#the faithless critical

[ianthe-is-a-bitch-and-i-love-her]

So I finished The Faithless a bit ago and I've been putting off writing about it because, to my great disappointment, I didn't like it very much. I don't think it's necessarily bad by it's own merits (mostly), but as a sequel to The Unbroken, it was deeply disappointing. Spoilers to follow.

So there were a couple of things that I didn't love back when I first read the Unbroken. I thought the use of Unremarkable Queerness was a disappointing missed opportunity, that an exploration of the differences in cultural attitudes towards sex and gender would've enriched the book's thesis as well as Touraine's own journey as a queer woman raised under one culture reconnecting with the one she was stolen from. I also thought that, while using magic to represent culture - and specifically to use Luca's hunger for Shal magic as a critique of "well-intentioned" cultural appropriation, and Balladaire's lack of magic to represent the way culture is flattened by Empire - was a strong choice, choosing to make magic the exclusive domain of religion created the implication, deliberate or otherwise, that what was really wrong with Balladaire was that they'd turned their back on their traditional faith, which was not a message I cared for. All that being said, I found these issues pretty easy to ignore, because the book had a much more powerful central idea to explore, and its examination of a stolen, abused, indoctrinated victim of colonialism reconnecting with her homeland, as well as its exploration of the ways even genuinely kind-hearted and well-meaning colonialists inflict monumental atrocities, were extremely compelling. The Unbroken had ideas to share, question to pose and answer, and a message powerful enough to render my critiques inconsequential.

The same cannot be said for The Faithless. Based on the framing of the book, I expected to get an exploration of the political relationship between a colonizing nation and it's newly independent ex-colony. I thought we might get some examination of the difficulty of establishing international credibility for a new nation, of arranging favorable partnerships and trade deals in a world where you are seen as not just potentially unstable and with little of value economically, but as literal lesser people. I expected whatever approach it took to this framing device, it would be sharp, incisive, and timely. But it wasn't. Ultimately, the framing device was just a framing device, and the majority of the page count was spent on trying to learn the truth about Balladairen magic and Luca's bid to keep the throne, with the question of economic and political relations hung entirely on whether she or her uncle ended up in charge.

There were some details which gestured at the kind of themes that I'd been looking forward to, but the key words there are "details" and "gestured". Touraine's uncomfortable socializing with Balladairen nobles; cool, we already knew that! How does that discomfort affect her ability as an ambassador to make favorable connections and advance the interests of the people she represents? Don't know, she doesn't really try, beyond reminding Luca occasionally that her interest in getting Luca on the throne isn't altruistic. There's a Balladairen revolutionary movement born of economic disenfranchisement and the fear of free Shalans "stealing" resources. Okay that's interesting! What does their organizational structure look like? How many people can they mobilize? What are their economic and political aims, what's their plan for enacting it? How does Touraine feel about a bunch of people who share many of the same grievances as her people, but that unjustly blame her people for their problems? Don't know, none of that comes up. Their only plot function is to try to kill Luca and make her paranoid about her uncle. There's the Droitist school system that traumatized and conditioned Touraine! They take down one school, but acknowledge that it's a problem that can't be solved on an individual level. What kind of systemic changes need to be made? What obstacles are there? How can they be overcome or subverted? All of that gets pushed firmly onto the "once I'm queen" plate. I could go on. Ultimately, the elements that should have been the core of the story and themes become backdrop to a personal drama between Luca, Nicholas, Touraine, and Sabine. And it's functional enough, but it doesn't have anywhere near the originality or emotional resonance or drive that the plot of the previous book did.

Also, without a strong plot to take center stage, my nitpicks took up more of my attention, and the continuation of the story exacerbated some of the problems I had with them. With regards to unremarkable queerness: the central struggle of this book is over who is going to take over the throne of a hereditary monarchy. Am I supposed to believe that the fact that Luca regularly has sex with different partners, has no interest in getting a consort, and has no blood heir, compared to her uncle, who has a recognized blood heir, is of no consequence in a power struggle over a hereditary monarchy? And if there are cultural values or structure that make that a non issue, I would love to see them explored! I'd be fascinated to know where they come from and how they impact the rest of society! The conflation of magic, culture, and religion didn't end up going the direction I was concerned about, but it also became extremely muddy about what exactly it was trying to say. We learn that Balladairen magic still exists amongst the commons, but we also learn that the large scale type of magic that ensured good harvests was powered by human sacrifice, which is something that no one, including our antagonists, want to resume. So if Balladaire killed its religion for good, justifiable reasons, how does that square with the previous book's presentation as magic being a deeply integral part of culture, with its theft or suppression being an act of near genocide? It muddies the waters, and it ends up feeling like the author wanted to just treat this book as more conventional speculative fantasy fiction rather than a continuation of the themes explored in the first book. Ultimately, I think, that's what I'm really disappointed about. I came to The Faithless excited for a continuation of the deep exploration of colonialism in The Unbroken, and I got a much less grounded piece of speculative fantasy fiction.

[pocketgalaxies]

you've heard of laura bailey and liam o'brien, now get ready for marisha ray and taliesin jaffe

[woollybearsaint]

Religion- Christianity, Mormonism, Judaism, Islam, Krishna, Hinduism, Buddhism, Wicca, Psychics, Tarot Cards, Spiritualism, The Law of Attraction, Magic, Ancestral Worship- all lack sufficient evidence enough to be taken seriously, or for us to waste our time on. Our time is limited, and you can choose what ever the fuck you want to do with the time you have, but you can at least do a little something that makes the world a little better than the way you found it.

[bruciemilf]

My favorite Damian headcanons (as a POC myself) are the ones where he does POC things that're incredibly niche but also very widespread POC experiences

Commenting on how horror movies have no realistic people of color because otherwise they'd last less than ten minutes.

Responding with "is it because I'm not white" to every single criticism.

Bruce tries to get him to wear a suit and he's like "😐 I can't believe you're erasing my culture like this".

Jason calls him a demon and he tells Bruce Jason called him a slur because of where he comes from.

Refusing to try anything American he doesn't like because "I was raised with actual class".

Assuming it's a lie when Bruce says he can be whatever he wants in the future because come on now. He isn't a fool.

Saying American food is bland because he's used to food that scorches his tastebuds

Not believing in God but using religious phrases, calling his siblings faithless/godless when they annoy him, and rejecting atheism thoroughly because religion is a huge part of POC culture.

Saying "I would've been sent back to the Motherland for that behavior" whenever his siblings act out of line. It's not even necessarily true, but it's genuinely just a reflex

Joking about being beaten as a child because it's a POC bonding experience and backtracking when people freak out because no he wasn't actually hit (only a rap on the knuckles every now and then and the usual POC mother verbal abuse), it's a joke, he was joking.

Doing something dumb like sneaking out and halfway through realizing "oh my God this is white person behavior. I'm being whitewashed" and getting himself back in line

Automatically responding with "aren't you mixed?" to "yeah, but not mixed with stupid like you are"

Being awed and slightly disturbed on how much people just get away with in predominantly white homes

Being the "well behaved child" even with his bad temper because yes, he's spoiled, but he's also fully aware that he won't get away with half the shit he does if he was with his mother and enjoys his still-new freedom

^ And these are some of the general POC experiences, not to speak of the Arab-specific ones! People need to give this boy more POC trauma!

I LOVE THESE!! am not a POC so I don't have much to add; I do, however, love making fun of white people, and I'm passing that off to Damian. He sees Steph eat like, greek yogurt, and is like "i had no idea you liked spicy food. Getting adventurous, are we?"

[searchingforserendipity25]

Daeron/Maglor "...because the world is ending"? 😚

Hi @polutrope <3 This one one has been living in my docs as Daemags date night (the night to end all nights) for a month. Here it is at last!

The Night to End All Nights

Daeron had been deep into the roadless deserts, when Arien fell - her last blazing sunset had lit the dunes with dreadful beauty, rose sand purples and a red redder than red.

Then, the quiet. Handfuls of stars, snuffed out one after another.

He made his way onwards. Once, the land had not been desert; once, there had been paths of cobblestones paved with sound craft, and there had been chariots, carriages, riders and companies making their ways from glorious cities whose names were lost in the dust, removed from the world entirely, if not for Daeron's memory.

Daeron lived much in memory, now. There the dry well, there the empty streets of the empty city. Here, a deep-rooted peach tree had grown, where only a gray husk remained - he had gathered wild fruits from its generous boughs, shared them with an old enemy in the shelter of its shade, licked the juices from his fingertips and wrist and mouth until he shook as finely as the green leaves in the summer breeze.

Wherever he passed the land groaned with its own undoing.

Beleriand had been thus ruined, in its moribund years; but this was a ravaging wasting sickness, not a wound upon Arda to be solved with the amputation of one continent or another. Above and around and in all places a hundred, a thousand birds flew madly, till they dropped exhausted upon the last grass of the last spring.

The matter of the sky splintered and rained down great boulders of iron that shook and shattered the earth, smoldering with a fell fire, all the hard stone of the mountain ranges shaking and shaking like a single fevered body, bound up in strange resonances of power. One fell near enough to him that the raised dust clung to his lungs and fouled his throat for a time: and then Daeron grew afraid, for a time, shaken from the clear, beautiful rage against Morgoth into fright.

The cough passed, slowly.

The very air grew colder, made cruel without the sun. The waters grew wilder, without the moon; and all creatures grew despairing and violent, in the absence of starlight.

Still: Daeron went onwards. There was a great epilogue to judge - he was not a light-hearted critic, but he did intend to be there at the end, and at the start as well.

And he had an appointment to keep. They had agreed on this, a long time ago, and Daeron for his part was determined to cross crevasses as needed not to be the faithless one.

He had not thought Maglor would fail to be there. Not truly, in any case - not this time.

The land leaned towards the gaping of the world, its old longing for water calling out so starkly it was almost a song. This place had been full of life, once: a lake with many small islands, many new-made voices raised in song rippling the waters.

All the little water that remained reflected only darkness above, darkness around. Not enough remained of the waters of Cuiviénen to be drunk. Daeron’s torch lit it like the flare of a false moon, fading as passed it by.

It was quite beautiful, in its way. All things were unraveling to Song at last: the last fields of grass clinging to the cliff-side called out a rustling wind-song even as they turned to ash, glorious a rush of Music with the memory of the seed’s patience in winter and the growing rush of spring turning to the conflagration of summer.

Daeron closed his eyes. Did he weep, at the beauty of it? He could not sing. It was not time, yet; his voice curled thick and urgent in his aching throat, waiting.

They met at the very edge of the shoreline, where the whitewater rush of the shattered Encircling Sea broke into the gaping maw of the Void. The fall was very steep, the precipice very high, taller than any tower ever wrought. The sound of the water was an unnerving, slithering quiet, for it fell through fogs and mists; and the fall had no end.

A single raised light flickered, there where crumbling stone and air met, but the burned hand that held it up did not flinch from the licking slants of wind-swept fire.

“You are late,” Maglor said, chin raised. His voice, too, was less splendid than it might have been. Certainly less proud. Daeron’s heart turned in his chest, treacherously fond. “And I see you have not even brought any wine, either.”

“It was your turn to bring the wine,” Daeron pointed out. His words rasped in his throat a little, at the start. “I brought it last time."

"Forgive me! If it is any consolation," Maglor said. "I crossed the lands where the marketplace where those sweet bean pastries you loved once stood. Alas! Nought but ruins remain. There, here, everywhere! I had half a mind to start without you."

"That is well enough," Daeron said. He felt a little drunk already, dizzy with terror and Maglor's proximity.

His face caught the torch light, his eyes very bright. Maglor smiled at him. It was an effort - he could see the ancient grief moving in his face, a depth like the strata of the earth being pressed away to make room for it.

They had met on appointed dates two dozen times altogether. By the white piers of Belfalas or the moors of Arnor, sharing the same flask under the vibrant stars of Rhûn’s fields. Brushing knuckles; pressing their mouth’s where a touch had been, in the indulgent absurdity of second-hand lovemaking between two ancient creatures.

They had met. Not many times, but often enough; and always at the parting, regardless of how sweet or how bitter it might be, there was the renewed promise. We shall meet at the end! Even when it had been said in contempt and fury, and the end of the world not long enough to suit the day’s rage.

It passed, the anger. When one lived as long as they did, it grew very difficult to cleave to anything for very long. Grief was a habit, and singing duty and care and craft; all the rest passed and thinned as mist in the sun. Until they met again - until they met each other, and all colours grew bright, the winds colder, the summers gentler.

Daeron waved it away, lightly, light-hearted. O, he felt mad, trapped against the great maw of the black night - but a strange thing very like a laugh trembled on his throat.

"I know I shall! That is not my concern. I knew you would not start without me,” Daeron said. "I could not doubt it. And yet I am glad that I was late; I could not know how much of gladness remained, before I saw your light in the dark, waiting."

“Then I am glad," Maglor said, and the salt that clung to his hair prickled Daeron's nose when he neared. "Though it was a cold wait, and the journey colder still. You give me too much credit. For once! But I could not tarry. There was nowhere else to walk to, nor any other place I could wish to be."

“It is quite beautiful,” Daeron said, looking upon the cliffside. His eyes strained to see the scant starlight reflecting on the distant spray, silvering the night for brief instants. “In its way.”

“The sea was more beautiful,” Maglor said. "Its white sands and silver pebbles gleaming, and the black basalt sand of the Western islands. Gone, all gone! Now we are islanders only, the Encircling Sea the only sea; and its waters fall beyond reaching. I miss the sea-that-was, though it never did thank me for my company."

The mountains were gone. The fallow fields, and the valleys with their crumbling walls left abandoned in long lost days - the great cities of Men, one empire after another devoured by a greater and most ancient greed.

They had seen many kingdoms rise and fall together, over time; but there had been a constancy in that, not this absence of voices and wills, this death-bound silence.

It had not been often that they had wandered together for long. That was a thing neither of them could withstand easily - not they, minstrels to the dead, whose last elegiac duties were not suited to company. Their paths diverged, coming apart to come together again, and there had been joy too with every bitter parting. But they had agreed on this, under the light of the stars, Ages ago. Cuiviénen, at the end of all things - this much, at least, when the time came, at the end.

Daeron laid a hand on his cheek, and felt the warmth of it with a dizzying desire. So it would be this, then, he thought. The last touch; the last kiss, soft as a balm, a vertiginous fall into an embrace from a height no lesser than the sundered face of the breaking world. Daeron held him close with fierce hands, chased the stains of bitter soot on Maglor’s heeks with his mouth, tangled his fingers in braidless curls as dark as the night.

The last, the last! His eyes stung. Daeron was greedy, at the last, covetous with love as had ever been his vice, slow to relinquish. Love renewed all things, even grief; though the grief of Arda's fall had seeped into him into a killing drought, and no more tears remained in him to be shed.

The Music murmured its own last notes, a soundless song of mingled joy and despair.

More despair, at the end, and Daeron had feared, feared, feared it tremendous, more than the Starkinder's defeat or the death of all fruiting trees. Wandering alone in the lightless dark, voice failing and nothing listening, he had thought on the Theme and feared there would not be enough of joy, in the end - had judged his purpose beyond himself, all of Melian's careful and wise tutelage wasted and worn through.

So it had been, in solitude.

"Sweet Daeron. Forgive me,” Maglor said once more, sighing against his neck. His solid warmth was no greater than the flame's, wavering much as Daeron wavered on his feet. "I bring no gifts, and my might is diminished. The melody is yours, if you like. It is not wine, but it might suit your tastes as well, or better."

"It shall be," Daeron said. He knew it as he spoke, and almost laughed for how clear it was to him; he gripped Maglor's hand tightly. "But not mine alone, I judge; for are we not both singers of laments? One last paeon, then: and let not all things that were good and great and terrible fall unremembered, while there is breath with which to sing them."

Above them and around them the last stars went pale, and weary, and dead. The two torches flared, faded, lost the last of their fire.

Then, the quiet. Daeron stepped back. Raised a hand, to mark the time.

It was very easy, after all, to sing together at the end of all things: easy as summer, even in the dark.

[middle-earth-mythopoeia]

For the ask game: 1, 3 and 4!

Thanks for the ask!

The character everyone gets wrong:

This is tough, because I feel like plenty of people get plenty of characters wrong, but the one EVERYONE gets wrong? I don’t know. I’ll just have to pick a character that a lot of people get wrong instead…

I think the LOTR movies did lasting harm to Gimli’s character and people’s interpretations of him. They made him into comic relief and undermined the depth of his personality. This is not a criticism of John Rhys-Davies, who did a great job with what he was given! (And I fucking love that armor.) But the movies did not do Gimli justice.

Gone is his wisdom (“Faithless is he who says farewell when the road darkens”). Gone is his love for poetry and music, and the song of Khazad-dûm (which is one of my favorite scenes). Gone is his relationship with Frodo (which is a nice connection between the Hobbit and LOTR because of Glóin’s friendship with Bilbo).

Gone, too, is his open affection for Legolas, replaced by emotionally distant banter. And I like banter sometimes, but Gimli and Legolas had a very sweet friendship in the books (once they opened up to each other). After the battle of Helm’s Deep, after the competition, they were just glad to see each other alive. There was no stupid back-and-forth about the last kill—and I don’t think Tolkien’s Gimli would sit on a carcass.

Potentially even worse, Gimli in the movie (for some reason?) tries to persuade Aragorn NOT to release the army of the dead even after they’ve fulfilled their oath. There’s nothing like that in Tolkien’s books, and it just makes Gimli look dishonorable. After all, in the book, he’s the one who spoke in favor of keeping oaths when the Fellowship set out. His actual characterization in Tolkien’s books was mostly thrown aside for cheap “funny” moments.

There are still Gimli scenes in the movies I enjoy, of course, like the scene when he tells Legolas about Galadriel’s gift to him—“I asked her for one hair from her golden head...she gave me three”—and Legolas smiles. It’s one of the few sincere scenes they have together, and one of the few moments when we see more of Gimli’s inner feelings. I just wish the movies had been more faithful to his characterization across the board.

And because the movies have so much influence, I think the movie version of Gimli has replaced many people’s conception of him, which makes me sad. I don’t think everyone does this—I know there are other book Gimli lovers out there!—but too often I see fanfiction and fanart replicating the movie version of the character.

Screenshot or description of the worst take you’ve seen on tumblr:

This is another tough question, because so many bad takes compete for the top spot! I think a prime (pun intended) competitor for the worst take is the idea that Rings of Power added to Galadriel’s characterization rather than horribly detracting from it.

When the final episode of season one came out, some people were excited that it referenced Galadriel’s line in FOTR (here the quote from the book), “In place of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen…stronger than the foundations of the earth.” But the way Rings of Power chose to reference that line didn’t add to Galadriel’s characterization at all. It made her entire character arc dependent on a man asking her to be his queen. Galadriel’s ambition comes from HER—not from Sauron. I was very disappointed to see ANYONE defending that.

One person actually came onto one of my posts to tell me that Rings of Power Galadriel is “exactly” like she is in canon, and I was like…where??????? Tolkien’s Galadriel fought, but the idea that she would enjoy killing, like the show portrays, is just bizarre (why do I have to fucking explain this?). Tolkien’s Galadriel had the ambition of ruling a realm of her own—she didn’t go on a wild goose chase for “revenge” of all things. Tolkien’s Galadriel was extraordinarily wise and perceptive from young age, not a petty, temperamental, undiplomatic brat. Tolkien’s Galadriel was tall and strong, not short and scrawny. And Tolkien’s Galadriel never trusted Annatar—she certainly wasn’t manipulated by him, let alone nearly seduced. I cannot believe someone would have the audacity to defend this abysmal portrayal of Galadriel by arguing that it’s CANON.

What was the last straw that made you finally block an annoying person?

If people post annoying things, I’ll usually just unfollow them. I unfollow people who post too many gifs from the Hobbit movies, for instance. No offense to them, I just hate the Hobbit movies and don’t want to see gifs/pictures of them. But even a single Rings of Power gif will get you blocked. It’s not even a last straw.

Turning back to Gimli, I think the worst aspects of the movies’ portrayal of him (like the drunken scene in the extended edition) were replicated by the Hobbit movies (the unmentionable food fight, for instance) and then by Rings of Power (what exactly was the value added by having Durin burp loudly during dinner?). Tolkien’s Dwarves can be funny sometimes, of course—like when they sing about breaking Bilbo’s plates!—but they don’t have disgusting table manners. They’re actually very polite, often bowing and saying “At your service!”

In conclusion: respect Gimli, respect the Dwarves, and respect Galadriel, or perish by my axe.

[featherquillpen]

FE3H Meta: Hubert and faith

Hubert is a fascinating compare and contrast with Edelgard when it comes to faith. At first, it may seem as if they have the same relationship with the Church and the faith. They both have a bane in faith. They both hate the Church. But this is not the case. They both hate the Church, but there are differences in how they feel about the faith and the goddess.

Edelgard hates the goddess statuette as a gift. Hubert does not. In Three Hopes expeditions, Hubert sometimes talks about scripture, while Edelgard never discusses scripture. Hubert used to believe in divine punishment, and Edelgard almost certainly did as well. Hubert claims not to believe in it anymore:

"When I was a child, I feared such trivial things as divine punishment and grudges held by the dead. These days, I fear zealots and grudges held by the living instead."

But we know that's not entirely true. Hubert has the critical hit line in battle, "We shall burn together!" That's about hell. That's divine punishment. On some level, Hubert still believes in it. Hubert definitely seems to believe that the goddess exists:

"Sometimes I like to imagine that you were sent to us by a rival of the goddess to lay her low."

Going by the A support with Byleth, Hubert seems to believe that the goddess exists, but mostly doesn't do anything except maybe fuck shit up and burn people in hell from time to time. And yet, Hubert dies on non-CF routes carrying a goddess talisman. So their faith is not entirely dead. The goddess still means something.

On non-CF routes, Hubert dies to defend Edelgard and her vision. What could be more important to Hubert than that? More worthy? Why would you bring anything with you that didn't mean a LOT, for the cause you felt you were meant for?

I think that, much like the deep-buried yearning to be a pegasus knight that Hubert expresses in the advice box, there is still a deep-buried yearning for the goddess, somewhere deep down. For that childhood dream. For that lost faith. To be something other than a faithless, cold, bereft, forsaken shadow. It's so rare for Hubert to express any desire or dream to be other than what he currently is. The goddess talisman feels like a cry from the soul to once more be a child who had this benevolent goddess to believe in, who could be worthy of such a goddess.

There's such a powerful metaphor here for being queer and religious, and then feeling betrayed by your faith. The age that Edelgard and Hubert lose their faith (early adolescence) is the age that a lot of kids start to have queer feelings and realize their faith will never accept them. Marianne represents the version of that experience where you hold fast to your faith and try to pray the feelings away. Hubert and Edelgard represent the version where you turn on your church instead, though going by Edelgard's support chain with Manuela, she lacks even the weak threads of comfort that Hubert is still able to find in the goddess.

A lot of people liken Hubert's relationship to Edelgard to worship, or something like it, but in this moment of dying for Edelgard, it's not enough. It's not enough. She's not Hubert's goddess. The goddess is. Otherwise Hubert would just die with a token of Edelgard's, not a goddess talisman.

Hubert to me embodies the concept of faith far more than any of the supposedly holy knights who fight to defend the Church. Hubert has been utterly ruined by the Church right up until that final sacrifice to defend Edelgard, and actually knows it, unlike all the characters who pretend the Church didn't ruin them. And yet, still finds something worthwhile in that goddess talisman. That's faith.

[aff1uence]

𓏲   *   (  paul  mescal,  questioning,  he/they,  noah  kahan  cc  )   ⸺   pictures  of  FINN  ABEL  RIGGS  have  been  showing  up  all  over  my  feed,  and  considering  the  last  time  they  were  #trending,  it  was  due  to  celebrating  six-months  of  sobriety  on  his  socials  —  i'm  not  likely  to  unfollow  anytime  soon.  with  their  sheepskin  jacket  that  they've  owned  for  many  years,  distressed  jeans  and  earth-toned  flannel  shirts,  i'm  not  surprised  to  hear  that  they  are  considered  part  of  the  NOUVEAU  RICHES.  after  27  years,  they've  managed  to  garner  a  reputation  for  being  more  welcoming  than  faithless,  but  their  critics  say  that  they're  more  self-indulgent  than  witty  when  they  aren't  too  busy  focusing  on  their  guitar  collection  (  constantly  growing  )  ;  reading  through  reviews  and  fan  messages  for  a  pick-me-up  ;  riding  on  public  transport  just  to  feel  a  sense  of  normalcy.  when  they  aren't  occupied  with  their  work  as  a  singer / songwriter,  they've  been  sighted  hiking.  reputation.com  has  taken  to  calling  them  FOLK  PRINCE  in  order  to  avoid  a  lawsuit  (  again  ).   ──

GENERAL DETAILS.

full  name:   finn  abel  riggs .  nickname(s):   finnie .  rigger .  age:  twenty7 .  date  of  birth:   26th  of  june ,  1996 .  place  of  birth:   meredith ,  new  hampshire .  current  location:   lower  east  side ,  new  york  city .  ethnicity:   white  american .  gender:   questioning .  pronouns:   he / they .  sexual  orientation:   pansexual .   romantic orientation:   panromantic .  relationship  status:  single .  religion:   ex - christian .  occupation:   singer / songwriter .  education:   high  school  diploma .  accent:   new  england .  spoken  languages:   english  ( native ) ,  spanish  ( intermediate ) .

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE, ETC.

faceclaim:   paul  mescal .  hair  colour  and  style:   light  brown ,  short  textured  mullet .  eye  colour:   blue .  height:   5  ft  11 .  tattoos:   a  line  of  trees  on  his  ribcage .  none:   ears .  clothing  style:   folksy  casual ,  jeans ,  graphic tees ,  sheepskin  jackets .  distinguishing  features:   none .  signature  scent:   montblanc  explorer .

HEALTH.

mental  disorder(s):   anxiety ,  chronic  depression .  physical  disorder(s):   none .  allergies:   lactose .  sleeping  habits:   night  owl ,  often  oversleeps .  eating  habits:   flexitarian .  sociability:   ambivert .  addictions:   alcoholism .  drug  use:   weed .  alcohol  use:   currently  sober .

PERSONALITY.

label(s):   folk  prince .  positive  traits:   welcoming ,  witty ,  creative ,  eager .  negative  traits:   faithless ,  self - indulgent ,  blunt ,  stubborn .  likes:   writing  music ,  touring ,  hiking ,  going  to  the  cinema .  dislikes:   photoshoots ,  award  shows ,  metal  music ,  ball  sports .  fears:   becoming  a  one - hit  wonder .  goals  and  ambitions:   to  continue  to  make  great  music  and  work  with  other  talented  artists .  astrology:   cancer  ( sun ) ,  libra  ( moon ) ,  gemini  ( rising ) .  moral  alignment:   chaotic  good .  element:   earth .  primary  vice:   sloth .  primary  virtue:   humility .

BIOGRAPHY.

finn  abel  riggs  grew  up  in  the  small  town  of  meredith ,  new  hampshire .  everyone  knew  everyone  and  that  was  the  way  his  family  liked  it .  his  parents  liked  the  slower  life ,  the  suburbia  that  came  with  a  place  surrounded  by  trees  and  between  two  lakes .  he  grew  up  with  one  older  brother ,  jack ,  only  just  over  a  year  apart  –  best  friends .  they  spent  their  free  afternoons  cycling  to  the  lake  to  watch  their  dad  work  on  the  boats ,  racing  each  other  behind  his  pick-up  on  the  way  home .  this  continued  for  most  of  finn's  childhood .  however ,  when  finn  was  13 ,  his  brother  jack  was  diagnosed  with  stage  3  cancer .  from  that  moment  on ,  all  priorities  had  shifted .  his  mother  doreen  quit  her  job  at  the  local  post  office  while  his  father  picked  up  more  shifts .  they  were  constantly  driving  between  hospitals  for  jack's  treatments  and  whenever  finn  could ,  he  came  along .  his  grades  started  slipping ,  but  there  were  more  important  things  to  worry  about .  there  were  constant  ups  and  downs ,  but  eventually ,  two  years  after  being  diagnosed ,  jack  passed .  losing  his  best  friend  and  only  sibling ,  finn  found  himself  lost .  he  stopped  socialising  and  did  not  speak  for  two  months .  for  that  next  christmas ,  he  was  gifted  a  guitar  by  his  parents ,  as  well  as  a  set  of  five  lessons  to  get  him  started .  he  poured  his  heart  and  soul  into  that  guitar .  having  the  guitar  as  a  proxy  between  him  and  the  outside  world ,  it  became  easier  to  open  up .  he  started  writing  songs  and  made  new  friends .  rather  than  watch  his  father  work  at  the  lake ,  he  now  found  himself  sitting  around  campfires  with  bottles  of  liquor  stolen  from  their  parents'  liquor  cabinets ,  making  music .  this  continued  until  he ,  flying  by  the  seat  of  his  pants ,  graduated  high  school .  he'd  been  promoting  his  music  a  bit  and  been  playing  at  weddings  and  small  parties .  a  small  amount  of  money  saved  up ,  he  packed  a  bag ,  his  guitar  and  left  for  new  york  city .  he  couchsurfed  between  gigs ,  spending  all  the  money  he  had  on  booze .  plenty  of  nights  he  found  himself  out  on  the  street ,  curled  up  under  a  bush  in  central  park  hoping  to  be  left  alone ,  absolutely  hammered .  he  wrote  music  with  other  artists ,  working  together  on  music ,  but  nothing  really  came  from  it.  he  had  a  small  cult  following .  a  year  and  a  half  ago ,  he  was  busking  in  the  subway  when  he  was  approached  by  a  talent  agent .  for  a  few  weeks ,  he  got  himself  together  to  save  enough  money  to  record  a  demo ,  which  was  them  picked  up  for  an  ep .  the  ep  did  alright ,  just  hitting  threshold  to  record  an  album .  the  album  went  viral .  everyone  wanted  a  piece  of  him  and  he  decided  to  put  down  the  bottle ,  checking  himself  into  rehab  with  his  advance  and  the  help  of  his  manager .  his  us  tour  started  immediately  after  rehab  and  it  was  a  hit .   he  recently  found  a  new  place  to  live  and  celebrated  6  months  of  sobriety .

[korewritingandstuff]

Godly made

I’ve been in an awful writer’s block and this tiny writing saved me, I hope you like it; as always, I enjoy of hearing opinions and critics. Even, if you have ideas for writings I’d be happy to hear them too, I have 5 WIPs or so and I haven’t been able to finish none of them (Edit: I have counted them, they're not 5, they're 18!!!!)

***

There was a stain of blood; now dry, that had managed to show up through the bandages. 

When his finger floated over the wound, his rushed mind provided him with an image surprisingly clear and sharp; an open wound, raw, red, and painful; dripping blood at every single step, the life running away in every single breath; it was a horrific perspective to imagine, but the number of times Laurens put himself in that situation was scarier. 

Somehow, it was even worse than in all the mess of blood and pain, there was something that impressed him, attracted him to sit down, and let himself be consumed by the reckless and impressive John's soul. 

The way John played with his own mortality, teasing his limits and ending after every battle covered with blood and death, should have scared him, and it did; but it also fascinated him, and instead of seeing a shaking injured man, he thought was witnessing the returning of an old god to his temple. 

Any believer would call him heretic and faithless, but any believer (except himself) couldn't ever understand the divinity living inside John's body, the divinity falling from his sword in the shape of blood, spilled in his coat, being crowned by the sun and smoke. 

For any other believer, John would be too human, full of bones and fragile skin, his shoulder covered in scars and bravery, his character built in recklessly and stupidly, he was conscious of his humanity and as a consequence, created his own will and strength. Alexander couldn't help to fall for that, John wasn't godly for divine gifts, he was divine for the way he dealt with his humanity. 

There were a good amount of gods created since birth, there were fewer that created himself under his own hand.

He would like to fall on his knees to adore him, he would have done it gladly; wrapping his body, soul, heart, and mind in silk, shells, and pearls to give it as an offering, to give whatever just to get his lover's promise of returning alive and victorious.

Sadly, none of the gods stays for long in the land, most of them descend to cause chaos and disgrace, experiment with passion and look the fragility of humanity closer, sow some children and then, be ascended again to the heavens and see the earthly matters as a good theater presentation. Inevitably, the wild and divine nature of John would reclaim him back, guiding him to places Alexander couldn't stop or follow him. 

As if he could hear the worries in his head, John’s hand reached his, still shaking over the bandages of his shoulder, close to his heart, “I’m here, I’m not going anywhere,” he said, his voice breathless, reduced to a small noise; but Alexander hears him clearly.

And he chose to believe in him.

[djservo]

HI CAS you managed to beat me to it and remind me that i will also be away around our typical wrap up time! travelling gals. i've seen some of your goodreads activity too and i think we've managed to keep in line with books read which does make me laugh a lil. how was your buddy read? your august reading? new vibes for autumn? i want to know everything!

omg we're so in sync I love it and I hope your traveling went/is going well!! <3 first buddy read (out of a projected total of 4) went well, as did the rest of my august reads!!

A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

the first of the buddy-read chronicles with my buddy and it was a success! fitting for these seemingly ever-changing phases of independence/womanhood/#HoningThyCraft that we keep morphing into and within. it was a bit of a slow start and made me think of jenny slate talking about books which I sent to me friend like 5 pages in like "omg please tell me it's not all like this" but we pushed through the initial slump and were pretty engaged with the rest of it. I highlighted so many passages to chew on, some favs being -

"the beauty of the world which is so soon to perish, has two edges, one of laughter, one of anguish, cutting the heart asunder"

"What effect has poverty on fiction? What conditions are necessary for the creation of works of art?"

the iconic -

"a good dinner is of great importance to good talk. One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well."

and even some lil funny bits -

"the chief glory of a woman is not to be talked of, said Pericles, himself a much-talked-of man"

miss woolf has jokes!! but yes overall really ended up enjoying and connecting with this more than I expected at the start and it's short/low stakes enough to where I think anyone could give it a shot and end up resonating and/or taking something deep from it

High Blood/Pressure by Michelle T. Clinton

I forget who exactly posted it, but Someone whose taste I wholeheartedly trust had posted a snippet of Good Sense & the Faithless on their insta story which first put Michelle T. Clinton on my radar. devoured this one in an afternoon, I was so hooked and charmed by her prose and the way she sets up a scene!! not necessarily setting wise, but this sense of interaction/conversation that's both natural yet distinct in tone. personable yet frank, which isn't really easy for me to pick up on when I'm first getting into poets - like I feel like I need to read several poems for their voice to really click for me because I'm too focused on connecting more superficial dots of understanding, whereas this one clicked right away. fav poem was MANIFESTING THE RUSH/HOW TO HANG but I really did love each one + I've already tracked down a used copy of Good Sense & the Faithless online that's on its way to me now hehe very excited

Looking For Mr. Goodbar by Judith Rossner

similar to Secretary where the movie's been on my radar and I've been itching to watch but the purist in me wants to read the book first and then I read the book and don't watch the movie LOL 'when you give a mouse a cookie' ass situation!! I think the story's still too fresh on my mind and if I were to watch the adaptation right away, though it would make sense for the sake of comparison, it'd feel too much like homework ykwim like in college I took a class about film adaptions of literary works where we'd get this short window of time to read a book then watch the film in class and discuss/dissect + I guess it kinda spoiled that act of reading then immediately watching, or turned it into something very clinical whereas I wanna be able to watch the adaptation for what it is without being a hypervigilant critic... ANYWHO!!!! I actually had no idea this was based on a true story/crime? so I think most of my qualms, which are narrative-wise, are kinda irrelevant since that's like.. literally what happened! that's the truth! but I guess I felt there wasn't enough explanation as to how the protag's sexual appetite/curiosities developed the way it did (unless you wanna be an armchair psychologist and connect the dots to her childhood upbringing, but I personally don't think even that's enough). I read a good chunk of it at an airport bar and it felt very fitting + I think I should start scouting my reading settings according to the book I'm reading bc it does indeed add to the ambience of the story and DRAMA of it all !!!!

since the start of September I've finished 2 books, unconnected in vibes but still somewhat complementary. I'm reading Quarry by Jane White now which is our second buddy read/the start of our "dark childhood/boyhood" theme that I think will bleed nicely into October, I really struck gold at the used bookshops during my travels but they're all kinda meaty and require some supplementary reading/context (to me) and idk if that's the vibe right now. kinda wanna stay in a fiction bubble a little while longer and there's certainly no end in sight given some of my recent TBR adds on goodreads so!! we shall see!!!

[wackyart]

FICS RECAP SO FAR:

I'll try to be a bit more active on there but here you go friends ! Here are the things coming soon and the ones already posted ! What's to come: - The third and last part of "the "The Gauntlet's Squad: Sickness Series" aka Din being sick and Bo and Grogu taking care of him. You can read the first and seconds parts here already ! - A Dinbo cute OS with some christmas-ish vibes/ snow and more. - A TWD (The Walking Dead) fanfic but my first chapter is like +65k and not done so I need to edit cause this can't be a chapter alone X'D This is a Negan & Maggie fic. - A TWD and D&D (Dungeons and Dragons) mash-up fic. Basically: Shane, Beth, Maggie, Negan and Daryl thrown into DND with some shenanigans and this is purely self-indulgent XDD I love this one SO MUCH- - More Armoves (The Armorer x Axe Woves) and some fluff ! - A Bridgerton fic with both Benedict and Sophie but with a twist ! _ Two linked DND fics (post-apo with mermaid zombies and all, I love this setting so much. One is basically my character's journal entry and the other is the scene/setting and plot.

What's already posted: Armoves: 1./ "Les Enchaînés", 1789 French Revolution Settings (to celebrate Armovesary this 14th of July) 2./ "Dead Men Tell No Tales", POTC Settings Armoves. 3./ "Blasters, Bedtimes, and Big Dreams", Angst but loads of fluff too !!! 4./ "A Beskar Lunchbox", FLUFF, like pure fluff 5./ "Melting Desires", Smut and spicyyyyyyy 6./ "Whispers of Change", Sweet, fluff, comfort fic with those two. One of my favs <3 7./ "From a Child's Heart", CUTE and basically Ellie making a gift for father's day and this is adorable ! 8./ "Drifting through Sundari's Heart", Pacific Rim settings and this one will be updated soon !! 9./ "Sweet Nothings", Ellie can't sleep and she comes to see him. Cute stuff ! 10./ "Heat of the Moment", Slightly spicy but nothing shameless whatsoever. 11./ "An Armor-ous Affair", Slightly spicy and first Armoves fic ever posted ! 12./ "Whispers of the Faithless", Started as a joke but hey, Armoves church sex, has been posted on a Sunday X'))) Dinbo (since this "StaraJel" insists on AO3, keeps telling nasty stuff to get some lmao + this person who told me and the Armoves squad that we needed to "put that energy towards Dinbo instead" annoy me so damn much, lemme remind you how much I wrote for them): 1./ "Of Snuggles and Squeals", Fluff and cute. Din and Bo get a cute pet and Grogu is in love with it. 2./ "Steel and Starlight", My precious baby and first Dinbo fic who just hit the +7k !! T-T 3./ "Sundari's Sunshine", Coffee Shop Dinbo AU ! Cute ! 4./ "Beskar's Tears", Uh-oh, angst but has a happy ending ! 5./ "The Warrior's Muse", Din writes poetry about Bo ! 6./ "Frostbitten Fury", Bo gets hurt and Din is here to save the day/her ! 7./ "A Mother's Love", Supernatural AU for Dinbo ! 8./ "A Gilded Cage", Bridgerton AU for them, cute and I really like this one ! 9./ "To the Edge of the World", POTC Dinbo ! 10./ "A Mandalorian Fury", Hunger Games Dinbo AU ! 11./ "Love and Broth", Grogu is sick so Din and Bo take care if that little one ! 12./ "Clinging to Comfort", Bo is sick, Din and Grogu take care of her ! 13./ "Aftermath", Shameless smut, shower sex 14./ "Patuu", Father's day for Din 15./ "Lady Kryze", Smut ahead 16./ "A Gauntlet's Night", Grogu has a nightmare and Dinbo is being adorable with him And so much more here !! Am I being salty ? Definitely. Because I hate people coming on my stuff and telling me what " I should be doing", especially when it comes to free, detailed and constant content. I have 40 fics available already and I think that's quite a lot and seeing the "you should be focus on x" instead is straight up annoying when clearly I have all of this available. So if you can't be a decent human being, feel free to fck right off. I do all of this because I want to, because I love it and I just hate seeing people (who don't even write) come on my stuff to criticize. If you want something: do it. " You are never better served than by yourself"_ Charles-Guillaume Étienne (1777-1845)

[castielmacleod]

Desti3l critic:

One of the things I dislike most about the way fans treat this ship is that... it is always about Dean. The way Dean is focused on and portrayed rather than it being about Cas himself. It is usually about how Castiel gives something to Dean and Dean gets the focused POV, Castiel is just... there to be an emotional support. And honestly the way it tracks with the show's portrayal of things and the way the protagonist centered POV plays out and the way the show itself does the same thing with Castiel's character.... is just simply sad.

NO FOR REAL THOUGH.. even when I was more tolerant of fanon D*stiel this ALWAYS bothered the shite out of me.

Because for 99% of these people D*stiel literally IS about Dean, ultimately, and always has been. The whole narrative that they find so compelling is about the ~faithless man~ saved from damnation by a literal angel. It’s about Dean getting to have this literal angel look at him and all his flaws and save him and love him anyway because that’s what Dean needs. Like it literally is about Dean fans wanting someone to come and therapise Dean at any cost and fix him with his (fetishised) gay love and it’s infuriating. Even when they do try to talk from Cas’ pov it’s still Dean centric, because they say Dean specifically is the only reason Cas rebelled and that Cas could only find contentment in life if Dean loved him back, or it’s discussion of Cas doing xyz sacrificial thing for Dean and never any of Cas’ other actions that are unrelated to Dean. No matter which angle they come from it always seems to be about what Cas does for Dean. I’m sure (sarcastic) that has nothing to do with the fact that Dean does absolutely nothing for Cas, ever 🥴

Like above all D*stiel has to be about Dean because if it was actually about Cas then it would have to be about how Dean is categorically Cas’ abuser who literally created or otherwise exacerbated so many of Cas’ severe psychological issues, and heIIers don’t want to confront or even acknowledge that because that contradicts the “secret good” spn that they hallucinate over the actual episodes (that they then get mad at other people for not seeing 😭)

[forgwater]

Heartslabyul

This weird theory that I have mainly about why the characters birthdays were chosen on the days that they were.

you might need this: explanations/index and the add on

masterlist The Ramshackle Prefect

when a major arcana card is in bold it means it is a perfect fit for the characters in context with their other attributes.

Analysis at the end.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Riddle Rosehearts - August 24 - Virgo

1st decan of Virgo: King of Pentacles, 8 of Pentacles

planet: Mercury - Mercury in Virgo: 10 of Pentacles

element: Earth - mutable

minor arcana: Pentacles

major arcana: The Hermit, The Magician

major arcana:

The Hermit 9

+ contemplation, search for truth, inner guidance

-loneliness, isolation, lost your way

The Magician 1

+ willpower, desire, creation, manifestation

-trickery, illusion, out of touch

minor arcana:

King of Pentacles

+ abundance, prosperity, security

-greed, indulgence

8 of Pentacles

+ diligence, passion, high standards

-no passion, uninspired, no motivation

10 of Pentacles

+ legacy, inheritance, culmination

-fleeting success, lack of stability, lack of resources

element: Earth

+ being centered, patience, truth, dependable, thorough

-laziness, dullness, inconsiderable

zodiac: Virgo

+ modest, humble, orderly, altruistic, logical, responsible, organized

-obsessive, critical, excessive, attention to insignificant details, perfectionist

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Ace Trappola - September 23 - Libra

1st decan of Libra: Queen of Swords, 2 of Swords

planet: Venus

element: Air - cardinal

minor arcana: Swords

major arcana: The Empress, Justice

major arcana:

The Empress 3

+ motherhood, fertility, nature (nurture?)

-dependence, smothering, lack of self-reliance

Justice 11/8

+ cause and effect, clarity, truth

-dishonesty, unaccountability, unfairness

minor arcana:

Queen of Swords

+ complexity, perceptiveness, clear mindedness

-cold hearted, cruel, bitterness

2 of Swords

+difficult choice, indecision, stalemate

-lesser of two evils, no right choice, confusion

element: Air

+ intelligent, practical, optimistic

-frivolous, easily fooled, impulsive

zodiac: Libra

+ charming, harmonious, diplomatic, easy-going, polished

-indecisive, superficial, hypocritical, guilible, passive-aggressive

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Deuce Spade - June 3 - Gemini

2nd decan of Gemini: Knight of Swords, 9 of Swords

planet: Mercury

element: Air - mutable

minor arcana: Swords

major arcana: The Magician, The Lovers

major arcana:

The Magician 1

+ willpower, desire, creation, manifestation

-trickery, illusion, out of touch

The Lovers 6

+ partnership, union, duality

-loss of balance, one-sidedness, disharmony

minor arcana:

Knight of Swords

+ action, impulsiveness, defending beliefs

-no direction, disregarding consequences, unpredictability

9 of Swords

+ anxiety, hopelessness, trauma

-hope, reaching out, despair

element: Air

+ intelligent, practical, optimistic

-frivolous, easily fooled, impulsive

zodiac: Gemini

+ intelligent, adaptable, agile, communicative, informative, connected

-talkative, exaggerating, deceptive, cunning, superficial, inconsistent

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cater Diamond - February 4 - Aquarius

2nd decan of Aquarius: Knight of Swords, 6 of Swords

planet: Uranus

element: Air - fixed

minor arcana: Swords

major arcana: The Fool, The Star

major arcana:

The Fool 0

+ innocence, new beginnings, free spirit

-recklessness, taken advantage of, inconsideration

The Star 17

+ hope, faith, rejuvenation

-insecurity, discouragement, faithlessness

minor arcana:

Knight of Swords

+ action, impulsiveness, defending beliefs

-no direction, disregarding consequences, unpredictability

6 of Swords

+ transition, leaving behind, moving on

-emotional baggage, unresolved issues, resisting transition

element: Air

+ intelligent, practical, optimistic

-frivolous, easily fooled, impulsive

zodiac: Aquarius

+ intelligent, inventive, humanistic, friendly, altruistic, reformative

-emotionally detached, scatterbrained, irresponsible, impersonal

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trey Clover - October 25 - Scorpio

1st decan of Scorpio: Knight of Cups, 5 of Cups

planet: Pluto

element: Water - fixed

minor arcana: Cups

major arcana: Death, Judgement

major arcana:

Death 13

+ end of a cycle, new beginning, change, metamorphosis

-fear of change, stagnation, holding on

Judgement 20

+ reflection, reckoning, awakening

-no self-awareness, doubt, self-loathing

minor arcana:

Knight of Cups

+ following the heart, idealist

-moodiness, disappointment

5 of Cups

+ loss, grief, disappointment

-acceptance, moving on, finding peace

element: Water

+ love, compassion, receptivity, flexibility, forgiveness

-indifference, depression, instability, moodiness

zodiac: Scorpio

+ passionate, driven, perceptive, emotional, sacrificing, determined

-vindictive, paranoid, destructive, possessive, jealous, clingy

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Riddle embodies the negative traits of the Virgo sign, only at times showing some of the positive traits associated with this sign. Considering Virgo was chosen as Riddle's sign, it might be a nod to his mother, this zodiac sign is represented by a woman, and would generally be interpreted as being motherly and caring, a complete contrast with his mother.

When it comes to his element though, he stays on the positive side. Riddle is mainly the Earth, tangible and steadfast with only a small side of Air.

In his major arcana, Riddle is the reversed Hermit, the name of the card also makes sense, since he was isolated by his mother from other people, especially people his own age. After his Overblot, Riddle seems to be on his way towards the upright Hermit.

The Magician in Riddle's case is a mix of both upright and reversed, with him being out of touch with his tyranny and an illusion of everything being alright when it clearly is not as well as Riddle having a lot of willpower, considering he ranks first in his classes.

When it comes to the minor arcana, for the King of Pentacles, Riddle seems to have the reversed, the greed to hold all the power he can get. For the 8 of Pentacles, it is all upright. And for the 10 of Pentacles he has traits from both the upright and reversed, culmination with his Overblot, lack of stability with his upbringing and legacy because of his mother's success.

Also, Riddle's collars are physical, tangible objects, like what the Pentacles represent.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ace has both positive and negative traits from his zodiac sign, mostly negative though. He is easy-going and can be charming at times but he is also gullible (considering the events of book 3), and he can be passive-aggressive. Also, considering his zodiac sign is represented by scales, at this point the balance is tipped, I'd say.

For his element, Ace represents the negative traits. A case could be made for one positive Air trait, intelligence, Ace is smart, or at least a quick-thinker, he does, however fail to account for future possibilities, hence his impulsiveness. He is also childish.

Ace is mainly Air, with a small side of Earth.

In his major arcana, he has the reversed Empress, his lack of self-reliance comes from having to always be bailed out of trouble he got himself into, which also means dependency on others and he can come off as smothering due to his love of affectionately bulling his friends.

For Justice, Ace again lands on the reversed side, it is shown that Ace can lie very easily, quickly and effectively. He also tries to weasel his way out of every situation he lands himself in. One upright trait would be him being adamant about Riddle's repentance for the wasted tart as well as what he (Riddle) put him, Deuce and the prefect through, serving justice somewhat.

For the minor arcana, I'd say the Queen of Swords is reversed, but some upright traits could be perceived. I don't really know what to say about the 2 of Swords.

Also, Ace is known to use primarily wind magic in the game. Basically Air magic.

Ace's cards showing constant indecisiveness makes me believe it will play a big role in his character development as well as the story.

[look me in the eyes and tell me Ace's unique magic isn't going to be tipping the scales (restoring balance) or something like that, I'm calling it now]

(Ace might play a big role in book 7 with Malleus' possible future Overblot)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Deuce is adaptable and agile, considering his quickness in helping others, but considering his back and forth between his new self and delinquent past self, he could be considered inconsistent and deceptive. Gemini is also symbolized by a pair of twins, further showing Deuce's duality.

For his element, Deuce represents a lot of negatives, he is easily fooled and impulsive. I'd say he does, however have the positive trait of optimism, since he is for lack of a better word, optimistic about his chances of becoming an honor student and making his mother proud. Deuce is complete Air.

The major arcana, Deuce perfectly fits the Magician upright. For the Lovers, we can see he represented the reversed card in his past and is now in the upright position. This card represents, generally two people (like his zodiac sign) that are different, yet work together in perfect harmony. Deuce is coming into his own by acknowledging and accepting, as well as utilizing his past delinquent tendencies and what he's learned from them and applying them into this new leaf that he's turned.

In the minor arcana, Deuce represents both the upright and reversed Knight of Swords. And for the 9 of Swords, I'd say he stays on the reversed side with a little bit of anxiety, due to being unsure whether or not he can fulfil the goal he set for himself.

Also, Deuce's constant summoning of cauldrons might be tied to the Magician card.

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Cater has both the positive and negative traits of his zodiac sign. If we are to take into consideration the depiction of this sign, a man spilling a pot, we can interpret it as Cater giving away information (spilling the tea, if you will).

For his element, Cater is a bit mixed, he is optimistic (mainly only on the surface) and pretty smart considering he is able to make others do his work as well as being good at getting out of things, I'd say he is a bit air-head though. He is childish, considering his behavior and way of talking and maybe impulsive as well (with all his posting on magicam), however he is not easily fooled. Cater, too, is complete air.

For his major arcana, Cater, again has traits from upright and reversed sides of the Fool. Cater has only had part of new beginnings with his family's constant moving and he is pretty free spirited. Cater is also slightly reckless (he makes a bet he most likely knows he will lose in his ceremonial robes vignette) and the case for him being inconsiderate can also be made with all his taking of photos of people before asking if they're okay with it. The constant illustration that appears on this card, the man on the edge of a cliff, unknowingly taking a step towards tragedy, can't really be ignored either.

For the Star, I'd say Cater stays mainly on the reversed side, but the upright attributes are likely there too.

In the minor arcana, again there are both the reversed and upright. For the Knight of Swords, upright impulsiveness and reversed lack of direction, Cater is going with the flow (the air flow), he is airy, intangible, you can't get to him, not under the surface, that is. For the 6 of Swords, he moves on and leaves everything behind like he's done his whole life, but there are definitely unresolved issues and emotional baggage, mainly pertaining to his sisters (it would seem, however, that things are getting better between them). The case could be made he is also somewhat resisting transition (NRC is the place he's stayed at the most).

Cater seems to have traits of both upright and reversed cards as well as positive and negative traits. It might be a link to his unique magic.

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Trey has mostly the positive Scorpio traits, but he can also be vindictive (dorm uniform vignette). He is sacrificing in the way he cares for others more than himself. He is also perceptive when it comes to others.

In his element, Trey shows the positive traits of Water. He is mainly Water, with a small bit of Fire mixed in.

For the major arcana, Trey has shown the reversed traits of Death, he was afraid to challenge Riddle about his tyranny and was quick to get things to how they were and smooth things over, stagnation. He held onto the belief that things will get back to normal until he was forced to act.

For Judgement, I'd say it's mainly upright, Trey was forced to reckon with the aftermath of Riddle's tyranny, awaken when the Overblot happened and reflect on his refusal to act sooner. As for the reversed, I'd say there is some guilt and doubt.

The minor arcana, for the Knight of Cups the traits are of the upright position with perhaps the slight fear of disappointing others mixed in. And for the 5 of Cups the traits of the reversed card. Trey accepted his mistake and is moving on from the incident as well as finding peace.

Trey's unique magic is like water, changeable, it adapts to the recipient and changes (its) form.

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As an add on, Trey and Riddle, being a water and earth sign, respectively, work very well together, considering the compatibility of those signs. (also someone needs to ground those air signs and keep them in check)

On another note, Heartslabyul seems to attract a lot of Air signs.

[woollybearsaint]

It’s notable Atheist Thursday! Today the spotlight shines on Ernestine Rose.

From Wikipedia:

“The first known feminist who was also an atheist was Ernestine Rose, born in Poland on January 13, 1810. Her open confession of disbelief in Judaism when she was a teenager brought her into conflict with her father, who was a rabbi, and an unpleasant relationship developed. In order to force her into the obligations of the Jewish faith, her father, without her consent, betrothed her to a friend and fellow Jew when she was sixteen. Instead of arguing her case in a Jewish court (since her father was the local rabbi who ruled on such matters), she went to a secular court in a distant city, pleaded her own case, and won.”

[collapsedsquid]

However, there is also a deep mystery to the Trump presidency. This mystery becomes apparent whenever its major scandals are even trivially examined. RussiaGate and most of the other scandals of the administration were not hoaxes. However, ultimate understanding of them will likely remain elusive. Why? Consider the following description of Arnold “Big Bankroll” Rothstein, one of the key figures behind the fixing of the 1919 World Series:

Yet most of the book’s new claims and speculations about the fixing of the World Series are not well documented, unlike the rest of the biography, which includes over 60 pages of endnotes and a bibliography. This is not to criticize Pietrusza for dereliction of duty. The point, rather, is that some of the truth is beyond us, lost forever in the shadows of the past. We will never know, for example, to what extent Abe Attell, a colorful, duplicitous small-time gambler and former prizefighter known as “the Little Champ,” worked on his own to fix the Series and to what extent he was working for Rothstein. The fact that Rothstein “spent a lot of time and money shielding Attell from prosecution” does not prove that he was buying Attell’s silence about Rothstein’s own involvement in the fix, whatever it was. There could have been other reasons. Rothstein’s intentions were almost always self-interested but were rarely transparent.

The broad parameters of the administration’s scandals reveal them to be far more Thomas Pynchon than Robert Ludlum thriller, a collection of strange semi-related but never quite intersecting schemes that never cohere into anything resembling a master plan. Due to their ambiguous, sub-rosa nature and their population by Rothstein-like and Attell-like figures, investigating them and summarizing them is inherently difficult if not impossible. After all, if we still cannot tell the full story of something like the 1919 World Series fixing even a century later, what hope do we have of bringing to light far messier, bizarre, and perverse political scandals?

[...]

The strangest aspect about the Trump presidency therefore precisely lies in its combination of publicity and opacity. Trump lacks even minimal self-restraint, rarely if ever leaving a crude opinion unvocalized (or untweeted). His motives are almost comically faithless and malign. Yet there is always something uncertain or mysterious about the circumstances in which Trumpian phenomena plays out. Despite the way in which, at surface level, no such mystery ought to exist!

Trump has been in the public eye for decades. He is not a eloquent Shakespeare villain, he is a vulgar and cruel would-be dictator. And yet, if it was so easy to explain, predict, and control his behavior, American politics from 2015-2020 would look much, much different. Trump’s tweeting, by nature, forces the analyst to theorize about observed inputs and outputs without understanding about his inner workings or the underlying reliability of any singular interpretation of his behavior.

Like many similar historical figures, Trump’s intentions are clearly self-interested in theory but never so transparent as to make them trivial to interpret in practice. Thus, inner understanding of how Trump behaves is remarkably elusive in spite of his crude and instinctual behavior. And this precise lack of inner understanding seems to generate paralysis by analysis.

[naddpod-encounter-tourney]

Honey Trap:

The Band of Boobs follow the River Styx down to the next layer of Hell and explore a world of temptation! Hardwon pursues a lost love, Moonshine becomes a nightmare, and Beverly gets into a heated encounter with a powerful devil.

Faithless:

Siobhan Thompson and Zac Oyama join the Band of Boobs as they confront Akarot's final form. Bev has it out with Thiala, Moonshine criticizes Akarot's fashion choices, and Hardwon goes toe to toe with a warrior who is every bit his equal.