#lends itself very well to taking and putting into other contexts

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

"je suis l'élue"

[misscryptidart]

No but actually make me a WWDITS (union) writer because the relationship and social aspects of humans VS vampires is so fucking interesting.

Like, I know the meme of the Baron choose drama over violence in his confrontation with Guillermo, but the side conversation between the two, "vampire to vampire", immediately reads as a different level of intimacy and familiarity that the baron had not shown to Guillermo prior. The respect between the two, the frankness the Baron gives Guillermo, they are portrayed as equals. Perhaps not friends, but equals.

The relationship between familiar and vampire is also displayed in a new context. Nadja, as soon as she found out that Guillermo was turned, immediately began to correct Guillermo's behavior and teach him what little she could ("You can't treat your master like that. That connection is sacred. If he gets killed, you get killed. You treat him with respect."). Being a familiar is not only serving your master, but building that connection with your eventual sire. Its the time where the master is supposed to be preparing their familiar for the complex and nuanced life of vampirism, easing the transition for not only the new fledging but also the risk the sire is taking. To have another vampire, one who has not groomed and taken care of the familiar, turn them is a clear violation of the expectations of the master role. Nandor, by the social contracts of vampirism, was the one to "train" and "prepare" Guillermo for his introduction to the un-living. Derik took that connection and ruined it. No wonder he was so fucking pissed.

I think it lends itself well to the reality that vampires and humans are not equals. Humans live short lives and have a limited world experience, but they are dangerous and clever. Vampires have the gift of endless possibilities and power unlike any others, but they are reliant on the humans for food and must navigate a world that actively works against their nature. Of course they see humanity as "the others", ones who can't ever possibly understand what it means to be a vampire. Of course they are going to be incredibly cautious when allowing one into their world. The running gag of familiars never actually being turned makes a lot more sense when you put in the perspective that vampires are incredibly protective of themselves and those of their inner circle. It also explains why they are so willing to disregard or kill their familiars. They can't understand what it means to be a vampire. They will die anyways. Who cares?

The Staten Island Vampires stand out so distinctly because they choose to integrate themselves into human society earnestly, eager to explore and learn about their neighbors. Not in a malicious manner, such as a wolf in sheep's clothing, but as a genuine "Hey, I'm here. I want to experience this. I want to be apart of this."

Very rarely in vampire media, in my opinion, does it show the vampires attempting to live their lives interwoven with humanity like WWDITS does. Even Twilight, the most modern adaptation of a vampiric story, has the Cullen's act alien and disinterested in the world around them. But the Staten Island Vampires are involved! Laszlo hangs out with Sean with no intentions of feeding from him, Nandor goes to the gym and movies and actively seeks new friendships, Nadja connects with her roots and visits Little Antipaxos! They are people living in a world of other people, and the world feels so full because of that.

I love monsters and mythology and folklore and terrible little creatures so goddamn much

[nothinggold13]

On Peter and Violence

I think there’s two popular fanon camps regarding Peter Pevensie’s relationship with violence, and though there are certainly plenty of others who, like me, would disagree with both of them, it is those two versions of Peter that I keep seeing pop up again and again.

The first is that of the powerful, raging, warrior king: the version of Peter that speaks more to his mythologized persona within the books than the Peter we actually witness and interact with inside the narrative. His temper is hot, and his sword is fast, and his legacy is soaked in blood. It’s this Peter that lends itself so readily to the (equally fanon) idea that Edmund is the more diplomatic of the two.

The second is that of the pacifist. This idea of Peter is opposed to violence, and only fights under great duress, or because he has been given no other choice; it’s the version of his character that people have snatched from a deleted scene in the “Prince Caspian” film in which he claims he is “thinking about a career in medicine,” and in doing so, distances himself from the war back home. (Although, I would also blame the PC film for the angry, impulsive version of Peter who dominates too much of the fandom; that movie’s interpretation of him is a tragedy.)

Now, of the two, I would prefer the second. It’s at least marginally truer to the boy who “didn’t feel very brave” but did his duty in “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” and I appreciate that. However, I also have a personal vendetta against the extreme version of this viewpoint which prioritizes Peter’s peaceful nature over his dutiful courage, and this is why I’m writing out what I believe are the nuances of his character that sometimes get overlooked in favour of idolizing either his strength or his softness.

There is a statement in my mind to describe him that I avoid using, because I know it requires more context than I usually want to give, but here and now, we’ll call it my thesis: Peter prefers problems he can hit.

I don’t think Peter is a violent character. Genuinely, I don’t. And so I imagine those two statements seem pretty contradictory, because how can he not be violent, if violence is also the ideal solution to his problems?

Well, here’s the thing: Peter’s growing up in a war. Heck, he’s growing up in two.

He’s thirteen in the first book, and World War II is breaking out above him, and, more than that, there is nothing he can do about it. What could he do? He’s a kid.

And then, suddenly, he’s in a new world. They tell him he’s meant to be there. They give him a sword, and he takes it silently. They tell him he will be king.

We see him in his fight with the wolf: “Peter did not feel very brave; indeed, he felt he was going to be sick. But that made no difference to what he had to do.” We are told there that violence is not something he takes to lightly; it is a matter of duty for him: to the country that stands behind him, and his sister who is in harm’s way.

He fights a battle. Years pass, and he fights more. He returns to the war he is powerless to fight against, and then finds himself King again, where he comes up with a plan to fight a duel which -- if everything had gone to plan -- would have put no one but himself at risk.

Yes, Peter is steeped in violence. C. S. Lewis tells us at the end of “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” that he is a “great warrior,” and when he is mentioned in “The Horse and His Boy,” it is said he’s off battling giants. He is High King, and as such, he has to be a soldier. He chooses to be a soldier. He consistently fights, especially so that others may not have to. He fights to protect. To shield. To provide freedom.

And then he goes back home, and is trapped under war again.

Depending on his birthday, Peter turns eighteen around the time of the end of World War II, meaning I have no reason to believe he ever fought within it; however, National Service continued after the war. And this is where I thought that Peter, ever being driven by duty, would sign up without question. It’s what would be expected of him. And, even more, it’s what he’s been doing for years for a country that isn’t his anymore; how could he not do the same for England?

(I put that in a fic. I had a scene where Peter, freshly eighteen, confessed to Susan he would still have to serve, and Susan said, “But not in the war, and I’m glad of that.” And then -- because it was what Peter did within canon time and time again -- I had him tell her, “But I hope you understand that I’d fight for you. For all of you. If my fighting had any chance of helping to keep you all safe, I would go.” ......And somebody told me that was out of character.)

I don’t mind if somebody really likes the idea of Peter becoming a doctor rather than a soldier. Truly, I understand the appeal. But I do have a problem when somebody tells me I’m wrong for believing Peter would continue to do what he had always canonically done after coming back to England.

Because Peter does have a relationship with violence. He doesn’t have a love for it, but he has been tangled in the necessity of it too many times not to follow through when it needs to be done.

And what happens when you raise a boy in war? What happens when you let him fight it? What happens when he learns the chain reaction: fight the battle, win the war, set them free? And then what happens when you put him into situations that can’t be solved with his hands? Give him enemies he can’t fight? Give him wars he can’t be a part of?

And that’s what I mean by “Peter prefers problems he can hit.”

Not that Peter rushes to violence when it isn’t called for, or that he craves war when he finds himself in peace, or anything else of that angry, vicious nature that some people have come to believe--- Gosh, I think Peter would far rather lay the sword down than ever have to pick it up again.

(But it’s what he does. Time after time.)

Peter is a big brother, ever looking after the others. Peter is the High King, ever doing what Narnia requires. Peter is the loyal servant, ever following Aslan’s instruction. Even if it scares him, it’s what he does.

So I don’t think he likes feeling helpless. I think he likes knowing what to do, and I think intangible problems drive him a little crazy, and I think a sword is a very physical thing that has served him well too many times.

Despite my very obvious complaints against “Prince Caspian’s” movie characterization here, I have to say that this is something I love about “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.” Peter’s older in the film than he is in the book. He’s closer to going to war himself. And what do we see him do? We see him distracted by passing soldiers-- not much older than himself. We see him reading on the train: “Biggles Goes To War.” We see him consumed by the war, even up to the point that he mimics WWII battle strategies against the Witch’s army.

This is the Peter I’m talking about: the one who feels sick at violence, and shakes and cries and hugs his sisters when its done, and yet...... does it. Every time.

I feel like there’s a dozen things I may be missing, but I think that’s the gist: Peter’s an unwilling soldier who doesn’t know how to put down his sword.

He’s a great warrior, but not an indiscriminate one. He’s a gentle spirit, but not a passive one. Violence made him, but he is so much more than his violent acts. He’s complex. He’s dutiful. He’s faithful. He’s capable. He fights because he has to, and as long as it’s asked of him, he will continue to do it.

So that’s where I stand. That’s why I may seem to show contradictory versions of Peter throughout my fics and edits and commentary; why I may say he’s not violent and then paint an image of him that ties him to violence anyway.

Whether you disagree is your prerogative. This is, by nature, a nuance-based take, and while I do think there’s wrong interpretations of Peter Pevensie out there, I also believe that there is a lot of room within that nuance for various interpretations to be equally right. This isn’t me making an end-all-and-be-all analysis that everyone else must follow to the letter.

This is just me explaining -- for myself or for anyone else who cares to listen -- what I believe, and how it affects the things I create. <3 So there’s my take on Peter’s complicated relationship with violence: the way it coats him, and yet, doesn’t define him: the way he’s so softhearted, and yet not himself without it.

“For never since we four were Kings and Queens in Narnia have we set our hands to any high matter, as battles, quests, feats of arms, acts of justice, and the like, and then given over; but always what we have taken in hand, the same we have achieved." ~Peter [The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: Chapter XVII: The Hunting of the White Stag]

Disclaimer: none of this is anti-Aslan “look how he traumatized this poor boy” propaganda, and if that is your viewpoint, kindly do not interact with this post. :)

[fiddlefordisms]

Canon Details and Analysis of Fiddleford McGucket Part 1

I'm writing a series of meta posts centering around everything we know about Fiddleford McGucket as well as what can be gleaned from those details and some theories of mine. At the very end of this series, I will also do a detailed look, analysis, and theorizing about Fiddauthor (a ship which I love) - however, this series of posts will be focusing mainly on what's actual canon (and thus written in terms of Fiddleford's friendship with Ford) and will be mainly focused on Fiddleford's character even as it stands outside of his relationship with Ford. Because he deserves to be his own character outside the context of a romantic relationship, and he deserves it in general.

Fiddleford was raised on his father's hog farm in Tennessee. We've received very few details about his family life other than that the hog farm belongs to his father, Fiddleford has a cousin named Thistlebert who believes in aliens, and Fiddleford's grandmother who does not approve of "coffee" (whatever that is). What we can glean from this is that Fiddleford is pretty familiar with his extended family. We also know he grew up "dirt-poor."

In Journal 3, Ford mentions that Fiddleford crosses himself while stepping over graves and chastises him for saying "what the devil." Tennessee is also located deep in the Bible Belt. This tells me Fiddleford was likely raised Christian and because of the "crosses himself" thing - likely Catholic. He's the first McGucket to ever go to college.

Fiddleford has anxiety issues, possibly an untreated disorder - a fact commented on by Ford in Journal 3 (knee-bouncing, a tendency towards pulling at his hair, his superstitious nature might lend to this as well, and the "SORRY" photograph mentions that he's "mighty nervous" about his first day, he also mentions having the hiccups that day - probably due to how nervous he is). Given how these things go, it's probably been with him since childhood, and he was probably belittled for it. Especially given the stigma around mental health issues, it would not surprise me if Fiddleford has been told multiple times "to get over his anxiety."

Before meeting Ford, Fiddleford had a low sense of self-confidence (and even after meeting Ford, it might still not have been the greatest). His very first day of college, after being laughed out of class, he's already arranging for a tractor (the joke is he's Southern and from a farm) to pick him up. He was going to drop out of college on his first day had it not been for Ford. This tells us that he was led to believe that he was "not right" or "not smart enough" for college. Because it's only his first day at college, he probably didn't get these ideas ingrained in him from the campus itself. Theories? A few. One: His father probably wanted him to stay and help out on the farm - maybe even take over the hog farm one day. Two: Fiddleford easily leaps to the idea that he "got his math wrong" and that his theory must be incorrect because everyone else thinks so. This tells us he does not consider himself "brilliant" despite the fact that he is HIGHLY intelligent. He's also at Backupsmore instead of a first-rate school. Because Fiddleford has a lot of anxiety, I think it's highly possible something that could have led him to believe this is test anxiety. Schools put so much importance on testing, and because of his anxiety, Fiddleford might not have been able to perform very well on tests. He probably really excelled at doing his homework, though, and probably already had a bit of an inventing streak. He might have been persuaded by a teacher to give college a try and probably had an interest in it due to his affinity for machines and likely a love of mathematics and physics (and possibly chemistry given that Old Man McGucket mixes up a voice-changing serum at one point). Fiddleford mentions in the "SORRY" photograph that he thought making a friend was more impossible than solving relativity. This is extremely sad and points to Fiddleford having been lonely through his childhood and school years up until college. It's not hard to imagine that he might have been bullied for being a "nerd" as well. People tend to look down on those who display Southern mannerisms and interests (Fiddleford plays the banjo, has a strong Southern accent, and was probably raised to take pride in his Southern upbringing) as "dumb hicks" - and this might be a cause for even more bullying while he's in Backupsmore and continued confidence difficulties.

[jacob-blogs]

Okay I can give you a Kendrick and Drake beef rundown. Apologies if I’m explaining shit you already know but IDK your background on this so I’ll be thorough just to make sure.

Major Characters:

Drake. Aubrey Graham, AKA Drake, is extremely financially successful, but not very well respected in actual hip hop scenes. He’s generally seen as a culture vulture because of his privileged child actor background and white suburban upbringing putting him at odds with other people in hip hop culture. Also, in 2018, he very publicly lost his beef with another rapper named Pusha T, who revealed he had a secret newborn son named Adonis. Lastly, he has a long history of being kind of a misogynistic creep, the worst parts being a history of being sketchy around underaged girls.

Kendrick. Kendrick Lamar is an extremely respected rapper, though his songs aren’t always the most radio friendly and he doesn’t release them super frequently. He’s extremely artistically minded, though, and is one of those artists who’s just so good they can feel borderline untouchable. If I had to pick a rapper who was the consensus greatest at the moment among big hip hop heads, it would be Kendrick.

Backstory: Drake and Kendrick are arguably the two biggest rappers right now. A third rapper, J. Cole, had a lyric about the “big 3” in October naming himself, Kendrick, and Drake. The second part is that in March, Kendrick had a bar where he said “fuck the big 3, it’s just big me.” Cole tried beefing back, dipped out pretty quick.

Drake released two diss tracks against Kendrick on April 19, Push Ups and Taylor Made Freestyle. The latter was especially controversial because he used AI to replicate the voice of Tupac, which is… a huge no-no.

Last Tuesday, Kendrick finally responded with his first track, Euphoria. It was what people were expecting, for the most part: he went in on Drake in the ways a diss track normally would, just with extra finesse since he’s Kendrick. Still an excellent record on its own.

On Friday morning, he released 6:16 in LA on Instagram, which mostly got attention for implying that Kendrick had a mole from among Drake’s own crew. Also, the cover image was an image of a black glove.

On Friday evening, Drake released his response to Euphoria, Family Matters. Among other things, Drake accused Kendrick of beating his wife, though since Drake has a history of lying people are unsure how seriously to take that. Notably, though, some of Drake’s bars seem to have been preempted by Euphoria, which lends some credence to the idea that he may have a leaker.

Only thirty minutes after Family Matters dropped, Kendrick released Meet the Grahams, which directly responded to several things Drake said, which confirms he has a leaker. Not to mention, the cover image was a zoomed out version of the 6:16 image, which now includes items like literal receipts and prescription bottles of Ozempic and Ambien with Drake’s legal name on them. So this photo was taken inside Drake’s mansion. The song itself is the equivalent of bringing a switchblade to a cage fight, and among other things drops that Drake also has a secret 11 year old daughter, as well as it accuses him of being a pedophile and a sex trafficker. This song is why everybody’s talking right now. Nothing like this has happened before.

Anyways, Kendrick dropped another track tonight, but the dust hasn’t quite settled on that yet so I won’t say too much.

Thank you sooo much for the context.

Rap as a genre is always interesting to me because it's characterized so much by not only the songwriting and lyrics, but also the messiness and drama that goes on behind the scenes. I don't necessarily listen to it on the daily, but it would be insane not to recognize the cultural influence it has on American pop culture. And hell, up until recently tumblr was a huge supporter of Drake through his weird career decisions.

But like.... homie's gotta hang it up flat screen. Drake and his team of ghost writers literally ain't got shit on K. Dot. Like how can you pay folks actual money to take up in your defense over a dance beat while this other dude's dishing out bar after bar of straight fire getting after you, your career, your family, your crew, your lies, your shitty behavior...

Like okay, it's a rap battle but also this has got to be THEE cultural reset of 2024

[runwayrunway]

Possibly an unpopular opinion but the striped condors are cute and you're just a little hater. (This is all lighthearted jesting ofc so don't take this seriously, but I stand by my opinion on the livery nevertheless.)

It's actually not really an unpopular opinion. I ran a survey about this!

Things to note when reading this: the sample size was 50, of whom 5 did not respond to the question and were excluded. Two other options were provided, 'I'm neutral' and 'it's boring', and nobody picked either. Some of these were free-responses but I grouped them in with the answer they best fit.

So you're actually in line with about one-tenth of a very limited sample. But I consider the opinion way less unpopular when you consider that almost nobody actually feels entirely one way or the other, and most have some degree of conflict or nuance. This livery isn't just divisive between people, it's divisive in people's own minds. And literally every answer got responses, with people even saying that they don't like it but think it's a good design, which is an option I actually put on there as a joke!

I legitimately find some charm in the condor livery, for the record. The fact that I've written a lot about condor isn't because of mindless hatred, it's because I think it's a livery that lends itself a lot to analysis. My opinion is not a kneejerk 'oh, it's ugly'. I have extensively discussed the fact that I think the concept is very good. My issue is not the fact that the planes have stripes and that makes them ugly, but the fact that the implementation is incredibly sloppy and poorly thought out and it just crosses a line from tacky chic to actually aesthetically displeasing. Things like the blank engines, the wordmark, and the almost arbitrary-seeming width of the stripes prevent this design from reaching its potential.

I do derive some charm from the condor planes. But I literally review airline liveries. I'm not going to pretend I don't think they're ugly. I'm reviewing the design, not the actual airplanes. In fact, I've given very low grades to designs I actually find somewhat visually pleasing.

I also just don't hate condor's livery as a livery. It comes up a lot because it's just useful as a tool of comparison and analysis. I don't actually think it's a failure as a livery despite being ugly, and it usually comes up when I'm comparing it favorably to other airlines. Me reclassifying it to a Z grade was really broadly formative to how I think of bad liveries. I see a lot of people in the tags talking about how they at least prefer it to liveries that are boring and, like, yes, that's exactly the point I've been making for a long time now!

I really do recommend reading the reclassification post to get my full reasoning on the subject, but my conclusion is literally that condor's livery is basically antiperfect.

I'm actually glad you sent an ask because I was otherwise going to make a post on the topic and this is just a much less forced segue into the topic. It's unreasonable to expect people to scroll back on my blog and read all of my older condor posts so I want my opinion beyond that one out-of-context funny post where I call the stripes ugly and cringe to be available upfront to people seeing this blog for the first time. I'm not a hater. I just think condor's livery is ugly. It's legitimately one of the most important liveries I've reviewed and I'll stand by that, and the fact that it keeps generating discussion is kind of proof of that.

(Well, no, I am a hater. But I hate Lufthansa. I started this blog specifically because I hate Lufthansa.)

[o-uncle-newt]

On the Job minisode and Good Omens as a work on religion

(Note: This was originally a reblog of someone who then expressed that they were unhappy that I reblogged their post. As a courtesy I have reposted it as its own thing- for context, the person was upset that Neil Gaiman's take on religion was stale and said that of course if you have only a surface view of the Torah and the book of Job you'd come away with these kinds of negative impressions.)

I went to Orthodox Jewish day school for thirteen years. I thought the Job minisode was fine, as an adaptation of the story. Not breaking any ground theologically or whatever, but fine. (Though they did definitely get the number of Job's kids wrong, presumably for narrative simplicity, and the shoemaker joke doesn't work because he's really Bildad the ShuCHite.)

And, I mean, I don't think it should be MEANT to be anything but fine...? Good Omens is a fantasy novel in which heaven and hell are both the bad guys- Good Omens the show has basically kept in that model. The whole thing is about a simplistic look at the Christian Bible and a kind of cynical but light hearted agnosticism that doesn't really lend itself particularly to sophisticated religious analysis or whatever. It's not meant for that.*

The Job minisode was written by John Finnemore rather than Gaiman, a writer of whom I am a massive fan and, however, to whom I don't really look for sophisticated religious takes. He's done a Bible/religion sketch or two on his sketch show- I don't particularly love them, they're pretty surfacey- and he's self aware enough to make it very clear that he approaches everything from an "I don't believe in God but I grew up in a Christian country" perspective. (He's a lot more honest about that than a lot of other atheist/agnostic writers I've seen who do takes on religion, incidentally... so many people think they're being "objective" or whatever.)

The thing is, I actually really love the Job minisode as a Good Omens story, working within this complete fantasy world. I was disappointed in a lot of S2 but this felt like the characters, this felt like an interesting meditation on their roles and their choices... I don't know, it just really worked for me.

And I feel like part of the point is to pick one of those "well obviously on the surface this looks a bit fucked up" stories (rather than for there to be an implication that they're the only ones who noticed)- because they're working in a fictional universe in which it's been established since the nineties that heaven/God is at least a bit fucked up (no matter what I as a Jew may personally believe) and so they can just take it and run with it without having to explain! Gaiman did the same thing in S1 with the Garden of Eden and the Ark. It's just a canvas to put an Aziraphale/Crowley plot on. The original book is a Book of Revelations satire!

Honestly, I'm happier to have a pretty basic retelling of a story that's obviously fucked up on the surface, rather than them picking some midrash or something that's more subtle and nuanced and super Jewish-y and then turning it into something about how God or the angels or the demons are bad- partly because Jewish angel/demon stuff doesn't map well onto Good Omens's approach, and also because the whole point of the book from the start has been critical of organized Judeo-Christian (yes I know) religion writ large, and that's not going to change. That was weird for me to get used to as an Orthodox Jewish teen in a Bais Yaakov school when I first read it, but getting past it made me realize that all that meant was that they'd created a Biblical fantasy universe with certain tropes in it.

I think the Job minisode works perfectly well within that particular Biblical fantasy universe, and while I think that you can potentially criticize S1 (and in a slightly different way, the book) for that Biblical satire/fantasy not being particularly sophisticated about religion if that's something important to you, I don't think that it being sophisticated about religion would have improved it as a story.

*I did kinda sorta write a fic that tries to cast Aziraphale and Crowley in a more traditionally Jewish lens and... it was actually really hard. As I said above, the way the Good Omens world is set up doesn't really work for the Jewish thing. I had to make it really clear that angels don't have free will and that Heaven and Hell aren't two different sides.

[mysticcabinboy]

The "interactive cinematic experience" buzzword should stay in the 2010s where it belongs.

At the very least visual novels are up front that what they are trying to achieve is a little less rather than a little more. That's not to say it isn't a daunting task to write a book either but at least then you know the only extra disks that they are trying to spin is learning RenPy and how to draw rather than try and go for the next "revolutionary" 0 in the polygon count for their choose your own adventure romance plots. You get what you are expecting by going into a genre called Visual Novels, and you accept that in the same way someone accepts being a furry, creator or consumer you have probably already heard the memes a hundred times before and you decide to go in anyways because you're curious or already know its something you want to get into.

But videogames have a stigma behind them that lends itself to weird complications when it gets compared to its older (two) brother(s). When you call something cinematic, you are invoking an idea that the story is in some way trying to be its own "insert GOAT movie meme here". Which then becomes its own trap for the genre as a whole, if the story is good and the game is shit, it gets compared to cinema and becomes the new "best" game, if its ALL bad "well what did you expect, its a videogame, nothing but a shiny toy".

that's just fucking unfair. especially when the times I've ever felt genuine powerful emotion is when the game takes things you have been, if not thinking about, then dealing with for hours, before twisting it in powerful ways. Project moon is great at this, often taking small quirks of the game and putting it in context of the actual world. Their most recent game(sadly a gacha side project to keep the lights on while they do other stuff) has an ultimate/id system where pretty much every little weapon that the characters wear or use has some amount of thematic significance with them, so ultimately its up to the player to start wondering how it connects. Even if they don't and braindead the game, theyre probably going to start going insane the moment they hear the word 'ideal', 'that bastard', 'gallop on', 'chains of others', etc from just how often they hear those phrases. the most recent "main" chapter does something fucking amazing with it, turning something almost innocuous and meme worthy from the few times you try it out, then twists it to create a moment of extreme catharsis.

As an older example. I played Deus Ex for the first time a couple weeks ago as well, and the first level on its own is a perfect set piece in how to lay out even a basic sense of how to have your player view your world and game. It immediately gives you the tools to learn about the world and tells you what you need to know when you ask for it. Just with that it makes a great piece of symbolism just from telling you "hey see that green thing you clicked on? yeah the french extremists bombed the statue of liberty. They thought we didn't deserve it." and it makes you think "what the fuck? when? why? what would we have done wrong?" or in my case i check the date of when the game was created and realized it was made a year before 9/11. Its a very specific moment of emotion that is designed to confuse, it helps that its also a very early part of the game rather than a twist kept towards the end as a 'subversion of expectation' because there wasn't much building up to it and its passed off as... just something that happened.

This sort of thing is exactly why i hate it when writers try to market their game as cinema because it shows that they have a fundamental misunderstanding of the medium they are working in. You aren't just making a movie anymore when you step into this space, EVERYTHING you allow the player to do can become a tool that can be used in service of a story, and just putting in a cover shooter for your "cinematic experience" shouldn't really cut it. Its an insult, you have every tool in your arsenal, including the concepts you made up out of thin air for gameplay purposes, and your first thought is to make cinema? Not a sandbox, not a game, not something that means something to the player when they fuck around with mechanics... but cinema? At that point you are better off just making a movie and getting laughed at by the people you're trying to impress because i sure as hell wont find it funny.

This isnt to say you cant write a story well on its own and let it be a part of a game. Just that when making and critiquing a game, consider EVERY facet of it. Ill praise Limbus' story to hell and back but the sheer fact its a gacha, and the consequences that come with it brings it down a little. The sheer fact that Limbus could have ended up like Honkai Star Rail in how braindead it is still fucking haunts me, even as the gameplay, while polished compared to the adjustment needed with ruina, was already sort of a step back.0.

[uomminecraftsociety]

She’s Leaving Home - The Beatles

One of the main competition to the Kinks were the Beatles. The Beatles were a popular pop band and the emotion of sadness doesn’t necessarily lend itself well to sadness, happiness sells better than sadness.

As a consequence, one would not expect a significant collection of sad songs from the Beatles however their collection is surprisingly large. I feel that the go to track to anyone less familiar with the Beatles would almost certainly be Eleanor Rigby, a track about loneliness or Yesterday, a song about a breakup.

I would argue that while these are sad, these are probably too heavy for the list and if there is any band I can most comfortably introduce people to the saddest songs to, it most certainly is the Beatles.

In My Life is another classic song, remembering the moments which you’ve spent with someone dear to you, of which “some have gone and some remain”. I’d say the remorseful nature of the song doesn’t hold the same heaviness of Eleanor Rigby or Yesterday. However the first time I ever heard the song was at a wedding and while it does acknowledge that some have gone, it does work in the context of a wedding and can, if you look at it the right angle be a track of hope for your wonderful future.

Nowhere Man is about the sense of inadequacy which John Lennon felt and while it certainly is high up on the list and nearly made it to the top spot, I would argue it holds a slightly more deprecating view.

For No One is a song about Paul’s break up with Jane Asher and the original title of Why Did It Die? reflects the attitudes which Paul would have felt at the time. That being said, the title does not reflect the tone of the song as while it is upset, it is not quite so down. The breakup presented is so cold, however the composition is so perfect you can not help but enjoy the track for how it is played.

Only a Northern Song is a weird track and ultimately doesn’t sound that sad but considering that this was George Harrison writing about his disputes with Lennon-McCartney and their publishing company Northern Songs LTD and how Harrison ultimately felt kept out and not respected for their songwriting abilities, one can empathise with George’s position.

The chronology of the Beatles gets a bit weird with the Beatles on Let It Be and Abbey Road but while Abbey Road was released first, it was actually recorded after the sessions for Let It Be. This means that when you listen to The End, it really was a farewell track, being one of the last tracks they ever recorded, potentially the last track depending on your view on what your view of a last track is. There are not many lyrics behind the track, but rather a solo for each of the Beatles as a final send off, with a line at the end “And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make”, a musical goodbye.

The Long and Winding Road is a song written about the breaking up of the Beatles and the tensions that were forming. Paul at that point was desperately trying to hold the band together but ultimately couldn’t get what he wanted in that. This probably hurt McCartney further as it was clear that they were unsatisfied with the final product of the song, with Phil Spector applying his wall of sound among other issues and would be the most altered track on the album when Let It Be (album) was remastered in Let It Be Naked.

I put She’s Leaving Home as the sad Beatles song pick for this as it discusses the character of a girl escaping from her home, based on a person in the newspaper. The girl ultimately gets the freedom that she wanted but the chorus, seemingly written from the perspective of the parents distraught from losing their girl. This was one of the very few Beatles tracks not to feature any of the Beatles playing, instead getting an orchestra to play the track. The string instrument composition lends itself well to the mood created but also doesn’t hold as heavy of a tone as some of the other tracks does, allowing it to not get to the point of depressing.

[uncloseted]

Do you think social media is on its way out? I'm seeing a lot of people depart from social media (mainly insta and twitter) because between failing algorithms and bots, social media isn't overly usable any longer. On twitter there is a take over of bots going on where the bots have started talking to each other. It feels with how ai is escalating, the human interaction and experience of social media is going to diminish to a point where it's truly unusable because every second person is ai

I don't think social media is on its way out (although Twitter very well might be). As of December 2023, TikTok had a billion active monthly users, which is a 16% increase over 2022. While some people are dropping off of social media entirely, it's not a super widespread phenomenon. Way more people are joining social media platforms than are leaving them.

That said, I do think the way that people interact with social media is changing. Long-form content seems to be gaining popularity, I think as a result of a desire for more context and nuance when it comes to complicated social and political topics. Selfishly, I'm hoping that Tumblr will see a renaissance because of that, since it lends itself to anonymous, long-form content that's easy to respond to.

I think what our social media algorithms show us will continue to become more and more niche, likely with the help of AI, and so people will fall further into their own bubbles without realizing that's not what everyone else is seeing. And, to your point, as more lifeless, AI created content starts to be created, I think even more emphasis will be put on authenticity, relatability, and forming communities online, and I think we'll see more creators take advantage of that by creating private, paid spaces for their fans to interact with one another, like Patreon or Discord.

I think we might see a push towards anonymity on social media again, since people are realizing how easy it is to get cancelled for something that was well-intentioned and meant for a small audience of people with a shared cultural context (I think we're already seeing this on TikTok with the voice modulators and people who use that filter with just the eyes and mouth). There are probably others, but these are just a few off the top of my head.

[autodialog]

I never could get the hang of Thursdays

Hey.

Hey.

So... how've you been?

In the past I would, at this point, put on a show about being abandoned and unloved until everyone dropped what they were doing to tell me that I had some value. But I don't do that anymore.

No?

No. It's infantile. It's manipulative. It's the shit Rush Limbaugh used to pull to get laid. It's also completely against our new principles that we've been practicing.

You're referring to the dichotomy of control, aren't you?

That's one way to look at it. Because we're only supposed to worry about what we actually control, the things that actually depend on us to exist, we are freed from the need for other people to tell us we're good. It's nice to hear, but in some contexts it has no meaning.

Like all the apologies our Mother made us say when were being real shits as kids. We'd be forced to apologize and we'd say we were sorry but we resented it. We didn't mean it.

Exactly. Remember that time in the pizza parlor with our class on some field trip and you broke down in tears because you were afraid of being alone?

Why do you always remember the embarrassing shit?

It's my nature. You needed that hit of social validation so you went ahead and caused a scene and manipulated other people had to prop you up. We don't need to do that any more. In fact, the last time your manager told you you were doing a good job you were embarrassed.

Well, my job is my job. I don't really have a job that lends itself to quiet quitting.

Only because you don't have a formal job description and the very informal one you have you carved out for yourself. Sure, other people gave it to you. Do you even know what your job title is?

No.

When people ask you what you do for a living what do you tell them?

I'm in operations, which is frankly completely and utterly useless. I play with large datasets.

By the way, aren't you supposed to be working right now?

My work computer wasn't responding this morning and Windows wants to run updates.

So that's 40 minutes of your day gone.

Yup. So I thought I should check in with you.

I see how I rate with you.

Is this you trying to be manipulative again?

At least you're aware of it. To be perfectly honest, part of my job is to manipulate you. Part of my job is to use whatever trick is necessary to get you back on track. You are struggling with work, yes?

The phrase "drinking from the fire hose" has come up several times this week. Big deadlines, lot's of people need to do their part first, but I'm the one responsible.

No, you're the one who has to catch the ball once they throw it. You can't start until you have the data from them.

But I'm the one management asks for updates.

So "Pending these guys doing their job" is a perfectly fine response. You're no their manager so you can't really make them do anything. You're feeling pressure that isn't really on you. You just feel responsible for it all. You're not. You have your job, they have theirs.

But business shit rolls downhill. I'm pretty much the bottom of the crevasse. I can't push it back up.

That's two.

Two what?

Two times you've started a word with "but" and that's how I know you're still deluded into thinking you control your coworkers. I get it. You don't want to send daily updates to their manager with "so-and-so still hasn't responded" because you feel like a snitch. You only feel the need to control their actions because you feel like you are in charge of them. You're not in charge of them. You can only do what you can do. Not sending daily updates, not keeping their managers in the loop is a disservice to yourself, and to the company.

You're really going to argue the company has interests?

It's a useful bogeyman. People matter more than any fictitious legal entity, but your job is to manage these datasets. You need their input, you don't need to take the blame for how they do or don't do their jobs. I think your computer is almost rebooted.

It's still trying to log in.

Fine. Have you considered what your actual job is? What is it that you are supposed to do?

I suppose so. It's still vague.

But this project has clear, defined goals?

Yes.

So what's stopping you? Other than coworkers who don't step up and a computer that takes 40 minutes to reboot?

Nothing, really.

See? You're getting it. Now get back to work.

[darthnell]

14, 17, and 26 for the weird writing asks

14. Do you lend your books to people? Are people scared to borrow books from you? Do you know exactly where all your “lost” books are and which specific friend from school you haven’t seen in twelve years still possesses them? Will you ever get them back?

I’m not opposed to it, but it’s been a hot minute… I think the last one I lent out was my copy of Evelyn Hugo; we passed it around my immediate family to read ! I’m not quite sure where it is now though.. oops. I was gonna lend my copy of Verity to my sis (interesting book .. will not elaborate further .) but its also mysteriously disappeared… I also have been in the process of moving for the past few months so there’s that too. Most of my books are still packed away, alas. Who knows if I’ll ever get them out of storage

17. Talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. Tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text.

Ooough.. Um. Well, this answer definitely contains detail and minutae as requested so uhh we’re putting it below the cut LOL

So my current wip is a hunger games fanfic; all the thg fics I’ve written in the past few years take place in the same universe; it’s an au of canon where the Mockingjay Rebellion fails. The story I’m currently writing takes place in the year 151 where the Games are still prevalent as ever. I don’t really talk about the context/lore about the actual rebellion failing in the story since its all background information that the characters already know (and it’s not super relevant to the story itself aside from the outcomes) so I might as well share here !

The Mockingjay Rebellion (also called the Second Rebellion) failed mostly because of District Three. They (probably with the help of Beetee) betrayed the rebels and Thirteen; the Capitol was able to win with their aid. They struck some sort of deal to benefit Three in the fallout (honestly the details were probably a little hazy because of wartime shenanigans).

The one solid piece of lore I have regarding the fall of the rebellion is the bombs— the ones that Beetee and Gale designed, the ones that killed Prim. (I mention this very briefly at the end of THE REPARATION CLAUSE). Remember how Snow uses the Capitol kids as a meatshield outside the President’s manor? Some heavy lore for this: that’s not the first time this happened. This is also covered in TRC, but tl;dr the Capitol does this during the Dark Days as well, except they genuinely thought the rebels wouldn’t dare strike. Case and point, the president at the time even puts his own kids in the mix. That president is Snow’s father. And the rebels attack anyways. Coriolanus’ older sister Venus dies in the attack; he’s 8, she’s 12 at the time. Yes, Coriolanus watches her die. A lot of other children die in the attack, and that ends up being the motivation for the Hunger Games, and why it specifically targets children. I can go off on a tangent about this versus the canon reason for the Games from BOSAS but thats a rant for another day. The thing I’d just like to highlight about that is the Capitol using personal vengeance to justify their systematic violence (which is a theme that I explore throughout my works in this series, and not just from the Capitol’s end).

ANYWAYS. Keep that in mind as we jump back to canon, where Coriolanus orchestrates this same mechanic of bringing the children into the President’s manor. He is So Very Aware of what happened the last time this was done. He knows the rebels have the balls to do it again. He knows how strongly his own people react to a massacre of this degree. …In canon, we know that a hovercraft with a Capitol seal dropped the bombs, and it was most likely the rebels. Here, it’s the opposite— Coriolanus calls the attack, and a hovercraft with the rebel seal/mockingjay drops the bombs.

In hindsight, I’m so glad I figured out the tiniest way to change the course of the Mockingjay Rebellion to fit the needs of my au LOL. It… really works so Perfectly though, and I love it. In TRC, I explore a bit how fucked up Coriolanus’ father became as a result of the war… and I think this does a really good job of illustrating how badly it messed with Coriolanus himself. (It feels… more fitting to me than uhh despising Katniss bc she reminds him of his weirdgirl ex lmao . Anyways.) He really orchestrated an attack that mirrored the same one that he watched kill his sister . …I just really love what kind of villain this makes him, idk. Obligatory mention of how someday maybe I’d like to write more about his rise to power as a character…

Okay ! You thought we were done? We’re not done, there’s a lot of fallout from That. The Victors’ Purge. Is. Merciless. …I’d like to think that in his last moments, Beetee is realizing his mistake in siding with the Capitol, rip. But…yeah, as I have it now, not a single Victor makes it out of that. (My initial reason for that was I had 0 intention of writing any canon characters ever LOL). But yeah, none of them make it out. District Thirteen is Exposed— they Exist, and everyone knows it. But Snow doesn’t demolish them. Instead, they’re now required to send tributes to the 76th Hunger Games, and every Games henceforth. (When I first started writing, I sort of like.. had them participating now bc i wanted one of the tribute chars to be from D13, and then later figured out the mechanics of Why. Another reason that my choice of divergence ended up being so unintentionally perfect; 13 had to be exposed in order to send tributes. I digress…)

…Can’t remember if I said this anywhere like in my fic or my blog or on discord or anything, but the Victor of the 76th is Hera Latier from Three. She’s Beetee’s niece, and she’s very important in terms of how my verse is structured bc a) she serves as a perfect symbol of what happens when you remain loyal to the Capitol, and b) after she wins, she makes a deal with Snow to allow D3 to become a Career district. It’s framed as their reward for serving the Capitol during the Mockingjay Rebellion and it Works.

So… yeah ! There’s the explanation for why D13 sends tributes to the Games and why D3 are Careers. But wait, there’s more ..!

Another thing I haven’t mentioned in my stories that much (which I’d love to write a little one shot or short story exploring)… the Presidency itself. I have a lot of… government worldbuilding, I guess, for how the Capitol/Panem actually functions. Tbh this answer is long enough that I don’t feel the need to go too deep into it, but what is relevant is elections ! I know, elections in a dystopian dictatorship regime? Wild… but I never said they weren’t corrupt. One thing that’s neat about the Capitol is they love to maintain appearances, and isn’t it nice for their citizens to feel like they get a choice in government happenings..? Anyways. This system v clearly benefits the president who’s already president— there’s no term limit, and after each election they win, the term extends by another four years (so after winning their second election, the pres doesn’t have to sit through another one for eight years, and so on). So, it’s very very rare for a sitting President to lose an election. I think for Coriolanus’s last election, he ended up winning himself like a 20 year term LOL. Anyways.

That being said … after Coriolanus’ presidency (he ends up retiring and peacefully passing it along), his granddaughter Celestia is elected (in the year 82 I think..? I’d have to fact check it but somewhere around then, idk). She’s a good president in terms of post-war recovery. But as time goes on, it becomes clear that she’s a little… softer on the districts than some in the Capitol would prefer. The tl;dr of this is that unrest starts brewing in D9 following a particularly brutal tribute death in the 118th Games; this continues to escalate up until the year 120, where it breaks out into riots/rebellion. These became known as the Grain Riots, and mostly stayed contained within D9 due to their disadvantage as a spread-out district with no real means to communicate and spread messages to others that would be willing to help. One of the main reasons that the Riots were actually stopped was due to the efforts of a young Peacekeeper named Venera Valorius, but not before she was severely injured (the rioters got ahold of her and took out one of her eyes rip). Venera got her revenge on D9 in the end, but she wasn’t finished.

Many in the Capitol believed that this could’ve been easily prevented, had Celestia been a stronger president, Venera chief among them. Celestia even wanted to cover up the whole thing and pretend like no sort of rebellion ever happened under her watch; she offered Venera the highest-tech replacement eye the Capitol had on the market, free of charge, and a life of comfort in exchange for keeping quiet about the whole thing. But to Venera, this was utterly unacceptable, and only served to highlight Celestia’s flaws as president.

So she did what any extremist who truly and whole-heartedly believes in their cause would do— she campaigned for the presidency for the next two years. Her platform was strong, and incredibly popular; Celestia couldn’t have her assassinated without sparking public outrage for offing a wounded war hero (rolls eyes) (and I think Celestia as a character wanted to be better than her grandfather, and had spent most of her life trying to do so). And so for the first time ever in Panem’s history, when the Election of 122 came around, an underdog won the presidency. It’s kind of funny; Venera is 22 at this time LOL. Tbh Celestia probably didn’t even think it was possible and severely underestimated her. Is this unrealistic? Probably. But hey I’m having fun in evil political girlboss land. Its also funny bc at the time of True Vengeance (151), Venera is still president, but she’s also divorced and a little bitter about it kxkxkdkd. But yeah her story would be a fun one to write someday. She’s. More than a little unhinged. If you’ve ever listened to the song Thought Contagion by Muse, thats. That’s her lmaoooo…

Well anyone who actually read all that, I hope you enjoyed !

26. How do you get into your character’s head? How do you get out? Do you ever regret going in there in the first place?

Get…out…? You people are getting out ? 😳 /hj

Umm well Ven and Oberon (pov chars for True Vengeance) just kinda live in my brain like little diseases.. or tumors.. jdkdkd. When it comes to writing them ig, since I can only write one at a time, I uhh idk, I guess I spend some time thinkin real hard about whatever situation I’ll be writing them in and what they’re thinking and feeling and wanting from it. Sometimes it’s like a “what would I do in this situation” and then add in their personality modifiers afterwards LOL (excess anger for both of them, and crushing self-loathing for Oberon, pride and desperation for Venatrix…. They’re doing so great…!)

I get out by going outside and touching grass (but then I think about how Ven is outside and she’s also probably touching grass wow shes just like me fr—) (/also j djdj).

Do I ever regret going there..? Hm. I wouldn’t say regret. There have been some scenes that I’ve written where I needed to like lay down afterwards and give my brain a break from the horror.. (Ch 22 was one of them ahaha..) but I wouldn’t say I regret that. Some things just take more effort for me to do. I know I’m not a super fast or efficient writer either, so I’m not the type to like.. get really Into It and dissociate for four hours and come out of that with 3k, if that makes sense. …I wouldn’t be opposed to that though, but my brain just doesn’t do that. More short bursts than anything, so I have to be ready at All Times … Idk I probably think more about my characters than normal but its fun so who cares !

[whoacanada]

(Hey, look! That Zimbits AU where Jack goes into PR after retiring from the NHL and NHL!Bitty comes looking for advice about coming out!)

“Your ten-o-clock, remember?” April gestures to the conference room with her pen. “The cutie the Hurricanes coughed up for Pride Night outreach? He’s here.”

Jack tugs down the blinds with a cautious finger and zeroes in on the handsome blonde sitting awkwardly at one end of their large conference table, conspicuously alone. “There’s always suits for outreach talks,” Jack hazards, looking back at his receptionist over his shoulder. “They never send players alone.”

“It’s what we’ve got on the books. Eric Bittle, Carolina Hurricanes. No plus ones.” April whispers, checking her calendar. “Well? Get in there, Boss; and buckle up, he’s got an accent.”

.

Eric Bittle looks up, his dark brown eyes wide and unfairly attractive as Jack extends his hand, Bittle rising to take it. Everything about Bittle is polished and perfected; suit tailored, hair coiffed so neatly Jack would posit he’d gone in to have it trimmed before he’d arrived this morning. He’s pulled together so tightly, in fact, that Jack can’t find any loose threads, and if he remembers his time in The Show correctly, no loose threads means Mr. Bittle’s probably hiding something.

“Eric? I’m Jack Zimmermann. It’s great to meet you.”

“Oh, I know who you are,” Bittle chuckles, and Jack’s heart would skip a beat if he wasn’t so certain there’s a huge piece of context still missing from this meeting. “It’s still very nice to meet you in person.”

“So, tell me about Pride Night,” Jack pops the button on his suit jacket and settles down across the table. “What, exactly are the ‘Canes thinking about doing that involves you coming to see us?”

Bittle bites his lip briefly, gaze darting off before coming back to settle on Jack, and Jack is reminded of so many media training sessions it’s like he’s back in Vegas again.

“I may have, ah, fudged the reason for my visit a bit. Yes, we have Pride Night coming up, yes I’m the designated sacrifice, but I’m more here on personal business.”

Jack eases the tip of his pen from the legal pad, recognizing an off-the-record admission is coming. “How personal?” He questions. “Are we talking potential legal trouble or just potential social trouble? Or no trouble at all.”

“I’m gay.” Bittle says plainly. “Whatever trouble that may be. My team knows it, my family knows it, and I want to come out — I need to come out — and I can’t mess it up.”

Jack is grateful for his game face, reaching for the coffee carafe near him to couch his surprise and no small measure of his excitement. “Oh, you mean like I did?” Jack jokes, earning a soft smile.

“No active player has come out since you retired,” Eric skirts Jack’s comment, taking the mug before gingerly amending, “Not voluntarily, at least. I’d like to break that streak. Given your experience, and what you do now, it seemed like the smart move to come speak with you.”

“Well, I’ll be the first to admit my behavior didn’t lend itself to much confidence with the public at large, but that’s why I’m where I am today. Making sure people like you can learn from my mistakes.”

“And you made a lot of mistakes,” Bittle murmurs, taking the mug from Jack gingerly, glances back out the window as he takes a sip, and Jack fights a smile when he realizes what’s happening.

“Are you . . . chirping me?”

“Makes me less nervous,” Bittle admits, apologetic. “But that was rude, I’m sorry.”

Bittle’s eyes are bright. His smile is bright. Everything about him is warm, inviting. Jack might be biased, though, he’s always had a soft spot for compact blondes.

“Don’t apologize.” Jack leans back in his chair, feeling lighter than he has in weeks. “You might be the only one in the whole league right now that doesn’t need to apologize.”

“I think I need to have a partner,” Eric clears his throat. “I can’t come out without a reason, otherwise what’s the point.”

“That answers one of my first questions, gives us a place to start. Yes, a boyfriend gets you points, but not in the way you’re thinking. If you come out with a guy on your arm, the story becomes maintaining the relationship, not that you have one or that you are ‘out’ at all. The scandal is the relationship falling apart, or you flirting with a fan when you have your partner at home, that kind of drama.”

“And if I just say, ‘hello, I am a homosexual’ people will think I’m promiscuous, or just trying to get laid.”

“Maybe. Are you?”

Bittle’s expression turns indignant, lips twisting into a judgmental frown that reminds Jack of his grandmother before a scolding.

“What kind of question is that? Yes, of course, but they don’t need to know that. But that doesn’t — You know, you gave me hope?”

Jack doesn’t quite startle, he’s well beyond the jumpyness of his youth, but he has no clue where this conversation is about to go.

“When you came out, when you were drafted, your cup season . . . every time you succeeded, beat the odds, it made me think, maybe, I could do it, too. I could be a professional athlete, I could play hockey, and it didn’t matter who I wanted to be with.”

Jack knows there’s a ‘but’ coming, he can feel it; so he gets there first.

“But . . . then I overdosed.”

“Then you retired.” Eric corrects. “Two years before I signed with Carolina, and you just gave up. I was going to be the first out NCAA men’s hockey captain, you ‘retired’ in scandal, and suddenly the trustees didn’t want the attention. Back to square one.”

“Eric, I wasn’t well.” Jack defends gently, knowing Bittle isn’t trying to be cruel.

“You let them get to you! You were supposed to be untouchable. I needed you to be untouchable.”

“Eric.”

“I’m sorry,” Bittle looks down at his hands, the table, anywhere but Jack. “I genuinely didn’t intend for any of this to come up so quickly, you’ve been nothing but charming and here I am dumping all my baggage on you like we’ve been talking for years . . . ”

“It’s actually alright. I’ve made peace with what happened to me, what I put myself through, and I wasn’t kidding that I’m very intent on making sure I can help others avoid the same pitfalls. So, what do you need from me right now?” Jack asks, genuinely curious. “An apology? A hug? You wouldn’t be the first to ask.”

“I want . . .” Bittle huffs, closing his eyes and evening his breathing. “I want dinner.”

“I’m sorry?”

“I’ve loved the idea of you since I was sixteen, but now I actually need your advice on how to do this without losing my mind, and I can’t plan my future from a boardroom, so, I want you to take me to dinner. I want to hash this out like two normal, well functioning adult men. Also, maybe alcohol.”

“Speak for yourself on the well-functioning part,” Jack chirps himself, “but I think dinner can be arranged. I assure you, you’ll have my full support moving forward. The firm’s, as well.”

Bittle’s lips quirk, holding Jack’s gaze. He caught the slip, and now there’s nothing to do but own it. They lapse into a gentle silence. Jack sipping his coffee, Bittle doing the same. Jack isn’t sure what he’s waiting for, the puck is at the end of his stick. He flashes a smile. Bittle blushes.

“So,” Jack begins. “Do you like Burmese?”

____

They part ways and April’s eyes are huge with suspicion. “Should we discuss fees?” she asks. “Do we need to start billing? Sounds like it went well.”

“Nah, we’ll talk later about payment,” Jack replies, folding his jacket over his arm, hiding the slip of paper with Bittle’s personal number and trying not to stare as the forward walks away. “I have a strong feeling I might be handling this pro bono.”

[astrowithkaro]

Hello, please do language of birthday for 22nd September.

Thank you very much♡

Language Of Birthday: September 22 - Virgo/Libra

The Day Of Restless Drive

Those born on September 22 have a restless drive to begin all sorts of new projects. Usually they bring the one they are working on to completion but immediately set out on a new one without rest. They are also capable of handling several projects at the same time. Those bom on this day have a low boredom threshold, and consequently demand challenging people and situations. They can be outgoing and dynamic types at one time, and solitary and unapproachable at another. In either case, their strong character is unmistakable.

Often September 22 people oscillate between an offensive and defensive posture. In one sense, such postures may be one and the same since a good offence is the best defence and vice-versa. Whether in a broad social context or on a personal level, the issues and ideas those born on this day are most often concerned with involve fairness and equality—in general, mat- ters pertaining to the delegation and exercise of power. In putting forth their arguments, they can be very ironic, witty and outright funny. Their humor, however, is not for everyone as it is liable to be off-beat, sardonic, perhaps even macabre.

September 22 people can display a disturbing lack of stability. Although they may be involved in quite respectable professions, one often gets the idea that the profession itself, or whatever work they do in general, lends the consistency their lives so desperately need. Those bom on this day can be at risk when their restless nature brings them into conflict with the powers that be. September 22 people think for themselves and will not tolerate others, particularly those of lesser intelligence, trying to tell them what to do. Thus, they must be careful not to arouse enemies and antagonize their colleagues.

Those bom on September 22 can hide a warm heart under a forbidding exterior, but generally will only open up to people whom they deeply trust and value. Even then they may find it difficult to open all the way. however, principally because their orientation is highly realistic and the ironies of life all too visible to them. This day. indeed, carries insight and clarity of vision both literal and figurative. September 22 people are excellent judges of character, and capable of sizing people up very quickly. Those few friends whom they allow into their inner sanctum they value most highly, usually for life. It is quite possible that one or even both parents, in exceptional cases, will fall into this category.

September 22 people can often have a greater effect on those around them than they realize, and indeed can register a high degree of shock value. Because of their often disturbing impact, they should seek to be more aware of their effect on others, both friends and foes alike. True warriors in the battle of life, they must take stock of their armaments and defences, using them judiciously and effectively, and avoid isolating and alienating themselves from the daily world of human values.

Strengths:

Individual

Perceptive

Well-directed

Weaknesses:

Guarded

Acerbic

Dark

Advice

Those born on September 22 must beware of the depressive effects of isolation. Also they should avoid attracting the animosity of others, whether in the form of bad vibes or physical violence. Because of their restless nature, they may be accident-prone and inflict all kinds of minor hurts unwittingly on themselves and others. Paradoxically they may also display a talent for healing. Since their taste in food tends to the exotic, they must be attentive to the effects of spicy, unusual or rich foods on their body. If they can eat from a balanced menu it will help control restless and possibly destructive impulses. Only mild to moderate exercise is recommended for those born on this day.

Don't despise those who are more open and gullible than yourself

Get in touch with your own innocent nature

Try not to box yourself into one kind of outlook

Give yourself time to dream

[sekceesimps]

Dying Light (a yandere Zhongli x reader oneshot)

summary: Zhongli comes to claim his darling after she fails to fulfill her end of the contract 

a/n I wish I could say this was requested but I love this man too much. Writing this one had me feeling some kind of way… Hope you all enjoy and leave some requests (pls do yandere Genshin 🤧 smh)! 

Sincerely Coffee

His dark hair shines vividly in the solemn moonlight. Amber eyes radiant, like the purest of diamonds, and fixated right on you. You stand before him and try to subtly shrink away under his piercing gaze. The candles in the room flicker from some gusts of wind coming in. Zhongli seems stiff and at attention, but at the same time far away, lost in thought. Your light and unconscious movement backwards out of fear, unnoticed by you, immediately snapped the archon’s thoughts back to you. 

A ghost of a smile begins to dance its way onto his handsome face, a stark difference to the dangerous threats he had whispered into your ear just moments ago. The light gave him an eerie appearance. 

“Darling Y/N, I’m afraid that you didn’t uphold your end of the bargain,” he frowned and cocked his head mockingly. You step backwards some more until your back hits the wall of the funeral parlor. He has a predatory gaze now as he steps forward and pins a hand on the surface next to your head. He leans forward to further take in your panic. It brought him distress to see that you weren’t comfortable around him. 

“I’m sure you were a good girl and read the fine print. Surely you must be aware that at the end of our contract, if it was that you couldn’t fulfill your end of the deal, then you must join the greatest contract of all time with me?” he continues and runs another hand hand teasingly down your jaw. 

“Perhaps you could entertain me and tell me what that greatest contract is?” you ask hesitantly. Beginning to feel the gravity of the situation as you notice the way the archon caresses you and looks at you with eyes filled with a dangerous sort of adoration. 

“Oh Y/N, you’ve been bad, I thought you understood everything when you signed. I mean marriage of course,” he answered gleefully, eyes sparkling with affection and excitement at your shocked expression. 

Yes, just when did this feeling for you begin, he had pondered to himself. There was no mistaking that these emotions he felt for you were love. He was sure that you also loved him, so why did you look so afraid? He would show you again how perfect the two of you are. 

- - - 

Zhongli is not one to break his word. He is the archon of contracts after all. When you had approached him, as Rex Lapis, a few months ago he had decided to learn much more about you.  

You were an interesting mortal and had almost immediately caught the God’s attention. The geo archon had taken to shying away from the affairs of humans over the last hundred years or two. However he tended to make exceptions for interesting people with even more interesting requests. 

“I’d like to ask for some help,” your melodic voice said, breaking the silence in Rex Lapis’s abode. “If that means signing into a contract with you, then I accept,”

He appeared near you in an instant, “Even if that means not getting the best deal?” he asks, startling you slightly. 

“Yes,” you breathe out lightly. 

“Hmm, you’ve caught my interest,” he responds, putting a hand to his chin, as if he was thinking long and hard about a potential deal with you, “do go on with what you need my help for” he finishes. Of course, he already knew what you needed. He had been watching you for quite a while, but he loved hearing your voice and being near you for once. 

“I need to find someone and I can’t do it by myself. Could you please lend me your strength and assistance as I look for this person” you practically begged him. Oh how he wanted to hear your begging in a different context. It was taking everything within him to not tug you by your hair and bring you to his side forever by force. He knew that you probably wouldn’t appreciate that and he still had to do his job and draft a contract. That is when the idea had struck him to skillfully find a way to keep you with him forever. 

“Very well, let us start writing up a contract then,” he pronounces with a tone of disinterest, secretly preening with joy on the inside. You perk up and smile largely at him, it brought him satisfaction knowing that he made you feel like that. 

“Alright that should be everything,” he finishes and removes his quill from the scroll. “I will come to you whenever you need help, all you must do is call out my name. As for my benefit, all you need to do is find this person you hold dear and that will be enough for me. You have the next 70 days to complete this, of course there will be a punishment if you can’t fulfill your end. However I have the most faith in your skills.” you nod at him in confirmation as you take the pen from him and leave a scrawling signature on the paper. A glowing binding tying you to the archon, prompting you to blush at how close the two of you were now. “Don’t disappoint me, Y/N'' he whispered and let you leave his abode with a smile. The first step in his plan to make you his was finished. Time to wait for your inevitable failure. 

Now he wasn’t going to actively make you fail, he still was true to his job and bound himself to you so that you could call him for help. He would still assist you as well. However, he agreed to what you wanted because he knew the task itself was impossible. This brother you were looking for was long gone for sure, he made sure of that before he signed on to your contract. He couldn’t wait for when the two of you would finally be spending the next few weeks together. 

 Zhongli was smart about the way he conducted himself around you. He was careful not to give you any hints of his true intentions. Sometimes though there would be foolish people who pushed him. Whenever he saw you talking with, brushing arms with, or giving attention to others, the archon would be fuming. Of course, he would let it simmer, playing for the long game instead. It never failed to make him angry and anxious that these insignificant mortals thought they had a change with his future wife, it caused him to let out a tsch in annoyance. 

The two of you had wonderful moments in your quest. Your ability to work well together in battle allowed for quick defeats of random hilichurls on the journey. Truly your skills were something he admired and loved about you. 

The first night you left a parting goodnight kiss on his cheek was what made him truly believe in life again. Your warm lips against his skin ignited a flame within him that he didn’t know he yearned to have lit.  It began to become a sort of tradition between you two for the next months. 

 His favorite moment with you by far was when the two of you had been drinking and you allowed him to come into your bed. Now, not in THAT way. You didn’t like how he had been sleeping on the ground whenever you spent the night in a tavern so you told him to just sleep in the bed with you. It had been an awkward fit at first due to his taller frame. His long limbs were cramped painfully so you let him wrap his arms carefully around your body. Both of you take in and are intoxicated by the other’s warmth. He could get used to the way you faced him and nuzzled your face into his neck. He had fallen asleep and had the most wonderful rest for the first time in a while. 

After the two of you woke up and cuddled in the morning, “Should the day ever come where we are not together, you will continue to shine like gold in my memories” he had smiled and gently taken your hand into his own as he brushed his lips softly against your knuckles. His words and soft actions prompting a light blush across your face. 

He didn’t know how much longer he could wait for you. Every moment he was with you, but not truly in the way he desired wound him up more and more. He knew he would snap very soon. 

- - - 

You tremble against the cold breeze and his warm touch as he leans closer to you and captures your warm lips with his own in a passionate kiss. His hands traveling down further onto your flushed skin. 

Now that you were his in an unbreakable bond, he finally felt at ease. With you, Zhongli felt at home for the first time in thousands of years. He would protect you from any and all threats. If it meant keeping you safe with him, then he would tear apart all of Teyvat. After all, you belonged to this archon now. 

As the sun begins to rise, you notice the dying light within the parlor, fading candles leaving behind a darker atmosphere. A perfect metaphor you think, if he kept touching you like this then you knew that your own resolve would also die out, completely accepting the ownership that he had over you. 

Zhongli notices your wandering gaze before he takes your face between his slender fingers and forces you to look up at him. “Perhaps you’ve forgotten how much you mean to me. Let me remind you,” he announces as he lifts you up and brings you towards his room. Indeed, he would be spending the next few hours reminding you of his love, before you embark on the next chapter of your lives together, courtesy of his subclause turning you into an adeptus in addition to being his wife forever more. He had all the time in the world to get you to comply and love him as dearly as he loves you.

a/n why am I so in love with this man 🧎‍♀️

[samwisethewitch]

Using Human Body Parts in Spells

Many witches believe that the human body is sacred. Whether they’re pantheists, animists, or somewhere in between, most magical practitioners agree that there is some sort of divine or magical essence contained in all living things, including our bodies. But if that’s the case, why do so many witches hesitate to use parts of the body in their craft?

Part of it is the “ick” factor. Western society is shaped by religious and cultural influences that tell us our bodies are unclean, gross, or even scary. In order to comfortably work with the energies of the human body in magic, we have to unlearn these cultural influences.

This post covers the uses of human effects (materials that come from the human body) in witchcraft and magic.

Why Use This Stuff, Anyway?

By far the most common use of human effects in magic is as a taglock. A taglock is an item from the person a spell is meant to affect — either a small piece of their person (such as hair or fingernail clippings), or a personal belonging that is energetically connected to them. A taglock acts as a sort of anchor, tying the energy of a spell to that specific person and providing a direct link between them and the magic. Think of it as an energetic targeting system. This brings faster, more powerful results.

The use of taglocks is connected to the concept of sympathetic magic, which states that what is done to a small part of a person or thing (including an image or effigy) affects the whole. This idea is as old as humans — in fact, some archaeologists believe that Paleolithic cave paintings of injured animals were a form of sympathetic magic meant to manifest successful hunts.

If you need a taglock for a spell and can’t or don’t want to use hair/fingernails/etc., use one of the person’s belongings instead. This can be a business card, a child’s stuffed animal, or a napkin they used at dinner — whatever you can get your hands on. If you can’t get a personal belonging, use a photograph of the person.

Aside from linking magic to a specific person, different human effects have their own magical correspondences (see below). Depending on your spell, it may make sense to include hair as a symbol of personal power and self-expression or menstrual blood as a symbol of releasing old energy. Most witches don’t think twice about using milk or eggs, which come from the bodies of cows and chickens, in their magic, so why shouldn’t we use things from our own bodies as well?

There is an unfortunate stigma around the use of human effects in magic. Things like blood and hair are unfairly associated with dark magic, and many witches avoid them for that reason. Like any other magical tool, human effects can be used in spells for good or ill. You could use a taglock to add power to a healing spell, for example, or put your own hair in a success spell to anchor that success to you. These items are a part of you — they are no more evil or scary than you are.

Ethics and Safety

We’ve already discussed the ethical implications of doing magic on other people. This is especially important to keep in mind when working with human effects, either your own or someone else’s, because you are working directly with that person’s energy. Sympathetic magic gets very up close and personal, so it’s important to take care.

Don’t do anything to the personal effect, whatever it is, that you wouldn’t do to the person themselves. (Yes, this still applies if you’re using one of their possessions, or even a photograph.) Be gentle and respectful. Don’t throw it around or be careless with it. Don’t set it on fire or cut it up unless you really know what you’re doing and really want to fuck with the person it came from.

There are certain safety precautions that need to be taken when working with human effects, especially bodily fluids. I’ll talk about safety protocol for blood magic in a future post, but for now just be aware of the danger of bloodborne diseases and other possible contaminants. Sexual fluids may carry STIs, for example. For this reason, you should always take care when handling someone else’s bodily fluids. Wear gloves and make sure you don’t have any exposed cuts or sores.

Hair and fingernails are the safest human effects because they contain dead cells, and thus the risk of contagion is low. They’re also usually a little easier to get a hold of, especially if you’re doing magic for another person. Hair and nail clippings are most witches’ go-to taglocks for these reasons.

And finally, do not ever, under any circumstances, eat, drink, or bathe in anything that came from another person’s body. Some older spells call for adding blood or some other bodily fluid to food, and some old initiation rituals require the initiate to drink wine containing a drop of blood from each group member. In modern times, we know that this is dangerous because it could potentially spread disease. Trust me when I say there is no good reason to ever consume someone else’s DNA. Just don’t.

Correspondences

Below are correspondences for some human effects that can fairly easily be incorporated into spells. I have also included substitutions, for those who truly just aren’t comfortable working with human effects. These substitutions may not be quite as powerful, but the symbolism is similar.

Note: The use of blood in magic is a huge topic with a rich history, so I have chosen to devote an entire post to it. Blood is not mentioned in this post, but I will be posting about it soon!

Correspondences of Human Effects

Hair is closely tied to a person’s essence and personal power, perhaps more so than any other effect besides blood. In many cultures, hair is never cut to avoid dispersing this power. (Think of the story of Samson in the Bible.) Hair is also associated with the head, mental abilities, and thoughts. Hair is one of the most powerful taglocks, and can also be used in spells related to strength, beauty, and mental clarity. Use a few of your own hairs to tie something up to bind it with your personal power.

Substitutes for Hair: clove (for empowerment), rosemary (for mental clarity), catnip (for beauty)

Saliva lends itself to many purposes because of its wide array of correspondences. On one hand it is associated with kissing and sex (think of the phrase “swapping spit” to describe kissing), but on the other it can be extremely offensive (spitting on someone is a very old and very strong insult). Saliva can also be substituted for any other bodily fluid.

Substitutes for Saliva: cardamom (for love and lust), vinegar (for cursing and insult)

Fingernails are, of course, linked to the hands and to a person’s ability to act. They’re also one of the easiest human effects to collect, which make them a good choice for a taglock. I usually see fingernails used in this context rather than to bring a certain energy to a spell.

Substitute for Fingernails: clove (to empower action)

Semen and Vaginal Arousal Fluid are, naturally, associated with sex. Both are associated with pure potential, fertility, and action, and can give your spell a heck of a power boost. Use sexual fluids in spells for growth and new beginnings. They are also useful in love magic — anoint a red candle with your sexual fluids to attract a lover.

Substitutes for Semen and Vaginal Arousal Fluid: penis or vulva shaped candle (for sex magic), rice (for fertility), rose (for love), cinnamon (for lust)

Urine is a traditional ingredient in the witch bottle, a powerful protective charm. It’s also found in both curses and love spells in American folk magic. Interestingly, it’s also used to break curses. One of my teachers practiced Appalachian folk magic, and she used to say that the most surefire way to get rid of any curse was to “piss on a brick.” (Red bricks are also associated with protection.) As you can see, urine is perhaps the most versatile bodily fluid when it comes to magical uses.

Substitutes for Urine: vinegar (for protection, cursing, and curse breaking), cardamom (for love and lust)

Human effects are a powerful way to add strength to any spell. Next time you’re conjuring healing, manifestation, or love, consider throwing some hair or fingernails in there. Let your body’s magic be a part of your craft.

Resources:

Utterly Wicked by Dorothy Morrison

Of Blood and Bones by Kate Freuler

“The Meaning of European Upper Paleolithic Rock Art” by Cristian Violatti on ancient.eu

A Green Witch’s Cupboard by Deborah J. Martin