, he also has some like. Light "little girl" moments with his heroine.

Griffin York, Any Duchess Will Do by Tessa Dare--There are multiple reasons why I call Griffin a daddy, but the main reason I will discuss here is that time he bends the heroine over his desk and makes her recite his courtesy titles as he fucks her. What a move. He's also a bit of a reformed Dare hero, shown as this boorish rake type in a previous book, and I feel like being a bit rode hard and put away wet is a part of the Daddy Appeal.

Henry, Duke of Clayborn, Heartbreaker by Sarah MacLean--Just uh.... trust me on this one. Clayborn is the stern daddy, which means that he gets super fucking annoyed when the heroine makes him hard by breathing his air. Also? Enjoys getting his face ridden. Good for him.

Julian Haywood, The Earl I Ruined by Scarlett Peckham--Julian is a literal dom daddy, restrains and dildos and apples he makes the heroine masturbate with and all. He seems uptight on the outside, but he's actually just a freak who's been lusting after his best friend's little sister for years. A stick up his ass daddy (and he'd probably be into that too under the right circumstances idk).

Alexander Moncrieffe, What I Did for A Duke by Julie Anne Long--An iconic daddy. Gets cucked by the annoying asshole who fucks his fiancee. Decides to fuck that annoying guy's virginal little sister (who is definitely like... half his age; I think he's around 40 and she's 20). Does a lot of seduction, but ends up getting seduced, like a Foolish Daddy. There's a fabulous scene in this book where people have to recognize the heroine blindfolded by like, touching her face, and things are Learned.

James Blackmore, After Dark with the Duke by Julie Anne Long--Another age gap daddy, a 42 year old man who has like, an adult son, who falls for the 25 year old Inappropriate Opera Singer he's teaching Italian to (as dukes do). HE WILL SIT HERE CONSUMED WITH LUST FOR THE REST OF THE EVENING.

Ransom Seymour, Waking Up with the Duke by Lorraine Heath--This guy responds to a "I want a baby" text with "no" then "wait tho don't ask another guy I'll do it" and I think that says enough.

Rhys Winterborne, Marrying Winterborne by Lisa Kleypas--Remember when Helen was all "I'M RUNNING AWAY TO SPARE YOU HARDSHIP" and he basically laughed in her face and told her it would take him (not) FIVE FUCKING MINUTES to find her??? I think that says it all.

Leo Hathaway, Married by Morning by Lisa Kleypas--An unexpected daddy! Like oh he seemed like a fun guy but then he did some Weird Shit, what a surprise!

Asa Makepeace, Sweetest Scoundrel by Elizabeth Hoyt--Gave the heroine a masturbation lesson by masturbating in front of her and like. Was entirely casual about it. I think he's a daddy.

Maximus Batten, Duke of Midnight by Elizabeth Hoyt--A truly insane daddy, but a daddy nonetheless. All he wants to do is keep her in a hunting lodge and hunt and cook for her while he fills her up with his semen I think that's reasonable.

Mickey O'Connor, Scandalous Desires by Elizabeth Hoyt--Look it may take him a while to actually parent his kid but he's literally a father and he also does the old "hold your skirts while I eat you out in this public arena" move, which I think says a lot.

Dorian Blackwell, The Highwayman by Kerrigan Byrne--A rare virgin daddy! I will not be taking questions or comments at this time. Read the book. You'll get it.

Carlton Morley, Seducing A Stranger by Kerrigan Byrne--HE SHOOTS HE SCORES DADDY. A man who will fuck the heroine in a garden without asking her name, be like "that was weirdly out of character for me, but we all have our larks" and then be like [heavy sigh] when he has to arrest her for murder a few months later and finds out she's carrying his child. This guy.

Derek Craven, Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas--The daddy of all daddies. A daddy of industry. A daddy who can't say his feelings but WILL fuck a woman who looks just like you in order to feel something, anything, after banishing you from his life for your own good. A daddy who has a breastfeeding thing? It's good, we love it.

Cassius Ramsay, All Scot and Bothered by Kerrigan Byrne--A daddy who loves a girl with some meat on her bones and WON'T BE SHAMED FOR IT. A daddy who wants something he can hold on to while he fucks the heroine within an inch of her life.

Michael, Marquess of Bourne, A Rogue By Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean--A emotionally stunted daddy of the highest order. Will pleasure the heroine within an inch of her life and then be like "that was to prove a point. Does not realize that he has in fact played himself until, like, the end of the book.

[liquidstar]

I feel as if many people, myself included, have been having problems with the way “critical thinking” is conducted in fandom circles more and more. Which I’d say is a good thing, because it means we’re thinking critically. But still the issues with the faux-critical mentality and with the way we consume media through that fandom group mentality are incredibly widespread at this point, despite being very flawed, and there are still plenty of people who follow it blindly, ironically.

I sort of felt like I had to examine my personal feelings on it and I ended up writing a whole novel, which I’ll put under the cut, and I do welcome other people’s voices in the matter, because while I’m being as nuanced as I can here I obviously am still writing from personal experience and may overlook some things from my limited perspective. But by and large I think I’ve dissected the phenomena as best I can from what I’ve been seeing going on in fandom circles from a safe but observable distance.

Right off the bat I want to say, I think it's incredibly good and necessary to be critical of media and understand when you should stop consuming it, but that line can be a bit circumstantial sometimes for different people. There are a lot of anime that I used to watch as a teenager that I can’t enjoy anymore, because I got more and more uncomfortable overtime with the sexualization of young characters, partly because as I was getting older I was really starting to realize how big of an issue it was, and I certainly think more critically now than I did when I was 14. Of course I don’t assume everyone who still watches certain series is a pedophile, and I do think there are plenty of fans that understand this. However I still stay away from those circles and that’s a personal choice.

I don’t think a person is morally superior based on where they draw the line and their own boundaries with this type of stuff, what’s more important is your understanding of the problem and response to it. There are series I watch that have a lot of the same issues around sexualization of the young characters in the cast, but they’re relatively toned down and I can still enjoy the aspects of the series I actually like without it feeling as uncomfortable and extreme. Others will not be able to, and their issues with it are legitimate and ones that I still ultimately agree with, but they’re still free to dislike the series for it, after all our stance on the issue itself is the same so why would I resent them for it?

Different people are bound to have different lines they draw for how far certain things can go in media before they’re uncomfortable watching it and it doesn’t make it a moral failing of the person who can put up with more if they’re still capable of understanding why it’s bad to begin with and able to not let it effect them. But I don’t think that sentiment necessarily contradicts the idea that some things really are too far gone for this to apply, the above examples aren’t the same thing as a series centered solely around lolicon ecchi and it doesn’t take a lot of deep analysis to understand why. It’s not about a personal line anymore when it comes to things that are outright propaganda or predatory with harmful ideals woven into the message of the story itself. Critical thinking means knowing the difference between these, and no one can hold your hand through it. And simply slapping “I’m critical of my interests” on your bio isn’t a get out of jail free card, it’s always evident when someone isn’t truly thinking about the impact of the media they consume through the way they consume it.

I think the issue is that when people apply “Critical thinking” they don’t actually analyze the story and its intent, messages, themes, morals, and all that. Instead they approach it completely diegetically, it’s basically the thermian argument, the issue stems from thinking about the story and characters as if they’re real people and judging their actions through that perspective, rather than something from a writer trying to deliver a narrative by using the story and characters as tools. Like how people get upset about characters behaving “problematically” without realizing that it’s an intentional aspect of the story, that the character needs to cause problems for there to be conflict. What they should be looking at instead is what their behavior represents in the real world.

You do not need to apply real-world morals to fictional characters, you need to apply them to the narrative. The story exists in the real world, the characters and events within it do not. Fictional murderers themselves do not hurt anyone, no one is actually dying at their hands, but their actions hold weight in the narrative which itself can harm real people. If the character only murders gay people then it reflects on whatever the themes and messages of the story are, and it’s a major issue if it's framed as if they’re morally justified, or as if this is a noble action. And it’s a huge red flag if people stan this character, even if the story itself actually presents their actions as reprehensible. Or cases where the murderers themselves are some kind of awful stereotype, like Buffalo Bill who presents a violent and dangerous stereotype of trans women, making the character a transmisogynistic caricature (Intentional or otherwise) that has caused a lot of harm to the perception of trans women. When people say “Fiction affects reality” this is what they mean. They do not mean “People will see a pretend bad guy and become bad” they mean “Ideals represented in fiction will be pulled from the real world and reflected back onto it.”

However, stories shouldn’t have to spoon-feed you the lesson as if you’re watching a children’s cartoon, stories often have nuances and you have to actively analyze the themes of it all to understand it’s core messages. Oftentimes it can be intentionally murky and hard to parse especially if the subject matter itself is complicated. But you can’t simply read things on the surface and think you understand everything about them, without understanding the symbolism or subtext you can leave a series like Revolutionary Girl Utena thinking the titular Utena is heterosexual and was only ever in love with her prince. Things won’t always be face-value or clear-cut and you will be forced to come to your own conclusions sometimes too.

That’s why the whole fandom-based groupthink mentality about “critical thinking” doesn’t work, because it’s not critical. It’s simply looking into the crowd, seeing people say a show is problematic, and then dropping it without truly understanding why. It’s performative, consuming the best media isn’t activism and it doesn’t make you a better person. Listening to the voices of people whom the issues directly concerns will help you form an opinion, and to understand the issues from a more knowledgeable perspective beyond your own. All that means nothing if you just sweep it under the rug because you want to look infallible in your morality. That’s not being critical, it’s just being scared to analyze yourself, as well as what you engage with. You just don’t want to think about those things and you’re afraid of being less than perfect so you pretend it never happened.

And though I’m making this post, it’s not mine or anyone else’s job to hold your hand through all this and tell you “Oh this show is okay, but this show isn't, and this book is bad etc etc etc”. Because you actually have to think for yourself, you know, critically. Examples I’ve listed aren’t rules of thumb, they’re just examples and things will vary depending on the story and circumstance. You have to look at shit on a case-by-case basis instead of relying on spotting tropes without thinking about how they’re implemented and what they mean. That’s why it’s analysis, you have to use it to understand what the narrative is communicating to its audience, explicitly or implicitly, intentionally or incidentally, and understand how this reflects the real world and what kind of impact it can have on it. 

A big problem with fandom is it has made interests synonymous with personality traits, as if every series we consume is a core part of our being, and everything we see in it reflects our viewpoints as well. So when people are told that a show they watched is problematic, they react very extremely, because they see it as basically the same thing as saying they themselves are problematic (It’s not). Everyone sees themselves as good people, they don’t want to be bad people, so this scares them and they either start hiding any evidence that they ever liked it, or they double down and start defending it despite all its flaws, often providing those aforementioned thermian arguments (“She dresses that way because of her powers!”).

That’s how you get people who call children’s cartoons “irredeemable media” and people who plaster “fiction=/= reality!” all over their blogs, both are basically trying to save face either by denying that they could ever consume anything problematic or denying that the problematic aspects exist all together. And absolutely no one is actually addressing the core issues anymore, save for those affected by them who pointed them out to begin with, only for their original point to become muffled in the discourse. No one is thinking critically because they’re more concerned with us-vs-them group mentality, both sides try to out-perform the other while the actual issue gets ignored or is used as nothing more than a gacha with no true understanding or sympathy behind it.

One of the other issues that comes from this is the fact that pretty much everyone thinks they’re the only person capable of being critical of their interests. That’s how you get those interactions where one person goes “OK [Media] fan” and another person replies “Bro you literally like [Other Media]”, because both parties think they’re the only ones capable of consuming a problematic piece of media and not becoming problematic themselves, anyone else who enjoys it is clearly incapable of being as big brained as them. It’s understandable because we know ourselves and trust ourselves more than strangers, and I’m not saying there can’t be certain fandoms who’s fans you don’t wanna interact with, but when we presume that we know better than everyone else we stop listening to other people all together. It’s good to trust your own judgement, it’s bad to assume no one else has the capacity to think for themselves either though.

The insistence that all media that you personally like is without moral failing and completely pure comes with the belief that all media that you personally dislike has to be morally bad in some way. As if you can’t just dislike a series because you find it annoying or it just doesn’t appeal to you, it has to be problematic, and you have to justify your dislike of it through that perspective. You have to believe that your view on whatever media it is is the objectively correct one, so you’ll likely pick apart all it’s flaws to prove you’re on the right side, but there’s no analysis of context or intent. Keep in mind this doesn’t necessarily mean those critiques are unfounded or invalid, but in cases like this they’re often skewed in one direction based on personal opinion. It’s just as flawed as ignoring all the faults in the stuff you like, it’s biased and subjective analysis that misses a lot of context in both cases, it’s not a good mindset to have about consuming media. It’s just another result of tying media consumption with identity and personal morals. The faux-critical mentality is an attempt to separate the two in a way that implies they’re a packaged deal to begin with, making it sort of impossible to truly do so in any meaningful way.

As far as I know this whole phenomena started with “Steven Universe Critical” in, like, 2016, and that’s where this mentality around “critical thinking” originated. It started out with just a few people correctly pointing out very legitimate issues with the series, but over time it grew into just a trend where people would make cutesy kin blogs with urls like critical-[character] or [character]crit to go with the fad as it divulged into Nostalgia Critic level critique. Of course there was backlash to this and criticism of the criticism, but no actual conversation to be had. Just people trying to out-do each other by acting as the most virtuous one in the room, and soon enough the fad became a huge echo-chamber that encouraged more and more outrageous takes for every little thing. The series itself was a children’s cartoon so it stands to reason that a lot of the fans were young teens, so this behavior isn’t too surprising and I do believe a lot of them did think they were doing the right thing, especially since it was encouraged. But that doesn’t erase the fact that there were actual real issues and concerns brought up about the series that got treated with very little sympathy and were instead drowning out people’s voices. Though those from a few years back may have grown up since and know better (Hopefully), the mentality stuck around and influenced the norm for how fandoms and fandom people conduct any sort of critique on media. 

That’s a shame to me, because the pedestal people place fandom onto has completely disrupted our perception on how to engage with media in a normal way. Not everything should be consumed with fandom in mind, not everything is a coffee-shop au with no conflict, not everything is a children’s cartoon with the morals spoon-fed to you. Fandom has grown past the years of uncritical praise of a series, it’s much more mainstream now with a lot more voices in it beyond your small community on some forum, and people are allowed to use those voices. Just because it may not be as pleasant for you now because you don’t get to just turn your brain off and ignore all the flaws doesn’t mean you can put on your rose-tinted nostalgia goggles and pretend that fandom is actually all that is good in the world, to the point where you place it above the comfort and safety of others (Oftentimes children). Being uncritical of fandom itself is just as bad as being uncritical of what you consume to begin with. 

At the end of the day it all just boils down to the ability to truly think for yourself but with sympathy and compassion for other people in mind, while also understanding that not everyone will come to the same conclusion as you and people are allowed to resent your interests. That doesn’t necessarily mean they hate you personally, you should be acknowledging the same issues after all. You can’t ignore aspects of it that aren’t convenient to your conclusion, you have to actually be critical and understand the issues to be able to form it. 

I think that all we need is to not rely on fandom to tell us what to do, but still listen to the voices of others, take them into account to form our opinion too, boost their voices instead of drowning them out in the minutiae of internet discourse about which character is too much of an asshole to like. Think about what the characters and story represent non-diegetically instead of treating them like real people and events, rather a story with an intent and message to share through its story and characters, and whatever those reflect from the real world. That’s how fiction affects reality, because it exists in reality and reflects reality through its own lens. The story itself is real, with a real impact on you and many others, so think about the impact and why it all matters. Just… Think. Listen to others but think for yourself, that’s all.

[iamnotawomanimagod]

Foreshadowing in the Fear Street Trilogy - A Masterlist

If I miss any, please feel free to add on to this post!

Note: There are instances of parallel scenes that I decided not to include. I think that could be an entire post of equal length all on its own.

Also, major spoilers below.

Fear Street: 1994

● When Heather is closing down the bookstore, she tries to close the gate and it gets stuck. Later, in FS: 1666, Ziggy tries to close this same gate and it gets stuck again.

● Ryan slashes at what we think is Heather in the Spencer’s (although the store is never explicitly called that,) but it turns out to be a blow up doll. Later in FS: 1994, Sam is seemingly attacked by the Nightwing Killer in the bathroom stall, but he actually hits a mannequin instead.

● Ryan attacks Heather in the bookstore, but she avoids getting stabbed because she’s holding a book in front of her stomach. Later, in FS: 1666, Deena creates body armor out of books, and this saves her from Nick Goode’s attempted stabbing.

● Shadyside’s team name is the Witches. Sunnyvale’s is the Devils. The entire conflict of the trilogy is between the “witch” Sarah Fier, and the Devil, as summoned by the Goode family.

● Simon is shown pulling a stash of pills (aka “the candy store”) out of the vent in the bathroom. Later on in FS: 1994, Sam uses this vent to crawl out of the bathroom and escape the Shadyside Killers.

● Simon talks about his brother overdosing and then being revived when the trio is hanging out in the bathroom. Later on in FS: 1994, the trio attempt to do the same thing with Sam.

● Also in the bathroom, Simon jokes that Deena might have “a little of the witch in her.” Later in FS: 1666, Deena actually “becomes” the witch when Sarah exacts her revenge against the Goode family through Deena.

● Deena is talking to Sam at the vigil about how everything always goes wrong in Shadyside, and she says to Sam, “if you’re lucky, you’re the one holding the knife.” Later on in FS: 1994, Sam is possessed by the Devil and stabs Deena.

● Kate drops off the kids she’s babysitting at “Mrs. Lane’s” house. Later in FS: 1978, we meet this neighbor as she was then - Nurse Lane, Ruby Lane’s mother, and Ziggy’s friend. Ziggy and Nurse Lane also get to reunite at the end of the series.

● Kate and Nurse Beddy refer to the drugs they sell under fruit codenames - one of them is “blueberries,” which Kate tells Josh is code for Vicodin. Vicodin is a powerful opioid. Later in FS: 1666, Lizzie, Hannah, and Sarah go to the widow to steal blue berries, which induce opioid-like effects in those that consume them.

● Deena offers Sam her sweater, and tells her, “If you get blood on it, I’ll kill you.” Sam gets slashed by the Shadyside Mall Killer, and gets blood on the sweater. Later on, Deena actually does kill Sam in order to stop the curse.

● In FS: 1994, when Sheriff Goode is talking to Martin, who is in jail for vandalism, he says what seems to be a joke, “Actually, these are my [spray cans.]” It turns out it wasn’t a joke at all, and Goode was responsible for all of the graffiti. 

● In the same scene, Martin says, “More like Sheriff motherfucking Evil!” in reference to Goode’s last name. At that point, we still believe Goode to be, well, a good guy, so it comes off as comic relief. But on rewatch, Martin’s prescience is quite chilling.

● Deena tells Sam that when it’s all over, she’s going to take her on a date, where they can eat cheeseburgers, make out, and listen to the Pixies. In FS: 1666, she and Sam do exactly that in the final scene of the trilogy.

● Josh helps Martin in FS: 1994 by passing him a paper clip so he can get out of his handcuffs. Martin slips him a business card, telling Josh, “I owe you one.” Later, in FS: 1666, the group goes to Martin to recruit him in killing Goode and stopping the curse. Martin goes from a comic relief cliche to a vital part of the team, thanks to his inner knowledge of the mall.

● Fun side detail - Martin lives on Fier Street. He was destined to be apart of this crew.

●  Sam and Deena are laying together at the end of FS: 1994, when it seems like things are going to be okay. The song that plays in the background has the lyrics, “Must be a devil between us.” Sam is literally possessed by the Devil at that moment in time.

Fear Street: 1978

● When Nick is running around trying to collect campers, he gets blood on his hands when he finds some of their bodies. Kurt sees him and asks, “Jesus man...did you do this??” As we know, Nick Goode actually did do it.

● During the Camp Nightwing massacre, Sunnyvalers never get killed. It’s all Shadysiders. Throughout the night, Sunnyvalers are seen leaving Shadysiders alone, only for the Shadysiders to be immediately killed by Thomas. In other words - the Devil was letting Sunnyvalers live while killing the Shadysiders.

● Nick says to Ziggy, “I know I’ve let a lot of people die tonight, but I’m not letting you die.” It seems like Nick is just taking responsibility as a counselor, but he’s actually lowkey admitting the truth to Ziggy. And, true to his word, he does not let Ziggy die that night! In what seems like an error and is actually foreshadowing, Nick is able to revive Ziggy with CPR, despite the fact that she has multiple stab wounds. We later find out this is because the Goode family gets whatever they want. Nick wanted Ziggy to survive, so she did.

● When Nick is attacked by the Nightwing Killer, he is left wounded, but the Killer never finishes the job. It should’ve been very, very easy for him to, but he leaves Nick and goes after Ziggy instead.

● The song playing when Nick revives Ziggy? “The Man Who Sold the World” - and Nick Goode and his family have been selling out the rest of the world for their own gain for centuries.

Fear Street: 1666

● Constance and some of the other children are playing a rhyming game in the town center. Pastor Miller is there, using a hook pick to clean some debris from a horse’s hoof. The children sing the rhyme, “Pastor Miller blind as a bat, tried to read the Bible and his eyes went splat!” The pastor playfully chases the children away with the hook pick. Chillingly, the pastor rips out all of the children’s eyes, as well as his own, with that exact same hook knife.

● Solomon comforts Sarah by telling her that one cannot summon the Devil by chance, that they have to extend their hand and make a choice. As we find out later in the film... he would know!

● Red moss appears throughout all three films in key locations. We find out in FS: 1666 that Hannah wore this moss in a crown during the full moon party, and that she eventually buries Sarah with it on her head.

● Sarah tells Hannah that when it’s all over, they would go somewhere they could dance the night away, and kiss in the daylight. The final scene of the film is Deena and Sam dancing, and kissing in the bright daylight. This date takes place where Sarah is buried, on top of the red moss.

I am certain I am missing a few, so please feel free to add onto this post!