#how to make a book series diverse 101

[kay-oh-al-tea-sea]

there are not enough minorities in kotlc........ so we should just make every single character of minority to fix the problem!!!

[annbourbon]

Flowers inside the Cheritzverse

For the sake of this I'm gonna derail the post a bit because otherwise this is not gonna work lol we need to talk about fairies first~ fairies and flowers. Yes, the two of them are closely linked and I do not dare to make a different post for it. If we are to talk about the Wizard of Dandelion and The Cheritzverse, we need to talk about the fairy concept in general. I already talked about the magic contracts and karmic laws which in theory are not linked together irl but write do use it together, because it's kinda cool (?) but whatever~ so let's begin with the fae world. I'm not gonna delve a lot into it, just gonna touch the basics.

So 101 here~

They are not called fairies but fae. They are divided by Seelie and Unseelie Courts. And please, do not let your human thoughts think that ones are "good" and the others are "bad" or something like that. Actually, representations like that are more harmful than anything. They're not supposed to be similar or have affinity to human standards. So whatever you consider beautiful, ugly or inappropriate, it's different for them. I believe the same concept it's applied to good and bad for them. And that they have particular affinity to change if they see you want to "like them". It's fun to consider that the books of YA can't be more inaccurate sometimes *sighs* I won't try to fight those cause it's difficult to change an idea once established but, At least that's what I have gathered from the fairytales~~~~~

* Some devas are associated with fairies.

* Random fact that doesn't come on the fairy bible but~ did you know the earth has chakras too? And when connecting chakras with some powerful places (where several ley lines touch) it can create weird events.

* Water is a conductor. Always. And not only electricity but also ley lines can drift because of that.

* Seriously read about ley lines because these can be used as a method of transportation. If you want to read how would that work, you should read Kim Harrison's series, The Hollows. Which could tie my theory on how witches and fae folk and demons too btw~ can work all along the Cheritzverse. This is not exclusive on her works but it's where I have seen the idea explained in a better way. Which makes me think of several myths and stuff that has been going around for ages (big fan of supernatural and so weird series here so lol i've been studying mythology a lot.)

* Fae folk are diverse. So even if someone, yes even me, says one thing, another can say whatever and we're all free to enjoy them as we please.

So how does this ties to the Cheritzverse will you ask? Well~ that's why flowers and trees have a long and ancient culture around and even their own meanings.

Although there are versions in Greece where the Hesperides Garden contains several "sacred trees" (among those apparently it's the pomegranate. Which ties to Jaehee~ and others like The Monkey King legend in China where you can see the Garden of Immortal Peaches. it's all about paying attention to the detail to see the patterns.)

BTW I found the Fairy Bible so useful to help me in my defense and to build up how the Cheritzverse would work. Really, I wanted to create more on this but I had to cut it cause the post is so long already. For now let's delve into the language of flowers~

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From now on~ I grabbed the links, I copied/pasted and added everything I know so here till the end I'm gonna be quoting A Guide for the Flower Language and adding a lot of insights from A victorian flower dictionary, Le Langage des fleurs by de Latour (1819) and Floriography, among other notes I have. Check bibliography at the end of the post for more notes.

To make it clearer, I'm gonna quote it in bold. I'm also gonna go a bit more deeper than what the Mint Eye package and Cheritz said because I have some books and knowledge on mythology, and some knowledge (although not extensive or this post it's gonna become giantic) I have on medicine to add onto this, so be warned; this is gonna be a long post, but here we go~

Disclaimer: I'm not a medical professional. My family however has been dedicated to this for ages so I do have some knowledge on this, HOWEVER please do not take my word for this and attempt to self medicate. Thank you.

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For people who need to know only the flowers that are displayed here, in case they find another different~~

♡ Anemone ♡ Almond

♡ Bluebell ♡ Baby breath

♡ Clivias* ♡ Cactus

♡ Chrysantemum ♡ Clover

♡ Daisy ♡ Dandelion

♡ Daffodil ♡ Delphinium

♡ Daylily

♡ Eustoma/Lisianthus

♡ Fritillaria Thunbergii ♡ Forget-me-not

♡ Geranium ♡ Gooseberry*

♡ Hyacinth ♡ Hydrangea

♡ Hypoxis Aurea ♡ Lily of the Valley

♡ Lily ♡ Lilac

♡ Mistletoe ♡ Myrtle

♡ Michaelmas Daisy* ♡ Narcissus

♡ Rhondanthe (Paper Daisy)

♡ Rose ♡ Orchid

♡ Peony ♡ Pineapple

♡ Pomegranate ♡ Palm Tree*

♡ Serbian Bellflower*

♡ Primrose (Cowslip) ♡ Tulip

♡ Weigela ♡ Willow

** Honorable mentions: Jonquil and Adonis.

* Working on this because they were late additions.

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A

Anemone - Forsaken, abandonation(?) Mentioned by Ray during a call. Also: Truth. Transitory. Endangered Love. Anticipation.

* Adonis is another flower related to this myth. The flower means sad memories.

Because the anemone's blossoms were thought to open on windy days and they're also short-lived, they have become a symbol of a transitory love that moves like a breath of breath wind. The original bloodred wildflowers were associated with Aphrodite upon the passing of Adonis from the earthly scene.

Then another paragraph comes like this:

These beautiful, fragile flowers come from the near East and the Mediterranean, and were first brought to Britain at the end of the 16th century [....] Their name comes from the Greek anemos, meaning 'the wind', because their delicate flowers appear to open in a gentle breeze, but are so short-lived, like a breath of wind.

Then it proceeds to describe the how the goddess was besotted with Adonis and he was fatally wounded by a wild boar and died in her arms.

She sprinkled nectar on his blood and fron that comes the anemone. Love is fleeting and doesn't last. That is what the flower represents. There's a representation in The Awakening Conscience from William Holman Hunt's 1853, where a small vase of anemones appears. Hinting that the affair will not last. Although it's not the only thing that hints that. The room is full of objects that talk of her predicament.

Although today they have more resilience, they still have the meaning of fading youth behind.

Almond blossom - Hope. (see birthday flowers down below for reference.)

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B

Baby breath - Pureness. Freedom. Innocence. Undying Love. (Usually seen and mentioned during Dandelion & Mystic Messenger) Also: Love Everlasting.

Bluebell - Humility. Also: Grief. Either the loss of a loved one or the end of an affair. Constancy. This flower is also known campanula, which depending on the location can be or not the same flower and mean Gratitude.Thankfulness.

*there's another 'bell' called harebell. This is why I prefer their scientific names. No way you can confuse them. At least ut hasn't happened to me just yet. anyways~ bellflower is gratitude, or an indiscretion, and bluebell (ironically i think they're not blue lol) mean grief. Do with this what you want lol

Bouquet of withered flowers - rejected love mentioned by Unknown in Another Story Also: Constancy. Dead leaves means sadness.

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C

Cactus - endurance (V's favorite) Also: Warmth

Clivias - Happiness, passion, kindness (Saeyoung Choi)

Chrysantemum - you're a wonderful friend, cheerfulness and rest. Condolences.

Used in funerals and placed on graves. This ritual may derive from the practice of decorating graves on All Souls’s Day, a christian holiday occurring in early November, when many blooms are difficult to find.

Red: I love. Love at first sight. Yellow: slighted love. White: Truth

The Japanese, who have made it the emblem of their emperor consider the orderly unfolding of its petals to ve symbolic of perfection. [...]

The essence of the flower is unravelled just as the truth is so often revealed: at first hidden, then brought into the light.

The flower didn't arrive Britain until 18th century. And in the 1800s the French had a craze for these flowers and a bestselling novel of the time was Madame Chrysanthème by Pierre Loti, who drew upon a lifetime of travel for the plots of his exotic romances.

Pair with: Willow for a friend grief, gladiolus for a broken heart.

Clover - Life to come. Be mine. Think of me (if it's white)

Credits to: @cheritzheadcanonz

Where? Jiyeon gives it to us in Dandelion.

Symbolizes: luck (green). Fortune. Yellow: hope and divinity, success, romance, red: love, white: purity. Purple: royalty. pink: admiration.

Also: marriage, faithfulness and protection.

A four leaf clover is considered as a sign of extraordinary luck. In irish culture, the shamrock variant is tied to St. Patrick Day and the Holy Trinity. The clover is also a way to enhance the connection to nature.

The ancient Druids in Ireland believed that carryng a clover allowed one to detect evil spirits approaching, while carrying one in Middle Ages led people to believe they could see fairies.

Clover" has roots in Old Germanic, evolving from "Klaibron" to "clæfre" in Old English, and eventually to "clover" by the 18th century.

Trefoil" derives from Latin, with "tri" and "folium" meaning three and plant, respectively, leading to "Trifolium." It was shortened to "tri-foil" in Middle Ages Anglo-Norman French and settled as "trefoil" in Middle English.~ HelloFearless

If paired with apple blossom and dandelion, shows hope that the recipient’s wishes will come true.

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D

Daisy - not really appearing but the closest flower to V's Rhondante aka Paper Daisy.

However and just for the sake of it let's do daisies. White: innocence. A love that conquers all. Wild: I will think of it. Oxeye: Disappointment. Patience. Also: Perseverance. Childhood

Back in the day, and sometimes today too~ people used to play adivination with daisies, by picking petals one by one ~ 'he loves me, he loves me not' was and is still known. Tied to Freya in Norse mythology. Goddess of fertility, motherhood and childbirth. In Celtic tradition, daisies grew for the spirits of children who died in birth.

Paired with baby’s breath as a gift for a newborn baby.

Paired with peony and violet for an expression of childhood bliss.

Dandelion - Smiling on all. Or as Cheritz would say~ Wishes brought to you. Divination and fortune telling.

The myth behind the «Dandelion»

Okay~ so I wanted to recollect everything I could before starting on the legend:

♡ Symbol of the Sun

♡ "The Teeth of the Lion"

♡ Enjoyed by Ancient Geeks, egyptians and Romans. Even used by traditional chinese medicine for overa thousand years.

♡ One of the most nutritional vegetables you'll ever find btw!

♡ Masters of survival

♡ The roots clone when divided

♡ It can cure the liver

♡ It's diuretic

This is one of my favorite flowers, now, the mystery is that no one really knows where the myth of wishing upon dandelions comes from, sone say it can be traced back to the Celts and other to the French. Some myths say that if you blow all the seeds off a dandelion with a single breath your wish will come true but if seeds remain, then it may depend~

Others think the dandelion tells the time or the weather. From food to medicine to dye, to carry dreams and wishes, every part of the dandelion has found some utility.

Daffodil - admiration. new beginnings. regard (Rika's favorite)

The lovely golden daffodil is a welcome, heart-lifting sight, as it marks the end of winter and the beginning of a new season. It comes into full flower around Easter time, when thoughts turn towards the renewal of life and the Resurrection. It is also known as the Lent lily or the Easter lily.

* Kind reminder that Rika is Catholic and also, this is another way of hinting she's not dead.

A more sombre note might prevail in rural areas, where it was said to be unlucky to bring the flowers into the house of anyone who kept poultry because this would prevent the eggs from hatching. (...)

(...) In some places, Wales in particular, the daffodil was used in traditional practice of "flowering the graves" (...)

It is said that the connection with mournful and unlucky matters comes from the old story that the name daffodil is said to derivr from the medieval Latin affodilus abs asphodelos in Greek ~ The asphodel, the plant that grew in the meadows of the underworld.

The Greek legend of Narcissus tells of a handsome and proud hunter who upon seeing his reflection in the waters of a spring, falls in love with himself and drowns. Daffodils were born to mark his grave.

If you pair a camellia with a daffodil, it means unrequited love.

Paired with clove, for hope and change.

Paired with sweet pea to indicate giving up on an ill-suited romance.

Delphiniums - big hearted person, dignity and grace (V) Also: Happiness. Levity.

Daylily - romantic love, forget painful events from the past. It's called the flower that helps to forget sorrows. Green: harmony, growth, rebirth. (Yoosung) White: fleeting beauty. Blue: Coquetry.

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E

Eustoma - mentioned with the latin name Lisianthus when you get to ask Ray for flower meanings. Everlasting Love.

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F

Fritillaria - Persecution.

Forget Me Not - True love, love at first sight, , memories, don't forget me. Also: I will never forget you. Remembrance.

The name of this pretty and delicate flower, which enamels riverbanks and garden borders with its miniature sky-blue petals, speaks of human longing for loyalty and lastingness. Its name comes from German folk tale about a couple who, on the eve of their marriage, take a walk by the banks of the Danube. The young bride admires a cluster on the flowers, and her fiancé goes forward to pick them for her, but falls into the river. Before he is carried away by the turbulent waters, he throws the flowers at the feet of his betrothed, crying, 'Vergiss mein nicht!'

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G

Geranium - I'm happy because of you. Also: (oak leaf): friendship. Pink: preference. Scarlet: Comfort. Consolation and melancholy. White: gracefulness.

When its flowers drop, the exposed fruit is revealed to be pointed in shape, like a crane’s bill. The Greeks noticed this resemblance to the bird and called the flower geranion, from geranos, meaning “crane”.

Scarlet geranium is a very popular bedding plant that was originally sent to Europe from South Africa back in 1609. The sailors for the Dutch East India Company would pick them cause they would last through the voyage without perishing.

Gooseberry -

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H

Hyacinth - Games and sports. Rashness. Blue: Constancy. Usually seen in MC room in Magenta. Purple: forgiveness. sorrow. White: beauty, unobtrusive loveliness. Yellow: jealousy

The hyacinth takes its name and meaning from the Greek mythology. Hyacinthus, a beautiful young man, beloved by Apollo, died during a game of discus throwing, Apollo’s discus was knocked from its course by a jealous Zephyrus, striking Hyacinthus and thus, killing him. It’s said the flowers were grown from the blood that fell from his head wound as Apollo begged his forgiveness.

Paired with olive for peace and forgiveness.

Paired with pansies to indicate you betrayal haunts you.

Hydrangea - Truth, thank you for understanding, frigidity, heartlessness, (here's my own interpretation of this flower), seen in Ray's garden.

Also: Calm, dispassion.

Hypoxis Aurea - Symbolizes health. Very appropriate for a doctor (Henri)

Belongs to the Orchid-Lily Family. From Greek, words “hypo”, meaning “below” and “oxy”, which means “sharp” or “pointed”, referring to the ovary which is pointed at the base. Also called Golden Star Grass. Native from Indo-China, Malaysia. Asia.

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L

Lily - feminity, innocence and purity. Majesty. (Jaehee) Purity of heart. Fertility. White: Purity and rebirth. Sweetness. Usually for both funerals and weddings. (Yoosung's Christmas) Pink: Love, feminity and admiration. Red: Passion. Orange: Confidence and energy. Yellow: Friendship, thankfulness and joy Purple: Royalty, elegance spirituality.

Also: False and gay (outdated: gay meaning happy)

The lily name meaning comes from the Old English lilie, from Latin lilium and from Greek leirion. Originally, we took lily from the Hebrew word “Shoshannah” (שׁוֹשַׁנָּה), which was borrowed from the Egyptians. This name became popular in almost every culture across the world. It's Italy's national flower.

Please take note that daylilies are not considered true lilies. But then again there are at least 100 species of lilies so~

**Some parts of lilies and only some variants of lilies have been used in traditional medici e and culinary dishes to treat digestive issues and skin conditions. But most of them are not, and it can be dangerous if you don't know~ so please avoid intake if you're in doubt.

Lily of the Valley - Return of Happiness. Healing heartbreak. Unconscious sweetness.

This is one of my big peeves, you'll see, daffodils and lillies unlike dandelions, are actually poisonous. Or at least, this one, it's poisonous. And here they are in Cheritz saying to us that we need to believe in MC? Do we? Is the lily of the valley true happiness, or shadows of something else lurk around?

Also called sometimes Lady’s tears. There’s a short story where it is said that the Queen of the fairies asked a group of gnomes for a drink, so they had to gather nectar from blossoms in little porcelain cups. But it was late in tha day and the gnomes were worn out, so they tried, but fell asleep. Next morningm the gnomes awoke to find fast-growing grasses had lifted the little cups out of their reach, luckily the Queen saw their plight and cast a spell so that each cup became a white flower bell and any blossom they reached for became the correct cup to choose.

Lilac - For more of my rant here~ but the meaning of this flower it's first emotions of love. Love at first sight.

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M

Mistletoe - I surmount difficulties.

On a winter’s day, when the sun is long and the shadows long, the mistletoe is revealed in all its unearthly beauty, hoisted high in the leafless trees. It appears to have no roots, no means by which it can obtain nutrients and water, and yet remains fres and green when everything around is lifeless. Surely it cannot live? And yet, against all odds, the mistletoe flourishes. Hope. (appears during Christmas DLC ofc, 😉) there's a little story on my book of fairies that talks about the fairy of the mistletoe.

Myrtle - Love. Frequently associated with Venus, the myrtle bush offered her protection while she bathed. Since ancient times it has symbolized the chief of passions, love and according to classical tradition, it has the ability to both inspire and retain that emotion.

Michaelmas Daisy - A farewell, a departure.

Michaelmas Daisies are also frequently known by their Botanical Latin name of Aster. The name ‘aster’ is from the Greek for star, and refers to the shape of the flower heads.

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N

Narcissus - Self love. Narcissism. Egotism. Overconfidence. So, people tend (me included) to confuse jonquils, daffodils and narcissus. While I already talked about this, I'll talk about it again~ here you go:

BTW~ if we talk about jonquils as korean birthday flower, it would mean answer to love. While narcissisus would mean mystery lol (see birthday flowers)

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R

Rose - The meaning it's quite simple. Love. Red: Passionate love. White: happy love. A heart unacquainted with love. Worthiness. My heart is free. Loyalty, pure love, commitment (Zen/Hyun Ryu) Pink: Grace. Modesty. Infatuation, beauty. Mildness, persuasion. (Zen's Christmas.) Orange: fascination. Yellow: jealousy, infidelity. Pale peach: Modesty. Burgundy: Unconscious beauty. Purple: Enchantment.

So for example if you gift someone a yellow rose, it's supposed to be jealous love. However the meaning might change if you put other flowers around.

In the Greek myth, Chloris, the goddess of flowers is said to have turned a beautiful, dead nymph into a rose, she invited Apollo to warm the bloom, Aphodite to lend it her beauty, Dionysus to add sweet nectar and the 3 Graces to supply charm, joy and magnificence. Chloris called her the Queen of flowers.

On a high note: I never liked roses because I thought of them to be too common. However, way before they were produced in mass, roses were so rare and difficult to find, so people would hold onto the petals even as they fell and dried. So it's interesting to know that, roses were once a symbol of fragility and rare.

Rhondanthe - Romance. Rose flower. According to Wikipedia, is supposed to be the name of a Corinthians Queen in Greek mythology who attracted a great name of suitors due to her beauty. Such beauty was a blessing and a burden so she sought protection in a friend and a goddess (different mythology here~ romans) Diana. The flower comes in pink and white. But there are little to no information that I could find for now~

BTW it seems this is another flower heavily associated with Adonis and Aphrodite myth. Also called paper daisy.

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O

Orchid - Refined Beauty. Love, beauty, refinement, beautiful lady, chinese symbol for many children.

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P

Peony - Happy life, happy marriage. Bravery. Bashfulness.

Also: Anger. Shame and ostentation.

The chinese call the peony "sho yu" meaning most beautiful. The ancient Chinese believed peonies were created by the goddess of the moon to reflect her beams at night. It was also viewed as a major healing plant. And in ancient Greece it was said that nymphs could turn themselves into peonies to avoid being seen by humans.

Paired with hyacinth and violet to apologize and ask for forgiveness.

Pair with: Foxglove as a gift for a secret admirer.

Pineapple - Cheerful welcome and warm reception. Symbol of hospitality. Good luck. I'm having a blast looking at Harry's flower cause he is definitely~ lolol

Apparently back in the day, it was really hard for European farmers to cultivate pineapples and it took them 200 years to make it work. So it became a symbol of royalty and privilege. You can read the whole story on the links, I'm not posting it because the post is getting so long~ but it's quite fascinating.

Primrose - The meaning is unconscious beauty. Winning grace. Also named as cowslip. (It seems Ray mentioned it's his favorite flower in a call.)

Pomegranate blossom - Elegance. Sanctity. Abundance. life, fertility. Eternal life. Good luck. Strength. Does anyone here remembers the myth of Persephone? I think these days it's one of our internet favorite couples lol so I won't really delve into it but~

I do want to point out the similarities between the games in the Cheritzverse and the myth. This however will be delved in another post and dropped into my References of pop culture~ masterlist I'm creating on the Cheritzverse.

Palm Tree -

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S

Serbian Bellflower - Everlasting love, gratitude, constancy. (Jumin Han)

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T

Tulip - Declaration of love. Arrogance. Perfect lover. Smile of sunshine. Joy in love and life. Yellow: Friendship, beautiful eyes (Jaehee's Christmas. Found other tulips on Harry's route but they were orange.)

A Turkish legend tells us of two lovers who longed to be together, Ferhad and Shirin, but their love is forbidden. So when Ferhad hears rumors that Shirin has taken her own life, he kills himself in order to be with her for eternity. Tulips~ symbols of his devotion, spring up where his blood is spilled.

Tulips are iconic flowers from the Netherlands, although they originally came from Persia. It became really expensive after being introduced from Turkey.

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W

Weigelas - faithfulness, grace and charm (Saeran Choi) Also: Riches. Maiden beauty.

Willow - (branches) bravery. Mourning, melancholy. Brought to Britain in the 18th century, originally from eastern Asia, usually lives by water, a trabquil slow-running river its favoured spot. Its branches are pendulous and low, and when the wind catches its leaves~ seems to be whispering sad and sorrowful things. The willow usually represents grief and sadness at the death of the lovers, remaining the same, trembling in the wind, watching the tragedy unfold. (See birthday flowers down below)

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There's another thing, in Korea your b-day has a flower that corresponds to the day you were born and not just to the month.

In this case:

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♡ Zen [Apr 1st] ~ Almond (Faithful Love) Also: hope

♡ Yoosung [March 12] ~ Weeping Willow (The Sadness of Love) Also: Mourning. Bravery.

♡ Saeyoung & Saeran [June 11] ~ Fritillaria Thunbergii (Charm) Also: Persecution

♡ V [Sept 9] ~ Michaelmas Daisy (Memories)

Rika [Nov 3] ~ Bryony (Rejection) Also: Be my support

♡ Jumin [Oct 5] ~ Palm Tree (Victory)

♡ Jaehee [Dec 28] ~ Pomegranate (Mature Beauty)

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♡ June [Feb 9] ~ Myrtle (Whisper of Love)

♡ Harry [Dec 20] ~ Pineapple (Absolute perfection)

♡ Teo [July 7] ~ Gooseberry (Expectations)

♡ Henri [Aug 26] ~ Hypoxis Aurea (Looking for the light)

*LMAO they definitely knew of this which means I'm on the right track! Because Harry has a pineapple tattoo e.e which also means, V is the Wizard. I mean~ at least is heavily implied since he is the one who keeps all the memories. I remember what the V told to Jumin one night during Another Story common route~ and he really went for misdirection I'll misquote but it's about the same: "Jumin is my memories/ He remembers better than me~"

Sure~ whatever you say V 🙄

**In case you're curious about your own flower go to the links~

⋆ ₊ ﾟ ☽ * ₊ ⋆⋆ ₊ ﾟ ☽ * ₊ ⋆⋆ ₊ ﾟ ☽ * ₊ ⋆⋆ ₊ ﾟ ☽ * ₊ ⋆

Final Notes:

It took me at least three weeks and I had some help to finish this post and it's not even fully finished 😭 while I don't like to post things like this, sometimes people around me have much more knowledge and can help me better. At this point it's kind of traumatic to publish it like this but please be aware I'm burned. I will keep updating. I just need to take a huge week or something because I also spent 3 days straight without sleeping because of stress so I'm posting this one and I'll edit it later on to add the stuff I didn't add yet like the mistletoe fairy and more on fairies.

I have yet to add some more from Dandelion, Nameless and The Ssum. If anyone wants to collaborate, do tag or rt with the flowers and dates of the guys of the Cheritzverse for me so I can update it with the new info. I'm already working on Harry's but it's taking me forever so any help it's welcomed and appreciated. You'll be added and credited ofc.

Tagging: @smol-grey-tea and @cherrychipheart who have been waiting for me all this time~ thank you so much♡

⋆ ₊ ﾟ ☽ * ₊ ⋆⋆ ₊ ﾟ ☽ * ₊ ⋆⋆ ₊ ﾟ ☽ * ₊ ⋆⋆ ₊ ﾟ ☽ * ₊ ⋆

Links:

♡ Part of the credit here goes to:

Megami605Sama on X

♡ Ray's Guide of the Flower Language on Amino

♡ Reddit - The flowers and their meanings from the latest CG

♡ Your Birthday Flower

♡ Pineapple hospitality

♡ Pineapple story

♡ More on Clover

♡ Hypoxis Aurea

* ੈ✩‧₊˚* ੈ✩‧₊* ੈ✩‧₊˚* ੈ✩‧₊* ੈ✩‧₊˚*

Bibliography: *i'm updating this

♡ Teresa Moorey - The Fairy Bible (2008) [Pages: 15, 24, 25, 38, 46, 47, 56 - 60, 78 - 87, 90, 91.... ]

♡ A Guide for the Flower Language

♡ A victorian flower dictionary by Mandy Kirby (found it on archive.org)

♡ Le Langage des fleurs by de Latour (1819)

♡ Floriography by Jessica Roux (2020)

[amelias-zelda-calamity-quintet]

Representation in MoaH (& GoS)

I don't like to tag my works with a lot of the rep tags they normally would/could have. Personally, from publishing the first book in Word Walkers, my experience is that those tags are more often used to blacklist works and I don't think people should get the opportunity to pretend that queer people, BIPOC people, disabled people don't exist by flagging that. Also like. As a white person, I feel a little weird being like "Look at all my BIPOC characters!" It feels a little virtue signally to me. Telling good stories should just include diverse casts because the world is diverse. You know?

Further, in my experience, particular with Wattpad at the moment, I have a platform to give people the 101 to a lot of these concepts (in particular queer and disability rep, which are my communities) and change their minds that they would have otherwise missed if they'd stayed in their bubble. It does mean you probably won't see things like neopronouns in my works, but if I can change someone's mind about they/them being singular, that's a start. I have a lot of ESL readers according to my stats on Wattpad and translating that can be difficult. But if my work can be a gateway for them learning what that means, that's more good done.

Also, my fics attract a lot of eggs so like. Y'all are finding me anyway, I don't need the tags.

Anyway, here's some of the confirmed rep in book 1 of MoaH and in GoS if y'all need a reference though for what is blatantly in the works so far.

Queer Rep

Marela is a lesbian and in a relationship with Saddiqah by the end of book 1

Link & Saddiqah are both bi-icons (confirmed in the Din's Temple arc) with femme preferences

The fortuneteller in Lake Town (Hart) uses she/they pronouns

The tour guide (unnamed) in Lake Town uses they/them pronouns

Zelda's middle sibling is transmasc, though he is not reintroduced as such until book 2 for plot reasons. His identity and the story around it is given a serious storybeat and is one of the reasons why MoaH Link is my only Link I firmly will say is a cis man, because I'm making a point of in having Link as an example of healthy masculinity (as a cis man) for a trans kid trying to find a role model on it. The series does not use his deadname again though after Link finds out in book 1

They show up later in book 1, but there's a gay couple in the Marksmen, Sorol and Kutt

That's just book 1. I've got an enby knight and an enby Goron in book 2. I've also gone over how some of the Gerudo naming conventions work in my worldbuilding posts to include enby rep like the Gerudo word for nonbinary, vyu, though Dirjaani Gerudo culture doesn't come up in the books until book 3.

Over in GoS, Endeavor is actually a huge part of my coming to terms with my own gender. Originally published with she/her pronouns, the current edits are giving Endeavor they/them pronouns to accurately reflect what I didn't have the language for in high school when I started writing GoS. Endeavor is agendered.

Endeavor has two moms

Two of the Earth Sages, Insen and Hira, are in a relationship, they are both men.

Disability Rep

Lance, Link's dad, uses mobility aids due to an injury that forced him to retire from the Marksmen.

Link has ADHD with anxiety symptoms, chiefly social. This is an intentional conversation on courage and how we define it.

Zelda is autistic. MoaH Zelda is also plus-sized.

Floan is auADHD, she has a special interest in bugs

Kaju, the son of Lake Town's steward, has a prosthetic leg

Ambrose has severe motion sickness (horseback riding is about the most he can handle, but he will not fight on horseback)

Not strictly a disability, but it's a point of worldbuilding that most Hyrulean lineage Zora don't do well in the cold, so there are accessibility enchantments made to allow for traveling extensively in colder regions.

Also not strictly a disability, but sign language is much more widely taught in Hyrule. It's a mandatory lesson for the Marksmen for tactics reasons, so Ambrose, Saddiqah, and Link all have at least a conversational level of fluency in it if not better.

Back in GoS, Link's granddad Lynard uses mobility aids.

Parijan, Guardian of the Spirit Sage, is blind.

Saruo, Priestess of Courage, has anxiety. Again, I like messing with the definition of courage.

BIPOC Rep

Ok, admittedly. MoaH is a little light here. But! In my defense, it's because I want the worldbuilding of MoaH to code countries and cultures with certain ethnicities and not races/species (i.e. the Gerudo aren't just automatically Middle Eastern, there are several cultures where Gerudo are prominent members with multiple influences). So in Hyrule, where the primary culture is Hyrulean coded European generic, there aren't as many opportunities for coded characters ethnically because that's not how I'm handling it. There are characters who are BIPOC, but it feels like a bit of a cop out to include them because then I just list off all the Gerudo who show up because their POC and that feels a little cheap. I am including them too, but I want to preface that other regions of this series are going to be better at this particular beat (I circle back to the enby knight, who is also BIPOC of Faronan-Dirjaani heritage, but that's book 2).

Basic ones, there are three major Gerudo characters in book 1: Saddiqah El Amin, Dragmire Al Iber, and Ayad Al I'Tidal. They are all of the more standard Hyrulean-Dirjaani lineages closest to canon expectation. Dirjaani cultures are influenced by Middle Eastern and North African cultures, so they are all women of color.

Saddiqah in particular, and this gets into spoilers so I'll be brief, is specifically coded to be a biracial woman. For reasons that come up in book 3. It's why her horse, Ajan, has a Creole name which is outside of the typical naming conventions I'm grabbing for the Hyrulean-Dirjaani names.

The Sheikah are coded as Japanese in the games, so Impa is coded as Japanese along with the Hyrulean Sheikah. Sorol is also a Hyrulean Sheikah, so this applies for him too.

The Dreeka in Hyrule are generally coded to be an indigenous group. Because of their relationship with the Sheikah, primary influence there is the Ainu. This includes all of the Dreeka characters introduced in MoaH (Constant, Temperance, Clarity, etc.) as well as the Drex in GoS (Endeavor, Justice, Zeal, etc.)

Over in GoS, Parijan and Dabir are both Middle Eastern coded, we are aiming to be more specific in the edits.

Sayyida and Daniel are both black.

This is loose canon, but I think there's a real read to GoS about making Link black because of the nameless and the felons' rights allegory that that is meant to be. I will not confirm it because Link is meant to be a stand in for the reader and how they see him, but I do like the interpretation.

And again, this is just book 1. There are nine books planned, there will be more.

[elusivemellifluence]

Read 2023

Like I do every year, I've made a bunch of graphs analysing my reading habits. I read 101 books/30,778 pages in 2023, much much more detail under the cut.

A bar graph of the total number of books I've read over each of the last ten years. This year it was 101, which is the lowest so far (one less than last year). It's because reading's not my only hobby anymore, I also spent a lot of time writing fanfiction (77,798 words) and studying Mandarin Chinese (I'm speaking actual sentences now 😎). Plus embroidery, but I mostly do that while listening to audiobooks so it probably doesn't make a difference.

A line graph of my total pagecounts over the last ten years. It follows a similar trajectory to the books graph. The 2023 total (30,778 pages) is very slightly higher than the 2022 total (30,760 pages).

A line graph showing my average book length over the last ten years. There's not a lot of variation: the maximum is 356 in 2015 and the minimum is 301 in 2022. This year's average was 305.

The Books

A pie chart showing that I read mostly ebooks (65) followed by audiobooks (25) and paperbacks (11). The proportions are looking a bit different this year, with significantly more audiobooks (I got a scribd subscription) and for once I didn't read a single hardback.

A pie chart showing where the books I read were sourced from. 40 were my own, 36 were borrowed from the library, 24 were from scribd and 1 was borrowed (an audiobook my sister played in the car while we were roadtripping together). I only got scribd in October so I suspect that proportion will be a lot higher next year.

A bar graph showing the length of the books I read. The biggest chunk were in the range of 300-399 pages. There's just one under 99 pages (The Fox's Tower and Other Stories by Yoon Ha Lee at 77 pages) and just one over 600 (A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon at 880 pages). The average length was 305 pages.

A pie chart showing the original language of the books I read. 96 were English, 1 was translated from Korean and 4 were translated from Chinese. I'm glad I read at least a little literature in translation, but I'd like a wider variety of source languages next year.

A bar graph showing the publication dates of my books. The vast, vast majority were from the 2020s (66), distantly followed by the 2010s (26). Then the 2000s had 5 and the 1980s, 1960s, 1930s and 1920s each had one. The oldest book I read was Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, from 1925, and the newest was A Power Unbound by Freya Marske, published November 7 2023. Every year I see these stats and go "So much recency bias, I should fix that! Or should I? Is it snobbery to value new books less than old ones? I like diverse books and there are obviously far more of those getting published nowadays, and engaging with books as they come out is important to authors. But am I getting caught up in the capitalism machine by focusing so much on what's shiny and new?". In the end I'll probably keep reading mostly new books but maybe aim for a bit of a wider spread, and at least something from before the 20th century.

A horizontal bar graph showing how I rated the books on a scale of 1-5 stars (including half stars). My most common rating was 4 stars and the average was 3.75. The lowest rating was a single 2. I had only 9 five star reads this year, and 2 of those were rereads. That's by far the lowest number of five star books since I started keeping track, no wonder it felt like a bit of a bummer year. Hopefully in 2024 I'll find some more books that knock my socks off.

Since the number of five star books was so low, I can just list them here: A Restless Truth and A Power Unbound by Freya Marske (historical fantasy/mystery/queer romance), Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley (YA contemporary thriller about the repatriation of stolen indigenous artefacts), Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo (from a series of cosy fantasy novellas about the power of stories), Burning Roses by S.L. Huang (fantasy novella about Red Riding Hood and Hou Yi the archer from Chinese mythology as middle-aged sapphics with a lot of regrets), Vagina Obscura: An Anatomical Voyage by Rachel E. Gross (nonfiction dive into the medical and cultural history surrounding the vagina, clitoris and ovaries, the title sounds like it could be some t*rf shit but it's not, there's a whole chapter about the development of vaginoplasty surgery) and He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan (historical fantasy about fucked up, terrible, deeply compelling queer people fighting for the throne in medieval China).

A pie chart showing the target age of my books. 75 were adult, 23 were young adult and 3 were children's books. I also read some baby/toddler books for babies/toddlers I know but didn't record them in my stats. I loved An A-Z of Australian Bush Creatures by Myke Mollard and so did my almost 3 year old cousin, the illustrations are gorgeous.

A pie chart showing that 96 of the books were new reads and 5 were rereads. Similar proportions to last year.

A pie chart showing the genres of books I read. The most common was fantasy, as usual, with 48 books. It was followed by science fiction (18), romance (17), historical fiction (15), contemporary (12), nonfiction (11), mystery (7), memoir (4), literary fiction (3), magic realism (3) and thriller (2). I usually have a couple of horror, but not this year.

This one is new this year: a pie chart showing the books' status in a series. 53 were standalones, 13 were series starters, 34 were sequels and 1 was an omnibus.

The Authors

A pie chart showing the authors' gender. 64 were by cis women, 21 by cis men, 9 by nonbinary people, 4 by trans men, 3 by trans women and 1 by an author of unknown gender. I'd like to read more trans authors next year.

A pie chart showing the authors' nationality. As per usual, the USA was the most common with 51 books (it's only barely a majority). It's followed by the UK and Ireland (19), Australia (10), China (5), Canada (4), Singapore (3), France (2) and Japan, South Korea, Pakistan, Mexico, Zimbabwe, Germany and the Dominican Republic with 1 each. Next year I'd like to read more Australian books, since I am Australian - my own country should be at least in second place.

A pie chart showing the authors' race. As usual, I was aiming to read two authors of colour for each white author. This year was the first time white authors weren't the largest single group - there were 32, and 42 Asian authors.

The Characters

A pie chart showing the protagonists' genders. There were 50 cis women, 30 cis men, 6 nonbinary people, 3 trans women and 2 trans men. It's similar proportions to the authors, and I'd also like to read more trans characters next year.

A pie chart about how many protagonists were people of colour. 59 were, 25 were not, 4 characters were impossible to meaningfully classify in these terms (a dragon, an orc, a koala and a cyborg) and 1 character's race was unclear.

A pie chart showing the protagonists' orientations. Straight characters were the most common but not the majority - there were 40 of them, and a total of 56 queer or indeterminate characters. 29 were gay/lesbian, 12 were bi/pan, 8 were unclear, 5 were ace/aro and 2 were queer/questioning. I'm always pleased when the straight characters are outnumbered.

That's all for this year ... on to 2024!

[quizboxing]

Exploring the Excitement of Quizroom: Where Knowledge Meets Adventure

In the realm of interactive entertainment and intellectual challenges, Quizroom emerges as a beacon of excitement and engagement. This innovative concept combines the thrill of a quiz with the immersive experience of an escape room, offering participants a unique blend of cerebral puzzles and collaborative problem-solving. Let's delve into what makes Quizroom a must-try activity for enthusiasts of all ages.

What is Quizroom?

Quizroom brings together the best elements of traditional quizzes and the immersive nature of escape rooms. Participants are immersed in a themed environment where they must unravel a series of puzzles, clues, and challenges—all while answering trivia questions that test their knowledge across various topics. This fusion of mental agility and teamwork creates a dynamic and exhilarating experience that challenges both intellect and intuition.

The Adventure Unfolds

Imagine stepping into a meticulously designed room, each corner filled with cryptic clues and brainteasers waiting to be deciphered. Your mission: to solve puzzles that lead to the next clue while tackling trivia questions that range from history and geography to pop culture and science. Every correct answer not only advances your progress but also adds to the overall excitement of the adventure.

The beauty of Quizroom lies in its ability to cater to diverse interests and skill levels. Whether you're a seasoned quiz enthusiast or someone looking for a new way to bond with friends and family, the experience promises something for everyone. Each challenge encourages collaboration, communication, and creative thinking—qualities that are essential for navigating both the quiz and the room's puzzles.

Why Choose Quizroom?

Beyond its entertainment value, Quizroom offers several benefits for participants:

Intellectual Stimulation: Engage your mind with thought-provoking trivia questions and intricate puzzles that require logical reasoning and deduction.

Team Building: Foster teamwork and camaraderie as you work together to solve challenges under pressure.

Adaptive Difficulty: Quizroom experiences can be tailored to accommodate different skill levels, ensuring that everyone can participate and contribute meaningfully.

Memorable Experiences: Create lasting memories with friends, family, or colleagues as you celebrate victories and overcome obstacles together.

Joining the Quizroom Community

In Copenhagen, Denmark, Quizroom has gained popularity as a go-to destination for those seeking interactive and intellectually stimulating entertainment. Located conveniently at Gothersgade 101 C, Quizroom offers a variety of themed rooms designed to transport participants into different worlds of mystery and adventure.

Whether you're planning a team-building event, a birthday celebration, or simply a fun outing with friends, Quizroom provides an unforgettable experience. Step into a world where every corner holds a secret waiting to be uncovered, and every answer brings you closer to unraveling the ultimate mystery.

Embrace the Challenge

Quizroom invites you to embark on a journey where knowledge is your greatest asset and collaboration is key to success. Whether you're a novice or a seasoned enthusiast, the allure of solving puzzles and mastering trivia in a captivating setting is irresistible.

To learn more about Quizroom, upcoming themes, or how to book your adventure, visit QuizBoxing.dk or contact us at info@quizboxing.dk. Our team is dedicated to ensuring you have a memorable experience filled with excitement, discovery, and the thrill of victory.

Conclusion

Quizroom is more than just a game—it's an adventure that combines the thrill of discovery with the satisfaction of intellectual achievement. Whether you're seeking a new challenge or looking to strengthen bonds with friends and colleagues, Quizroom promises an experience like no other. Dare to test your knowledge, sharpen your wits, and unlock the mysteries that await within the captivating world of Quizroom.

Discover the thrill of Quizroom today at Gothersgade 101 C, Copenhagen K. Adventure awaits!

[paolojcruz]

Ride across the many worlds of Philippine komiks with Abangan

REVIEWS : COMICS

From heartbroken memoirs, to poetry comics, and yes, even superheroes, we can’t wait for Abangan: Best Philippine Komiks 2014

Originally published on Pacifiqa.com, April 2014

The editors of Abangan make the bold claim that their anthology represents The Best Philippine Komiks 2014. It’s a loaded statement, directed at two broad, overlapping audiences: Filipino readers (who don’t necessarily seek out local comics) and comic readers around the world (who might not be familiar with the work of Filipino creators). The editors – Rob Cham, Adam David, Carljoe Javier, and Elbert Or – have reasonable grounds to make that claim. Between them, they’ve created, edited, and taught about local comics with enough hands-on experience and formal savvy to possess a critical eye for the subject. And perhaps most importantly, they genuinely love comics – or “komiks”, as they opt to refer to the medium, locally. It’s a fact they declare in large, bold typeface at the start of their communal introduction. For the most part, their selection reflects this mix of critical curation and infectious enthusiasm for the medium.

Showcasing many worlds The editors’ introduction also spells out quite explicitly how they intend audiences to read the collection – “We wish the readers pay special attention to some of the more interesting landmarks of contemporary komiks, specifically the effort to experiment with formal and historical constraints inherent not only in comics as a form but in komiks as historical cultural production.” They go on to list a number of themes that recur in the komiks they’ve chosen, including the pervasive “kenkoy slapstick comedic aesthetic” and the transliteration of spandex-clad superheroics to a postcolonial Third World milieu, trusting the readers to figure out how these apply to the stories that follow.

There’s a deliberate push for diversity of styles, perhaps to offset the association of contemporary komiks with either traditional superhero fare or uninspired manga-fied fantasies. To that end, highlights from Emiliana Kampilan’s irreverent historical web comic Dead Balagtas share page space with Mica Agregado’s poetry comic “Blue Dust”. Likewise, Bong Redila’s whimsical, single-panel cartoons – which bring to mind old-timey children’s book illustrations by the likes of Windsor McKay – are represented alongside excerpts from Josel Nicolas’ gut-wrenching autobiographical comic Windmills V. It’s a deliberately pluralistic overview of the local komiks scene. Perhaps that might not be representative of the actual state of the medium, but it accounts for what the editors regard as its strongest work.

So that addresses editorial intent. But how do the actual komiks fare?

Playing with panels For the most part, the comics live up to the editors’ framing. The collection opens with an excerpt from Manix Abrera’s wordless “Diwata”. It’s an ideal piece to train newbie komiks readers in the basics of visual storytelling. The uniform nine-panel grid layout, the use of panel borders to frame the narrative, and cartoonish character designs all work together to tell a straightforward vignette about romance, expectations, and music. It’s a fitting introduction to the fundamentals of sequential art.

It’s quickly followed up with an excerpt from Crime Fighting Call Center Agents by Noel Pascual. The title of the series itself is a playful misnomer, and this sample just adds to the confusion. But as a story fragment, in and of itself, it continues the “komiks 101” masterclass. It takes a very mundane situation – a chance introduction of two men by common friends – and quickly turns it into a most epic “handshake battle” across space and time. Without spoiling how the conflict unfolds, let’s just say that it provides Pascual ample opportunity to show off the kind of trippy, cosmic-level events that wouldn’t be out of place in an old Jim Starlin comic. Mindscrew doesn’t even begin to describe it. Once again, the panel borders and page layout go a long way towards getting the story across, this time emphasizing the massive scope of the ‘fight’ between these two very competitive hand-shakers.

Speaking in code However, there’s more to komiks than just telling a story in pictures. Words are an inextricable part of the comic form, and it puts the issue of language front and center. Abangan is a polylingual anthology, so aside from the language of images, there’s a whole range of linguistic flavors, from street Tagalog to Filipinized English. By and large, the language choices feel appropriate.

The mock-pedagogical “Kung Bakit Lab Nating Mga Pinoy Ang Pagbibidyoke?” by the pseudonymous Dark Chapel uses casual Filipino to make its self-explanatory point. But its humor relies on so many culturally-specific references – from the Dutdutan tattoo festival, to Willie Revillame’s televised meltdown (“You don’t do that to me!”) – that its nuances would seem impenetrable even to somebody who might speak the language, but wasn’t well-versed in the details of Pinoy pop culture. To add to the confusion further, Dark Chapel throws in several gags that will only make sense to people who’ve watched World Wrestling Entertainment in the last few years. Otherwise, it all comes across like so much general absurdity. He may refer to the inclusive “natin”, but he seems to be addressing a much smaller in-group than the title suggests.

Crossing over Chapel’s work seems even more limiting when compared to the excerpt from Paolo Fabregas’ Filipino Heroes League Volume 2, which follows it. It uses a college lecture as a framing device for a flashback to a superhero battle, set during the EDSA People Power revolt in 1986. The story plays around with multiple themes from the history of Western superhero comics and post-Martial Law Philippine politics.

On one hand, it deals with the issue of super-powered individuals taking part in a real-life political movement that became world-famous for mobilizing ordinary citizens in favor of popular democracy (well, in theory, anyway). And despite its brevity, the fictional lecture comes down squarely on the side of us ‘normal’ folk. This can be read as a sly commentary on the prominent role of real-world ‘superpowers’ – from the military, traditional politics, and across the seas – who were instrumental in the outcome of EDSA ’86. Of course, that presumes a familiarity with the events of EDSA, at all.

However, there’s also another layer to Fabregas’ story. The mid 1980s were also a tumultuous era for superhero comics, in general. DC studios’ Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline undid decades of continuity in their shared multiverse, while seminal works like Alan Moore’s Watchmen and Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns problematized the role of superheroes, in terms of their effect real-world political affairs. (This also signaled a period of misguided darker and “edgier” superhero titles, which fell short of deconstructing superhero tropes with the same kind of nuance.) This is relatively common knowledge to people who are familiar with superhero comics, so it’s possible to read Fabregas’ work through that particular lens. When you tie both of these readings together, it drives home the themes emphasized by the editors in their introduction.

Filling the gaps This is just a partial sliver of what Philippine komiks have to offer. Indeed, the editors themselves admit to certain limits – for example, the Manila-centric selection of creators, and the relatively lop-sided gender and sexuality ratio among them. While most of the stories merited inclusion here, a few of them could have been swapped out to address this matter, without compromising the overall quality of the anthology. In terms of style, the work of creators like FFY of EM Zine, Danielle Rina of UP Grail, and sample comics from Stache could have easily fit in here. But these exclusions just remind us of the broad scope of the local comics scene, as is.

On the whole, Abangan succeeds as a great snapshot of the possibilities of Philippine komiks. One might quibble about the label of “Best” – in terms of gut-level preferences and formal media critique. But it’s decidedly one of the most diverse collections of local work to date.

[bookofmirth]

Can you please elaborate why it is considered problematic that SJM wrote that elain is uncomfortable around lucien? You mentioned in a previous response that it was not a good move for her to write elain being uncomfortable by a disabled POC but I’m not quite sure why that is a problem because she is not uncomfortable because of his disability or race- her discomfort has nothing to do with that.

Also, racism is not an issue in prythian the way it is in real life. You have high lords such as helion and tarquin (among others) that are explicitly POC and there has never been mention of any hostility towards them because of the color of their skin. The only discrimination I can recall is between high and lesser fae which is classist not racist.

I’m just confused why it is considered ableist or racist when SJM decided to write how elain is uncomfortable around lucien when it has nothing to do with his skin color or disability.

On another note- would it have been racist if amarantha (a known rapist) was written as a WOC rather than white? I’m just trying to understand your point of view and I’m a little lost. To me, acotar is a diverse world with characters of all races and some are good, some are evil but pretty much every character has done something morally grey at at least one point in the series. And none of that is not specific to one race vs another. There are white characters that are good, morally grey and downright evil. And the same can be said for other races.

I appreciate any further elaboration you can supply!

Hello! I will try my best. I don't mind answering questions like this! I recognize that I have had a lot of education about these topics and I have learned A Lot from Black women on Twitter over the years. I hope to share it in a way that is useful. I can maybe make a reading list if anyone is interested, but people should definitely ask around so that it's not getting filtered through just one person (aka me).

So the whole thing with talking about race in the fandom is that race does not function the same way in the acotar world as it does in ours. You are correct about that. You may have seen my post that attempted to break down various ways that characters access privilege in Prythian? Either way, yes. It is not a one-to-one correspondence with our world and the book world.

However, there are issues within the acotar world that mirror issues in ours, and the way that fans engage with those issues can reveal underlying prejudices. I mentioned in this post that we don't have to intend to do these things. (Also, intent versus impact is like diversity, inclusivity, and equity training 101. It's one of the first, and most important things you will learn. Even if you didn't mean to harm someone, they still feel hurt, and it's important to acknowledge that.)

The issue with the way people talk about Lucien - and I mentioned in another post that this is perhaps just as much on Sarah for creating this scenario as it is on the fandom for hopping on that horse and riding - is that there is a history of white women being painted as the victims of Black men specifically.

I'm going to put the rest of this under the cut because I want to show you some examples.

I hope that I don't have to explain why this is disgusting. There is a real-life example of this ^^^ if you google Emmett Till and read his story. This is by far not the only example of a white woman claiming that a Black man (or boy, in his case) was harassing her in some way, and often, that has resulted in lynching.

These are clearly older examples, and also really good examples of how people of color can be dehumanized, but these problems persist. The methods are just more subtle. More recently, it could result in police brutality. When that women called the police on a Black man in NYC last summer, it played into the long history of a woman claiming that she was being threatened or victimized by a Black man. As @gimme-mor explained in her post, the concept of white womanhood is often used as a way to uphold racism and white supremacy because it shows people of color as being violent threats, giving white men (and white women) a reason to retain their privilege.

You're probably wondering now what the fuckity fuck this has to do with Acotar and Lucien. I am getting there!

Because of this historical context, there are many slurs and stereotypes used against POC that on the surface, seem innocent. However, they have a deep, dark history of oppression and violence. It's not about the "one time" that someone said one racist thing, but generational trauma. I can't speak to what this is like as a lived experience, and so I would really appreciate anyone who does want to add on!!!

For example, just to take us away from acotar for a minute, there is a problematic, sexist and often racist trope in which characters get fridged. This is a term used to refer to the way that women, women of color, or characters of color (this could include queer and disabled people as well) are killed off to further a white person's story. This happens SO OFTEN. Nehemia was killed in ToG to motivate Aelin. Sorscha was killed in HoF to hurt Dorian. In a multitude of super hero and action movies, the wife or girlfriend of the main character is killed off in order to provide either pain or motivation to the white male hero.

Individually, these events are whatever. Taken as a whole, though... it shows a trend that the girlfriend of the hero is disposable. It shows that people who are not white, straight, able-bodied males are worthless, and only function to further someone else’s plot.

So that's what is sort-of happening here. After a long, long history of white women positioning themselves (or being positioned) as the innocent victims of brutish, violent, barely-even-human men of color, there are some disturbing parallels when people try to say that Elain is a shrinking violet next to Lucien's insistent attentions.

The context is everything. It's not about this one event, but that there is a history in the real world of this trope playing out over and over, and it has even been an explicit tactic used to perpetuate white supremacy.

This context influences the way that we interact with one another in fandom. The point of that post was not to critique the acotar series itself, but to expose some problematic aspects of the fandom.

I am not going to speak for anyone else, but I think that the original intent of pointing out this parallel between Elain/Lucien and white feminism was not that we want people to stop saying that Elain feels this, or Elain feels that, or Lucien is doing this or that, etc. The reason why this has been mentioned in the past is because there are some very uncomfortable, violent historical precedents set, and while people may not realize that those exist, they may be unintentionally furthering that stereotype.

There were many, many other points made in that post that I think bear repeating and further attention. I hope that this made sense. It's hard to condense literal centuries of racism like this, and of course I am only talking about the context in the U.S. I'm sure it's different elsewhere.

The main takeaway from that post, though, is that it wasn't about the world itself. It was about the way that the fandom engages with the world, and how they utilize some problematic tools to do so. Critiquing the world itself is a completely different issue, which... I will sorta touch on now!

One last point, since you brought up Amarantha and the potential of her being a WOC and a rapist - it could be viewed as problematic and racist, due to the oversexualization of Black women in particular (again, the context throughout history supports this). However, that would not be a fandom problem! That would be an sjm problem.

BTW - I do have serious problems with the way that Illyrians are portrayed in acotar, again because of the history of POC being portrayed as uncivilized, brutish, violent, and... that word that means someone isn't religious. I am getting tired and forgot the word. When sjm says that Illyrians are that way, and when she emphasizes the fact that they are a race... yikes. It's not racist of us to point that out, but it was highly questionable that she created them to be that way in the first place.

Let me know if any of this doesn't make sense, please! To anyone reading this to the end, first off RIP! But also let me know if I've gotten something wrong or if you see something differently.

[hermitknut]

Just ploughed through the entire Wells and Wong/Murder Most Unladylike series (well, all of it apart from a short story collection, but I’m doing that tomorrow), and I can already tell I’m going to have a WICKED book hangover. A quick rundown:

Middle grade fiction (9-13 for those in the UK)

Set in the 1930s

Main character is Hazel Wong, who is Chinese. She grew up in Hong Kong and has been sent to attend a British girls’ boarding school.

She meets Daisy Wells, aristocrat and fellow student, beloved of half the school, perfect little English girl... supposedly. 

they become friends and start investigating murders, the first of which is at the School, but a lot of the others move around

Several Agatha Christie homages (one story set on a train, one on a Nile Cruise, and several other smaller instances)

But Sherlock Holmes is the real thing that this shadows - Daisy and Hazel are definitely echoing Holmes and Watson, but with their own little twists on it.

The depiction of Holmes as a bit insensitive and tactless (though not always) works so much better when you make your Holmes character thirteen, haha. Daisy’s very forgivable even when she’s being a bit of a terror, and the character development gently (and occasionally abruptly) brings her into check, alongside Hazel’s growing confidence.

Love how much diversity is on display in this story, exactly the kind of story that many people would say has to be all white, or all straight.

Hazel is Chinese, of course, and we have other characters from or with family from Egypt and India, and a few Black characters too (though I think only as one off characters)

The story deals with prejudice in a pretty 101 way, which you’d expect for the age range, but I like that it doesn’t do a basic “the heroines are always good and not bigoted, the villains always are” - Daisy and Hazel do make assumptions, and say things they shouldn’t, and then they learn better, which seems like a more helpful way of handling it.

Also the way that queer people are just... around? Like, it’s the 1930s, they’re not being loud about it, but sure in book one everyone knows two of the lady teachers live together, and that it’s nobody’s business. It’s fine. There are a few sapphic couples, and at least three queer men at different points. 

Also I won’t spoil of it, but one of our main pair turns out to be a lesbian, and that reveal (and her crush on another character) is really delightful to read.

I deeply love the way they deal with the weirdness of two young teen girls constantly coming across murders by being like “why has this happened again???” and then everyone just kind of shrugs and moves on

Partly by dint of her echoing Holmes, I think, but Daisy does seem to be coded as autistic - I’d love to hear from anyone autistic who’s read it!

They accrue assistant detectives and various exasperated adults as they go, and it’s delightful :D

...okay so that wasn’t quick, haha. TL;DR: diverse kids detective fiction in a period setting. But ashakdfhsdjkfhsdgs it was SO GOOD and I can’t stop thinking about it. I’m so glad I’ve got the little short story collection left over, I can read that tomorrow to wind down a bit (that ENDING, holy shit).

Anyway: book one is ‘Murder Most Unladylike’ by Robin Stevens. Wonderful stuff.

[practicalmagicintuitions]

A little something about tarot for beginners and everyone who is interested.

I planned this post for a long time, mainly for tarot newbies, someone who wants to start or  just interested in how works. It won’t be a Tarot 101, definitely not. More likely, how I work with the cards. 

DISCLAIMER: If you are underage I cannot and I won’t give you any ideas how to hide your practice from your parents or guardians. I know tiktok is very popular, but be careful because there is way more misinformation than any other SM site. 

First, you obviously got familiar with the basic meaning of the cards, the build of the deck. You will learn the suits, the arcanas, the court cards, the numerology groups, and a few keywords. But this comes with practice. This doesn’t mean you can only draw your first card after you learned all of those things. No. When you buy your deck, look at each card carefully. Do not turn into a companion book or the internet immediately. Think about the card, make notes into a journal or a paper about what you feel, notice when you look at the image. Makes you happy, makes you scared? Is it dark, it is light? And after that, you can read what the book says. 

Tarot is about storytelling so your intuition, your memories, your feelings are very important.

When someone is saying tarot has fixed meanings… this is not entirely true. One card can have many many meanings depending on its position or the surrounding cards. Yes, Death card won’t mean your soulmate is coming on a horse, but it’s also 99% won’t mean you are gonna die. 

If you want fixed meanings, you should read Lenormand instead. In Lenormand, there are certain combinations with fixed meanings, there is no place for intuition. The pictures on the Lenormand cards have aesthetic purposes only they don’t have additional meanings. Tarot is intuitive. It means you combine the meanings of the cards and above that, you are using your intuition AND the pictures on the cards. Movements, colours, directions, animals, flowers, symbols etc. 

What do I mean? I’ll show you. 

Those are the Fools from the classic RWS, the Modern Witch Tarot and the This Might Hurt Tarot decks. Look how similar they are at first. They are representing the carfree, daydreaming attitude, the journey. They all have a companion, a dog etc. You can fairly read those the same way. Of course, there are differences, the big city instead of the mountains, backpack etc, but I think those are amazing starter decks. 

I think I wrote in my first tarot post that even many people do not like the classical RWS deck, because the images seem ugly and there is no diversity, for me that is the basis and I think everyone should have own it. But if you absolutely don’t want to because you don’t like it at all, those 2 decks, the Modern Witch Tarot and the This Might Hurt Deck seems a good starter deck. RSW was not my first deck, I haven’t started with it, so you can buy it later on if you want and start with the deck you like more. It is very important to choose a deck that speaks to you. Tarot first and foremost is about your personal journey or helping others if you are reading for others. What I am doing here in tumblr is fun, a good practice, it is testing my abilities but tarot is not only for knowing more about our celeb crushes. It is a guied to ourselves. 

Let’s see more examples with pictures.  The RWS tarot and the New Vision tarot.

New Vision tarot recreates the RWS imagery but as you will see gives a different perspective to the cards, therefore gives a new layer to them. I heard the deck has only a little white book, not a real guide, which is a shame. I think it’s an interesting concept and you could deliver very different readings than with a standard RWS. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend this deck to a newbie but it’s interesting so I show you. You can see how different those images, how different intuitive messages you can get.

Same-ish concept is the Vica Versa Tarot. Based on the ratings it is more usable than the New Vision Tarot. This deck has pictures on both sides and the meaning varies depends on this. This is also a very RWS based deck so it is very interesting to me. Not in the near future, but I want to purchase this deck. 

I will show you a few more examples of cards that are less based on the RWS system (or not at all) therefore you need you and your intuition more.

RWS, Gentle Tarot, Wild Unkown, Shadowscapes

I hope you understand now how important it is to use your own intuitions, feelings, experiences and find the style that suits you. Personally, I prefer the more earth-based, pagan or darker decks (not too dark though, I should say more serious) but you can find all pastel pink, fluffy decks too. There are literally thousands of decks on the market in every style. But those are not cheap things, if you cannot connect you won’t be able to work with them. If you like a deck, go to youtube, search for a flip through. Look at the cards carefully. If you still like it, amazing. However, if you bought a deck and it turns out not for you you can still sell it online or if you are really lucky you have spiritual stores or fairs in your area where you can sell or change it for something else. 

Connecting the cards it’s not easy, but one of my most spot-on reading was when I let my intuition work completely. I remember I pulled the cards and I started to collect the information about what they could mean. And I felt it makes no sense left to right but right to left I understand it crystal clear. I was hesitant because you have this preconception you have to read the cards in order, but guess what, you don’t have to. I will link an excellent video about it, I found it after my reading and it was a light bulb, aha moment for me. This youtube channel is not for beginners, but I recommend watching this video, you will understand what I ment and it will help you.

The other thing, yes, in western culture we read left to right but this is only one way you can do it. You don’t have to stick with it in your readings. In the most popular spread in the Celtic cross you read the last 4 cards from down to up. And on the standard RWS deck (as you can see on the first picture above), The Fool starts his journey and he is heading from right to left. Isn’t this amazing? And the Major Arcana is about The Fool’s journey. Aka your journey.

*( I cannot link here, in the middle of the text, so it will be video 1 at the end)

So don’t be afraid, be free, make your own meaning, rituals. This is your tarot journey, no one else's. Yours. Don’t let some bitter, “I know better, you are wrong” people take your enthusiasm away. 

You can read many books and sources but it doesn’t mean you will understand the cards. You cannot read the cards mechanically. Keywords are helpful at the beginning but after a while you have to leave them behind and use your intuition. 

99% of the tarot readers have difficulty with Court Cards. Those are basically people on the cards, doing very little. Some readers read them only as a person, some of them read them as an influence. Just because there is a man on the cards this doesn't mean it represents a male in your life. So it’s hard. 

One exercise which is fun and you can make it easier  is that you try to pair them with people in your life. Do you have an impulsive brother who is flirty and rushing things? Knight of Wands. Do you have a mean female boss, who is gossiping and bitching? Queen of Swords rx.  Of course, this is very basic, but it could help and it is fun.

If you don’t want to use your family or acquaintances, use tv series instead. I think Game of Thrones is amazing for this. It has so many different characters. Many of them are even changing. Jon Snow went from Knight to King, Arya from page to Knight, Sansa from Page to Knight, from Knight to Queen.

The second type of exercise is similar just with the minors. Choose a movie and try to tell the story with the minors. People met, fell in love, getting married, broke up, fighting over money during the divorce etc. All in the cards. 

Pulling a card daily is amazing in every way. People recommend doing this in the morning, however I like to do this at the evening. Firstly, because I am a night owl, mornings are painful for me and I don’t have time in the mornings. But the most inportant reason is because I can be anxious and easily stressed out. If I pull the Death at the mornig I will stressing out the whole day. However if I pull this at the evening as a summary of my day maybe I will realise immediately, “oh, my favourite tv show was cancelled, bummer.” or “ I have a new teamleader at work or school, so this is a new cycle for us” I think this gives you a bigger and clearer understanding how those cards are fit into your daily life and what are they meaning for you personally. 

When you choose to do any kind of divination it’s crucial to protect your energies. So it’s inevitable to start meditating. The other two practices which I highly highly recommend are called Grounding and Circle Casting. Don’t be scared, those are just higher forms of meditation that help you to keep the balance, but those are also a must if you decide to do another type of Energy Work, for example of Energy Manipulation. I will link an excellent video about it. This YT is also an amazing resource if you are interested in Wicca. You don’t have to! This channel is amazing anyway. Personally, I am not a Wiccan either as I am not celebrating Wiccan sabbats like Beltane or Imbolc, but I love this channel so so much.

*I cannot link the video becuse she’s blocked this option but this is her site. Go and check her  Centering and Grounding ║ Witchcraft 101 video, it was uploaded on July 10th in 2019 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFz0Rtv2bh86aUy_5_YsGLw

There will be a point when someone wants to scare you that tarot, divination and spirituality are evil. It is not. Tarot is a piece of paper with pictures on it. It’s not deviant or anything. The cards have no intentions or consciousness, they are just cardstock. Not bad or good. What can make it harmful is the unethical people. Someone who wants to bribe you to pay a big amount of money because “you are cursed” or is someone trying to manipulate the readings to scare you or make you do something. If your intentions are good, have a moral and you protect your energy, you don’t have to be afraid. 

In my experience usually people who are heavily involved in churches or Christianity try to push that the tarot and spirituality are evil. Of course not all of them, I know many professional tarot readers who are also Christian, love Jesus etc. 

What you should know and maybe this could give you a little comfort or calm that we are all spiritual beings. All of us are made of energy. We are so much more than flesh and blood and bones. Everyone is attracting or have spirits in their life even the most hardcore churchgoers have. You are not bad or evil just because you use divination. Always your intention is important and that you seek the light side of spiritualism. 

I hope you liked this post, it becomes my baby and I am really proud of it and I hope you will find it useful or interesting. In the forseeable future I am not planning anyithing similar but I am open to questions as always. Maybe I will have an answer.  

Be Blessed.

[hamliet]

Hamliet my dude have you seen the spoilers for the new grishaverse books? Arghhh this is so painful as a darkling stan >_< I know LB can write morally gray nuanced characters so why does she drop the ball so badly on him always...? And good ol’ death = redemption, is back :))))))))) Pain. Only pain.

I’ve seen them. Color me not surprised yet still disappointed.

I’m going to take the chance to vent a bit. Some of it might come across as personal criticism, but there’s clearly a personal element to this as well. I really don’t intend to send hate to her or start discourse, but it’s something that’s been driving me crazy.

Setting out to write a character who is the embodiment of many people’s deepest fears (being alone) and then being like “snip snip time to die” twice to prove the moral point that Bad Boyz R Bad is not good writing. It’s one thing to have him be the abusive boyfriend, but the story encourages Alina to sympathize with him and even love him, so by default the writing is  encouraging readers to do the same. I don’t get how it’s odd to her that people love the Darkling, as she’s said it is, and I have a personal opinion (which no one has to share and she clearly doesn’t!) that if you encourage a reader to care about a character, you should own that and handle that with respect.

If her intentions were to write Adam Taurus (RWBY’s abusive boyfriend), it was framed it badly. ARWBY’s writing of Adam isn’t without its flaws, but it’s much more clearly framed. Someone who must be put down should not be framed as a Jungian shadow in the most obvious of obvious ways; tropes exist and set expectations because they resonate with people. If the intent was to deconstruct a trope, go for it--but effective deconstruction comes from understanding the appeal of such a trope (see: Eren in SnK as a shonen deconstruction, and Adam to an extent).

So, it’s her story, she can write what she wants, but she has to own that this could be hurtful to readers. What makes me annoyed with her interviews is that she knows this. She’s said as much in interviews that “fanfiction is fine.” Okay, fine, but literally setting up a cult of people worshipping the Darkling who are very very very obviously stand-ins for fangirls who like him comes across as petty at best, definitely in bad taste, and questionably misogynistic at worst (but not surprising since Alina has some pretty strong internalized misogynistic ‘not like the other girls with their big boobs’ thoughts towards like every other woman she meets). It’s also kinda self-righteous. (Writing another duology post-trilogy repeating your theme and deliberately targeting fans might convey that the theme just wasn’t that conveyed that strongly in the trilogy--which is fine. It’s a first series. We know she can write awesome works in Six of Crows, so really, why was this necessary?) Okay, she’s probably gotten hate that might have driven some of this (and she does not deserve that), but it’s still like... lazy writing.

Then again, the heroine’s definition of mercy, her supposed true power, is killing a bunch of people, so maybe the Darkling’s fate is supposed to be merciful and kind, since apparently words don’t mean anything in Grishaverse.

I’ll take inspiration and be petty and complain once again that an author celebrated for diversity in her writing should do better research on Russian/Slavic culture and how a guy would not be “Ilya Mozorova” but “Ilya Mozorov,” and Alina would not be “Alina Starkov,” but “Alina Starkova." That’s like Russian Names 101; you can read a simple short story set in Russia and get that. It baffles me the editors didn’t catch that.

Anyways, the story and characters--Alina and Mal included and Matthias--deserved better writing.

(Yes, it’s clear the Grishaverse trilogy is a story that pleases many and no story is for everyone/unable to hurt someone. It’s just not a story for me, but that doesn’t mean I can’t also criticize its writing flaws. If you like it though? Power to you, I’m glad for you!)

[mosaicofdreamsanddragons]

Something Missing

Red Son waiting for Noodle Boy in episode 8.

You can also read this on ao3 here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26960851

Red Son cackled madly to himself as he glanced at the small apartment. Here he was under Noodle Boy’s very noise! Any moment he would appear, guard dropped, only have the key swiped from his very grasp!!!!!

Getting a hold on himself he opened the window and slipped in. No point in bursting in and making a scene. There would be time for that later, but now was all about the stealth.

The room was small and dark after the brightness of the sun. He debated setting his hair on fire to get some light but decided against it. No point in giving himself away just yet; Noddle Boy could be along any minute.

Instead he contented himself in trying to find the best place for an ambush…even if there weren’t a lot of options. The room was a square with only two doors, one to a bathroom and one to the outside. He supposed he could hide in the bathroom, but that was beneath him. So he contented himself to wait right in front of the main entrance so he could be the first thing Noddle Boy would see.

No, it wasn’t enough to just be the first thing he saw, he was the son of the Demon Bull King and Iron Fan Princess. His appearance should shock and amaze. He looked around the room for a prop. The chair would do. He shoved it in front of the door and lounged on it like it was his throne. No, it needed more. He grabbed one of the Noodle Boy’s books and held it up so the first thing Noodle Boy would see was how not interested he was, all cool and collected like breaking-in had been a breeze.

Noodle Boy didn’t come.

And didn’t come.

And didn’t come.

Eventually he ran out of book. With nothing left to do he threw the book on the floor and went hunting for another one. Defiantly because his image depended on him having a cool book to read and not because he wanted to know what happened next. He didn’t care what happened next in a silly comic about the Monkey King. His hair caught fire at the lack of reading material because he was sick of waiting is all.

Noodle boy was still not coming. He sat back down on the chair, less interesting book on noodles in hand. His eyes started to wander around the room. Pictures of Monkey King (of course), a large poster of noodles (he should have expected that), a green dragon poster which caught the eye only because it was the only poster of its kind, lots and lots of Monkey shaped clocks.

There was something missing. He couldn’t place his finger on it but it made his skin crawl.

He widened his observation. The room was filled with clutter tucked into a semblance of order he was sure only made sense to the Noodle Boy. Dirty dishes piled on the counter (all noodle bowls, was this boy anything but on brand?). There were scattering of toys: some Monkey shaped, others for video games. Books were on the shelves, papers on the table, and a plant in the corner.

From the room he could tell Noodle Boy was messy, a gamer, and liked Noodles and Monkey King. But something was missing. Something that should be there that wasn’t. Some insight into Noodle Boy’s life that he shouldn’t already know.

Noodle Boy worked with noodles, he knew that. Noodle Boy was the new Monkey Kid, he knew that. Noodle boy gamed, Red Son already knew that from bumping into him at the arcade (because he was stalking his enemy and no other reason). And he knew Noodle boy was messy because his shirt had a stain on it he’d never bothered to clean. All that was spelled out over the house, but there was nothing new.

It was almost to perfect.

Had he been expecting him?

Suddenly on his guard, Red Son leapt to his feet and scanned the room again. There didn’t appear to be any sort of hidden cameras, but he could never be too sure. The plant was the most obvious place for a bug so he went over to it, sweeping its pot and leaves for any obvious abnormalities. Nothing. He ran his hands along the underside of the desk and the counter next, still nothing. He tried the bookcase. Still nothing.

He stepped back feeling uneasy again. So there were no bugs, none that he could find at least. Still, since he had begun to search, might as well finish. Reconnaissance and all that.

He sorted through the letters on the desk. Laundry bill, add for a local pizzeria, add for a local chain restaurant, rent, credit card bill, gas bill, water bill…wait. Noodle Boy had to pay for water? Wasn’t that like essential for survival? Who thought of that? It was so…evil. Red Son wasn’t sure if he was impressed or offended that he hadn’t thought of that.

He tried the waste basket below the desk next. A crumpled up add for the shop across the street with the rival owners face covered in doodles. Bills. A statement of credit stating…wow. Those numbers weren’t very high. He glanced over at the bills on the table and did some quick math. Huh. That was not good for Noodle Boy. It suddenly struck him that Noodle Boy might be poor. He had never thought of that before. It just, wasn’t something he really came into contact with.

Squashing the tiny flare of sympathy until he couldn’t hear it anymore, Red Son turned his attention to the bookcase. Most of them were about Monkey king. Monkey King the Comics, editions 1-10 (but no 12, blast) Monkey King the Animated Series: Guide to Characters and World. Myths Summarized: Rise of the Monkey King. Even Journey to the West itself. The last two books on the shelf were a bit more diverse. 101 Ways to Cook Noodles. Apartments and You! He put the book he’d been reading on the shelf next to the other noodle book, and as he did so something caught his eyes.

The tag line for Apartments and You! read “How to Survive on Your Own.” He picked the book and skimmed its yellowed pages, searching for a clue. The book was old, it must have been a gift. But from who? He let the pages fall to the front. There was no dedication. No note in the front cover. There was a stamp though he squinted and made out…

“Puti’s Second Hand Book Store.”

“Rrrrgghhh!” he slammed the book closed and threw it to the floor. He’d been so close, so close, to finding some clue about where the Noodle Boy came from!

He felt the anger leave him as quickly as it came and let himself fall back upon Noodle Boy’s bed without fear of setting it alight. Naming what he’d been searching for, even if the search had been subconscious, forced him to admit what had been bugging him so much.

There were no pictures of family.

Red Son’s house was full of pictures of him and his mom. They were all shapes and sizes, from black and white to instant selfies. His mom had covered their house with them ever since she first came home alight about this new thing she’d found called a camera.

When he’d been younger it had annoyed him, he’d hated posing for all the stupid pictures, but now as he stared around Noodle Boy’s life, he realized why it had mattered so much to his mom. At least he would always have something to remember her by, at least he would always have proof she loved him, at least he, even when he could barely remember his father’s voice, had one hand-painted portrait of his father’s face. He knew who he was and so much of that, even his name, was tied to his family. But Noodle Boy…

Noodle Boy had no one.

And it fueled the tiny part of him that had become vocal when he’d deduced Noodle Boy’s financial troubles. A small lingering part of him that looked at the troubles of another and wondered if mayhaps he was overly cruel for tormenting him.

And the small feeling needed to die.

He was Red Son, son of the Demon Bull King and Iron Fan Princess. Noodle Boy was the Monkey Kid, he enemy. He didn’t care what his home life was like.

And if humans didn’t care enough for their own cubs to leave a picture, a letter, or some sort of sign of affection, then it was just one more reason his family should be in charge. They never forgot who they loved or where they came from.

He heard a noise outside.

A laugh.

The Noodle Boy’s laugh.

Good.

He needed a little therapeutic destruction.

[plannedparenthood]

Homeschooling Help: How Parents Can Teach Sex Education While COVID-19 Keeps Families at Home

Even though schools around the country have begun opening back up, parents and caregivers still play an active role in their children’s education. 

We’re here to show you how to be your kid’s go-to resource for answers and advice on bodies, sex, sexuality, gender, relationships, consent, and more — from pre-K through high school. Here’s our top 5 tips from the Planned Parenthood experts. 

Incorporate Learning Into Daily Activities

Not all sex education needs to be formal. There’s a lot to be learned from TV, books, and other media around the house.

Use storylines from TV and movies to spark honest conversations with your kids. 

While you’re watching a TV show or movie together, play Healthy Relationships Bingo. Compare which boxes you check off and talk about what’s similar and different.

Follow our TV watching guide and pause the program at key scenes to ask what your kid thinks. This could include when you see romance, sexual activity, pregnancy, peer pressure, or sexting.

After you watch something, discuss the relationships in it. Is the sexual activity consensual? Are the relationships healthy? Are characters communicating clearly and assertively with each other? Who is and is not getting represented (i.e. are there LGBTQ characters/relationships, a diversity of race/ethnicities), and how are they being represented? Ask their opinions and share your own as well.

Read together, and use stories to spark conversations. 

Reading together can look a lot of different ways: You can read a children’s book to your kid, read a short story over their shoulder, or read the same book on your own, checking in after each chapter.

After reading, discuss the characters and storylines, asking their opinions and sharing yours. You can use the same questions suggested above in the TV and movies section. When it comes to consent and healthy relationships, you can share messages like these to help your kids better understand these topics. 

Get Formal: Plan a Time and Set a Place

If you’re homeschooling on a more formal schedule, it’s helpful to have time set aside for sex education at the same times and in the same part of your home. 

 Keep in mind that even if your local school has implemented an online learning program, it might not include the vital sex education your child needs. You can ask your kid what subjects are being covered to help guide you in what you may want to supplement.

First Step: Do Your Homework

Watch our videos for parents (también en español) and read through plannedparenthood.org/parents to help prepare you. These videos help you tackle important topics in age-appropriate ways, from preschool to high school. Topics include gender identity, healthy relationships, porn, and more. Choose a topic that you’d like to start with and set a time to dig into it.

Activities: Using Educational Videos

You know your kids. If they’re visual learners, then watch these educational videos together: 

For high school-aged teens:

Consent 101 Videos: This four-video series is all about consent — what it is, how to know if someone wants to have sex with you, and what to do if they don’t. We also have a lesson plan you can pick up and use along with the videos.

STD Communication Videos: This three-video series models how to have conversations about safer sex, STD testing, and being honest about your status. We also have a lesson plan you can pick up and use along with the videos.

Sexual and Reproductive Health (también en español): These 16 short videos give you the basics on birth control, how pregnancy happens, abortion, and more. 

For middle school-aged kids:

AMAZE Videos: AMAZE has a whole bunch of sex education videos for tweens and younger teens that you can watch together and discuss. They also have resources for parents and educators on how to use the videos with kids. 

Activity: Digital Education Tools

If you’re looking for some interactive activities for your middle- or high school-aged teen to help them think through preventing unintended pregnancy and STDs, we’ve got plenty for you! Our games for teens are interactive and based on science, helping them think through decision making around things like peer pressure, deciding when they’re ready to have sex, and using birth control and condoms to prevent both unintended pregnancy and STDs. We also have some lesson plans you can use towards the bottom of this page that go along with some of the games!

Activity: Start a Conversation Whether it’s a follow-up to one of those educational videos or bringing up another topic that’s important to you, it’s essential to get the conversation going. Don’t worry — you don’t need to be an expert. You just need to be willing to talk AND listen. 

Once you’ve talked it out, use what you discussed to inform your next topic. Research tells us that kids and teens who have regular conversations with their parents and caregivers about sex and relationships are less likely to take risks with their sexual health, and more likely to be healthy and safe. So keep the conversation going!

Give an Assignment: Something to Read or Watch On Their Own

Some children thrive in group learning environments, and others flex their learning muscles better on their own. If you know your kid works better independently, support that. And if they learn best by taking in new information slowly, give them time to process. 

Books and activities: Check out the sex education word find and books for children on this resource page. Pick one of the resources, let your child engage with it on their own, and encourage them to ask you questions.

Videos: If you watch one of the videos above and feel that it’s appropriate for your child to watch by themselves, then share it with them. If you have tweens or teens, send them to our Roo High School video series or AMAZE. And if you have younger children, try Amaze Jr.’s videos for kids 4 years old and up. 

PlannedParenthood.org/Teens: We have a whole section on our website just for teens! You can pick sections for them to read through, and then talk about them together later.

COVID-19 on the Planned Parenthood website: If you have an older teen who has questions or concerns about COVID-19, they can read our COVID-19/New Coronavirus website — particularly the page on ways to protect your sexual health while protecting yourself from COVID-19. 

Seize the Opportunity: When Issues Come Up, Use Them as Teachable Moments

With more time at home, you may find that your kid is asking you more questions about all kinds of things, including bodies, sex, and relationships. And while you’re spending more time with your kids, you may notice more things about their physical and emotional development — like their romantic interests, social media habits, or changing body. 

These little experiences throughout the day are great teachable moments. You can use these moments as opportunities to ask questions and share your values. AMAZE's Askable Parent Challenge can help you navigate your kid’s questions and your own observations while we all adjust to social distancing.

If your child responds to more downtime by exploring their own body and discovering masturbation, this article has tips for parents on what to do (mainly: relax, talk about it, and set some sensible privacy boundaries and hygiene practices!). 

Outsource: Show Kids How to Find Accurate Answers from Other Sources

The suggestions above will help you become your kid’s go-to resource for questions about bodies, sex, and relationships. But kids may have questions that they don’t feel comfortable talking about with you, and that’s OK, too. So it’s helpful to point out trustworthy resources they can go to.

PlannedParenthood.org

Our website has a ton of information on all things sex and relationships, including a section just for teens. They can find all kinds of commonly asked questions on our Ask The Experts blog, as well as ask questions of their own!

Roo

Roo is Planned Parenthood’s free, private, sex ed chatbot that can answer all of your kid’s questions about sex, relationships, puberty, and more. No question is too awkward for Roo! 

Chat/Text

For those times your kid wants to talk with a real person, our Chat/Text program connects them in real-time with trained health educators. Your child can text or chat with these health educators about pregnancy, STDs, birth control, and more. Like Roo, it’s free and confidential.

Spot On

Spot On is our period and birth control tracker app, available to download for free on iOS and Android. It’s a great way for young people with periods to get to know their cycle, learn about reproductive health, and, if they’re on birth control, help them stay on top of it with personalized support.

For More Information

Remember: You can make a big difference in helping your kid navigate sex and relationships throughout their life! The conversations you have with your child about bodies, sex, and relationships will help them stay safe and healthy as they grow up.

Here are more resources for you to use while you’re sheltering in place, or any time:

Planned Parenthood’s Guide for Parents

Tumblr Blog on Sex Education at Home

— Miriam at Planned Parenthood

[hireath24]

Everything wrong with ACOFAS: A Rant Part Three

Disclaimer: This is part three and will continue from pages 97 to 150. Part one can be found here. Part Two can be found here. Part four can be found here. These page numbers come from the UK paperback edition of A Court of Frost and Starlight. This is my own opinion of the book - the writing, the grammar, the characters, etc. I won’t be commenting on anything that may have been plagiarized or that has been ripped off from the history of other cultures as SJM has a tendency to do. If you disagree with my opinions, I’m sorry and hope you see the error in your ways.

Page 99: Saying ‘wine will make you feel better’ really gives off the wrong impression when this is a book targeted at young kids. I mean, it’s written for the YA genre which is typically categorized for ages 12 and up. 

Page 101: I’m so fed up of people talking badly about Nesta. Having Amren say ‘That’s if she shows up sober’ when she has walked in to see Feyre, Cassian and Azriel all drinking wine? Feyre and Cassian being ‘drunk’? Double standard! Unfair! 

Page 102: So Elain managed to become a seer with the cauldron, right? So… Are there other people - sorry, Fae - who are seers? Why does the cauldron affect people in different ways? 

Page 107: Amren was turned into a High Fae in the last book, which means that she no longer has to drink blood as food. But why did she ever have to drink blood? I don’t think it was ever explained. Why?

Page 108: Elain asks Amren if she could have taken on a male form and Amren replies with ‘Before, in my other form, I was neither. I simply was.’ Was that supposed to be SJM’s cheap shot at adding some gender diversity? Because I would have loved to see Amren be this non-binary power house asexual dragon but who has time for that but she uses she/her pronouns throughout the entire series and this is the only mention of her being able to switch between genders. 

Page 112: ‘…A few drunk revelers spotted us and fell silent. Felt Rhys’s power, perhaps my own as well, and found somewhere else to be for a while.’ Why would they want to find somewhere else to be as soon as their High Lord and High Lady show up? Why are they showing fear at the feeling of their power? Aren’t Feyre and Rhys supposed to be the good guys? This reads a lot like the people of Velaris are scared of them…

Page 115: ‘Gentlemales’ GENTLEMALES. GENTLEMALES. GENTLE FUCKING MALES?!?!?!?!

Page 116: ‘Indeed, some people were turning our way.’ This is just… This word is useless in general but in this book? I don’t think it was edited properly. 

Page 118: ‘A scene. This was about to become a scene in the worst way.’ SJM does this quite a lot in this book. These little two sentences where she says something and then expands on that something. It was used twice before already and I didn’t write it down because I thought it was just a writing choice but… it’s a poor one. It feels like a way to get the word count up somehow and, quite frankly, it’s bad writing.

  Page 118: Feyre is annoyed that Nesta is asking for her to pay her rent? How else does she suppose that Nesta should pay for her rent? She had a home that was taken from her back in the human world (that was taken from her because of Feyre, mind you) and all she asks is that Feyre pay her rent because she doesn’t have a job in fairy land? That seems pretty reasonable. Feyre shouldn’t be mad. 

Page 121: ‘But those were her deaths to claim.’ Why does everything have to be paid with death? I think it would be a lot more empowering if Mor would meet with those who wronged her, say something about them and her and just walk out of their lives entirely? SJM should start preaching forgiveness a little bit more but, hey, that’s just my opinion. Plus, this is really making Rhys seem like a bad ruler. Wanting to kill his enemies? No. 

Page 122: ‘Keir is coming soon, isn’t he.’ Yeah, no, this wasn’t edited. 

Page 122: ‘When.’ 

Page 125: ‘Az has a list of kingdoms most likely to cross the line.’ I’m wondering why the Night Court is in charge? Why does Rhysand get to decide which kingdoms and courts cross the line? Why does he get to decide where the line is? 

Page 126: As I said for Page 118, Rhysand says: ‘Tempting. So damn tempting to tell…’ See what I mean? 

Page 126: If Rhysand deals with conflict by fighting fire with fire, then his court is going to fall apart. Why is he allowed to get away with attacking Tamlin the way he did? What are the basic rules of the court - any of the courts? Surely the people wouldn’t want an insufficient ruler so do they get a say in it? WHY ARE THE HIGH LORDS ALLOWED TO ACT LIKE BLOODTHIRSTY BEASTS?! 

Page 126: ‘Too long. She’d been cooped up within the borders of this court for too long.’ Wow, once you tune into it…

Page 127: I really want to make one thing clear. Not every piece of dialogue has to have a tag attached to it. Sometimes things work much better if you just use ‘I said’ or ‘he/she/they said.’ At least then it would mean less lines such as this ‘I laughed again. ‘Certainly not Amren. Not if we want peace,’ I added.’

Page 127: Also, Rhysand ‘want(s) peace’? Bullshit. Not seven paragraphs ago did he laugh about Mor wanting Tamlin dead and a page ago he was tempted to tell ‘the High Lord of Autumn that his eldest son coveted his throne.’ Do not think for one second that Rhys is a level headed ruler. SJM has a tendency to tell us that he is rather than show it. 

Page 128: ‘…Even the wine I’d returned home to drink couldn’t dull.’ Teaching young, impressionable people that alcohol might solve some of your problems. Great. And what - Feyre can say this but Nesta can’t drink? 

Page 129: ‘Decadent - it felt decadent…’ I really wished I had never picked up on this.

Page 129: Feyre keeps complaining about the amount of work she has to do but here she is shopping with Elain? When her people are scared, heartbroken, without a home and in mourning after the war?

  Page 129: ‘So different. This place was so different…’ ON THE SAME FUCKING PAGE?!??!

Page 131: So I guess that nobody ever told SJM that a character description goes beyond eye colour, hair colour and clothes? 

Page 133: ‘I might ease that grief, make the pain less.’ Feyre’s powers allow her to do that? When, why, how and fucking what?

Page 134: ‘I was lucky - so tremendously lucky.’ 

Page 134: Rhys was dead and he was brought back to life, right? It wasn’t like with Feyre’s death where she was still slightly conscious because she could hear what was going on, no. No, with Rhysand’s death, he really was dead. But he was brought back to life and somehow… feels nothing from this? I would love to see if there are times where his body becomes slightly misty and ghostlike, if his veins turn black under his skin because they had stopped working during that brief moment of death. I would have loved to see something other than just him feeling a little bit tired!

Page 134: ‘How.’ 

Page 135: I’s very clear to me that, for whatever reason, SJM wanted Feyre to be able to paint but she has no idea how to write about it. Whilst Feyre is painting, we only read about her need to create and what the end result looks like. Even during her process we hear nothing about light and perspective and I’m not a painter but there’s a true science behind it. And where is she getting the paints from? Rhys was able to give her some with his magic but from where?

  Page 138: It disgusts me that Feyre thinks that she can solve the people of the Night Court’s problems by teaching them how to paint. These people went through a war! And before that it was Under the Mountain! Painting and creating art in general can help with recovery from mental illness and trauma and PTSD and depression and everything else, but there comes a point where therapy is needed. Memorials are needed, ceremonies are needed. How are people supposed to paint what they feel when they can’t understand what they feel? It’s bullshit and, really, quite a childish thing to even suggest. How is this a ruler? 

Page 139: Why do jigsaw puzzles exist. Why are they called jigsaw puzzles. SJM is not a high fantasy writer. 

Page 140: ‘Good thing indeed.’ You guys know how I feel about this word by now, right? 

Page 140: ‘Indeed, each seemed like a different decade.’ So the fashion changes with time, does it? Great! Tell me more. Tell me why and how and when. Also, indeed.

Page 143: ‘The females bring their jewellery. I bring my weapons.’ But Cassian is a feminist, right? Yeah, no, guys, it’s alright. He’s a feminist, it’s all fine. 

Page 146: ‘You being too drunk to climb the stairs last night.’ I’m really not okay with the amount of casual drinking in this book - and not only that but the way it’s treated. Nesta is shamed for it, Feyre mentions that even wine can’t help her, Rhys makes jokes about his friends being drunk. It sends a really bad message. 

Page 147: ‘Illyrian baby indeed.’ 

Page 147: I’ve said this before but someone should really tell SJM that every scene in a book should further the plot. This has been three pages of bickering, useless drivel about a bed being too small for Cassian and cheap jokes about alcohol. The entire thing could be cut and the story wouldn’t change. 

Page 148: ‘Indeed, as Feyre emerged from the kitchen hallway…’

Page 148: ‘Strange - so strange to see…’

Page 149: ‘Indeed.’

Page 150: ‘Mor was instantly on her feet, offering - insisting on wine.’ This is just teaching kids that you need alcohol to be able to have a good time! Which isn’t true in the slightest! And it’s wrong on so many levels - especially insisting that everyone has wine! Peer pressure?? SJM deals with sensitive issues so badly (see what I said in another post about Rhysand and sexual assault) that it’s… It’s hard. Yikes.

[loudlytransparenttrash]

This Week Within Our Colleges: Part 23

A University of Virginia student urged white people to leave the campus Multicultural Student Center, claiming that it is a “space for people of color” and that there were “too many white people” in the building. “If y’all didn’t know, this is the MSC and frankly there’s just too many white people in here. This is a space for people of color. So just be really cognizant of the space you’re taking up, because it does make some of us POCs uncomfortable when we see too many white people in here. Frankly there’s the whole university for a lot of y’all to be at and there’s very few spaces for us. So keep that in mind.“ The student received a round of applause, of course.

Texas State University now requires students studying to become teachers to complete a series of assignments on “whiteness.” The assignments asks students to “analyze the construct of whiteness and its relationship to privilege and equity for students” and to make a “detailed analysis of whiteness” by defining the term and providing examples. The guide suggests using other keywords to talk about whiteness, such as prejudice, race and discrimination.

Princeton University and Brown University announced that they have eliminated standardized testing requirements for graduate admission in the name of creating a more diverse student body. Princeton announced its decision to do away with the standardized test, calling it “biased against minority groups.” They insist that scrapping the requirements will help Princeton achieve its goal "diversifying their undergraduate populations.” Brown University announced a similar initiative, eliminating GRE requirements to "attract a wider pool of applicants” and “reduce barriers that discourage some students from groups historically underrepresented.” They join Cornell University who dropped the same requirement from its biomedical engineering program over concerns that such requirements "can be biased against” women and minorities.

The California State University-Chico State Faculty Association released a statement assuring the student body that it is aware of what it characterized as the harm caused by a Republican group on campus, calling President Donald Trump a “symbol of insult, derision and ridicule of specific groups within our society” and urged the administration to take disciplinary action. “We take this stance because students of color have expressed that they are experiencing an increasingly hostile racial climate, both on and off-campus, since President Trump took office. It is unjust for students of color to experience overt and/or covert forms of racism ideologically, systemically, and/or in practice.” Ironically, look at what conservative students have to deal with at this school: 1 / 2.

University of Notre Dame held a forum where panelists urged the university to pay reparations to blacks and native Americans. They discussed how black and indigenous communities have a “right” to pursue reparations at Notre Dame and these reparations must be paid in cash. They called it “appropriate remedies” for Notre Dame for the people who have been “historically robbed of their right to a safe and secure life.” “We must acknowledge how white institutions contribute to black disadvantage and commit to the appropriate remedies.” “Everything at this school is extremely white” and “for every dollar earned, the moral debts have accumulated. The debt is accruing exponentially day by day.” Other suggested “remedies” included hiring a chief diversity officer, providing free tuition to native students, increasing diversity and inclusion programming, replacing white professors teaching native American studies with native professors and flying a native flag at all Notre Dame events.

Also at University of Notre Dame, students demanded that courses be reworked to reduce the number of reading materials penned by white, male scholars in an effort to “eliminate the violence of only privileging white scholarship.” “No course or program of study should have a view limited to white, western, and/or male voices. We demand that people who are of Color, Indigenous, Black, queer, or not male are represented in the authorship of at least half course and major required readings.” They also demanded the school’s policy that permits students from entering opposite sex dorms after midnight on weekdays and 2am on weekends to be removed as it enforces “white, cis-heteronormative hegemony.”  

A University of Georgia professor states white teachers need to get some anti-racist therapy. “It may sound counterproductive” to require teachers to engage in anti-racist practices but these educators need to know that “their students’ traumas are a direct result of oppressive systems and ideologies.” “Yes, educators who are people of color feel the ever-present pain, weight, and torment of racism and need therapy, too, but White teachers have a different task: Many must first win the fight regarding racism within themselves.” “We need school therapists and counselors who are trained to help White educators and students process their emotions and their fragility.”

Loyola Marymount hosted an “anti-racist” meeting that seeks to educate and support white-identifying employees in their battle against racism. The Alliance of White Anti-Racists Everywhere describes itself as a white affinity group “that supports white faculty and staff in deepening our learning about the impact of systemic racism on individuals, institutions, and society.” “The focus of the group is to develop the capacity of those who identify as white to participate in challenging conversations about race or racism without expecting people of color to be educators.” White members are encouraged “to grow and learn without further burdening people of color” with their “inevitable mistakes.”

Boise State University also rolled out new white guilt meetings, with a “book circle” for faculty and staff focused on white privilege in an attempt to “dig deep into ourselves to explore the ways in which we all, as individuals, sometimes unknowingly, support racism and white supremacy.” The book circle is hosted by the Gender Equity Center and is centered on the book “What Does It Mean to Be White?: Developing White Racial Literacy” by Robin DiAngelo, a “white fragility” expert who speaks at college campuses nationwide. "The primary audience of this book is people who are interested in unpacking white identity and how white folks distance themselves from conversations about race, as well as learning how to engage white folks in recognizing their privilege.”

Williams College students launched a boycott of the entire English department, claiming the curriculum is “whitewashed” and its scholars “racist.” Their main complaints include allegations of microaggressions, a curriculum that prioritizes white authors and claims that professors of color are not given enough praise. They demand the chair of the department be fired and replaced with someone specialized in Ethnic Literature, that four new faculty specialized in non-white literature are hired and that the department is investigated to stop the “harm” that’s being inflicted on “the physical, emotional, and mental well-being of both faculty and students of color.”

Harvard University students have promised “daily escalation” if their demands for the school to divest from fossil fuels are not met by Earth Day. The students took over a building after previously staging mock oil spills, shutting down speeches by the university president and interrupting football games. Less than one percent of Harvard students and faculty have signed the group’s petition.

San Diego State University held a “Pronouns 101” workshop where students were advised not to use the word “guys” when addressing a group of people, and call out those who do, and instead use terms such as “y’all” or “folks.” Another option was “beautiful people.” Students were then showed a massive list of pronouns that should be learned. They were also advised to always tell people of what our pronouns are when introducing ourselves, even if they coincide with the gender we were born with. “Referring to somebody with the wrong pronouns can make them feel just gross, it’s just disrespectful and it makes people feel invalid or invisible, and dismissed, alienated, dysphoric, and a bunch of unpleasant things.”

Evergreen State College’s Writing Center informed tutors to not teach proper grammar to students in the country illegally over sensitivity concerns. “Tutors are there to provide culturally sensitive feedback on writing, not to correct grammar.” The two flyers attached to the memo also advised educators to encourage their students to avoid using “hurtful language,” such as “illegal,” in order to be inclusive to illegal immigrant students.

A group of students at Syracuse University have now spent over a week occupying an administrative building, refusing to move until their demands are met. The sit-in, led by a black student group, have made numerous demands, including the right to have a roommate of the same race, a required curriculum on “anti-racism,” and the resignations of Syracuse President Kent Syverud and other officials. The students are now complaining that they’re being denied their human right to be fed and taken care of during their own protest.

Tulane University’s student government approved an “equity fee” where students must pay a $240 increase on existing student fees to fund more support for “marginalized” students. “The liberation of our most marginalized students will only strengthen our university and create a better environment for all who aspire to earn a degree from Tulane University.“ “There are some Black women who tirelessly organized and researched and put their hearts into writing a piece of legislation that attempts to rectify the historical wrongs of this university built on the backs of enslaved Black people.”

Wake Forest University will cancel classes in April so professors can attend diversity and inclusivity training. The lessons will include helping with the “anxieties” of educators when shifting to more diverse and inclusive teaching, appreciation for the structural challenges students of color encounter when addressing bias incidents, motivating girls of color and underrepresented groups to pursue STEM, creating identity-affirming classroom learning environments for racially and ethnically minoritized students and to help the professors “uncover” their own biases. The school also began offering a “Beyond Whiteness” course in an effort to "address historical complicity with systems of white supremacy" and the “damaging tendency to focus on white scholars and perspectives in studies of the ancient Greek and Roman worlds.”

Macalester College stripped the name of its founder from a building on campus after students discovered he had referred to Indian tribes as savages in an 1882 book about Minnesota’s colonial history. Edward Duffield Neill was a pastor, historian and author, founded the college and served as president for ten years.

University of Maryland was the latest school to take a strong stance against costumes deemed to be guilty of “cultural appropriation,” warning students that costumes referencing other cultures have “no place in an inclusive community.” Students were told to ask themselves, “Did people from the other culture represented by the costume endure negative experiences that people from your culture have not?” They go on to suggest only “historically dominant groups” can be guilty, adding that “the differences in social and institutional power result in reinforcement of already-existing inequality.“

Ball State University hosted a presentation on “how English language practices in college classrooms contribute to white supremacy.” “We are all implicated in white supremacy,” the speaker said, “this is because white supremacist systems includes reproduction of dominant, white, middle-class, monolingual standards for literacy and communication,” which means “your school can be racist and produce racist outcomes, even with expressed values and commitments to anti-racism and social justice.” "Grading is a great way to protect the white property of literacy in schools and maintain the white supremacist status quo without ever mentioning race.”

The College of New Jersey hosted a white privilege event where participants were asked to close their eyes and answer if the fifty white privilege examples  applied to them, based on activist Peggy McIntosh’s “Unpacking the White Knapsack.” White participants were asked to think about how the presence of privileges had benefited their lives, while people of color were asked to think about the negative impacts of not having the same privileges. Students also discussed their feelings of privilege in a group after the activity, with the goal of understanding who must be held responsible in eliminating oppression.

Michigan State University student government voted to ban cafeteria trays in an effort to help the school become more eco-friendly. “MSU prides itself on sustainability” but until now, it lacked this “key policy.” The bill further aims to help shape student diets, stating “reducing tray usage would improve the health of students by encouraging conscious portion sizes.” The resolution criticized the “astronomical” amount of animal products consumed and demanded more vegan and vegetarian options. It also asked for compost bins in all residence and dining halls.

Santa Barbara City College students protested the conservative student group Turning Point USA being recognized as a campus club. The protestors cited its potential presence on campus as “a direct threat to our student democracy,” they also accused Turning Point USA of “targeting” African Americans and compared the club to Nazi Germany.

University of Massachusetts-Amherst advertised to students how they can earn credit for “organizing” for “social justice.” “Do you have a passion for social justice? Do you want to make a difference?” Students will earn five-course credits by getting involved in grassroots community organizing and learning how to “act in effective and complex solidarity with communities organizing for social, economic, racial, and environmental justice.” It also refers to “the issue for the left” as being “how do we get from where we are today to where we want to be in terms of making our marches blacker and browner.”

A Baltimore County high school compared Trump’s immigration policy to Nazis and communism as part of a class lesson in history. Staying on Trump, a University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center professor said he is "mentally impaired,” “cannot think normally, “is dangerous,” and has the “early onset dementia in an elderly, out of shape, obese male." A Rutgers Universitywomen’s and gender studies professor tied racism and President Trump’s policies to black female obesity. “I hate when people talk about Black women being obese. I hate it because it becomes a way to blame us for a set of conditions that we didn’t create. We are living in the Trump era and look, those policies kill our people. You can’t get access to good health care, good insurance. She also claimed the increased stress of being black is responsible for the difference in metabolism between whites and blacks.

Grand Valley State University voted to stop reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at its Student Senate meetings, arguing it’s non-inclusive and represents an oppressive government. “The arguments to remove it were to create an inclusive environment, that it represented an oppressive government, and that there are international students that we should be representing.” The University of Oklahoma student government also voted to scrap the pledge.

A professor at University of Florida told students to not use the terms ‘illegal immigrants,’ ‘illegal aliens,’ or ‘illegals’ when writing their assignments about migration, despite ‘illegal alien’ being the legal term for any person unlawfully in the U.S. The professor instead says it’s a “slur,” linking a CNN article to prove it. He also warns his students that they will receive zero points if any of their work is disrespectful, offensive, or contains "slurs.”

[tacitcantos]

Why 2019′s Twilight Zone is Boring

Though 70 years old at this point, the original 1950 Rod Sterling Twilight Zone is still one of the creepiest and smartest works of speculative and weird fiction ever committed to TV. It’s a series that poses strange questions and offers even stranger answers, a series that’s moody and atmospheric and thought provoking, a dark parable that’s gone on to inspire other works of weird fiction.

It’s no wonder then that there have been so many attempts throughout the years to revive it: a movie in 1983, a series in 1985, and another series in 2002. Each has been greeted with varying levels of critical success, but none have been as culturally impactful as the original.

The 2019 remake... won’t be breaking that tradition.

Don’t get me wrong, the new Twilight Zone has a distressing amount of quality and talent involved. The cast is solid throughout, and the only reason certain episodes work at all is the powerful performances of the actors involved. There’s also a nice push for racial diversity in the cast, and sometimes in the themes of a few of the episodes like Replay and The Traveler.

The visuals of each of the ten episodes are gorgeous and moody, and the music wonderful and atmospheric and reminiscent of the discordant jangles and strings of the late and great 2013 Hannibal tv show. It’s a lot of quality to be draped on a fundamentally flawed structure.

To understand the fundamental flaw in the new series, we have to go back to the original Rod Sterling Twilight Zone. And the thing that has to be understood about the original series is that it’s not science fiction despite looking like it on the surface.

Science Fiction

Though there are dozens of definitions of science fiction, at its core one of the key aspects of science fiction is that it introduces a technology or technologies we don’t have in the modern day, and it explores and maps out the impact and implications they’d have on individuals and society.

For example, I, Robot by Isaac Asimov is interested in the implications of what sentient artificial intelligence means for our understanding of personhood, how an AI would define and think about itself, and how society would go about trying to control it, leading to the three laws of robotics for which the book is most famous.

This definition of science fiction is also why something like Star Wars, at its heart, is not science fiction despite having a lot of the trappings of it. It has a lot of technologies that don’t exist in the modern day, but it’s not interested in the impact of them. It has lightsabers because they’re cool, not because it wants to speculate about how they would change warfare.

Even the implications of the force, the speculative aspect of its universe that’s most critical to the story, isn’t really explored. How does the force change the universe? You get mystical samurai cops, and that’s about it. Nothing about the force is actually key to the functioning of the star wars universe. You could take it out and the movies would be a lot less fun, but the universe wouldn’t really be changed. This isn’t to disparage Star Wars: I love Star Wars, but despite its trappings it’s fantasy, and to say it’s science fiction just isn't accurate.

Parable

Much like Star Wars, despite its trappings The Twilight Zone isn’t science fiction. But it’s not fantasy either. The Twilight Zone is a much older and simpler form of story. It’s a parable. Each episode is a self contained story of right and wrong, with the strange or impossible element there to hammer home a message, not be explored.

All three of these genres we’ve talked about, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and parable, have strengths and weaknesses unique to them. One of the strengths of a parable is its clarity. There’s right and wrong, and not a lot else to be said. Almost by necessity, parables have to be streamlined and simple in structure. In a parable there’s a message or lesson and the story is really just a vehicle to illustrate it.

The parable of the boy who cried wolf doesn’t go into the emotional underpinnings of why a boy would consistently sound a false alarm over and over again, because it’s not important. Did he have an abusive childhood? Was it a metaphor for trying to escape abuse and the unwillingness of society to listen? Is the wolf symbolically his abuser? The parable doesn’t care and it isn’t important to the point it’s trying to make; don’t sound false alarms or no one will pay attention to you when the threat is real.

Simplicity of Structure

The original 1950’s Twilight Zone understood that simplicity of structure was key to a successful parable: each episode was a half hour in length; just long enough for setup, twist, and falling action. You can tell this simple structure was key to the Twilight Zone’s success because most of what people remember about any given Twilight Zone episode is the ending.

And while having such a simple structure might seem restrictive, I’d argue that not only is it the most effective way of telling a parable, but that there’s a lot of freedom in structure, that the simplicity of the structure allowed Rod Sterling and the other writers to grapple with issues other shows on TV couldn’t at the time, and allowed the episodes to breath in the grace notes.

And exhibit A in my argument is the new Twilight Zone.

Where the original Twilight Zone was a half hour, the 2019 incarnation is twice that length at an hour. And while I’m sure the writers and producers thought that was a great chance to expand and tell a more complete and complicated story than the original show, what it actually does is put the episodes in an uncomfortable limbo. They’re too long to be able to embrace the simplicity of the original show, that structure of setup twist and falling action, and too short to really be able to explore the core concept and theme of each episode. There’s a reason most movies aren’t an hour long, and that’s because it’s simply not a conducive length for telling a good story. With each episode of the New Twilight Zone I found myself bored around the thirty minute mark, impatient for the twist out of curiosity but not really invested in the characters or plot.

Not All Men

Episode 7, Not All Men, is a good example of the problems the extended run time of the new Twilight Zone can cause. The core concept is that there’s a meteor that falls and causes all men in the area to become violent. This is sort of a dumb concept to begin with, but not completely doomed. The main character even goes through some growth. She starts the episode unassertive and meek in the face of the patriarchal hierarchy of the company she works at and ends it standing up for herself against male harassment:

This isn’t an inherently bad arc, but it’s execution is pitiful, without enough weight for we the audience to become invested in. We never get any real indication of why the character starts the way she does, what her life experience has been to shape her into who she is, and there’s no sacrifice or growth involved in her change.

If the episode was longer it could’ve delved into that material, made the main character a fully realized and three dimensional person that we could’ve become invested in and root for, but as the episode stands she and her growth are more perfunctory than anything else. She’s meek, she runs from agro dudes for a bit, then stands up for herself.

The twist of the episode also isn’t worth waiting a whole hour for. At the climax of the episode it’s revealed that while the meteor makes men more violent, it’s not an overriding urge: the episode implies that the affected men didn’t resist simply because they wanted an excuse to inflict violence. But, because the twist comes so late, its not really given enough time to breathe and be explored in a meaningful way.

Simple Messages

This ties into another fundamental problem with the 2019 series, which is that it isn’t anywhere near as smart as it thinks it is. Often the idea or message at the heart of an episode is borderline offensive in how simple it is. By trying to avoid destiny you create it? Paranoia is bad? You should care about the suffering of others? Mind boggling. Truly.

They’re not bad messages, but they’re simple. And the television audience of 2019 isn’t the audience of 1959: the modern audience is more schooled and experienced with scifi and weird fiction. We’re not shocked or provoked into thought anymore just by the introduction of a weird element like your car coming to life and stalking you. It’s not enough.

This isn’t to say audiences of 1959 were dumb, but the discourse around scifi and weird fiction for even the casual tv watcher of today is a lot more complex than it was back then. We’re not in the 101 level anymore, more like the 103 level: we’ve seen the initial introduction of most ideas, seen them explored and challenged and subverted, and are now bored by those first two levels of discussion.

This is why the core message of an episode like Point of Origin, in which refugees from another world are rounded up and placed in concentration camps, falls flat. The episode follows a woman who’s privileged life is stripped from her when a government agency identifies her as an unwitting refugee from another dimension, and imprisons her in a concentration camp.

The episode’s message isn’t subtle: you should care about the suffering as others, you should treat immigrants as people: and that even before her fall from grace the woman should’ve cared more about the fate of her immigrant housekeeper and illegal immigrants broadly.

It’s not a bad message, and it’s one that a mind boggling amount of people nowadays somehow still don’t understand, but from a fictive perspective it’s too simple and trite to spark interest and engagement or make the audience think.

Preach Fatigue

And it’s also a message we’ve heard several thousand times. The way we consume information nowadays is different from when the original Twilight Zone first aired; the discourse around topics like immigration or gender nowadays is in many ways saturated and as an audience we suffer from a type of preach fatigue where we’ve been told so many times the given side of a given topic is bad or good that we’ve sort of stopped listening.

This wasn’t as much of an issue in 1960, and it especially wasn’t an issue with the Twilight Zone. Back then scifi and weird fiction wasn’t considered a mode of serious social commentary in the tv arena, which meant The Twilight Zone could lure audiences in for a fun and spooky time, their cognitive defenses lowered, and then sucker punch them with something deeper than what they expected.

That advantage of bypassing and audiences preach defenses is completely lost in 2019’s Twilight Zone. We all know that science fiction can effectively tackle big issues, and we know the deal with The Twilight Zone specifically: that it’s going to have a twist in the last act that makes us question our complicity in some social issue. Our preach fatigue hackles are already raised.

In 1960 the Twilight Zone was adding a new element to the discussion, but now, the social topics it was concerned with are are so heavily examined that to do truly do a comparable job, it needed to be way, way more clever than Point of Origin’s premise of "imagine its aliens instead of Mexicans". To be as effective as the original, 2019’s Twilight Zone really needed to tackle issues that are less clear cut than men having a choice in their violent behavior or whether illegal immigrants deserve basic human rights, issues that are less overtly preachy because they’re less discussed.

For example, Point of Origin actually has the kernel of a complex and interesting idea in it, it just doesn’t do anything in it. In the episode as it is now the main character’s fall from grace serves largely as a kind of gotcha moment of the irony in how the tables have turned, but in a better version of the episode her arc could be used to explore the idea that social lines are largely arbitrary and fickle, and that whether you’re part of a group or not can change on a whim.

It’s an idea that’s worth examining the facets of, the causes and effects of how and why and where social lines are erected, and one that’s more complex than Point of Origin’s trite message about how you should treat immigrants like people. There’s more material there for an audience to chew on and engage with, and one that’s less preachy and more thought provoking.

Metaphor and Censorship

Another element that made the Twilight Zone successful and relevant in 1959 but doesn’t really apply today, is the issue of censorship. In 1959 what could be portrayed on screen, and which topics could be explored was far less permissive than it is today.

There’s an interview with Rod Sterling right before The Twilight Zone first aired where he talks about being tired of clashing with sponsors and executives over what content and social issues his screenplays could include. One example he brings up comes from a teleplay on the Nuremberg trials in which the company American Gas insisted on an edit:

“In it as you recall, mention was made of gas chambers. And the line was deleted, cut off the soundtrack. And it mattered little to these guys that the gas involved in concentration camps was cynanide which bore no resemblance physical or otherwise to the gas used in stoves. They cut the line.”

“Because the sponsor was-”

“They did not want that awful association made between what was the horror and misery of Nazi Germany with the nice chrome, wonderfully antiseciptically clean beautiful kitchen appliance that they were selling.”

But just as with the point about the lack of complexity in it’s themes, the new Twilight Zone exists in a different era than the original. We’re at a point in television and fiction where creators don’t have to bow as much to advertisers or censors and can actually just say what they mean. Point of Origin doesn’t need to veil it’s message about immigrants and their demonization in scifi terms; it could just tell a story about real world immigrants and refugees. This doesn’t mean it has to be bereft of weird elements, those still have a valid role to play, but it does mean it can address the issues it’s about head on and directly, and I’d argue there’s value in that kind of clarity.

Some people will make an argument that veiling issues in scifi metaphors lowers an audience member’s kneejerk defenses and lets them look at an issue stripped of their preconceptions and prejudices. And there’s certainly a tradition of creators using weird fiction to try and accomplish that.

Rod Sterling himself spoke about it in several interviews throughout his career, though he seems to have been somewhat split on the utility of using scifi metaphors. At one point he said about audiences:

“You may have to tell them a story of prejudice in parable form in which they may step aside as third persons and cluck how awful we treat our minority groups but at least they know that it’s an evil, and they will recognize it as such. And by osmosis or some incredible process will somewhere along the line, be faced with a situation in which they too may have to exorcise a prejudice and be conscious of it as an evil.”

“Now on Twilight Zone for example, we made a comment on prejudice, on conformity, on intolerance, on censorship, but it’s easy to do it when you’re talking about Buck Rogers isn’t allowed to write his memoirs in the way he wants to write them so he puts on his backpack, his rocket pack, and he zooms over to the publisher. And they applaud and laugh and think how interesting. Now it may well be that the inner message never gets through, but I think peripherally it does get through.”

But in that same interview Sterling also emphasizes the need for clarity, immediacy, and hitting the audience where they live when discussing social issues:

“I think the- the purpose, the point of a dramatic show that’s used as a vehicle of social criticism is to involve an audience, to show them wherein their guilt lies, or at least indeed their association.

This latter point is the one I think is more valid. I’d argue that veiling real world social issues through weird fiction metaphors to make audiences think is a nice sentiment, it’s not a particularly effective technique, and often the metaphor simply goes over people’s heads.

How many red-hatted build-a-wall-enthusiasts watched Point of Origin and thought to themselves after; “yeah, you know what, immigrants aren’t so bad and we shouldn’t round them up into concentration camps.” I’d argue none. It’s far, far too easy for an audience member to simply think that sure, in this case what happened was unfair, but this real world case is different for x y and z reasons, no matter how insignificant those x y z differences are to the core situation.

Fundamentally, people are simply very, very good at ignoring and minimizing information that destabilizes their world view, and it’s relatively simple to do it with fiction. And none of the new Twilight Zone episodes are pointed enough to break through that cognitive barrier.

Get Out (Or In...?)

What’s ironic, is that for all that Jordan Peele shows up in the new Twilight Zone, his own movie Get Out is a far more effective blueprint of what the Twilight Zone should be, and a good contrast to it. To begin with, the scifi concept at the heart of it, that there’s an enclave of rich white people stealing black people’s bodies for themselves, is a manifestation of a complex and nuanced form of racism that often isn’t acknowledged or discussed.

Racism is generally thought of as a simple dislike or belief in the inferiority of another race, and while that’s accurate as far as it goes, racism can also fetishize or simply allow for superior traits in the othered racial group while still denying the people themselves their agency and basic humanity. It’s a form of racism that was one of the bedrocks of slavery, that as an institution it perfectly paired black bodily strength with white intellect, and you can see a modern expression of it in how until recenly most quarterbacks are white while the offensive line black, the black members serving as the muscle to the quarterbacks mind.

The racism at the center of Get Out is a far more complex and nuanced than Point of Origin’s message about treating immigrants like people. It complicates most people’s understanding of racism as the simple belief that races that aren’t their own are inferior, and makes us question our complicity and assumptions: as much as we don’t think other races our worse than our own, are we as careful about how we assume parts of them may be better while still not valuing their core humanity?

At 144 minutes, Get Out also not only has enough time to explore this idea, but also to breathe and build to its twist and flesh out its main character. Unlike Not All Men’s main character, Get Out’s main character is a real and multifaceted person with weight and history, and goes through a coherent character arc. We never get a concrete reason for why Not All Men’s main character starts the episode meek, which makes her blurry and poorly defined: by contrast, we’re shown Get Out’s main character was traumatized by what he feels was his complicity in his mother’s death, which gives his eventual overcoming of it real emotional heft.

The alternate ending of Get Out even threads his emotional growth through the themes of racism: despite having his body imprisoned, the main character is mentally free, an inverse of the fate he would’ve suffered at the hands of the Armitage family. Here’s director Jordan Peele explaining the scene:

“He beat the dragon, but more importantly for Chris when he says ‘I beat it’ he’s talking about his inner demon. And that was the moment he went back for Georgina after hitting her in the car, he defeated his personal demon of when he didn’t go and get his mother. So in a way he made the only decision that would free his soul. And even though he’s in prison like many black men are unjustly in, his soul is free.”

Get Out also has the advantage of being in a genre that, just like the original Twilight Zone, isn’t oversaturated with serious political commentary. While there are smart and socially intelligent horror movies out there, many people still think of them as dumb fun, and thus Get Out can effectively draw you in with the promise of cheap thrill before sucker punching you with depth and message.

Get Out has clear cut right and wrong, it’s not like we don’t know who to root for and who is evil, but these three elements together, a complex theme, a real character, and low expectations, save Get Out from the preach fatigue I talked about before and from which the 2019 Twilight Zone suffers so heavily.

Ultimately, 2019’s Twilight Zone feels like an outdated show, stiff and limited and slow. Worse, it’s boring, which is really the greatest sin. It’s stuck in an uncomfortable limbo both in terms of era and length; it’s mired in the past trying to emulate a tv show that’s sixty years old at this point while also upending its structure and replacing it with one that’s incompatible with what it’s trying to imitate.

[sophrosinn]

the (un)lucky ones

story description:

“the story’s great, but I think it would be better if the story ended like this”

Affronted at the audacity of the comment, she furiously replies, “then write your own story, asshole!”

word count: 2,048

a/n: happiest solar anniversary to one of my best girls @vanaera! thank you for being the bestest friend a girl could ever ask for. this short story, which is loosely based irl, serves as my gift to you. i hope you’ll like it! 

shout-out to @senfleurs for being the best gal and helping me out with this. she even stepped up and edited this omg, and i cannot stress how much I’m thankful, lol especially she made sure that I get to finish this on time

—

3.

In retrospect, she knows better than to let some dumb comment, especially from someone on the Internet, rile her up this much. Even her followers tell her as much: it’s unwarranted, insensitive even. One of her followers, hippopopo tries to take it a step further, justifying by saying, verbatim: It’s her story anyway!!! So only she knows how the story should end best, okay! 😤😠💢

(in actuality, she has qualms about that, mostly because she had read some books which she thought didn’t end well. but that would take time to unpack and this story isn’t about that, no. she’s flattered at the support, nonetheless.)

And yet, there she is at 8 in the morning, her fingers furiously gliding across her keyboard as she writes a spite-filled story in response. Oftentimes, her muse for writing comes from movies she watched with her family, or from songs she heard on Korean dramas, or those meet-cute scenarios she gushed about with her best friends. This time, however, spite’s her main gal.

She finishes at 10. Later at 4 in the afternoon, she posts it. About an hour later, she doesn’t even try to contain the smirk lighting up her face when a familiar notification pops up.

—

1.

The story starts with an inconspicuous like from a user named agust-d five months ago. Back then, she thought nothing of it. A day later, agust-d comments on a story from her drabble series. Since then, every day without fail, agust-d leaves a small token of their appreciation for her works; brief, concise comments such as, “nice job on the flower descriptions,” or “i liked it.” 

Belatedly, she wonders if agust-d is a person of few words, because why else would they leave comments with only six words or less, even on her works with over 30k words? Don’t get her wrong, of course she’s eternally grateful for all the support she receives from her affectionate dears. But sometimes, especially on days her self-confidence plummets and she’s in need of reassurance, she ponders if all her efforts are for naught. (of course not, never, she gently reminds herself.)

And each day, she resists the growing urge to reply: don’t you have anything more to say!!! (but alas, she isn’t a rude person—unless provoked—she can’t so she settles with letting her mind wander.)

Three months of this and she finally caves in. With her interest piqued, she browses through agust-d’s posts. After two hours, she learns that agust-d goes by suga online. Coincidentally, Suga is a male student at the same university she’s currently attending. For a moment, she briefly considers a possibility—what are the chances that they’ve met, have fallen into step alongside each other, have passed by him in the large hallways, or have shared her table with him at the library during exam season? The possibility of knowing someone without actually knowing them? 

(that’s the funny thing about the online world, she supposes. you may know all that matters about someone: their likes, dislikes, kinks, fears, and horrid taste in music, absolutely everything except that one thing that matters the most: their names.)

Suga, she eventually learns, is not a man of few words. In truth, he’s got a few words too many to say about a diverse range of controversial topics. In his words, his passion burns bright and clear, but for her, he doesn’t shine any brighter than when he talks about music. It shows in his blog, which consists of a myriad of album reviews across different genres (fascinating, she notes, their music interests align as well).

Occasionally, he posts his renditions of some popular rap music, and as sporadic as this happens, she admits that his covers are her favorite part of his blog. And naturally, she refuses to acknowledge that it has everything to do with her fascination with deep, raspy voices, which, (un)fortunately for her, Suga undoubtedly has.

After some serious debating with herself, she decides to not follow him back. But she makes sure to check his profile every other day for no real reason, really, her soul wallowing in denial. In her defense, when did anyone need a reason to stalk someone?

And so, it begins, her fascination with this stranger on the other side of the screen. Never in her whole life did she imagine herself harboring a (teeny-tiny, infinitesimal) crush towards someone on the Internet. Certainly, she knows there’s always a one-in-a-thousand chance that it happens in real life, it’s just that out of all the 7 billion people in the world, she wasn’t expecting herself to be the (un)lucky one.

—

2.

The fateful day begins like any other. She wakes up to a brand new day, at 7 am, and like clockwork, she begins to stretch atop her pink yoga mat. Halfway through her workout, her phone pings with a new notification. Immediately, her phone screen lights up: agust-d has left a comment on your work!

Her traitorous heart skips a beat in the utmost display of betrayal. It’s Suga!

Ever since she scrolled through his blog two months ago, she has been exchanging messages with Suga. Her covert mission to surreptitiously listen to his song covers ends miserably when she accidentally double-clicks on a post he made two years ago. A string of expletives followed as she stared agonizingly at the post. She attempts to remove her blunder, but soon accepts defeat as it doesn’t even take a full minute until she receives a message notification from Suga. The internal debate resumes as her finger clumsily hovers on the computer mouse and she hesitantly clicks. From thereon, the rest, as they say, is history.

She ends up following his account the day after.

Although, if she were being truthful, all they’ve been sending back and forth are pleasantries. Suga seems hellbent on keeping the conversations polite and distant. She doesn’t understand, it’s not like she’s flirting with him! All she just wants is a compelling conversation with someone (because the Lord knows how much she needs an intellectual to talk to; and suga seems like an intellectual, if his posts are anything to go by).

She unlocks her phone and throws herself onto her bed. Normally, her lips quirk up automatically in response to seeing his name pop on her notifications, but it is not the case for this time. Instead, a frown mars her forehead as she reads his comment.

agust-d: the story’s great, but I think it would be better if the story ended like this

For a moment, she can’t believe her eyes. She blinks a few more times in the hope that her eyes were just playing tricks on her. Nada, it remains the same. 

If there’s one thing to know about her, it’s that she meticulously plans out every detail in her stories. She even spends weeks to outline a draft, and even then, it must be decent enough before she puts it in writing. Publishing her works online, for all the world to see, still intimidates her even after all this time. Not knowing how people will respond to her works frightens her, but what is life without a little fear?

In addition, she’s receptive to constructive criticisms, but criticisms that come from those she looks up to? It’s a bitter pill to swallow sometimes. Suga—he’s become one of those people, and seeing his comment really hurt. She turns her phone off and does her chores for the time being. The moment she logs back in, she is taken aback by the multitude of comments expressing the same sentiment. 

bubbleboy: “Yeah, I agree, I think it would be best if the story ended in this manner.” 

She can’t help but feel the bubble of anger gradually rising. Another even started with, 

orange-gloss: “No offense, but the ending being suggested by others is kinda good.” 

The audacity and the entitlement in this comment! Asking her to not be offended when it is within her right to take offense is absolutely laughable. Furthermore, who are you to even tell me how I should react? 

When she reaches the 20th comment, she explodes. The next two hours find her furiously typing out a decent response disguised as a story, albeit with passive-aggressiveness, addressed to all of the comments, but primarily to the one left by Suga. She talks to the rude commenters with the sweet addition of a phrasing 101 lesson. In her contained rage, she ends with the note: remember, it doesn’t hurt to be nice, and if you have qualms about how I ended my own story, do me and yourself a favor and write your own story!

She makes up her mind to take some time off her blog for a while. But after a familiar notification pops up at 5 PM, she resists the urge to run away and instead, opts to open the messages he sent.

agust-d: i’ll admit, the way I said it was rude

agust-d: but I stand with what I said

agust-d: you should consider the possibility as well

seen

(In hindsight, she realizes that, for once, Suga’s comment surpasses 25 words.)

—

4. 

After the whole debacle with the barrage of rude comments and her consequent outburst, everything has never been the same. Understandably, some of her fans have left since then, but the majority stayed with her and for that, she’s eternally grateful. Although she still publishes her stories and interacts with her followers, a certain emptiness fills her at times. 

A part of her thinks it has a lot to do with Suga, who she doesn’t talk to anymore. She… doesn’t know how to respond to him after her outburst. In a span of a moment, she manages to both defend her honor and drag agust-d through the mud, which was never her intention to begin with. Okay, well, maybe just a little bit. But she’s hurt, so it only makes sense to retaliate.

If only she could easily strike back in her current situation. 

Unbeknownst to her, someone with the handle void-mayo tags her on a malicious post the night before, calling her out for being fake. Apparently, she’s a ‘copycat writer wanna-be with no real ideas of her own.’

She only discovers it when her followers start sending her messages of reassurance and appreciation. Of course, she checks the post at once, reading carefully and taking in everything that was written. (Shit, at least I have a better username, she muses). And not for the first time, she feels hurt, uneasy, and anxious at the same time. Void-mayo is already an established writer, with years of exposure under her belt and a large army of rabid fans at her disposal. Meanwhile, she’s just started her writing blog. And although she’s diligent, thorough, and ensures that each of her stories has its own personality and flavor, most of void-mayo’s fans wouldn’t care. She can’t risk losing her credibility over a baseless accusation such as this! 

And with that, she feels anger bubbling from the pit of her stomach. She doesn’t get the purpose behind the destructive post. She gets humiliated, her reputation tarnished, and worse just because she had written a similar scene with an ice cream . It certainly doesn’t help that others are quick to join in calling her names and ‘cancelling her’ without even bothering to check the facts. 

And as she contemplates on how to proceed with such a delicate situation, her dashboard refreshes. At the top, she notices that agust-d reblogs void-mayo’s post with the addition of his response and for once, the word count exceeds 100.

—

5. 

In a roundabout way of saying sorry and expressing her gratitude, she proceeds to write the ending Suga requested. And illuminated by the dim light of her laptop screen, she can begrudgingly admit that he does have a point; his version of the ending does make sense.

—

fin.

—

omake

agust-d: so am i forgiven yet?

you: i don’t know

you: maybe you’ll have to make it up to me

you: and get me some coffee first?

you: 😉

—

a/n pt. 2: happiest birthday to you again! i’m so grateful to have met you in this lifetime. truly, like you’re the best. even if your internet connection’s always shitty, you always find ways to join our chats and discord parties. just thank you, for all the countless laughs that i’ve had with (and because of) you, for the counsel with my writing, and for the stories and advice you’ve willingly shared with us. here’s to our three years of friendship and counting! i love you so much! enjoy this day and stay safe! 

p.s. keep rocking and keep writing! we’ll always be here with you! muah! ❤️❤️❤️

p.p.s. hihi 🦆🍄