#this post just about sums up me in a nutshell

[hippolotamus]

Hippo my loooove

🥑🎲🧸🥐🐝

🫶

James, darling!!!!! 🥰

🥑 you accidentally killed somebody, which mutual(s) do you text for help?

oh! I was hoping someone would ask this! 😅 hands down I’m texting @blackandwhiteandrose and @stereopticons first. @giddyupbuck if an assist is necessary. ngl probably my boss too because she has a scary amount of knowledge about serial killers and natural disasters *chuckles nervously*

🎲 ⇢ what stops you from writing more in your free time? 

Mental fatigue mostly. After work and parenting it can be a struggle if the beans aren’t happening.

🧸 what’s the fastest way to become your mutual?

more than likely? just show up like a feral cat and don't be rude

🥐 name one internet reference that will always make you laugh

I couldn’t decide on something that wasn’t fandom specific, but one of my love languages is Memes. So have some of my personal favs

🐝 tag your biggest supporter(s) and say one nice thing about them

@stereopticons - i cannot be expected to say just one nice thing. i'll go with: if you don't have her in your life... i'm so sorry. i, for one, am looking forward to the day we get to spend the rest of our lives living in a forest cottage with our cats.

@blackandwhiteandrose - personal life coach, cruise director and graphics consultant. literally nothing is off limits.

@disasterbuckdiaz - mi amor, mi vida, mi alma. so damn smart, kind, full of amazing ideas. LOML right there

@vanillahigh00 - the first person to beta my work. a chance meeting that led to an incredible friendship in and out of fandom.

@watchyourbuck - provider of the loudest yells and (loving) threats. need a cheerleader? she's your gal (gn)

@giddyupbuck - from words to edits, they will shamelessly encourage any absurd idea i come up with. likewise with @jesuisici33 @daffi-990 and @tizniz

@shortsighted-owl and @eddiebabygirldiaz - other escapees from The Zoo (ifykyk) who have supported me in and out of fandom, through all kinds of shit.

@elvensorceress - my dearest ducky friend. she is friend to all and literally deserves all the love in the world

@spotsandsocks - legit one of the nicest humans on planet earth. The universe was blessed when Spotty was gifted to us.

YOU - bless you for being absolutely unhinged with me about Buddie and loads of other outrageous topics

send a writer truth & dare ask

[sgiandubh]

This is not a political post

One more time, in caps and bold: THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL POST. But if I can, as a diplomat and a historian, bring some extra context and try and understand what happened today in S's world, so be it. Enough said about me.

I am fumbling with a ton of thoughts since this morning, when this link was shared with me by one of the closest people in my platoon:

In a nutshell: S signed that (in)famous letter, an initiative of APUK (Artists for Palestine UK), a network that's been operating since 2015. You can read it in full if you open the link and I suggest you do. You will soon find out that the letter, while correctly pointing out the atrocious gesture of bombing a civilian hospital in Gaza, asked the world's governments to 'end their military and political support for Israel’s actions'. Nowhere in that letter did the word Hamas appear, which would immediately point out as supporting what is a terrorist movement that is, alas, also part and parcel of the Palestinian government, under Mahmoud Abbas's weak, irrelevant aegis. The man is an old PLO/Fatah crone: fishy, ineffective and fairly corrupted. His position on the Holocaust is, to be elegant, a study in ambiguity. Enough said.

It is pointless and absurd to try and explain the whole situation in detail. I would have to go back at least to the Balfour Declaration (1919) or the no less infamous end of the British/LoN/UN Palestine Mandate (1948), if I wanted to simply scratch the surface of a subject that is everywhere these days. With an intensity of absolutely legitimate emotions that can simply not be measured by any counter on this planet, as we speak.

But the facts are here, and naïve S had no damn idea: 500 civilians were killed, Tuesday night, in the bombing of the al-Ahli Baptist/Arab Hospital in Gaza City. Hullaballoo ensued on a cataclysmic scale: first, Hananya Naftali, a digital aide to Benjamin Netanyahu recklessly wrote on X that the "Israeli army [Tsahal] bombed a Hamas terrorist base inside a hospital in Gaza". Then erased the tweet. Several video collages released by the Tsahal, the first of which was heavily contested by a NYT journalist (and former Bellingcat researcher) Aric Toler, point out towards the PIJ (Palestinian Islamic Jihad)'s forces being responsible for the strike.

These quotes from an Al Jazeera paper sum up the ensuing scandal better than I ever could - selected by me, but you can and probably should read it all (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/18/what-is-israels-narrative-on-the-gaza-hospital-explosion):

No craters mean no airstrike and most probably a rocket failure. The uneasiness remained, that being said, at the highest level. And the planned US-Egypt-Jordan- Palestine talks hosted by Amman were abruptly called off hours before Biden landed in Tel Aviv.

To cut the story short: the letter is right to point out that you just don't bomb hospitals when you are at war, as per the terms of the Fourth 1949 Geneva Convention, dealing with the protection of civilians in times of war. Both Israel (signed in 1949/ratified in 1951) and Palestine (2014) are, as parties and signatories, legally bound by it, in the eyes of International Law. The only problem with it is that it purposefully omits to put things into context (whodunnit) and forgets the cynical truth: Hamas keeps hundreds of innocent Israelis and two millions of innocent Gaza civilians as its hostages.

Article 18 is at the core of the matter:

The last thing S should have done is to sign that fucking treacherous letter, without getting a second (third, fourth...) opinion.

S is a good man, we all know and love this about him. He is also one of the most naïve people I have ever seen in this lifetime. This is why his final reaction really, really moved this cynic, here:

I am taking this home and keep it. It deeply moved me (yes, me):

" I don't know nearly enough and trying to educate myself on the conflicts in the Middle East. I feel helpless and wish I could help in some way.'

I am sure 'someone nice' called and 'nicely asked", maybe even offered some scarce and biased details, to prompt an impulse signature. I am also sure S didn't read the letter himself. There is no harm saying you were wrong. He did it with dignity and grace - no, it was not easy.

This is a man of worth speaking. Bravo!

But for the love of all that's holy, Sir: don't you ever step into this kind of shit again. These things are far more complex than you could ever fathom and it's a very cynical world out there. Leave it to us, we are handsomely paid for it by our governments. I hear you and I am completely supporting this more than welcome withdrawal. It's not worth much, for sure. But it is an honest POV.

Also, John 8:7:

So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

Kindly refrain from politics in your comments. Let's not drag trash where it should not be, ever. Thank you all.

[csphire]

A collection of my favorite posts and reactions to others.

(Is it mostly about Dammon? ...um yes, at least for now.)

Any asks (scammers) requesting donations will be 🚩Reported and 🚫Blocked!

🔨 Updated Dammon Build Guide!

💡The mystery that's a part of Dammon's appeal and a solution to preserve it. 💡 🧂 ❤️

Forge of the Nine Interior Shots. 📖😳

Dammon's Basement and bonus The Devil's Fee

The Stable at Last Light Inn

💣What I keep in mind while writing Dammon

📌 - The Gift of Good Luck 2/?🍀

Dammon/Anna (Tav) so far... Multi-chapter WIP and NSFW!

Dammon's Voice Actor Issues Neatly Summed Up. 🫣Oof yeaaah, it's bad. This is like Cullen's VA from Dragon Age all over again. I love Dammon but his VA? As a genderfluid pansexual, this is heartbreaking and disappointing. Yikes, not sure how he's going to dig himself out of that hole.

My Tavs:

Who's Anna? (My cannon Tav)

Who's Karye? (Still a WIP)

Meet Mouse (My third cannon Tav.)

Meet Tav (Gustav the VIII)

A Warning ⚠️

~couple questions~ for when you need an excuse to talk about your characters/ship 😽

-For the couple questions promt, 2, 5 and 17 for Tavetha/Dammon, and 3, 6, and 15 for Anna/Astarion? 👀

blossoming romance writing prompts

Tav Asks 18, 19 and 20 | 7, 12 and 30

...

Love Trial

I can die happy now?

The only two things I would steal from Dammon

(Admittedly if we all could)

Did you take my scarf?

Dammon as Player Character Meets Karlach.

Why you should not let Astarion ascend.

Infernal Machinery

Mods that turn companions into Dammon

This look honestly breaks me

A silly (thirsty) dream

Early Access Dammon

Things I miss the most from Early Access

Headcannons:

My firsts thoughts and headcannons about Dammon

Food-related Headcanons for Dammon

Just wondering what Dammon's Parents were like.

Why do we like Dammon?

My headcannons to swordcreature's question of, What are some of the shitty things about Dammon?

His Charm is NOT his "Mystic"

Tiefling Horns and Claws

Images, Videos & .gifs:

For any of my screenshots or gifs feel free to use any of these for drawing references but please tag me because one, I can't get enough of him (and Karlach), and two, I want to reblog your hard work. 💕

Dammon and Stars

More Expression Drawing References for Dammon

Fireflies and Northern Lights (.gif version)

"You're welcome to stop by anytime, Dammon."

Part 1 | Part 2 | .gif version

Dammon is being rather cheeky here…

Dammon x Karye 💗

Whispers and hopes when it comes to a future BG3 DLC

Tav as Dammon

Dammon in Astarion's love scene (.gif version) Smooches

Dammon as Halsin? (It didn't really work but it was hilarious.)

Perception Fail & So this happened today

More Dammon Anyone?

The Bearer of Bad News ;_;

Karlach & Dammon

Eclectic Talents

Internally Panics

We need more love for Lakrissa!💜

The strange ox!🐂

Made By Others That I Just Love :

Lick 😋

Oh, the struggle...

Fantastic Art

Dammon sad? Oh nos... *cries*

Warm feeling 🌻🌞

How would Anna react if Astarion were to Ascend?

(She would dump him and buff Dammon to deliver a swift message.)

What we all wish we could have done in that moment.

Gale's Home Closeup Shots

Writing Prompts:

Take these ideas and run with them. But tag me so I can read and reblog what you come up with, okay? ^_~

"I like ducks"

My Fan-fiction: (my writing style in a nutshell here)

Rosemary, Lilacs, Lilies and Bergamot Astarion/Anna (Tav)

Purples, Blues, and Gold Astarion/Anna (Tav)

Sweetums and Sunshine Dammon/Tav NSFW!

[adracat]

G Witch episode 17 thoughts

The one where everything goes wrong (but I like angst so we're cool gwitch, I luv u)

It's late, I'm braindead and emotionally everywhere with this episode but that's just an average Suletta Sunday. Let's go!

We saw this coming a mile away but it's still tough to watch Mio fall right into Prospera's machinations, even if she's aware. She just loves Suletta so much and wants her free, striking a deal with this metaphorical devil to do it. But faustian bargains never come without a heavy price.

Already posted some of my thoughts about this on twitter but there's more room to ramble here so you all will suffer for it. It's so clever and painful for these two to be having two separate convos happening at the same time; a common theme with them like we see in ep10. Mio seems resigned but still checks if Suletta will voluntarily cede Aerial without a duel. Suletta, believing she's being tested after their previous conversation, states firmly she won't. Her desire for Mio''s approval is so blatant, with the added subtext of 'Yes, there are precious things I can't give up.' Aerial is one of them, and I think we'll see Mio is the other. Her little shy looks at Mio are so cute ;-;

Shaddiq is being... Shaddiq. I am wondering what his end goal for gundams will be considering as far as we know, Aerial is the only one that doesn't take a pilot's life. Is he so convinced they're the future for Earthian liberation? It's a quick but interesting bit of intrigue.

LMAO GET WRECKED 5LAN. This was hilarious and a long time coming. I was getting really sick of his predatory antics. Looks like he well and truly burned any lingering fondness. Interesting he lets slip he's not the same Elan though. I wonder if she caught that? Guel coming in clutch for the save was a neat callback to ep1

Too bad for Guel, Suletta is completely down bad for short sassy girlbosses. This convo was quite endearing though since Guel accepts her rejection without a fuss. He even seems to support her feelings for Miorine and vice versa, as we see later. I suspect it's this exchange which prompts Miorine to bargain with him; her support of Jeturk/hand in marriage in exchange for his company backing. It was a tough decision for her to make, returning to a man she despised over love, but the Guel here is very different from ep1 Guel.

GOD, If this doesn't sum up her motivations in a nutshell. She wants Suletta free and happy. Away from her manipulative mother, from gundams, from Benerit; everything Mio does is for Suletta, including trading her own freedom in return and marrying a man she doesn't love. There's something to be said for her martyrdom blinding her to the truth that Suletta loves her just as fiercely. I imagine Mio thinks she's doing what's best for Suletta, that she can move forward without her. Of course, we know the truth. I'm weak for them ;-;(There's also a deep irony when you realize she's effectively doing the same thing as Delling)

I was wondering if Guel would have ptsd after earth, and the answer is OH YEAH. He was a mess. War does a number on you, even if logically you know this is just a duel. I felt bad for him, but I'm glad the show depicted this.

THIS. WAS. SO. RUDE. You can't just reveal Suletta was daydreaming about their future wedding while the godforsaken BIRTHDAY SONG plays. I had to watch that multiple times because of the sheer audacity. And Mio's shaking hands as Suletta basically proposes?? It was too much but hurt so good.

This was interesting though. Before Mio cuts Aerial's power, Eri apologizes. Did she know and was complicit? We read in Cradle Planet Eri wants Suletta to be free of Prospera's revenge, so did she allow this plan because it would give Suletta freedom? I like to think so, tragic as it is.

I knew that visor had something to do with GUND. Something tells me this will be the catalyst to getting Miorine an eye implant. (The ED told me)

Utena parallels aside, this moment was telegraphed from the first conversation between them this episode. I've seen many malign Mio over this, completely ignoring she's making what she *thinks* is the best decision for Suletta.

Is it hypocritical? Unfair? Sure. But it's hardly nonsensical or sudden. She's overly harsh because she believes it'll free Suletta from her entirely. Suletta won't fight for her if she thinks Mio never cared. We the audience know she's being played - Mio knows it too - but she still thinks this is the only way to sever Suletta from her mother. She was faced with a terrible choice and is deciding to be selfless. My heart aches for them both.

This was masterclass in heartbreak, gotta admit. She was twisting that knife. I understand the anger somewhat, but look at the bigger picture here. We can still see Suletta return cool-san, maybe on one knee?

I can't wait until next week when... whaz tha? you say it's TWO WEEKS?! 🫠🫠🫠

[rockitmans]

Thank you @forabeatofadrum for the tag! I should really just change the banner to WIP Thursday because I never make it on time.

Tagging anyone who wants to share (please do tag me I'm so behind in reading and I'm back in the game.)

So I've been juggling a few WIPS, trying to get one to stick and I think the one that's going to get finished is the Red, White and Royal Blue AU (working title Red, White and Royally Screwed) that I threatened mentioned. I've written three chapters so far and probably want to get most of it written and edited before I start posting. So here's a lil snippet from Chapter 1:

~~~~

"I think this wedding cost more than the house we grew up in," Cooper says, not particularly bothering to keep his voice down. "Look. Actual ice sculptures. I thought they only existed in media about people that are too rich and stupid to wipe their own asses."

"Exactly. You just summed up the royal family in a nutshell," Blaine says, beaming at a passing Duchess who blushes and stumbles a step at the force of it. 

"Have you seen the cake?" Cooper goes on. "That could feed a small country."

"It could feed a large one."

"I think it cost them like $60,000."

Blaine actually chokes. And he doesn't even have a drink. A fact he's desperate to rectify. 

"$75,000 actually," a smooth voice says behind them. And Blaine hates that he recognizes it immediately. The clipped, plummy tones of a man who probably drops $75,000 before breakfast on a normal day.

"Your majesty," Blaine says with a sharp jerk of his head as he turns. Beside him, Cooper offers up something closer to an actual bow. 

"It's your Royal Highness," Kurt says, with a stiff smile. "Really, Blaine. I thought a man in your political position would at least bother to learn the difference."

Blaine wants to ask who the hell cares but luckily Kurt has already turned his attention to Cooper, his smile appearing to relax into something more genuine. Or at least less like a grimace. It somehow transforms him from stuck up heir to actual Disney Prince in a blink of those obnoxiously blue eyes. What a dick.

[fanby-fckry]

I have decided that Niffty is a Gemini.

I’m not all that interested in astrology irl – at least not star signs – but it’s a fun way to assign birthdays, and I need one for an upcoming fic.

I originally tried taking this test from her perspective, but it didn’t give me results that matched up with my portrayal of her.

Wound up just googling the signs and manually assigning her one.

Used one site (allure) because I’m not doing a deep dive on Zodiacs for what is essentially a throwaway reference. Here are some choice quotes, and how they relate to my version of Niffty:

Content Warning: animal death/cruelty in the form of Niffty-typical pest control

Have you ever been so busy that you wished you could clone yourself just to get everything done? That's the Gemini experience in a nutshell. Spontaneous, playful, and adorably erratic, Gemini is driven by its insatiable curiosity.

I think that one’s pretty self-explanatory. If I had to pick two words to describe Niffty, “adorably erratic,” sums her up pretty well.

Because of Geminis' intrinsic duality, they're often falsely misrepresented as two-faced. In reality, however, Gemini rarely has a hidden agenda.

I write mostly pilot!Niffty, mixed with headcanons and some series canon. So, 50’s housewife who genuinely takes pride in her role, practices manners, considers herself to be ladylike, throws herself into cooking, cleaning, and mending, has an idealized and black and white version of romance and womanhood and very much holds herself – though not necessarily others – to that very high standard.

And also the woman who takes immense pleasure in stabbing pests, writes smutty RPF fanfic for people she personally knows, keeps collections of people’s hair/fluff, and summoned a demon using animal sacrifices on multiple occasions.

She’s not intentionally two-faced, but she does very much have two conflicting sides to her personality, which she holds in equal measure.

These hyperactive air signs have short attention spans and are most satisfied when they can move fluidly from one idea to the next.

I’ve seen Niffty described as “OCD” before, but I’m not sure if there’s anything to that besides the armchair psych, ‘cleaning = OCD’ thing.

However, as someone with ADHD, I can definitely see some aspects of hyperactivity and attention deficit in her. Specifically, the fact that she seems to become hyperfocused on tasks like cleaning, but is easily distracted in other contexts.

She basically narrates her train of thought on the pilot: *polite and enthusiastic introduction* (manners first) -> It’s been a while since I made new friends -> -> *notices everyone but Alastor is fem-presenting and thinks they’re all women* -> Why are you all women? -> (I like men best) Aren’t there any men here? -> *physically lifts Charlie in search of men* -> *remembers manners* -> I’m sorry, that was rude -> *gets distracted by mess* -> Oh man, this place is filthy! It could really use a lady’s touch -> *remembers that she has (mistakenly) identified all of the hotel’s occupants as women* -> Which is weird because you’re all ladies offense (manners) -> *remembers mess* -> *hyperfixates on cleaning*

Honestly, the Niffty ADHD headcanon should probably be its own post. Moving on!

Gemini expresses emotions externally

Communication is paramount for them, and they require fluent streams of transmission.

*gestures to aforementioned inner-turned-outer monologue*

She’s a lot quieter in the series, but she does still butt into conversations she wasn’t previously a part of with usually irrelevant commentary.

In fact, the act of expression is often even more important to loquacious Gemini than what is actually being said

Just… everything she says in the series.

Another incredible Gemini quality, however, is that these natural chameleons can quickly recover from even the most shameful foot-in-mouth moments. Gemini moves too fast to care about embarrassing missteps: They simply move on.

A quick apology or a “no offense” is all it takes Niffty to move past most social faux pas, and most criticism seem to just bounce off of her.

So yeah. Gemini!Niffty.

[sueske]

What’s your honest opinion on Itachi, Kakashi, and Karin? Including their relationship with Sasuke. I wish there wasn’t a word limit so I could say mine fully, but to keep it simple: I like Kakashi and Itachi, but I disagree with some of the things they’ve done. Karin is just straight up unbearable as much as Sakura and Hinata.

I think itachi is pretty. and dumb.... pretty dumb..... :) I really like his design, it's my fav, and I made a playlist for him here lol. Anw I've talked about itachi before somewhat, you can search my blog for itachi and the posts should come up, but in a nutshell: I have sympathy for itachi and the position he was put in. but that does NOT justify his actions and it does NOT justify how he manipulated sasuke his whole life, even intending to manipulate and force him into servitude towards konoha beyond the grave. edo tensei itachi admitted he made mistakes yet he has no regrets like boy.... I also don't like how other characters try to paint him as 'good guy' for willing to do that for the sake of the village. I have more to say about itachi's view of sasuke but I might save that for another post... but to sum it up I don't think itachi views sasuke as his own person. as for sasuke's view of itachi, it's complicated.... as a kid sasuke loved his brother dearly only to be betrayed by him in such a cruel way... and then when sasuke found out what konoha did and as he fought alongside itachi, sasuke was reminded of the elder brother he once loved so dearly... their relationship is so skewed but the love sasuke once had for his bother is still there, "even if I can forgive you", the line is blurred with hate and all those other conflicting emotions, but after everything... it's still there. 'who can grow me a new brother' etc etc etc. post-canon I think sasuke has a lot to work through in regards to how he views his bother....

I'm not fond of kakashi at all, I have an anti tag for him on my blog lol this moment I really didn't like in regards to sasuke and I spoke about kakashi in general in some more depth here, but there are other standalone posts you can find by going through the anti kakashi tag. he's just not my cup of tea.

I have sympathy for karin because of her past. she has bite marks everywhere (implying... you know), she was used by orochimaru and countless others, and latched onto the only bit of kindness she was afforded by a boy who saved her with a smile on his face with no hidden agenda towards her. I think her sensing ability is interesting, it would've been nice if we could've gotten more distinct descriptions of people's chakras except the 'oh it's dark, oh it's warm' to add more depth to it but whatever, her healing ability I think is more of a means to an end (oh a chakra bank that can be used to heal everyone how convenient....), anw she's an uzumaki and I liked when she bust out her chains, she's also smart and she puts that to practice successfully (like dispersing sasuke's scent in different directions). I don't like her overtly sexual advances towards sasuke since it was unwelcome from the start. I also don't like how she pretends to not like sasuke when there are other people around yet when her and sasuke are alone she's all over him. it's annoying. I think her banter with suigetsu is entertaining sometimes when it's back and forth and suigetsu gives back as good as he gets, but I really dislike violence for comedic relief, so it annoys me oftentimes when karin resorts to violence.

I don't like sasukarin either (sasuke is gay after all) but karin is marginally better than sakura, kishimoto at least wrote in a reason for her feelings for sasuke, she was useful as a kunoichi to him, and at the end she seems to have put her own feelings for sasuke aside which makes her look more mature than that other 'forever a girl in love'. karin also knows the truth about sasuke and to this day what sakura knows about sasuke is very debatable but let's not get into that. sakura stans that bash karin tho are so funny to me, like they call her a whore for her blatant coming on to sasuke yet they see no problem with sakura admitting to wanting to look at sasuke's dick while he pees lol. and her wanting to be sasuke's first kiss like it was hers to claim... karin is just a more useful and rated version of sakura whose feelings for sasuke come across a tad bit more genuine, that's all there is to it.

[mclennonlgbt]

Did Elton John suspect McLennon?

I believe it's very likely that Elton guessed that there was SOMETHING between John and Paul.

To start with, I want to quote an excerpt from my Walls and Bridges post: "Let's sum it up: Lennon spent a lot of time with Elton, gay (at the time he was 28, and he realized his sexual orientation at about 23 yo), and a musician connected to the glam rock scene (and glam rock is inherently queer). I guess that Elton knew or at least suspected what John feels towards Paul. And let's remember that at that time Lennon was coming to terms with his bisexuality which he already signaled in 1972. In 1974 John interviewed himself for Andy Warhol's Interview Magazine to promote Walls and Bridges. Here comes the question: "Have you ever fucked a guy?". The response: "Not yet, I thought I’d save it til I was 40, life begins at 40 you know, tho I never noticed it". Further dialogue: "Q. It is trendy to be bisexual and you’re usually 'keeping up with the Jones’, haven’t you ever… there was talk about you and PAUL… A. Oh, I thought it was about me and Brian Epstein… anyway I’m saving all the juice for my own version of THE REAL FAB FOUR BEATLES STORY etc.. etc.."".

Page 2nd of that interview contains a photo of John and Elton:

On November 28, 1974 they were performing together in Madison Square Garden. Announcing "I saw her standing there", John said: "And we thought we do another number of an old enstraged fiancee of mine, called Paul" (Tony King stated that Lennon often referred to McCartney that way).

As we can read in "Christies Auction; Rock & Pop Memorabilia" (July 2008): "Paul Gambaccini [PG] recalled that when he was waiting in the wings that evening, Elton passed him and said cryptically…"The Third Number". PG felt that Elton was probably remarking on the significance that Lennon was performing a Beatles song at this time, especially one written by Paul McCartney. [Lennon only sang a Beatles song in public on three occasions after the split]".

@paulsrighthand analyzed this excerpt perfectly: "I really do feel like he is trying to convey something significant, and the anecdotes and phrasing he chose are purposeful. The very fact that he shares the story of Elton passing him and saying, "cryptically".. the third number, is IMO, no accident. Elton, I'm sure, would have been aware that Paul Gambaccini is gay. Paul G would also know that Elton is gay. I believe that it was probably known that John was going to used the estranged fiancee line (I'll get to that in a second). So, in my theoretical scenario, a gay man is cryptically telling another gay man that his male friend will shortly be dedicating an overtly romantic message to his male friend… to phrase it another way, its just gossip! Like, OMG, you won't believe what John's about to do. It's the simplest explanation, I think?".

What's more, when Elton recalled this event years later, he said that John used the words: "an old FRIEND of mine" but pay attention to his body language. As @paulsrighthand summed up: "If you want to hide your love away , Sir Elton John will be the man to keep your secret, but he will have a little fun whilst doing so imagines a little tee hee thought bubble above his head every time he mentions John and Paul".

And last but not least: a birthday collage to Elton sent by John in 1975!

In a nutshell: John made a tone of queer references here, for example used polari. He also made references to McLennon; one of them is photo of a naked man who reminds Paul. The man is standing backwards so we can't say if that's Paul for sure but even if not, it might have been a sign for Elton. Or maybe John just liked guys of this type?

Even if we assume that Elton did not understand the references to McLennon in this collage (which is unlikely), we know (as seen from the previous points) that he knew John was very interested in queer topics. Elton would have been stupid not to know that John was probably bisexual too; and if so, he probably feels something gay for Paul (I suppose John talked a lot about Paul at the time).

I highly recommend you check out the original post about the birthday collage. There are more quotes there. People were reblogging and commenting on this post, sharing some really interesting reflections.

So... did Elton know what was going on? You may not believe it. But you can also believe in Santa Claus and fairies.

[into-the-very-fires-of-mordor]

hey! im curious about Christianity and whether or not i should follow the religion or not. I wanted to ask, what makes you religious? why do you believe?

Hi!

I am taking a pause from my break to answer this question! Also, fair warning, this is a bit of a long answer, so if you feel a bit overwhelmed by it all, the end of my post sums up what I think in a nutshell. Love and blessings to you, you wonderful human you!

First of all, I think it's wonderful that you're curious about Christianity! Thanks for being open, and thank you for reaching out! I appreciate you.

The main reason why I believe in Jesus is because Jesus loves me. The ancient Greeks have a word for the kind of love that Jesus gives, and it is Agape. Unconditional love. Jesus loves me. Jesus loves you too, right here, right now. From what I know about Jesus, He is so excited that you are curious about Him.

I feel things very deeply, so this unconditional and true love means the world to me. I also have high anxiety. When I remember to pray to Jesus - and let's be honest, I tend to forget, but when I do remember, I always end up feeling this gentle lifting of my own burdens. This lifting is a soft one, and I often don't notice it until I feel more steady. When I do feel better, I know it's from Him, because everything else I try doesn't ease my anxiety like He does. Overthinking is something I suffer from daily, and is one that Jesus often lifts whenever I ask for His help. He's a gentleman, so He will wait for my go ahead before helping me, but it's always so wonderful when He does. It's like He's been waiting for me to reach out for Him when I need help, and I love that I can turn to Him for support whenever I need it. And that's just my experience. Everybody encounters Jesus differently in their lives, but I have found that Jesus is awesome at meeting people where we are at, and speaking to us in ways that we can understand. This can be extra hugs and love for someone who values physical touch, or even guidance on where to go in life when someone feels really uncertain.

This is a big question, and it's a good one, it's just a bit hard to consolidate. I have a few solid reasons why I choose to follow Jesus and why I believe in Him, and we've just scratched the surface today. I love talking about Jesus - He's literally one of my favorite people and I'm so glad I follow Him. I would love to talk about this more with you and hear more of your story if you feel comfortable sharing. I'd love to talk more about this with you and we can discover the answers to your questions together!

And finally, I just wanted to say that your curiosity is such a beautiful thing. You are such a wonderful person. Jesus delights in you just for existing - He created you in your mother's womb, and He made you simply because He loves you and thinks you are worthy of life. And that's why I follow Him, because He feels the exact same way about me. <3

I hope this helps answer your questions, and please know that my virtual door is always open to talk about this and anything else you want to share. Thank you for reaching out, and I hope our friendship can grow as we talk about this and many more things. <3

[apocalypticavolition]

Let's (re)Read The Dragon Reborn! Chapter 13: Punishments

Oh no I forgot a spoiler warning. Spoiler warning! This post spoils everything!

This chapter starts with the Flame of Tar Valon because Robert Jordan was playing a very strange game of Connect Four.

What if they mean to keep me here. In this room. Like a cell. Like a collar and. . . .

I can't believe Egwene's mental state hasn't magically recovered over the winter.

Aes Sedai had always denied the existence of a Black Ajah, an Ajah that served the Dark One, and were known to become angry with anyone who even suggested it was real.

Once again we see how secret keeping and denial is only hurting the light side. Sure, until now the Tower didn't have any evidence of an actual Ajah dedicated to this (they'd probably discovered singular problem Sisters in the past but never enough to suggest a conspiracy), but by pointedly denying the possibility and punishing those who raise it, they've created a pair of problems: 1. They can't publicly acknowledge the Black Ajah now without losing credibility. 2. Anyone outside the Tower who discovers the Ajah has every reason to assume that all sisters are Black due to vehemence of their false deniials.

Whatever they do, it will be what they decide is good for the White Tower, not what is good or fair for us.

We can also see the unspoken core of Egwene's upcoming reforms as Amyrlin: bridging the vast gap between "what is good for the Tower" and "what is good for any arbitrary sister".

“I am not a simple village girl anymore. I have seen something of the world. I can keep out of Aes Sedai hands if I want to.” She was trying to convince herself as much as Elayne.

While Elayne is right that Egwene probably wouldn't actually be able to prevent shielding, I can't help but feel that the training the Seanchan have forced upon her would make her far more formidable than the average Novice. I also expect that her terror at what the Aes Sedai might do to her after her terror at the hands of the Seanchan is a big part as to why she's such a willful student later - to her, teachers are abusers and have to be treated as such.

Egwene opened her mouth, then closed it again hastily. She could answer Aes Sedai, Sheriam had said. No one else. She regarded the Accepted with a level expression and waited.

Egwene has become quite good at obeying instructions. It's kind of horrifying to think that the Seanchan abuse trained her to play Aes Sedai games.

Somehow, she managed to give the impression that the Accepted was a handmaid carrying her gloves. Egwene hoped that she herself was doing half so well.

Honestly it wouldn't surprise me if she were doing rather better. Elayne's got composure but she's clearly a lot more frightened of the Aes Sedai punishments than Egwene.

Nynaeve wore an Accepted’s dress, now, white with the seven colored bands at the hem, but her belt and pouch were her own.

Nynaeve's Aes Sedai career in a nutshell, this.

“To lead,” Leane said, “is neither to push nor to pull. Go to Marris Sedai, Faolain, and ask her to allow you to contemplate on this while raking the paths in the Spring Garden.”

Points to Leane for recognizing that Faolain's just whining about stuff that isn't important. She also nicely sums up how Egwene will reunite the Tower.

Once Nynaeve opened her mouth, but closed it again, at a sharp look from the Keeper. The three of them stood in a line in front of the Amyrlin’s table and waited. Egwene tried not to fidget. Long minutes went by—it seemed like hours—before the Amyrlin raised her head, but when those blue eyes fixed them each in turn, Egwene decided she could have waited longer.

Pretty standard technique, but it does tie into what Leane just said. Siuan is leading by holding everything very steady and letting the girls' natures make them miserable in the stillness.

Many times she had imagined returning to confront Liandrin and accuse her, to see her condemned to some punishment—except that she had never managed to imagine any punishment strong enough to suit that doll-faced Aes Sedai’s crimes. She had even pictured returning to find Liandrin already fled—in terror of her return, it was usually. But she had never imagined anything like this.

Really there's not a lot of "easy victory by accusing your adversary of their many crimes and sitting back and enjoying the justice system doing its thing" in this series, is there? Egwene almost gets this towards the end with the Black Ajah executions but it's soured by her not getting the big target. Even when Rand does deal out justice without struggle it backfires on him (having to kill someone he likes, having the criminal kill themselves in shame), and just about everyone else usually has to fight to get justice. I guess Perrin gets to prove himself innocent in a court of law but that's hardly the same thing.

There were others, including many no one could make work at all, and many others that seemed to have no practical use.

While I'm sure most ter'angreal just aren't properly understood without the context of the AoL and its standing flows and what not, I bet a lot of them actually are just doodads, nifty toys or decorative items what have you that various Aes Sedai made in an era without much scarcity or purpose.

Punishment, whether extra labors or something else, was always between the Mistress of Novices and whoever was called to her. Those were usually novices, but included the Accepted who stepped far enough beyond the bounds.

In hindsight the secrecy of the punishment position is probably another reason the Black Ajah put one of their own in the spot.

Letting yourselves be winkled out of the Tower like thoughtless children. Even an infant would never have fallen into that trap.

Silly Siuan, our Wondergirls can fall into traps that babies can't even begin to understand!

“If I could, I’d put the Oath Rod in your hands tonight, but as that is reserved for being raised to Aes Sedai, I must trust to your good sense—if you have any—to keep you whole. As it is, you, Egwene, and you, Elayne, are to be raised to the Accepted.”

Siuan is desperate for any ally she can get at this point, and the best thing about Liandrin's kidnapping is that it's made it clear that she can trust these three are not Black Ajah and that's... exactly four people in the Tower she knows aren't Black, including herself.

Your worst day as a novice will seem a fond dream compared to the least of your studies over the next weeks. I suspect that some of the sisters who teach you will make your trials even worse than they strictly must be, but I don’t believe you will complain.

It's funny that both Siuan and Elaida effectively subject Egwene to the same punishment, in both cases for complete non-crimes on her part.

You may have ended a tradition that began before there was an Andor. A custom stronger than most laws. Morgase refused to take Elaida back with her. For the first time ever, the Queen of Andor does not have an Aes Sedai advisor.

This little detail has got to be the best bit of pay off for the Dark from the whole fiasco. They weren't even targeting Elayne but she happily threw herself into the mix and as a result Morgase has tossed away the person who was probably the biggest obstacle between her and Rahvin and given the Black Ajah the perfect puppet Amyrlin to boot.

As well that you do, child, because I have no intention of letting Morgase have you. You have the potential to be stronger than any Aes Sedai in a thousand years, and I will not let you go until you achieve the shawl as well as the ring.

How many weeks does Elayne stay in Tar Valon this time? Two? Three? I half expect a description of the Tower entrance to mention a revolving door.

“Leane, take Elayne down to Sheriam’s study. I have a few words yet to say to these other two. Words I do not think they will enjoy hearing.”

Frankly if I were Morgase and I heard that Siuan didn't technically put Elayne in danger by just making sure that her best friend and neighbor would do it for Siuan, I'd go nuclear. Thankfully that won't happen!

Next time: The commissioner has a mission for her deputies!

[starrysky28]

Okay! Found this on my feed and I while I never had this sent to me, I still wanted to do it. I’ve only written about 7 fics on ao3 total, but here’s my top five fanfics I’ve either enjoyed writing, got an unexpected amount of traction, or idk, ones I just think are cool. Note that most of these are from Genshin Impact and that they are ranked by highest (1) to lowest (5).

1. Time Heals All Wounds (Genshin Impact)

Diluc & Kaeya reconciliation fic! This was actually the fanfiction that made me realize how much I love writing light angst or hurt/comfort. To sum it up in a nutshell, Kaeya is teaching Bennett how to use a sword and Bennett (with how unlucky he is) accidentally stabs him. Meanwhile, Diluc finds out about what happens through random word of mouth and goes to see him in the infirmary (which later leads to a little reconcile between them). After I posted this, I felt a little crummy about what I thought was a rushed ending, but to my surprise, this became my most popular fanfic that I’ve posted with nearly 300 kudos as of September 2023.

2. Can We Keep It? (Genshin Impact)

As an animal lover, I nearly died from cuteness overload while writing this one. Basically, Cyno finds a orphaned/injured baby fennec fox in the desert and brings it home to Tighnari and Collei. While Tighnari seems less than fond of keeping a wild animal in the house, the little fox becomes attached to him. Overall, very cute and fluffy with some found family elements to it as well. Also worth mentioning that this was my first M/M fic, so there’s that.

3. Blasting Off For Good (Pokemon)

After it was announced that Ash and co would be leaving the Pokémon anime, I felt that something needed to be done as a way of sending them off in the form of a “happy ending” style fic. It centers around Team Rocket, who realizes that now that the “twerp” and Pikachu are finished with their journey, that they should end theirs as well by quitting Team Rocket and settling down (As a family, because we’re back at it again with the found family trope). Fast forward 5 years and Jessie and James (and Meowth) are moving into their first home with a baby on the way, when they see a teenage Ash and Misty “loitering” outside their home. Anyway, I honestly really love how this fanfic turned out, and with the dub of “To Be A Pokemon Master” recently airing in my country on Netflix, I (might) be inspired to make a second part soon!

4. First Snow (Genshin Impact)

Again, an absolutely adorable one to write (and read). A ragbros fic taking place 13 years in the past at Dawn Winery, a young Diluc and Kaeya experience the first snow of the season and celebrate by playing in the snow together. Meanwhile, Crepus reminisces fondly about him and his deceased wife (Diluc’s mother) and how she loved walking in the snow with him. This was actually a reupload from a discontinued multi-chapter winter fic I tried to do, I only released two chapters, but when I decided to discontinue it, I liked this one the best so I kept it.

5. Here For You, Forever And Always (Honkai: Star Rail)

More light angst and hurt/comfort, baby! When Honkai: Star Rail released earlier this year, I absolutely fell in love with the dynamic of the Astral Express Trio. At the time, I’d wanted to write a panic attack comfort fic for a long time, and decided to do one with Stelle (the main character), thrown in with some themes of friendship, anxiety and homesickness. While I’m don’t really consider myself as involved with the Honkai: Star Rail fandom as much as I was when it first came out, I still would consider this an overall sweet and enjoyable read.

[sgiandubh]

I salute the brave Greek singer Despina Vandi 👏- who refused to go on stage in Turkey, because of hanging a photo of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Dear Despina Vandi Anon,

As promised, here is your audio. It should count as Sunday's delivery for the vast majority of this fandom's time zones, so expect another one the week that just started, on a different topic - Anons never cease to amaze me:

I very much doubt our readers know who Despina is, so I'll make a proper introduction:

Yeah, she'd like to think of herself as Greece's Taylor Swift, but the honest truth is her decent voice serves the cause of bubble-gummy Balkan turbo pop. The kind of forgettable BS you hear on a beach, somewhere around Paralia Katerini, Anon. My favorite in Greece, Kambos Beach, on Patmos, will give you Janis Joplin instead, and I love those guys to bits for that.

But anyhow, the topic is serious, even if the event itself might sound as just another starlet's whim. What happened was immediately instrumentalized by the press on both sides of the Great Post-Ottoman Divide, simply because we are dealing here with fundamental identity tropes - handle with care, always.

In a nutshell, on July 17th, Despina Vandi was scheduled to appear in concert in the (otherwise positively sleepy) town of Çeşme, on the South-western coast of Turkey. The problem with Çeşme is double: a) it is near Izmir, formerly known as Smyrna, before the early-ish days of the Turkish Republic, in 1930, and the epicenter of the troubled transition from the sultan's powerless despotism to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's aggressively secular autocracy. And to add insult to injury, b) it is a municipality run by the left-wing CHP, the main opponent to Erdoğan's overbearing political project. The New Sultan's dream clashes mightily with the Founding Father's ambition of an emancipated, literate Turkey. So much so in fact, that one might see a mild rebellion gesture in the fact that the organizers thought fit to decorate the stage with a Turkish flag and Mustafa Kemal's portrait - something you see pretty much everywhere in today's Turkey, from libraries to pastry shops, to be honest. What followed is emotionally logical: Vandi abruptly canceled her appearance, because she felt that her performance was politically manipulated and the mayor of Çeşme angrily invited her to get out of his town ASAP, because he felt that nobody puts Baby Atatürk in a corner.

Vandi's reaction is entirely faithful to the Byzantine centuries-long tradition of defiance and spite towards the Turks. The Mayor's reaction is an irked reply to the uncomfortable situation of losing face because and in front of a woman singer, who showed utter disrespect for the Father Figure in the room. But beyond the heated, almost farcical argument we are perhaps talking about what Jay-Z called an 'Empire state of mind'. 'Never the twain shall meet', to respond to the golden-fanged rapper with some Kipling. At least since the evening of that fateful day of May 30th 1453, when Constantinople finally capitulated in fear, fire and collective trauma to the Ottomans.

Steven Runciman sums up best that feeling of cosmic impending doom:

"The month of May was drawing to a close; and in the gardens and the hedgerows the roses were now in bloom. But the moon was waning, and the men and women of Byzantium, the ancient city whose symbol had been the moon, prepared themselves to meet the crisis that all knew to be upon them." (The Fall of Constantinople)

The Greek mind never quite came to terms with that feeling of being under siege. The Ottoman (and post-Ottoman) mind never quite came to terms with the imposter syndrome that ensues a cursed victory. Its genuine administrative genius that ensured for hundreds of years an almost complete domination of the Levantine world failed to adapt itself to the industrial and bourgeois revolutions of the Nineteenth century. Despite that very costly Berlin-Bagdad railway, the train of modernization was never caught at a moment that could ensure the political survival of its Empire.

But an Empire is never completely dead and done with. As Philip K. Dick famously wrote in VALIS, one of his most strange novels, 'The Empire never ends'. He was, of course, talking about the Roman Empire and how he bizarrely felt about its timeline overlapping with the Watergate Scandal. Yet, despite the clearly psychotic inspiration of that book, I think he was onto something. An Empire never ends, to the extent that its faint echoes still inform even the most apparently trivial news of our own reality.

But this, I suspect you might know better than me, Anon, judging from the tone of your comment. In that case, γεια σας και σας ευχαριστούμε πάρα πολύ για την υπομονή σας.

[shebeafancyflapjack]

!! as someone who watched red dwarf a while back, i was pleasantly surprised to bump into a fan of it while i was scrolling through a whole other blog (you know how tumblr binges go..) i haven't watched it in a while otherwise i'd come up with a more interesting question to ask you, but as it is i'm curious to know what you like about it! not in a judgemental way (sorry it probably sounded that way ahaha) but srsly, what specifically about the characters or the premise or whatever it may be draws you in? (thank you in advance for your answer, i'm sure it'll be delightful to read)

Woah, sorry if this is late I literelly just spotted it in my inbox and somehow missed the notif!

This answer might be disappointing but basically; I was raised on it. My earliest memory and how I learned what Fridays were was knowing "it's Red Dwarf night!" It was the best night because it meant I got to stay up late with my dad and brother and watch this show which would have us all laughing in stitches. I remember me and my dad had a game where I would ask "Why is it called red dwarf?" (Because it was series 6 and the only ship was Starbug) and Dad would say "Because that's the name of the spaceship!", which made no sense to me because Starbug was green, so I'd keep asking and eventually he'd just reply with random things like "that's the name of the cat." or something. 😂 I guess you had to be there but, yeah, a lot of my love for this show comes down to nostalgia and happy memories with my dad.

Now what kept me into the show as an adult? So many things. It's my favorite British style of humor; a group of people who annoy the smeg out of each other while also willing to die for each other. Its the absolute zaniness of the sci-fi where anything can happen, where humanoids evolved from cats, or a computer becoming senile, or a guy who is his own dad etc. It has all that insanity going on and yet each episode is so smegging COSY! Because an episode where the gang is fighting an insane robot is the same one where they throw a party for android friend who they think is about to die. Because the last man on earth tricks his ghost frienemy into confessing about his soup trauma for a laugh but also maybe free therapy.

And it's hilarious! No show has ever made me laugh so hard and I've watched it too many times to count over the years.

I honestly don't know how to sell it for someone coming in fresh or isn't fond of British humor but I always encourage everyone to give it a try; and I always recommend an episode from S3 - 6 as those are peak Red Dwarf eps imo. I love the whole show but the first 2 seasons can come off a bit slow for newbies and the comedy definitely took a hit post s7.

If there was one clip I'd show to kinda sum up the show in a nutshell it's this one:

[scuba-divers]

Grave Brigade: The Great Info Dump Thus Far.

Okay, so Grave Brigade- What, exactly, is it, and what am I planning to do with it?

You may have heard of Grave Brigade if you lurk around my page. It's usually in the tags of art posts I make related to Terraria [typically Terraria's enemies] or it's mentioned in the text I put in a post. Well, here's what it is, summed up and compacted into a rather large nutshell.

Grave Brigade, nutshelled. [A tl;dr]

Basically, Grave Brigade is an Alternative/Alternate Universe, or AU for short, of Terraria. Now I expect that if you've seen this post, it's likely because you're following me, so I'm going to assume you know at least a bit about Terraria. Now, why on earth do I call this an 'AU' and not just 'my interpertation of the Terraria lore' if Terraria's lore is so open? Well, you see, that's the neat thing, it isn't focused around lore change or anything. It's focused around enemies, but not just any old enemies.

Now, I know what you're probably thinking: "How can you make an AU based off of enemies??" Well, it focuses around the unique enemies, specifically the main three linked below:

Of course, there are other unique enemies that'll likely be included [Eyezor, Nymth, Tim, Rune Wizard, ect.] but these three are the main cast. Why? Well, it's just because they're my favorite enemies in the game.

My project plan for GB

So, what, exactly, am I even doing with this AU of mine? Well, it could just float around in my mind and sort of exist, but no, I'm taking it a bit further. I'm not making a comic or a written story, however; I'm planning on making this thing into a series. An animated one, to be exact. I've been building up characterization for the three I mentioned earlier for months, and since little is actually known about these guys, they're basically blank slates for headcanon characterization. Using Blender for effects, IBISpaintX for sprites backgrounds, Google Docs for scripting, Ableton Live 11 Intro [along with my mediocre composing skills] for a soundtrack, the possible help of some others and more, I'm going to attept to make a cartoon series about my versions of these wacky undead people that I'm obsessed with, infused with the worst possible mixture of headcanons, headcanon personalities and awful animation because almost everything I know about Blender was found out by fucking around while making VRchat avatars.

What's up with this series?

Grave Brigade [The Series] follows the wacky and sometimes [usually] dangerous adventures, situations and shenanigans that a trio of zombies get themselves into, and that's basiaclly all.

Who are the characters, and what are they like?

Well, putting it simply, the characters are my versions/characterized versions of the unique enemies from Terraria.

The Main Cast

The main cast is composed of my characterized versions of the three I mentioned before:

Doctor Bones, or, as everyone just calls him, Bones, an undead archeologist who unfortunatley lost all of his memories from when he was a human. The only thing that remains of his past self is his obsession with anything regarding nature, archaeology and/or history. Outgoing, energetic, uncannily physically strong and lacking common sense, this guy can easily unintentionally [or intentionally] cause trouble wherever he goes. [Yeah, I'm aware that in the canon game he's supposed to be a reference to Indiana Jones but I have always and will always disregard that fact because he's at very least 20x cooler than the original source.]

Victor [A.K.A. The Groom], an awkard guy who doesn't like talking to people he doesn't know [or even being around people he doesn't know for that matter] and would much rather wander around pouting about his afterlife choices than go on a rampage for human flesh. Obviously the husband of Angela.

Angela [A.K.A. The Bride, A.K.A. Angie]. She gets bursts of rage and pissed-offness every now and then, but she's usually pretty chill. She's always the first one to choose violence in any situation, because despite the fact that she's typically pretty chill, she always thinks it's the easiest and fastest answer [She isn't always wrong with this view, but but I'm gonna say that ~65% of the time, she is]. Obviously the wife of Victor.

Why am I putting actual effort into characterization and a series?

I just felt like I had so many ideas and concepts for these undead dorks, and I wanted to do something with them. Not a lot of people in the Terraria fandom/community even aknowledge these guy's existances, so I thought that since I'm the one big fan of these guys, I need to make something! And boom, Grave Brigade was born.

Conclusion

So basically, this freakishly long post is just to provide information on my Terraria AU. That pretty much draws a conclusion to my current plans for it, so I'm done writing.

[oftarotandnoodledragons]

Seventy-Seven: Eight of Wands

Our grand business undoubtedly is, not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand. -Thomas Carlyle

All's well that ends well; still the fine's the crown; Whate'er the course, the end is the renown. -William Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well

Stay a little, and news will find you. -George Herbert, Jacula Prudentum

I suppose I could sum up most of the above quotes with the simple proverb, "Strike while the iron is hot". I've used it before in this blog, and now I have drawn the card that is literally all about that. So here I am, running to the end of the race and expending the energy to do so. Entry's over, and now it's time for the—

No, that would be doing this card a disservice, and also me a disservice because it has been so long since I've had an Upright card (the King of Pentacles, late last year) and it would be good to at least discuss something with this perspective for once.

The Eight of Wands is one of those onion cards that seem deceptively simple but as one gets deeper, it feels more meaningful; or perhaps, more specific. The traditional RWS image shows the Eight Wands in flight; Paschkis shows the Wands forming a spinning wheel with a clock at the centre, and I feel this is a good reinterpretation, and it's certainly coloured mine. In a nutshell, this card is about things coming in thick and fast with time of the essence. It calls for alacrity. Be speedy. Be prompt. Be eager. Everything is happening, and to be successful one needs to be alert and limber. Yet, I feel like I haven't properly grasped this card until now. This card was one of the first set of 25 I wrote in my book before I started the blog, and I feel like I'm missing either more nuanced approaches here, or maybe I'm not quite on the mark: precise, but not accurate.

Bunning, Thirteen, Esselmont, and even Fairchild have very similar interpretations of this card, which in this case is both a blessing and a curse, the latter because I feel like I don't have much wiggle room. Thirteen's interpretation is the easiest to summarise, in that she (YES, I just found an old forum post where Thirteen states they are female; any reference to "he" has been in the generic sense and not intended to be harmful) says that the card is about making the best of use of energy with nothing wasted: the querent knows how their energy works and what their limits are (because the Eights are all about transcending limits), so things happen efficiently. And a lot of things are happening. Esselmont says it's a time of "good busy", to go with the flow — because to slow things down would be to waste that aforementioned energy — and to be "laser-focused with your intentions and actions", so as to manifest what one desires. Even Fairchild agrees here, with a prescription of one's plans being able to move forward, opportunities to get what one wants coming out of understanding people and their problems, and even friends and nature helping where one is ailed, as if to further that ability to proceed. While Esselmont is comprehensive, Bunning is similar but more succinct: she summarises what I consider the card's main energy as "taking quick action". Thirteen alludes to it too, but Bunning takes a literal view of the RWS card with the Wands "in the Air" before they return to "Earth": in other words, things are speculative and then they are realised. Right now, the Wands are sailing through the air but they will land. And that component of the RWS imagery is something I also draw on to interpret this card. Things are coming in thick and fast. Rapid progress is being made. In a way, it's a snapshot of the point between the attack of the Seven of Wands, and the defensive wall of the Nine of Wands.

Bunning, though, goes further. She doesn't stop with the Wands mid-flight, but also associates the landing, and these points I find interesting. Firstly, she brings in the concept of "receiving news", which is an evolution of being at the receiving end of the flying Wands. She says that the news may be disguised and calls to stay alert. From a more personal perspective, I take it to mean that a lot of information and news of events are coming in, and it's up to the querent to take that quick action to deal with it all. That's probably the summary of my main interpretation of this card that I've held. But to it, Bunning then adds on the fact that the Wands will land, and that is the theme of "coming to a conclusion". On an obvious, outward level, reaching the end of this journey through the deck is definitely part of my current energies. Bunning, though, goes on to talk about how once the dust settles, one will see how one's plans fared. It really is that snapshot moment right now: the dust has not yet settled, but it will, leaving things for better or for worse.

It feels strange to be discussing this card's Reversal without it being the current energy, after so many cards being in that state. So, first to Fairchild: scattered energy, a call to think before acting, and to not ignore the chain of command. The first point lines up neatly with Thirteen's take: sluggishness, a lack of energy and slowness. Externally, there may be delays. Internally, one is tired and lacks motivation. Fairchild's second point of thinking before acting co-aligns with Esselmont, who talks about charging ahead without due care, or without a plan. The scattered energy works into what Esselmont calls "shiny object syndrome", something that I am definitely guilty of if my litany of half-finished projects is to be believed. She also suggests that it could be a call to hold off from one's activities until things stabilise, or using her trait of Reversal to mean an internal force, that one is getting things in order so that they can move ahead.

So what's it all mean for me now? Other than nearing the end of the journey, I see a lot of correlation between my main take of receiving news and having to deal with it. This has especially been in regards to my work, where I have to keep a lot of things in mind and deal with them especially in regards to managing my team. I'm moving ahead and being alacritous in dealing with it all. At the same time, though, I feel like I've not necessarily been doing things well, and it's Fairchild's uncanny ability to say something relevant out of the blue with "friends and nature bring remedies for what ails you". My immediate boss reassured me that I am going along well and to not be so hard on myself, which has boosted my confidence.

Reflecting on this card, I feel like I've got a grasp on it, but it still feels somewhat slippery in my fingers. I feel like my main interpretation is effective, but these other facets of interpretation that I've not yet mastered feel like they would be more relevant at times. This is why I have my notes and this blog, after all, because my wisdom only goes so far and my knowledge is limited: here is the rest of the information I need. Still, though, I know that the cards will continue to surprise me, I will find new interpretations that will be attuned to the moment that my intuition will latch onto, and I welcome this as I move on beyond my occasional reports into this blog.

So now we reach the last card: the Ten of Wands. It's not a card I've been looking forward to, but like this card, it's one I feel I have somewhat of an understanding, but not a great depth to the pool. Somehow, it's eluded being written in my book until now; not only that, of all the cards' placement in the book by suit, it is the final one, the last page. It's an apt energy as I move to cross the finish line.

[artist-issues]

Anybody else want to talk about Beauty & the Beast? Specifically, Belle?!

no? just me?

I don't care I'm doing it. Look down there 👇 

OKAY. You know how in B&tB17, Belle was played by Emma Watson? And the Belle from the Original was joyful, self-sacrificial, and saw the world through fantasy-colored glasses? So Emma Watson chose to play her as a stony-faced, somber heroine with all the cheerfulness of a Knight who’s been to war and back again?

((I mean, look at her  expression. The original, the one on the left, is hand-drawn, so you know it was the more intentionally executed of the two. She looks, at the very least, like she’s thinking about something interesting and her face is resting. At the most, she looks peaceful and HAPPY. But on the right? Emma Watson couldn’t outright smile. No way. Has to have just the faintest suggestion of a smirk, and one of her eyebrows is barely raised. She looks like she’s daring the viewer to think of her as gentle or kind. And then silently promising to take them outside and hit them over the head with a book she hasn’t read yet. And don’t tell me it’s all about the context of the two photos; Emma Watson (who does not play the same character as was created for the Original) looks like that throughout the entire 2017 film.))

Yeah, this was going to be a post critiquing the live-action film. (Which I liked—but in SPITE of the way they got Belle wrong, not BECAUSE OF.) It was GOING to be. But then, in comparing the two, I just got more appreciation for exactly HOW intentional and well-done the original was.

Belle was not a character left open for interpretation.

 She was a strong, believable, intentionally-crafted character whose every decision and even every facial expression was drawn, line by line, into place to communicate something. And it was something the live-action film swung and missed at in the name of “updating” her. I think there are a lot of issues with Emma Watson’s portrayal of Belle, but really, it all comes down to one small change that threw everything else into the realm of an extreme mistake. That one small change is this:

In the 2017 film, Belle tries to escape. She promises to stay with the Beast—and the entire time, fully intends to break that promise. That’s it. That’s basically it. That, in a nutshell, sums up the whole problem with her.

But I’ll elaborate. Hear me out.

In Beauty & the Beast, the whole scene where Belle first meets Beast and decides to take her father’s place is so critical. It not only sets up the stakes and plot of the story, but it reveals very important things about the characters of Belle, Beast, her father, and all of their relationships to one another. Every line is intentional. Every line is specifically meaningful.

In the original, she finds that her father is in prison and is immediately concerned for his health and resentful that anyone would lock him up. In this, of course, her father hasn’t stolen anything, but he has trespassed and offended the temperamental Beast, Master of the Castle. Belle does not know that the Beast is a Beast. And the way their conversation progresses when he comes onto the scene is very important.

First, Belle is respectful (if concerned and a little panicked) when she addresses the Beast in the original. “Can’t you see, he’s sick? But he could die; please, I’ll do anything!” She’s begging, because she understands that this is his land. He is in authority. And even if he’s being cruel and rude and overreacting abominably, Belle is well aware that she and her father are at his mercy. So it’s an intelligent, admirable response for her to be HUMBLE enough to try and reason with him.

In the live-action, Belle does not try to reason with the Beast. She immediately picks up a stick as soon as she hears him coming; like she’s going to brain him. And it’s not like she puts it down when she realizes he’s a person, talking to her. She doesn’t get any less instantly-hostile. She calls him a liar, and THEN she asks to be “punished” instead of her father. She takes responsibility for asking for the rose. She doesn’t say “punish me instead.” She says “I asked for the rose, punish me, not him.” It’s a subtle difference, but I’m noting it because it means that, unlike in the original, Belle is offering to be punished for something she did if it means her father will be let off the hook for what he did.

But in the original, Belle says, very specifically, and very nobly, “take me instead.” She hasn’t done anything except come to find her father. So she’s offering to freely accept punishment which is disproportionate and undeserved, because that’s how much she loves her dad.

And when she says that, in the original, do you know what the filmmakers did? Pay attention. The score underneath the scene changes. It goes from suspenseful and tragic to this beautiful, almost triumphant melody. It’s this sound super quietly coming up underneath Belle’s selfless line, which she delivers, not defiantly or as a challenge, but nobly. You can almost see in her body language that she is trying to match the ideal picture of a fantasy novel hero in her head. And why is this noble?

 Because Belle means it. She says she’ll take her father’s place, and she is not considering breaking that word.

In the live action film, Maurice is quick to make sure Belle knows it’s a life-sentence. MAURICE is the one who tells her this. And Belle, instead of accepting that idea, immediately challenges the Beast. “A life sentence for a rose?” I guess that was so Beast could say the mildly-bitter line, “I received eternal damnation for one. I’m merely locking him away.” And that’s fine and all. But guess what? You just made MAURICE the one to steal Beast’s line.

In the original, the noble score plays under Belle’s offer of self-sacrifice, and then, AND THEN! The Beast goes “You!” All contemptuous.  But then he stops. He seems to realize something. His voice, which has been snarling and brusque like a mean animal, changes to his more human tones. “You would…take his place?” And you can see enough of his facial expression, even though it’s implied that Belle can’t see him, to notice that he looks surprised and confused and vaguely apprehensive. GUYS THAT IS SO IMPORTANT. 

Because what is the Beast thinking there? He’s REALIZING something about Belle as a person. Firstly, he’s a selfish Prince who got cursed for being discompassionate and unloving. “Spoiled, selfish, and unkind.” Belle is the opposite of all those things: she’s poor, selfless, and endlessly kind. But this is the first time Beast gets introduced to that. He’s floored by the idea that anyone would love someone else so much that they would give up their freedom—something he misses and no longer has—to save them. And you know what? If she’s got enough of that special magic he doesn’t understand called love, if she’s that selfless…maybe, someday, she could be the type of person to break his spell. So he tells Belle she must stay forever, if he’s going to let her father go.  THAT is how she learns it is a life-sentence in the Original. Not because Maurice told her, all embittered and surly. Because the BEAST told her. The Beast was not hiding that clause in their deal. He was not taunting her with it, like the Beast in 2017 seems to be. He wasn’t even transferring the life-sentence thing from Maurice to Belle. He was ADDING it to the deal, in the original, BECAUSE of who Belle had just revealed herself to be: someone with a heart that might be big enough to love a beast. Someone so selfless the Beast himself can’t understand her.

Now of course, the Beast himself is selfish. So he doesn’t initially show her what he looks like, because he suspects she’ll back out of the deal. In the 2017, Belle commands Beast to come into the light and he turns away, almost as if to spite her or refuse to follow her orders. Then she boldly grabs a candlestick and forces it into his face.

In the original, Beast steps into the light as soon as Belle asks him to. He doesn’t try to hide. Because again, now that her selflessness has planted the seed of hope in his head, he might as well test the theory. Will she stay and keep being selfless, even if it’s forever? Even if it’s forever with someone as scary-looking as him?

Then Belle gives him her word. And the Beast says “Done!” And drags her father away without a goodbye. And Belle collapses to the floor in grief. Why? Let’s analyze.

- Belle gives him her word, with the actual WORDS “you have my word.” Again, like she wants to sound like the fantasy heroes from the books we know she loves. This Belle isn’t just a reader because it’s edgy and feminist and open-minded, like 2017 Belle seems to. She’s a reader because she loves stories, plain and simple. She loves the idea of adventure. And she believes in high ideals, like honor, and duty. And when she stands in front of the Beast with her eyes closed and her back straight and gives him her word, it’s like she’s trying to imagine she is a hero from one of her favorite stories.

- The Beast Says “Done!” And drags her father away without a goodbye. Why is that important? Because it shows how insensitive and single-mindedly focused on himself he is. He’s moving fast and he doesn’t even think about whether or not Belle can say goodbye to her father (she doesn’t ask him.) Because it doesn’t occur to him. He’s just focused on hurrying up, getting him out of there before Belle can change her mind or something. Because he doesn’t know how to think about anyone but himself. Yet in the 2017 version, Belle asks Beast to give her a minute with her father so that she can say goodbye, and she sneaks in a little barb about how cold-hearted he must be if he won’t let her, too. And 2017 Beast does let her. Like, he’s still mean about it, but he lets her say goodbye. Which gives Belle a moment to actually trick Maurice and shove her father out the door because she’s a strong independent woman who makes her own decisions. But they’re not actually honorable or binding decisions, because she makes sure to whisper to him “I’m not afraid! I’ll escape!” before she does. Then the Beast acts all surprised that she took her father’s place—but only for a second. Then HE CALLS HER AND HER FATHER A FOOL FOR BEING COMPASSIONATE AND LOVING ONE ANOTHER. Did you hear that? It’s the sound of the Beast and Belle’s original relationship development getting stabbed in the back.

- Then Belle collapses to the floor with grief, in the original. And why does that matter? For the same reason her sobbing on the bed a scene later matters. Because it shows that she’s sad. It shows that she’s actually grief-stricken. Because she has a reason to be. She’s not running away from this. She just gave up her freedom; which, as she later says, included her dreams, too. This girl who wants “adventure in the great wide somewhere” is now convinced she’ll never get it. Because in this moment, Belle has no intention of escaping. She gave her word, and whether the Beast is fair or unfair, she is going to maintain responsibility for her own actions and keep her word.

That’s the problem here. Belle in the original is willing to give up everything for love, and she turns out to be compassionate and kind enough to teach that type of love to the Beast. And he recognizes those qualities in her. But in the 2017 version, if you strip Belle of the commitment to her decision and make her a heroic liar, she isn’t really sacrificing anything. She isn’t really proving what she’s willing to give up for her father.

And you know what? She doesn’t learn the same thing, either. To be fair, I think you could make an argument that 2017 Belle learned to look past appearances and love someone who looks like a monster. She does say in the Days in the Sun lyric, “‘I was innocent and certain (about running away from this situation,) now I’m wiser (I know that there’s a whole castle of people at stake if I leave) but unsure (unsure if I should make that my problem or run away with my freedom.)” 

But that’s not what the original Belle learned. The original Belle grew to love the original Beast, but she didn’t have to learn to love unconditionally. She already demonstrated that she knew how to do that by staying with her loony father that everyone in the town makes fun of, and giving up all of her freedom for him. What Belle learns in the original is a little more subtle and, I think, much more relatable.

She says she wants “adventure” but how does that line from the song end? “In the great wide, somewhere.” Oh, what kind of adventure? Where? “‘Somewhere…?” 

She doesn’t really know what she means when she says that—she just knows she likes the thrilling quests her book heroes go on, and she likes the idea of being anywhere but in the “poor provincial town.” But why? Because, next line: “I want it more than I can tell…and for once it might be grand…to have someone understand…”

Now couple that last line with her earlier conversation with her father, “I’m just not sure I fit in here. There’s no one I can really talk to.” In fact, she spends the whole “Belle” song trying to tell various town folks about the story she recently read. She just wants someone to be her friend; to take an interest in what she loves. Belle thinks she wants freedom and exploration. She thinks she wants to go and see the world. But her character develops during her time with the Beast. She realizes that what she really wants, and really needs, is a friend. Someone who will care about her interests and love her for who she is—bookworm and all. Yes, Beast thinks she’s beautiful. But so does Gaston and so does everyone who doesn’t really know her back home. But the Beast really starts to win her heart when he is willing to sacrifice for her, and he literally gives her worlds to explore—through books. And then he lets her go. He frees her.

…Which would have ZERO MEANING, AT ALL, if Belle was planning to escape all along. Can you imagine if, in the original, Beast says, in his tragic way where he almost can’t get the words out, “then…then you must go to him. I release you. You’re no longer my prisoner.” And then Belle goes, “oh…okay. Cool. I mean, I was always kind of planning on tying my bedsheets together and climbing out the window, so actually I could’ve left at any time because I was lying when I said I’d take my father’s place and I refuse to be any man’s prisoner…but you know, thanks for the gesture.”

I mean, way to sabotage the whole relationship. Way to ruin the idea of “barely even friends, then somebody bends unexpectedly.” Bends! Moves toward the other person! Sacrifices their interests or their dreams or their desires or even their own well-being, just to reach out to the other person. Selflessness. Love. Defining themes of Belle and Beast’s relationship.

The original Belle is relatable because she’s not a genius. She’s just a romantic, kind young lady who loves a good story as much as me and you, and hangs on to her sense of duty. She lives with her father, and loves him with all her heart and all her actions, no matter how much ridicule it gets her or how much she’s ostracized from the friendships she so clearly wants. And when it comes time to show that love, she is not afraid to sacrifice everything she ever hoped for and live with a creature who’s all the evils of Gaston on steroids. (Literally, she makes a point of showing that she would be miserable if she had to live with Gaston, but when she promises to stay with the Beast, she’s doing that exact thing tenfold.) Then she learns that choosing to love someone and believe they can change is an adventure, in and of itself. And her reward is that it turns out the monster is a prince, and selflessness leads to good things, not bad.

She’s so much more nuanced, and therefore stronger, than “strong independent heroine who don’t need no love interest.” And, on top of that, she’s even more relatable. She’s the kind of girl that anybody could be, in her interests and in her talents. But it’s her moral character and commitment to her standards that she is set up as a strong role model.2017 Belle destroys all that for a much meaner, less appealing, and altogether weaker and shallower heroine.

 Yes, I take criticism, and yes, I’ll conversate civilly with anyone who thinks otherwise.