#is mostly because of the aesthetic

[tea-books-and-reviews]

Me: omg I'm so obsessed with hockey

Someone: Oh really? What's your top favorite hockey match so far?

Me: Oh i don't watch hockey

Someone: then why do you say you're obsessed with it?

Me: .....(っ ͡ ͡º - ͡ ͡º ς)

[canisalbus]

✦ 3 PM ✦

[lykegenia]

So something has been bugging me for a while now about A and N’s backstories, and while I know not everyone will be as pedantic as me, as someone who loves history and has done a lot of writing, I feel that if you’re going to write a story about vampires and give them a specific time and date of origin, then there should be a certain level of research that goes into making that background authentic. I'm not saying that Mishka didn’t do any research. It just seems that in order to keep the vibe of a happy, mellow fantasy some of the less savoury aspects of A and N’s upbringings have been left out, and it's a shame. To be honest, it feels a bit disingenuous, and it feels like an opportunity got wasted.

Let me explain (long post got long, it's 2am)

Let's take A first, since the problem is simpler here.

A is the child of a Norman lord and an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman, born in the first generation after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. A says that these were turbulent times but that their parents had a happy marriage. Which. While I’m sure a lot of unions in that time period made the best of it, I can’t help but feel this description strips away a lot of the context of what was going on at that point in history - and removes some of the complexity about A’s thoughts on love and relationships.

Basically, after he took control of the throne, William the Conqueror stripped many Anglo-Saxon lords of their lands and titles so he could give them to his Norman buddies instead - with the added bonus that it left the Anglo-Saxons without the means to raise armies against him. The sisters, daughters, and widows of the dispossessed Anglo-Saxons were then forced to marry these new Norman lords to legitimise their power, not infrequently after all of their male relatives had been slaughtered. It’s not as if Anglo-Saxon women weren’t used to being used as political chess pieces, but the years after the conquest were brutal. It’s why William had to build so many castles. The point that I’m trying to make is that even if A’s mother was content enough in her daily life, due to the power imbalance between her and her husband, it's very likely she had little choice in the matter. She may have seen a lot of her family killed for political reasons, with the knowledge that – in an age where women had very little protection outside of their paternal household – she might be next if she made too much of a fuss.

It would be fascinating to see what effect that tension has had on A 900 years later, or even to get an acknowledgement of how much times have changed, but we don’t. We don't see how their early years affected them, how they view relationships formed naturally instead of via political contracts. And I really, really wish we did. There is so much potential there.

But A is not the one keeping me up past 2 in the morning. It’s N, and the utter detachment their backstory seems to have from the period in history they lived in as a human. And it all stems from the fact that they came from the English nobility in the late 1600s.

See, the bulk of the problem is that English inheritance law at the time heavily favoured primogeniture, where a man’s wealth would go to his first-born son. Some dispensation was made for widows and other children, but the estates, assets, and most of the money had a very clear destination.

For one thing, this makes it kinda weird that N’s stepfather would have needed an heir before he could inherit, because except in extreme circumstances everything would have gone to him anyway. Don't get me wrong, this isn't the worst part of the problem, it’s just annoying when there are more plausible reasons for him marrying a woman already pregnant with another man’s child (old family friend wanting to save her from disgrace, needed the dowry to pay off gambling debts, there was a longstanding betrothal between them that would have been tricky to get out of, etc.).

No, the bigger problem with N’s backstory vs primogeniture is firstly that at the time the English aristocracy was racist af (still is tbh) and given his pretty obvious mixed-race heritage, no court would have agreed that Nate was a legitimate son (this is for a very special reason that we will be coming back to). I say Nate specifically here because primogeniture requires the eldest legitimate son. Nat wouldn’t have inherited at all, as women in that period passed from the guardianship of their father (or other male blood relative) into that of their husband after marriage, and only gained any kind of independence with widowhood. If N had been an only child, maybe they would have been treated as a special case, but unfortunately Milton exists: the eldest legitimate son who by law will inherit everything.

Now here’s the thing. Your average aristocrat in the 17th century is very obsessed with lineage and keeping the family line unbroken. He would not, therefore, send his legitimate heir to sea to be shot at or drowned before he can carry on the family name – that joy instead goes to any other sons who need their own profession, because again, they will get very little. Nat would have had a dowry, but would never have been expected to make her own living, so I'm going to focuson Nate for this next bit.

In Book 3, if you unlock his tragic backstory Nate tells you he joined the Royal Navy after Milton went missing so that he could go look for him. And, well. This is where his backstory as Mishka tells it completely falls apart. For two reasons:

1. Even in the modern day, you can’t ‘just’ join the Navy, and you certainly can’t just jump straight to being a lieutenant – it takes years of training and after a certain age they won’t take you because they won’t be able to mould you easily enough into a useful tool. For most of the Navy's history, the process was even more involved. It wasn’t an office job you could just rock up to and then quit if you felt like it, it was a lifetime commitment. Boys destined to be officers would be sent to sea as early as 12 to learn shipboard life, starting at the bottom and moving up the ranks. These were gained by passing exams and by purchasing a commission – which is why you generally had to come from wealth to be an officer at all. Once you get to lieutenant you're responsible for a lot of people, and might be tasked with commanding any captured ships alongside the daily running of yours - it was not an easy job.

2. Even as a lieutenant (one rank below Captain, with varying levels of seniority) it’s not like you can just go where you want. In the 1720s British colonies already existed in India, the Caribbean, and up the entire eastern seaboard of North America and into Canada, and the Navy was tasked with protecting merchant shipping along these seaways (and one trade in particular that we’ll be getting to, don’t worry). Nate could have ended up practically anywhere in the burgeoning empire. He would not have been able to choose whom he served under, and would not have been able to demand his superior officer go against orders from the admirality to chase down one lone vessel because he thinks another one of the admirals might be a bit dodgy. It could not have happened.

Besides these impracticalities, there’s a far easier way for the child of a wealthy man to get to a specific point on the far side of the globe to look for their lost sibling, which is the route I assume Nat took sine she couldn’t have joined the Navy (yes she could have snuck in but she’s specifically in a dress in the B2 mirror scene so). All they'd have to do would be to charter a ship and tell the captain where to go, which is the plot of Treasure Island. It's quicker, less fuss, with less chance of things going wrong. It's even possible in the age of mercantilism that the Sewells had some merchant vessels among their holdings that could be diverted for the task. Why go through the hassle of joining the Navy and potentially ending up on the wrong side of the world when you can just hire a ship directly?

If Nate does have to be in the Navy (and let’s face it, it’s worth it just for the uniform) then it's far more plausible is that, as the illegitimate son who would not inherit because of racism etc, he got sent to the Navy as a boy and rose through the ranks to become a lieutenant. When he got news of Milton’s disappearance not far from where he was stationed, he begged his captain to go investigate in case whatever happened turned out to be the symptom of a bigger problem. Like pirates.

I like this version better not just because it makes more sense, or because it keeps Nate’s situation re: inheritance closer to Nat’s and therefore makes their stories more equal, but also because it adds a delicious amount of guilt to Nate’s need to find his brother. We know his entire crew died looking for answers, because he was selfish – that’s roughly 100-400 lives lost because of him, and we know that sort of thing eats at him.

So that's one side of the story, but if Milton wasn’t in the Navy, what was he doing on the other side of the Atlantic in the first place? Well, this is where we come to the biggest elephant in the room regarding N’s backstory as a member of the 17th century English aristocracy and potentially as a naval officer: the Atlantic Slave Trade. If you are wealthy in 17th century Britain it's more than likely that your wealth comes either from the trade itself, or from the products made with the labour of enslaved people. If you are wealthy, you want to protect your assets from attack by pirates or foreign powers so you don't become less wealthy, and that is what the Navy is for.

Regardless of N’s own views on slavery at the time – and any subsequent changes in opinion – it’s likely their family owned or had shares in slave plantations in the Americas. As distasteful as it is, it makes far more sense that Milton was on a trip to check the family’s holdings when his ship - specifically a merchant vessel - went missing. From a pirate perspective, a merchant ship would make a much better target than a Navy vessel, being slower, more likely to have valuable cargo, and less likely to have marines or a well-trained broadside.

It's not surprising that Mishka left out the subject of the slave trade given her tendency to skirt around darker subjects and general blindspot for racial politics, but it is nuance that, if it was there, would create a more grounded and coherent backstory for N that doesn’t have quite so many holes. Like with A being the child of an invader and his war bride, we could get some deeper thoughts from N about their place in the world - How do they feel to have grown up so privileged when others who looked like them were regarded as literal property? How did they feel being part of the system that made it happen? Did it inform their compassionate nature? Is it still a source of guilt or someithng they've tried to make up for?

I'm not sure where I was going with all of this. It's late, my sleep pattern is fucked. The tl;dr is that giving the vampires' backstories historical context would make them feel more multifaceted and would give opportunities for character growth that are instead missed because of a desire for a more sanitized version of the past.

[audible-smiles]

Avian Pied Beauty

Behold: In no particular order, and for no particular reason, I give you thirty of the most dramatic, elegant, and visually interesting black-and-white bird plumages on planet Earth.

Pied harrier

2. Black-and-white warbler

3. Black-headed ibis

4. Black-and-white hawk-eagle

5. Black guillemot

6. Razorbill

7. Pied avocet

8. Magellanic penguin

9. Hairy woodpecker

10. Common loon

11. Snow goose

12. Black skimmer

13. Black phoebe

14. Australian Magpie

15. Australian pied cormorant

16. Pied kingfisher

17. Pied thrush

18. Oriental magpie-robin

19. African pied wagtail

20. Black-and-white mannikin

21. Pied crow

22. Oriental pied-hornbill

23. Pied bushchat

24. European pied flycatcher

25. Pied butcherbird

26. Pied falconet

27. Pied-crested tit-tyrant

28. Pied wheatear

29. Indian pied starling

30. Chinstrap penguin

[fairydrowning]

I hope you heal from the things you don't talk about. I hope you heal from the things no one ever apologized for. I hope you heal from the things no one knows you went through. I hope you heal from the things you cry about at night. I hope you heal from the things and people that shattered your confidence. I hope you heal from the things you manage to hide so well. I hope you heal from the things which hurts you in anyway either emotionally, mentally or physically. I hope you heal both physically and mentally.

[saintadeline]

Updating my Adeline design... It's been so long she's changed a little bit in my mind

[pixelgrove]

I feel like no one talks about how when you’re doing personal gameplay you have to turn off simblr mode in your head and realize that you don’t need screenshots of every little thing or try to make it look pretty or aesthetically pleasing

[glownery]

wishing everyone who celebrates a happy easter and an even happier transgender day of visibility 🐣🪩🫶🪽

[sarahjacobs]

punk spot and goth sarah stuff 🫰

i also made playlists of the kind of music i think they'd listen to :') you can listen to spot's here. most tracks fall under the hardcore subgenre, but there's also a good amount of ska and pop. generally has a chaotic, garage, and/or dated kind of sound, really wanted the kind of stuff that scratches my brain in a specific, rough way

there's also sarah's playlist, which i'm less confident about because i'm wayyy more immersed in punk subculture and music. but. i tried! some gothic rock, mostly punkabilly and gothabilly. i feel like she'd be into music that has that campy slasher feel, so that's the overall mood i was gunning for

[redysetdare]

just because someone doesn't label an attraction on the split attraction doesn't make them allo in that attraction.

I don't label my other attractions because to me the only important ones to label are my romantic and sexual attractions as those effect me first and foremost. That doesn't mean I'm just allo in every other form of attraction. I'm not alloplatonic or alloaesthetic or allofamilial or whatever other ones (not in a dismissive way but in a 'there's so many i cannot name them all way'). I don't feel ANY attraction at all. I don't see a reason to label my other a-attractions because my lack of any attraction at all makes it feel a bit unnecessary for me personally.

[superfallingstars]

wizard fashion: 19th century edition

as a result of my minor addiction to those wizarding fashion meta posts, i compiled this moodboard of (mostly) 19th century fashion that feels decidedly magical to me. there are so many gorgeous capes and opera cloaks from this time period that are super inspiring when picturing the kinds of clothes that wizards (especially those lavish old money wizards!) would wear. deep vibrant velvets, shimmery flowing silks, fluffy fur trims, enchanted embroidery that starts moving when you look at it long enough... gah, i'm in love. i think victorian fashion is simultaneously gaudy and flamboyant while also looking proper and classy, which is exactly what i imagined!

note: a lot of these images are from the met, and i highly recommend checking out their amazingly detailed archive for more! also shoutout to the wardrobe of countess greffulhe (the og influencer), as well as the house of worth (the og haute couture brand)

[cheshire-castle-library]

Page 1 of filling this sketchbook until i remember why I enjoy drawing

Today?  A sketch page of wildly off model Bill Ciphers.  Why?  Because Bill has always been easy for me to draw and just like,,, goof around on.  He's my sack of flower.  He's in several of my PhD study notebooks.  He's kind of the avatar of me losing my mind in academia.  He's honestly just such a guy.

Why black light?  I like it.

Gotta tell ya, after that first bill was down, the exhausted one, it got a lot easier.  I actually started having fun with the gooey one.  Some of these were like,,, "express your emotions" bills.  That one?  Just because I like drawing goo.  And it reminded me of the way I used to fill my middle school notebook margins with tentacles and goo, because I'd learned how to draw things that were continuous and made logical sense when parts of it were "hidden".  So who knows, page full of tentacles next?

[politemagic]

The Haunting of Sleep Manor (Sleep Token Haunted House AU)

very very excited to start sharing this series!! the first chapter will be posted by the end of this week (hopefully tomorrow). i've been having a lot of fun writing it, so here's a little teaser 👻🖤

edit: Chapter I can be found over here or on ao3 if you prefer!

They didn’t have much in the way of worldly possessions, so all of their belongings packed neatly into one moving truck. The four vessels of Sleep squished together in the cab as they barreled down the quiet country road. Vessel was humming along to the radio, II lightly drumming along with his fingers against his thigh. IV’s mind had wandered off, his eyes slightly glazed over as he took in the passing scenery, III snoring against his shoulder. At last, they could see the wrought iron gates of Langley Manor, their new home looming at the end of the drive beyond. Vessel veered off the road, pulling up to the gates and shifting the truck into park, causing III to stir from his slumber.

Vessel hopped out of the driver’s door, unlocking the padlock with one of the many keys from the keyring he’d received from the realtor’s office the day before. The old house came with a ridiculous number of keys, he couldn’t even begin to imagine the various secrets it had locked away. Sleep wouldn’t have selected just any home, he was sure there was something more to this place than meets the eye. He pushed the gates open at last, quickly making his way back to the truck. The gravel driveway crunched beneath the tires as they neared Langley Manor, the vast expanse of land that came with the home sprawling out in luscious greens behind it. Vessel could hardly believe that he was finally here, that any of this was real. But the excited chatter from the others indicated to him that not only was it very real, it was just as amazing as he’d imagined it to be.

(original headcanons can be found here ☺️)

[space-writes]

heads up 7 up

tagged by @oh-no-another-idea this time, thank you! have 7-ish lines from claws, wherein Holly has finally met Vivien and is chewing Rainier out about it:

“He gets you,” Holly says, rolling her eyes. “Which just means he does whatever you want and tells you how wonderful you are because he doesn’t know any better because he’s nineteen and you’re almost forty!” “Easy on the almost, Holls.” Rainier presses a palm to his chest. “I’m not that close to the grave yet. He’s an adult. Just because he looks young—” “He is young! You are a fully grown man—though goddess knows you refuse to act like one—and he’s a baby. Did you even check he was legal before you stuck your tongue in his mouth?”

no-pressure tagging @andromedaexists @serenanymph and @sam-glade this time

claws taglist: @belovedviolence @foxboyclit (ask to be +/-)

[indigostudies]

haven't posted on here in a while, but some news! i have officially decided i won't pursue mathematics (hit the fourth week and realised oh shit, i cannot do this for the rest of a full degree), so i just need to pass the calc course i'm currently taking and then i'm free! i've also declared a middle eastern languages and cultures major, and at the start of winter quarter i'll be able to declare chinese and linguistics as well. according to my advisor, i'm basically in the best place possible academically and with credits/terms to be completing a triple major :)

[creampuffiemina]

what if i horrorfy raincode lol ive been OBSESSED with digital horror and horror in general ill... make art of it once my exams are done.....

ive posted these before, but yeaj. digital horror raincode these are old, but i like them :]

(spoilers)