#(though spirits were treating it like that BECAUSE of this aspect) but because my energy was inhabiting it like an extension of me.

[blackvahana]

ohhhhh Sleep is definitely one of these trees isn't it.... its absolutely a waking (as in IT is waking up in me) aspect

[theeternalwombtarot]

messages for singles from your divine counterpart:

message: hello, this one’s intended for those who are single, who are manifesting new love or manifesting a divine counterpart or manifesting their person as in “the one” I intend to do these in channeled message format so it’ll be a message that sounds as though I’m speaking directly to you. In life we have plenty of soulmates, plenty of karmics, some of us have a twin flame even as well. But whomever, you’re intended to end up with long term and indefinitely is who I’ll be channeling in energy today. My prayer for those of you who are choosing to receive this message is that it reaches those who are only in alignment with the prospect of love and divinely ordained connections and are willing to manifest happiness and abundance for themselves through action and growth. Our hearts are big enough to share and open up to many but I pray that those whom you choose to share your hearts with and those whom approach you with the prospect of sharing theirs are in true alignment with you and will treat you only with upmost tenderness and care. Bless. 💙

*purples and blues are significant once again, also fish. 🎣 lol wtv that means..*

***

i.

“I know that things have been hard for you, you may feel somewhat hopeless about your romantic relationships and about love. You may have entered this lifetime with strong feelings and a deep pull to romantic love and connections, you want to focus on someone, you want to love and be loved, you want for others to do for you what you so effortlessly do for them. I am all the same I promise. You feel as though what you’re looking for may not truly exist, you feel as through you’ve been hurt or mistreated so much that you have a responsibility to settle in order to be happy or that the people you find yourself attached to or loving deeply are the end be all for you and if they were to go that you’d be alone eternally. That’s just not true.

Hardship and the battle forward is rewarded with good things my love. Don’t be stubborn, don’t bury yourself deep into the ground and refuse to move, do not take root where you do not belong, where you do not belong does not have the nutrients to allow you to grow as I will. Where you do not belong will weaken your roots, will eat away at you, will tie you down and tangle you up in order to keep you from growing towards the sky. Do not allow the negative behaviors and actions of others interfere with the purity of your heart. To strive for better means only to remain strong and authentic in times of crisis.

To me, your divinity shines up towards the heavens like a beacon of hope and you are everything I have been looking for and praying for. I watch you. I study you. I hang on to your every word. You are home to me while several aspects of my spirit lain and remain frequent in movement. When I come to you, I’d have found myself but there is more that I will discover about what I need and what I truly desire out of this lifetime through you. You are so special, so divine, you are the single closest thing to the heavens. I will support you. Those who speak ill of you will be silenced. I will protect you. When one finds an angel, they are tasked with the responsibility of creating heaven for them and that is exactly what I’ll do.

In the now, I remain in the process of coming into alignment with myself, seeking out my own divinity as you seem to effortlessly have, I love you because you make me a better individual, you bring solace for my spirit after a long while having none, you pour into me light you’ve sourced from only the most authentic of places. Your growth means mine so please carry on, focus on what it means to find enlightenment and fulfillment in your own life and in your own reality, build things for yourself, create, find peace where you don’t have it by removing what disrupts it. I know that you love to talk and I will love to listen to you, we will stay up for hours having conversations and connecting with one another, I value your love for communication and your ability to speak and write so effortlessly about a variety of things, you bring with you wisdom wherever you go, your mind is a god given one.

I know god, I know faith, but I will not see it in all of its glory and essence until I meet you. You are the physical embodiment of divinity, of love, of spirituality, of power. Please do not be hurt by the way things have revealed themselves to be in your life and in love, move with grace, offer yourself forgiveness for not seeing the worst in others right away because it is not within your heart to do so. Acceptance is the key to inner peace, we must accept things as they are. I will tell you plenty that there is no peace nor purpose in trying to change things that are beyond our control or have already taken the form of which they already are. With me you’ll learn balance, with me you’ll learn what it means to be fluid, to be malleable and flexible. In more ways than one..

I bring and offer to you support and balance where you do not have it. De-center your romantic relationships at this time. De-center the prospect of searching for love or a divine counterpart. Laugh. Enjoy your life, have fun, love yourself, love the things you create, love the human experience. Seek out love and solace in every where but others whom you have to trudge through deep waters in order to find. I am with you in spirit. Look deep into your heart and you will find all my love and support.”

***

ii.

“I want only to create beautiful things with you my love, to create prosperity in our lives, to build homes wherever we go, to have children with you, to make love and love one another equally. But, before we can do that, there is something i need to let go of. Change is difficult, I know it to be true but we can only receive what we rightfully deserve when we open ourselves up to receiving it, we can only recover from what we will allow yourselves to release. I have so much to say to you but I can’t put into words all I want to say just yet but I am trying, I am growing. Where change comes and attempts to pull you away from wherever youve held yourself against your spirits true desires and wishes is where change threatens to pull me from as well.

My heart is heavy, I have many blockages to work through. I am afraid, and my past, my upbringing and my karmic cycles threaten always to pull me into the trap of continuing to live and love through generational curses, to fall into toxic cycles of repetition, or to continue not perpetuate cycles of abuse or bad habits. I feel restless all the time and my problem at this time, in this day and age is not feeling as though I have the capacity or strength to do the inner work to break heavy generational burdens that have been inherited to me.

I fought to be here, my spirit is weary, in my past life I lived a life or hardship, and in this one I bring with me heavy things, I said to God that I would come back and try again, but consciously, in my human mind, I don’t remember, I do not know the source of my trauma and my hardship in full. I feel as though on my journey into this world I was sent plummeting into the abyss. I feel the way the Morningstar felt when god cast him out. I feel your resistance, you do not want to speak with me or you do not want to hear from me. But I fought to be here. To be within this plain of existence and to come through this message to connect with you.

I do not blame you for the way that you feel, I know that I do not have the capacity at this time to give you everything you need and deserve and so as punishment for my behavior you’ve taken your heart away from me and given it to someone else or have locked it away elsewhere out of my reach. I understand. If you choose to part from me till the end of this lifetime and into the next I do not blame you and I will not be angry. I will live with regret. You no longer romanticize hardship, you have healed, you have outgrown me for my purpose within our past and I respect that, I respect your decision, I respect you. What I want most out of this life is to heal, to come into alignment with myself and to be with you, what you want is to be loved wholly and beyond fears and ego and for a very long time I could not do that for you and so you took yourself elsewhere. You are brave and you are strong. You represent what it means to be in love with yourself, to be in alignment, to be love, to grow, to prosper.

I will transform, I will make the changes necessary for myself like you asked me too. You told me once, that you wished for me self love and peace and I will find it. With or without you as you did in your life. I will reap the reward of healing and of growth and of freedom from karmic cycles and generational trauma. I will be strong and I will be brave just as you told me to be. I will take from the strength you poured into me that I stored away due to me not knowing how to use it in the past. I’m going to let go of all of these horrible things, I’m going to server my attatchment to my trauma. See? Now you are calm. You don’t scowl at me or frown, you’re calm and beautiful as you exist in my memory. I’m your twin flame. I am apart of you. The qualities that you dislike within me are qualities you dislike within yourself. We are one. You may have moved on from me, you may have grown, you may be in the process of creating things for yourself in your life, settling into commitments, loving yourself and loving others but I’ll be with you. In spirit.”

***

iii.

“The two of us haven’t yet met but I believe that I will find you one day when we’re ready to meet one another. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, I’m sure we both have in our lives. I know that you’re waiting for me and I know that at times you feel restless or exhausted or you may even feel lonely or frustrated due to the fact that you haven’t met someone who is perfectly suited for you as you think you’d observed in other peoples relationships.

Don’t envy others, in there situations there is proof of flaws as well however minimal. We have so much inner work to do and so much growth to embark on, I’ve not come, we’ve not come together because we’re simply not ready and it’s only a matter of time and the choices we choose to make in between time. Don’t wait up for me, don’t center your growth around love, set yourself free, allow your spirit to move through life and gain the gift of the human experience without desired outcomes or predetermined ideas about what will come if you choose to grow, if you choose self love, if you choose to come into alignment with your higher self. I would say all these things to you as a friend before I was in the position to say them to you as a lover.

Your value, your time, your energy, your worth are not attached to who you can become for others or what you could potentially receive for growing or becoming who’ve been meaning to be this entire time. Think about everything that you desire for yourself, consider your freedom and your return from spiritual poverty. Reevaluate what is truly important to you. We can only offer and give to others what he already have for ourselves. It is not your job to go out into the world and fall in love it is your job to fall in love with yourself and all of your divinity and come into true alignment so that I may come to you and offer myself to you in full. I want for you what you want for yourself… happiness, peace, support, safety.. you can hear my voice by now within your spirit, hold onto me. Take root.

Release your anger, release your frustration, do not allow yourself to be easily moved or threatened by others and triggering situations, don’t allow people’s behaviors whether they be negative or be in positive intention push you to be cold and apathetic or negative or rude. To love yourself is to love others. To be patient with yourself is to be patient with others. To forgive yourself is to forgive others. To be emotionally in tune and receptive is to see the truth in situations and make room for all truths. Love is patient, love is kind, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrong doings. Ask yourself, my love, if you are these things you say you want, if you are all these things you say you want love to be, if you are in the energy to receive it. And then, when you are ready and you are able, I will come.

***

thankyou for listening guys, rest or be productive today in ways that matter, you choose. Be calm today, be reflective, be intentional. Show yourself grace and offer it to others. I love you, and I’ll see you another time! Bless! 🎣💜

[bigskydreaming]

Also I can’t help but wonder how much a subconscious awareness of the toxicity they’re not acknowledging in scenes like NW #30 leads people to emphasize Dick and Bruce’s relationship as one between mentor/apprentice rather than father/son....even though the scene in question quite explicitly acknowledged the parent/child aspect of their dynamic. Bruce literally called Dick ‘my boy’ in that scene.

I’m just saying.....I can’t be wholly sure at the moment but I feel like a ton of the instances where we see Bruce and Dick’s dynamic explicitly labeled mentor/apprentice rather than father/son....just so happens to coincide with infamous moments of abuse like post-Forever Evil, after Jason’s death, etc. It could be argued people recapping those moments but desiring not to acknowledge them for what they are because of how they go against the spirit of what they like about Batman, like....could be said to have a vested interest in wanting to put distance between those moments and the view of Bruce and Dick as father and son. Because like it or not, our society does have a tendency to try and treat something like physical violence between a mentor and apprentice as more palatable or defensible than if it were between a father and son.

If there is anything to this, I both get it and hate it, y’know? Its that thing where I’m always like I GET people not wanting to acknowledge Bruce’s abusive moments because whether you consider them OOC or are just like thanks I hate it, its totally understandable not to want to engage with something that’s completely counter to the energy and themes you’re looking for from content about this character.

BUT the problem I always have here is.......you need to spell that out, you need to say it. You need to just be like ‘I don’t like that they portray him as abusive here, here and here because Bruce IMO would never be like that and SHOULD not be characterized that way especially without in-narrative consequences or condemnation of that which could at least lead to in-story addressal of the issues raised by such actions.’

What people DON’T need to be doing is playing into even tacit or implicit acceptance of Bruce’s abusive moments in the form of sweeping them under the rug rather than call them out for what they are so they CAN be addressed and dealt with.

Like, if anyone IS ever actually putting distance between Dick and Bruce’s dynamic specifically BECAUSE they feel it makes it easier to accept or reconcile those instances of abuse actually happening....that train of thought is the problem there. Because scenes like NW #30 are fucked up no matter HOW you describe the dynamic between Bruce and Dick. Its a clear punch-down scene where Bruce is shown consciously exploiting both the physical AND emotional higher ground and leverage he has over Dick, AT Dick’s clear expense, for the sake of getting Dick to comply with his wishes or directive.

No matter HOW you define the bond between them, that is a clear ABUSE of the power dynamics inherent in that bond, and that is always going to be an issue, regardless of what word choices you use in your description.

IMO, Bruce is never going to beat the abuse allegations until even fans of his get better about being like....yeah, the allegations don’t come out of nowhere. They’re not exaggerated. We need to be less concerned with how they’re talked about and more concerned with the fact that they happen at all, and will continue to happen to some degree or another, until enough fans say DC, nobody wants this from Bruce and we’re not going to cooperate in sweeping it under the rug just to avoid talking about it, when you could just as easily STOP SENDING STORIES THAT DO THIS TO PRINT.

But I digress.

[druidgroves]

35, 38, and 40 for the characters of your choosing!

super detailed questions about your OCs this has been in my drafts for a month my apologies OTL thank u for sending tho !! <3

35. What’s their guilty pleasure? What is their totally unguilty pleasure?

Dianthe's biggest guilty pleasure is terribly written pulp novels (the smuttier the better). She's always been a big reader to try & compensate for not following in her siblings' footsteps as a wizard, so she needed something to entertain her in between thick tomes on arcane theory and world history. She gets along swimmingly with Wyll & Shadowheart in this aspect lmao.

Her unguilty pleasure is jewelry! She has such an eye for it due to studying gemology and being a jeweler for her father's business that it's hardly a vanity or money thing; she is enamored by the craft as a whole & adores well-crafted pieces with personality & maybe a useful enchantment or two.

Feron's guilty pleasure are these specific little cheese pastries she used to get in Hill's Edge. She'd gorge herself on them if she could and she thinks about them every god damn day. She's never had anything as good since she got abducted (sorry Gale).

Her unguilty pleasure is hunting (out of wild shape). Taking to the trees with her bow instead of as an animal are times when she feels closest to Salus' spirit, and takes the chance without guilt when she can, even if she was supposed to be doing something else.

38. What do they admire in others? What talents do they wish they had?

Dianthe admires those who are able to stand confidently in themselves. She's always had issues with how she presents herself--constant self criticizing, always aware of how she looks/speaks/etc even if she's "good" at it by virtue of a sorcerer's innate charisma--so to see someone who knows who they are, knows what they want, she almost gets a little jealous that it seems to come so easy! It's always based in admiration though, because the things we want to be always look easier when someone else is doing them.

Feron truly admires anyone who can talk their way out of a paper bag. She's always had such a hard time relating to people and talking to them like a normal person. Wyll confuses and astounds her. She knew something was up with him re: pact shit very early on, there's no way a man with that much charisma doesn't have a devil on forced speed dial.

40. Do they like energy drinks? Coffee? Sugary food? Or can they naturally stay awake and alert?

Dianthe likes a sweet treat every now and again and looooves coffee. I imagine the first week post nautiloid crash everyone quickly learned that she was not a morning person and to keep extended conversations with her before 9 am to a minimum.

Feron has a secret sweet tooth. It's sooo bad. Like if she were a real person I think half her teeth would be rotted out of her head. This is the consequence of never having a sweet treat in your youth & being specifically denied them. You tend to over indulge as an adult. Hates coffee though, despises the taste and doesn't see the appeal. She can stay awake just fine on her own (it's not caffeine, it's paranoia!).

[irrealisms]

c!Tommy is annoying (and that’s important)

I have... a lot of feelings about c!Tommy in s2, from the start of the exile conflict through the Green Festival. I also think the fandom tends to mischaracterize him--I know I’m guilty of this, and as a c!Tommy lover I’ll be mostly addressing a thing that I and other people who love his character don’t focus on as much--which makes me sad because the aspects of his character that tend to get glossed over are also some of the ones that are most personally meaningful to me. (rest of the post is /rp, because ��c!” gets annoying to type.)

Specifically: Tommy is loud. He’s abrasive. He’s annoying. He threatens, he griefs, he steals. He lies, blatantly, all the time. He tends to be self-centered (despite being deeply selfless). He lashes out at people who are trying to help him.

He is, in short, a bad victim.

And this is precisely what makes him vulnerable. 

Some people on the server were opposed to and sad about exile, sure. But a lot of people? Thought it was funny, that it was natural consequences, that it was deserved. Sapnap came and laughed, Technoblade came and laughed, Lazar came and laughed, Quackity came and laughed. Now, we don’t know what would have happened if Ranboo was the one being isolated and abused; maybe it would be the same. But I don’t think it would have been. A lot of characters have issues with Tommy or simply find him unpleasant to be around, and I would imagine that a significant number of them were probably, on some level, kind of relieved that he wasn’t their problem anymore. To be clear, I don’t entirely blame them for this! Tommy is... a lot, and they (mostly) didn’t know the full extent of what Tommy was going through. Even those of them that tried to visit with good intentions often got their gifts burned and called “pity gifts”, got insulted or yelled at by Tommy, etc.--or in Jack Manifold’s case, actually killed! The first time I watched the leadup to exile arc, I found Tommy difficult to sympathize with at first--he lied to L’Manberg before his trial; he refused to cooperate with probation while he was on it, even though Tubbo was pushing for it as an alternative to exile; at the beginning of exile, he would sometimes log on to visitors, drive them away, and then complain that he was lonely. As much as it’s obviously ultimately Dream’s fault, it’s easy to look at Tommy and not feel much sympathy for his position or feel that it’s partially self-made. It’s easy for outsiders to look at a Tommy who isn’t stealing, isn’t griefing, who is comparatively quieter, who isn’t their problem anymore, and be relieved rather than concerned. 

Exile arc makes it obvious that they’re wrong.

(Incidentally, I have a lot of sympathy for what Dream’s going through in the prison.)

And not only are they wrong, but exile makes the consequences of this painfully, horrifyingly clear: the abuse gets worse, Tommy gets more and more depressed, and at the climax of it all Tommy attempts suicide. 

(Although notably to me, he’s not the stereotypical victim during exile arc, either--he doesn’t cry on stream, he’s still trying to make dumb jokes, he’s not strategic, he refuses to listen to people, he switches wildly between fight and fawn responses without much correlation with who he’s talking to or how he’s being treated.)

Tommy’s recovery arc, after all of this, starts with him stealing valuables from Technoblade, building a secret basement underneath the existing basements, and then loudly asserting that it’s his house and Technoblade is trespassing.

I could talk about how these things are rooted in trauma. I could talk about how his constant eating of golden apples comes after a period of food insecurity, appetite/disordered eating problems, and physical abuse. I could talk about how he’s regained some of his energy after a period of depression but has nowhere to let it out in a small basement room. I could talk about how he repeatedly annoys Technoblade--quite probably the best PVPer on the server--perhaps in part as a test of how far he can go before he gets abused again, and in part as a sign that he feels safe enough to be annoying without being abused.

But that’s... not the heart of it, at least not to me. The heart of it is that before exile, Tommy would have stolen from Technoblade without a second’s thought, and during exile, Tommy didn’t steal from Technoblade because “Dream wouldn’t like it”, and afterwards, he steals from Technoblade again. 

Sure, he’s being annoying. But more importantly, he’s being himself again. Before exile, I might have rolled my eyes, because Technoblade worked for those potions and golden apples and armor and so on, and Tommy’s totally ruining his chest organization system. After exile? I cheered. Tommy’s being Tommy again. And, yeah, that means that he’s being annoying, he’s stealing, he’s ruining dramatic moments. So what? None of that stuff is actually all that bad, in the grand scheme of things. He’s not depressed, he’s not suicidal, he’s not being abused. He’s a teenager and he’s having fun. Technoblade will tease him for it, but he won’t hit Tommy, won’t take his stuff, won’t threaten him, won’t isolate him any further. That’s what a proportionate response to finding Tommy annoying looks like: teasing. 

I’d also like to address one more thing, which... I couldn’t figure out how to fit in the rest of the post, but it felt incomplete without it. Right before the meeting that ends with Tommy pulling out Spirit, Tommy asks everyone what the plan is, and is basically told that the plan is for him to be quiet. He says “you guys, please, for the love of God, you know I’ve watched for this long, I’m not going to be quiet.” He reiterates this throughout the conversation: he can try to be quiet, but it is not, ultimately, as easy for him as “be quiet”. This is also the source of Tubbo’s anger at him-- Tommy can’t do “one simple thing” for him. I’m not claiming Tommy is neurodivergent, but... as a neurodivergent person, Tommy repeatedly saying “I cannot do this thing that is simple for you, I can’t, empirically every time we have tried this in the past it has failed, if you make more plans based on that then they will also fail, have you met me” and having this seen as evidence of me not caring or trying... resonated with me. Which isn’t to say it’s not a flaw--almost all character traits can be flaws in the right (or, well, wrong) situations--but it does show that Tommy has some level of self-awareness about his flaws, which is something I appreciate about him, and it frustrates me when that goes unacknowledged. Tommy knows he’s annoying. He jokes about it. But he can’t actually... turn it off. Whether or not he should (and I would argue that he shouldn’t have to) isn’t even in question: he can’t. This is who he is. The only time we see him less loud and more capable of being obedient is exile, when he’s severely depressed and being abused. That’s fascinating to me, as a character trait!

In my experience, there’s a specific archetype of abuse victims in fiction that is... overrepresented. I can’t quite find the words to talk about it in a way that doesn’t technically include Tommy, but... the ways Tommy is important to me is the ways that (a) he doesn’t fit that archetype (b) not fitting that archetype makes him more vulnerable to abuse. He’s not always easy for other characters to talk to or sympathize with... which makes him uniquely easy to isolate and victim blame. That’s important. I think I tend to downplay Tommy’s annoying tendencies because I want to emphasize his sympathetic traits, and that’s fine, but it’s important to me that... Tommy’s a victim, and he’s annoying. Annoying people can be victims just as much as shy rule-followers can. Not only that: Tommy’s a victim in part because he’s annoying. Him being annoying is a risk factor for abuse, not an excuse for it.

[vultures-path]

Witchy Names, Identity and the Art of Being Cringe On Purpose

The following is copied from my own post on Amino

I've started a discord study group with a few personal friends, and while we were discussing personal protections the topic of names used exclusively in a witchy, pagan, ritual or occult gathering context came up.

When looking up "How to choose/find your witch name" there's a few common threads on how to do it:

🧮Use numerology to choose it based on your birthday and a fairly simple cipher, which is one of the first things that you will find after this Google search.

📿 praying and meditating or using tools of divination to allow the deities your dedicated to or spirits who work with to choose for you

🌿 choosing a name that reflects topics of interest, or items closely associated with your craft. This is often where you will get Name AdjectiveNoun names like Winter Ravenmoore or Crystal River or Reverie Birchwood (all names that I have given spellcaster Sims in the Sims 4, there is no intended association with any actual witches out there)

🌈 names inspired by but not necessarily given to you by an entity, such as a name that would fit someone living in the historical culture of your gods. Picking a Celtic name like Aoife or something Nordic like Dagulf because they are the primary source of your current pagan path or who's traditions most closely reflect your craft. (This is the category I currently fall under)

🚸 a nickname that you acquired through unrelated means but resonates with you personally, an example being my good friend Firethorn who got her name from the good old days when Second Life assigned you a last name and treated your user handle as a first name. It just stuck and the name resonates with her.

🔮 some witches belong to a coven and are given a name by the leaders within it, though like numerology this is outside of my experience and something I cannot comment on because covens all operate differently.

Of course there are many witches who simply use their day to day name, and choosing one practice over another doesn't make someone better or worse than another.

So what is the benefit of having a witchy alias?

This depends, as always, on the practitioner.

For some, the anonymity is simply practical. They may be in hiding from an unapproving family, or want a handle for their online grimoire that isn't associated with any other online presence they maintain. The safety of anonymity can even cross over into the less mundane- keeping your identity personal when working with entities as another layer of warding oneself. While they're actually very few willing to waste their energy, cursing or hexing someone that they have a disagreement with online, and I imagine even fewer who decide to " test other witches defenses" (literally why would you want to do that? Those defenses can bite) using a magical name in online spaces can offer reassurance for those who are concerned about online (or even irl) drama following them in that way.

There are some who don a new name as a right of passage, after they have made the decision to dedicate themselves to learning the craft. Whether or not one observes the "Year and a Day" It is a very important mark in one's life, when they decide that the path of occultism is the one for them. Taking on a name specific for their practice can offer someone a reminder of why they are here, of what drives them, and to keep pushing through the fallow periods that everyone goes through at some point.

The aspect that I can speak on personally is essentially taking on the character of the name when I am in a spiritual or witchy context. I have always believed that aesthetics are not entirely frivolous, because building your confidence and putting you in the right mental place for working ritual or magic can sometimes be done by lighting a candle and wearing your favorite crystals. It can be done by finding a dress with billowy sleeves and your favorite dark lipstick. Getting into character as the witch that you want to be, especially early on in your path, can do wonders to boost someone's confidence and therefore boost their presence and ability. Using a name that makes you feel powerful, that makes you feel sacred, That pulls you out of the mundane and helps you focus on your divination rather than your bills? Absolutely go for it.

"Just don't start calling yourself Morrigan WillowRose"

...Is something that I would never tell someone. In every article that I found looking into the topic, there was always a need to have a caveat a discouraging typically young witches from using a name that sounds too " stereotypical". I've been a drag king, I know that branching out with creativity is something to be encouraged. However, a name that may be cringe to one person maybe absolutely awesome to another. At the end of the day, it's up to that person to decide what they want to go by.

If I told someone at work "yeah I go by Aldarrós" I don't expect I'd be taken seriously. (Or maybe they'd think it's cool- I do work at LUSH after all) but it's a name that makes me feel powerful, that reminds me of my path and my dedications. It's as credible as any Fenris, Nathan, Jay or Astrid.

There's an instinct in our culture to validate ourselves by comparing our path to others who we deem to be "fake" or frivolous or just in it because it's trendy. The target of course is teenage girls. I've been in fandom long enough to know that if you're a young woman, or a woman at all, simply liking something or engaging with a community is going to be dismissed as "cringe" or embarrassing or shallow. This is a common misogynistic attitude because it can be easily practiced by any gender. It's unfounded and rude at best and has the ability to destroy a blossoming individual at worst.

Sorry fake nerd girl memes, geekdom was built by young women.

The point here being, if you want to use a name you think might be dismissed as cringey, go for it anyway! If you see someone unironically introducing themselves at Ebony Dark'ness Raven-Way then first give them my number, and second leave well enough alone!

I suppose that's really all I have for this ramble! If you made it this far- Thank you for reading! Feel free to chime in below with your experiences. If you have a practice name, how did you choose it? Did this make you consider adopting one?

-Sincerely, Rev. Aldarrós Bál

[cafeinthemoon]

Portrait of a Monk - Chapter VII

Chapter 7/?

Wordcount 4,2k

Title And She Will Live

Fandom Jujutsu Kaisen

Pairing Geto Suguru X reader

Previous chapters

1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . 5 . 6

Symbols ⭕ . ➕ . 🖤

Warning (s): Slightly possessive behavior (from Geto)

Tagging @darling-imobsessed

(if you want to be tagged in any of my stories, just send an ask or a message 😉)

A.N.: I've been thinking that readers story with Geto-sama is like the downfall of seasons, starting with the rapture of Spring and following the path to a certain, deadly Winter. If you remembered the last flashback, it was Spring when she arrived at his house, but in this chapter they already reached Autumn, which means that not so good surprises wait for her in the near future 😭

Also I'm sorry if these last chapters have been so long, but I just gave up on limiting my wordcount 🤷‍♀️

also we're back with this charming GIF bc 🥰🥰🥰

Months passed like weeks in Geto-sama’s house. You didn’t know if that was thanks to some technique of his or if it was just the fact that you were always busy, sharing your time between the roles of assistant and apprentice.

Yes, after the first weeks when he taught you about the house’s routine, his habits and in which aspects your assistance would be required – besides giving you time to get used to the idea of living a new life away from your old home – he took you as his new pupil. At the moment, there was only you: the previous ones were now ready to work on their own missions without constant supervision, and almost all of them were sent to distant places. You also found out that Geto didn’t enjoy teaching large groups of students at once, preferring to select a few people at a time, concentrating on their individual improvement and giving them specific roles according to their talents. You noticed that, despite treating each of his children with kindness, Geto was deeply affectionate with those with unique, strong abilities, and would share with them more of his ideology and plans than he would do with the others. This management guided everyone’s behavior there.

In the beginning, it was hard to understand your own place in this. It was true that your innate technique interested your master as much as the ones you considered to be stronger than it, summoned by people with more experience than you, and while you worked beside him, you and your master would have long conversations about cursed energy and how techniques worked, during which he would answer your questions just like he did to the others; yet you sensed a difference between the treatment you received.

First, you wouldn’t spend much time with the other gifted children, as you used to call them, the same way they would do with each other: you were almost always occupied with tasks that would keep you focused, alone, away from them. Not that this would bother you very much, for you were already used to spend long periods with yourself at the temple and didn’t enjoy noisy, large groups, still it was clear that such arrangement was on purpose. What purpose, you couldn’t tell.

Second, even though your lessons would include physical training with Geto himself, he wouldn’t demand from you the same excellence in your performance as the others, focusing on basic defense tactics more than attacks instead. He would use low to medium leveled curses of his arsenal to train your reflexes and strengthen of your innate technique: after the confirmation that it worked in cursed spirits as well, he used this advantage in the training to make sure you would use it successfully in humans. Despite all of this, he would prioritize the theoretical field, as if he wanted your knowledge to be the deepest in this sense. You were also never sent to external missions, thus not being exposed to dangerous situations like the others. Was he preserving you, perhaps because your talents did not suit the battlefield? Probably.

Apart from this, there was another aspect, more subtle, that was soon sensed in your daily coexistence with him: unlike the other children, with which he would share plans, ideas and values in an impersonal manner like the leader of a clan or family, with you Geto would share more of his feelings and intimate thoughts, and would encourage you to share yours with him, as if you were best friends or anything of this sort. This was something you would do with great hesitation, mostly because you’ve never had such freedom of speech at your old home, giving you an instinct of preservation that surprised even your master. Sometimes, when he asked your opinion on an individual’s attitude or a specific event you witnessed, you created such drama around your words that he would laugh and ask you to calm down and just speak.

- I would never ask something if I was not entirely ready to hear it, my child. I need to hear thoughts that differ from my own sometimes – he said one day – That’s exactly why I ask for your opinion so often.

As time passed, however, you felt safe to speak your mind, and sometimes, when you felt the urge to share something with Geto-sama, you would look for him without embarrassment. He used to point out how much of an observant you were, sensitive to some aspects that would go unnoticed by most people, and that this was the main reason why he shared with you certain things that remained out of everyone’s knowledge. Despite that, you didn’t think of your own observations as surprising: many of the things you punctuated were already noticed by him, who seemed to know everything that happened in the house, even the most insignificant events. Well, you wouldn’t expect less from someone in his position.

Being the person responsible for his personal business and thus spending the longest periods in his company, you started to think that it was only natural that you’ve came to know things about each other that others didn’t, and since you saw such role as something honored, important, you were satisfied with how things were going. Of course, there were some things that would leave you confused, to say the least, but they weren’t enough to take away your peace, and you would rather ignore them.

One of these confusing things was the fact that Geto-sama didn’t like to see you try and engage in close friendships with the other children, especially if they were men.

Of course, he never prohibited you of talking to any of the boys or joining the other family members in common activities – he never even mentioned his displease with this – but you’ve been his assistant for long enough to just guess his feelings towards something before a word could be said: not only the way he organized your routine showed this tendency, but the slight change in his tone and gestures whenever he witnessed your interactions with them served as a sign for you to watch your behavior. It wasn’t something noticed by anyone, though: Geto was so discreet that sometimes his thoughts would be inaccessible even for you; however, one exchange of looks with him was enough for you know when it was time to end the babbling and leave.

This distinction became as clear as can be in what was supposed to be a calm, normal day, when you decided to spend more of your time among your siblings.

Your master left the house to take care of some matters concerning the people in his temples. He left instructions for you and said that, even though he would be back still that day, you shouldn’t wait for him, for it was impossible to know how long everything would take to be solved. Since you were never the type to procrastinate, you started working as soon as he was gone, finishing your things sooner than expected.

You were so used to stay occupied that you became easily bored when you tried to stay in your own room. You stood up and started organizing some of your books and other things you left out of place. You checked if the room needed some cleaning and, after making sure it didn’t, you went to take care of yourself, your skin and hair, trying to do it as slow as possible, giving time a chance to pass.

At the end of this, you went to other parts of the house to see what the others were doing and offer them some help. This led you to the kitchen, where you found Shinji, the young man responsible for it, supervising the preparation of the next meal.

You were going to ask if he needed something, but the boy was faster in showing surprise for your visit.

- Y/n-san! – and with a hesitating smile – It’s so good to see you here…

You laughed, trying to soothe his tension. It was clear that he didn’t expect to see his master’s assistant so soon that day, even less alone.

- I apologize for showing up unannounced, but Geto-sama is out and I don’t have anything important to do right now, so I came to see if you need help.

The explanation was well accepted by him, who admitted being busy.

- Yes, this time we have less people working in the kitchen, so any support is welcome. Can you help me with these vegetables? – he indicated the food upon the large sink.

Shinji got two knives and you started cutting them after he showed you how. You weren’t so good at this as you were at other tasks, but you did your best, following his instructions and asking everything you needed to know.

Soon you were so used at each other’s company that you were talking cheerfully as old friends. The young man had an excellent sense of humor and liked to tell stories, and you enjoyed listening to him.

At some point, he was telling a funny situation of his childhood and you were laughing, so concentrated on the conversation that you didn’t notice you had company until you heard Geto’s voice at the kitchen’s entry. You both turned your necks toward there so fast that he stared at you two as if you were caught doing something bad.

Despite that, his words were cheerful, even sweet:

- It’s so good to see my children getting along – he approached, uniting his palms – Indeed, a beautiful sight!

You stopped laughing when he reached you, and your gesture was followed by Shinji. Geto turned at him first.

- Shinji-kun. Your task is essential for us, my boy. I know you enjoy talking, but please, do not distract yourself.

The boy nodded, embarrassed.

- Yes, Geto-sama!

And he turned to the vegetables without exchanging any look or word with you. With this, you waited to see what was reserved to you.

- Did you finish the tasks I left for you, my dear? – was the expected first question.

- Yes, Geto-sama – and as to explain why you were in the kitchen – I still had some free time, so I went to see if anyone needed help. I also took the chance to improve my abilities, because as you already know, I’m not good at cooking.

He seemed to approve your choice.

- Diligent, as expected. However, I have other tasks for you now. Can you come with me?

You didn’t ask or discuss anything. You just nodded and followed him through the corridor, knowing that the chance to question him would come soon.

***

Geto went to his own room and you followed him in silence. He slipped the door closed after you entered, then walked to the porch’s exit, opening that second door, which led to a separated wing of the building. In this wing, there was a garden only accessible by his porch; he used to stay there alone, but sometimes you were invited too, never being there without him. Crossing the garden there was a narrow path of white stones, surrounded by grass and flowers. When Geto made a sign for you to walk with him through it, you swallowed: this only happened when he needed to discuss serious matters with you.

He took off his white socks, left them near the door and stepped on the stones, but turned to you after noticing your hesitation at the wooden floor.

- What’s wrong, my child?

You hid your hands behind your back.

- Geto-sama… You disapprove what happened in the kitchen. Why?

He raised an eyebrow, as if he was just caught in a surprise, but the mild shock soon disappeared, replaced by his usual, calm smile.

- So… this is the way you see things?

You nodded.

- Not only this, but you seem to disapprove that I have close friendships with the other people here – and with a slight stutter – The other people being mostly the males.

Something in the way he stared at you, some disturbance that didn’t reach his smile, froze you in your place, silencing anything you might have considered saying next.

You were already on barefoot; Geto offered his hand and you put shy fingers upon his palm, watching as it closed around them, bringing you to the stone ground so that you would take a walk together, as close as possible.

- Is there something wrong in what I’m doing? – you insisted – I can’t say much about the others, but Shinji-kun seems a good person to me. He’s always respectful.

Your master giggled at your comment.

- You did nothing wrong. Nor today nor before it. And about disapproving what I saw in the kitchen… Well, disapproving is not exactly the word for this. Shinji-kun is indeed a good boy, even though he talks too much sometimes. The same could be said about the others, in a slight or in a deeper sense. The problem is not in you or them, you see. It is elsewhere.

Your hand trembled against his.

- Elsewhere? How so?

Geto was still smiling when turned to you. What he said in response did not match the calmness with which he looked at you, nor your most absurd expectations.

- It is in myself. The thing is that I am jealous of you, y/n-chan.

No explanation was given after this, and you understood that asking anything else was useless no matter how shocked you were by those words. Sometimes Geto-sama didn’t say as much as you expected, or he would speak things like that and then leave the rest in the dark; you were never sure if he wanted you to find out their meaning by yourself or if he saw no need to keep discuss them with you, and the only thing left was to wait and see.

Autumn was around the corner, its chilling breezes already discouraging the birds and other small animals to wander in the landscape, silent with their absence. The grass was no longer so green, and the yellow and red shades already painted the trees and bushes you saw on your way. Your master seemed to sense the coldness in your hand and made you pass your arm around his, keeping your fingers close to his clothing to warm them up; you leaned your free hand on his arm and continued to follow him in silence.

You went out a bit from the stone path and reached an isolated spot of the garden, one that you’ve never been at, still not touched by the change of seasons. The foliage there, fresh in its vibrant shade, would create green walls that surrounded a descending part of the land, warming the air and preserving the smell of soil and the flowers that remained inside it. The silence would be absolute there if it wasn’t for the insects that would still fly around seeking for a last drop of nectar, but their sound was more of a comfort than an annoyance, even more when you couldn’t calm down your own feelings.

You suspected that Geto took you there because no word said among those trees would be heard outside them. You left this thought aside when you stopped in the middle of it and he spoke again, still holding your hand.

- Y/n-chan, I owe you an apology for the events in the kitchen.

- An apology? Why?

He let go of your arm and went to one of the green walls, spilled with little white flowers, to reach one of them on an especially high spot with his fingers. Its tiny, pure petals trembled at the unexpected contact.

- I have been trying to change this in myself, but I failed each time. I should have talked to you about it…

He suddenly fell silent, all his attentions on his own thoughts. You clenched your hands together, nervous.

- What do you mean, my Lord? I can’t understand you.

Geto took the flower in his hand and brought it with him at last. Turning back to you, he passed his hands around your head and approached the flower of your hair, tied up with a modest hairpin you brought from your old home, attaching it among your locks.

- I’ve been trying not to be so jealous of my assistants – he whispered while his hands worked on your new hairstyle – Not monopolizing their attentions and letting them have more time with themselves and the others… But I can’t do it.

With his right hand on the back of your head, he leaned over you, caressing your hair, keeping you close. You held your breath: though you were used to be around him for entire days, during which you would maintain some physical connection, he’s never been so close to you like this since that morning at the temple, when you showed him the portrait.

- When I brought you to my house, I had a clear idea of what your role would be. However, I got so used to have you with me that I became… that I am tempted to ask some things from you that I should not – he kissed your temple – Such as… if you could keep that pretty, carefree smile you gave Shinji only for me… if you could reserve the attention you gave to his talking only to my words… And if you could do all of this without question…

Your small hands, pressed between your chest and his, slowly grabbed the folds of his clothing, in an attempt to give in to the embrace. No word left your mouth, and in fact you didn’t know what to say, or if you should say something.

You just let him speak.

- Does it sound absurd to you, my y/n-chan? – he questioned, but not as if he wanted you to reply; he spoke more to himself than to you – Isn’t it absurd to be this selfish with my own children? But I am not even ashamed. Instead… – he laughed like someone who was going to share some embarrassing secret – I am proud of it!

For a moment, none of you said a word, but you maintained your places with each other. You weren’t sure if anything of this was real, only convincing yourself when Geto restarted the conversation, revealing something towards which you couldn’t stay indifferent.

- This happened with my previous assistant, you see. To the point I had to send them away in an attempt to fix everything.

You gasped when you heard that. He sent his old assistant away? To where?

- Yes, this broke their heart, and mine too – he told you without changing his tone – Even now I can’t forget their eyes full of tears. I just can’t forgive myself for what I have done...

He then moved away a bit, just to look in your face, where he saw the glow of tears coming to his current assistant’s eyes. With his thumb he caressed your cheek, then your chin, his eyes following the movement with a rare, contemplative sadness: you were so scared that he would do the same to you that it made him smile.

- However… I will not make such mistake again – a serious note appeared in these words, scattering your fears away – I will keep my y/n-chan with me, no matter what happens. I will have her beautiful smile under my sight. Because I did not forget what I said to her when we first met. And I know she never forgot it too.

You knew what he was talking about. His blessing.

- You will never lose me, and I will always find you – your cheeks heated up with it – I don’t think I could ever forget it, even if I used my powers in myself.

Geto didn’t hide his pride with what he heard. He approached his lips of your forehead and gave you a second kiss, longer than the previous one.

- Oh, it is so good to hear that, so comforting! – he smelled your hair for an instant – But I wonder if my y/n-chan knows how precious she is to me, which is just as I am to her...

You closed your eyes, a whispered “Geto-sama” escaping your lips to his enjoyment. Wasn’t it a dream and weren’t all those words invented? No, it wasn’t. They weren’t. He meant it. You were precious to your master. You were dear to him, needed, useful – everything one should be to the person who saved them. And hearing that from Geto himself made you understand that your mission was accomplished, and after that you wouldn’t wish anything more.

And you said this to him.

- Now she does, and she needs nothing more than this, Geto-sama – you mumbled, hiding your face in the layers of his clothing – Do what you have to do and this will be enough for her... Choose the path and she will follow you... Transform her and she will be anything you want... Frame her and she will melt in your hands... Love her and she will live...

You raised your eyes to his, the purple globes already observing you, swallowing your reactions, not giving you time to feel embarrassed by your confession: holding your chin between his index finger and thumb, he leaned in and responded to it with a kiss.

You startled but didn’t move away, so great was your shock and your rapture. Was that your first kiss? No, it wasn’t. Though you couldn’t recall being so intimate to anyone, you remembered being kissed your master in the portrait’s room, however with what was happening now that thing didn’t even look like a kiss.

Geto would keep you in place, holding you with gentle firmness, as to not let you run away. But where would you run to? Your love was there, before you.

- If you want to live... then, live… – he mumbled against your lips, a roughness in his voice that you’ve never witnessed before – Live, my dear…

And you lived. You closed your eyes and obediently let the kiss go on, opening your mouth for his tongue, for it to touch its deepest spots, as to swallow the last secrets you’ve kept from him; you found yourself standing on tip toes, your tiny feet stepping upon his, your hands leaning on his shoulders as his own slipped down through your body with agile fingers, guessing its shape until resting on your waist upon the fabric of your impersonal, long dress, warming up your flesh while clenching around it, keeping you close.

With the kiss you finally understood many things that has been in the dark since you were brought to your master’s house: his insistence in keeping a line between you and the other men; the free exchange of feelings and thoughts started by him, the closeness only experienced by best friends; the proximity that exceeded the friendly line and went to the affectionate one whenever he touched you.

Geto-sama fell for you. Were you so blind that you couldn’t see that, or has he not been clear about it until that moment? Well, it didn’t matter anymore, for it was impossible to not get it now.

You were lost between those deliberations and the traces of heat left by his fingers as they traveled through you, along with the wetness of his lips upon yours. From there, he made them reach your chin, your neck, your earlobe, slipping down on your skin, smelling it, tasting it as a delicate, rare berry. Your fingers tangled in his hair, some of its thick locks falling over your chest, tickling while entering through your dress’ cleavage. You giggled with the sensation and tried to move them away, but he held your hand before you did it, putting it back around his neck.

To hear that Geto thought of you that way made you want more of this, despite what you said to him. No, it would never be enough; you could never have enough of him. You rebelled against your old, righteous self: you didn’t want to go back to the house and to your duties, to be separated from your master for just one moment, having to share him with his other children when you were the object of his passion and jealousy. It was only fair that you felt the same towards him; you wanted to take him away from them, to keep him with you, to have him only for you.

- Geto-sama…

- Hm?… – he mumbled against your neck.

- I guess I’ve always loved you – your voice almost disappeared with the confession – But I was too scared to say it even to myself…

- Really? – his fingers caressed your cheek, sensing the contractions of your smile – But now that you just told me… are you still scared?

You laughed.

- Yes. A little.

- But what is so scary about it, y/n-chan?

- I don’t know… Maybe the fear of not having it forever. That it will come undone once I touch it.

With one last, chaste kiss under your ear, your master moved away to observe your pretty face. You were grateful for that: one look into his sharp eyes was enough to erase any trace of fear in your heart.

- You do not need to be afraid, my dear. I blessed you. And as long as I am here, this will never change.

[viadescioism]

Sigil magick: "It's dangerous to cast sigils that aren't yours" and some other Sigil misconceptions

For a little bit now while looking through sigil resources online I keep running into the sentiment that it's dangerous to cast sigils that aren't yours, and I wanted to talk about this along with some other sigil misconceptions that I keep seeing. Not only because I am a person who posts sigils online for individuals to use, but also because I feel like these are big misconception certain practitioners have about sigil magick.

"It's dangerous to cast sigils that aren't yours."

This is what originally inspired this post in the first place so I'm going to talk about it first. Now a common understanding of this idea is that an online practitioner will post sigils with an intention, but when individuals go through the process of activating the sigil they manifest a different intention.

What I would like to say about this is that "who is doing this". In all of my experience as a practitioner of magick for at this point what is 12 years I had yet to come in contact with any practitioner that is ever done this, but for some reason some people treat this as commonplace.

This actually reminds me of the whole idea of Halloween sadism. Which is another practice that is not common at all, but everyone happens to be quite scared of it. If you have any experiences of someone actually doing this I would love to hear about them my friends, because I have not been able to find anything. Casting another person sigil is about as dangerous as using a spell or ritual created by another person, or simply learning magick from another individual. It's taken in using what they have given you for your own purposes, and because you are a factor in it, and are a practitioner you have control over how you are going to use it. The sigil, the spell, the ritual is a tool in order to help you manifest change through the power of your mind, body, and spirit. You have more control over how things manifest, and all those things do is direct, and help give power.

"Sigils are stronger when you make them yourself."

The answer here is actually yes, and no. Yes sigils do have the potential to be stronger if you make them yourself, but also sigils have the potential to be stronger when made by individuals who are more skilled than you in the process of sigilcraft. It's not one, or the other, and both of them can be strong, or weak depending upon how you use them. If you do go through the process of creating your own sigil you will be able to put more of your own practice into those sigils allowing them to feel more connected to you, and to help you tap more so into your own power. That is definitely great, but you can also use sigils from other individuals, and get the same, or even better results. There's a lot of factors that go into it. It's not as simple as just going with your own sigil as stronger, because you were the one who created it.

"You can’t know for sure if those you find online are actually used for what they say they are."

There are definitely magickal ways in which you can tell a sigil is made for a specific purpose. Such things as energy work, because you would be able to feel the energy, and see if it feels right to you, or you could go through the process of doing any form of divination, while asking about that sigil in particularly. Both of these methods will act like detect magic from Dungeons & Dragons, and will tell you exactly what is going on with the sigil by more so feeling into the sigilcraft via the sigil representation. You would also be able to look at the sigil, and it's design to see if you could notice its purpose, though it would need to use specific sigil methods for this to be possible.

Another concept that is important to remember is that sigils are flexible. When a practitioner goes through the process of posting their sigil online, or release the sigil to the rest of the world in a different way the practitioner loses a form of control over the sigil much like all symbols, and it enters a collective consciousness. Because of this more individuals that go through the process of interacting with a sigil in a specific way help shape the way in which the sigil manifests.

For example let's say an individual puts out a sigil that once charge, and activated it is supposed to open up a portal so that negative spiritual entities can enter your space, and they disguise it as a sigil for protection. Individuals that go through the process of charging, and activating it along with individuals who come in contact with it are going to give some of their power to the sigil for protection which will most likely override its original intention. This is because the aspects of sigilcraft is usually not as strong as the actual power, and intention placed into the sigil during the charging process, and it will change the sigil starting with that sigil representation do to the law of frequency. Much like the reprogramming of a thought-form. Now could an individual actually put out fake sigils in a way in which they would retain their power while also being disguised. Yes, it could definitely happen, but the practitioner would need to take into account many different things, and would probably be a little bit more skilled, so this definitely wouldn't be a very common practice. It would also be a lot of effort for something that probably isn't too great, and doesn't provide much of anything. So if it is happening it's not happening a lot, and because it's most likely not too common it's not worth worrying about.

[that-bi-bitch-writes]

A Cursed Reality-JJk x Male Reader (Ch.4)

This chapter is a little shorter than usual but I'm hoping since it's the second chapter in the week you guy will let me slide. I would've written more but I like the ending so.

Let me know if you guys think I should translate what Inumaki is saying. He won't always use safewords but I think it's important to his character and easily understandable in this situation. Enjoy!!

Last // Next

Chapter Four:

“Do I look stupid to you?”

“Salmon”

“...”

“Bonito flakes?”

“Where are we going anyway”

“Fish flakes”

“I’m not a fan of surprises.” [Name] responded. A comedic silence fell as [Name] and Inumaki just started each other. One of them was bound to give in and if anything it was NOT going to be [Name] who possessed the second strongest cursed technique in the world, as well as being a Special Grade sorcerer at the ripe age of 17. Definitely not. It wasn’t as if Toge was his weak spot or anything.

“I better not regret this”

“Fish flakes”

As much as Inumaki loved being friends with [Name], the other sorcerer was at the end of the day extremely dramatic. It had to have been something he picked up from Gojo over the years. The two were frighteningly alike, both of them had this tendency to pretend they were happier than they actually were while hiding some extremely dark behaviors. And like Gojo [Name]’s power was both feared and not completely known.

Somehow the two were hiding a more complex aspect of [Name]’s power. Why, Inumaki was unsure. [Name] is the type of person to carry a ton of secrets while keeping almost nothing important about himself hidden. Upfront, but unknown. And if his ultimate cursed technique is a secret kept from everyone but Gojo, then it’s final. No amount of begging or blackmail would do any good. Though it doesn’t mean Inumaki doesn’t wish [Name] felt comfortable enough with him to share.

“Are you just gonna stand there looking off in the distance or are we gonna go”

Toge torn from his thoughts looked at [Name] for a second, curious and contemplative before turning around and walking off

“I guess that answers that question.[Name] said out loud to himself “Is he really leaving me? That fucker”

[Name] saw Gojo before any of the first years. Which was unfortunate because not only was he curious about the new first year (and would probably never admit it) it meant that the first person he’d see after spending the day out with Inumaki would be a cocky white haired idiot. Gojo treated [Name] like a younger brother and if you’ve ever had a sibling you’d know siblings make it a personal mission to tease, abuse and humiliate you. Out of pure love of course.

“So how was the date?” Gojo teased

“Fine. Nobody died” The two of them stared each other down. [Name] with challenging eyes and a straight face and Gojo with a smirk on his face

“Oh [Name] senpai you’re back” Fushiguro announced, the sound catching the attention of Nobara and Yuji who’d been arguing over whether or not girls would actually like Yuji once they got to know how dumb he was.

“How was your date?” Yuji asked excitedly

‘I’m being interrogated before I even get into the dorms, AND in front of a first year girl I don’t know’

“If you call going to defeat a second grade tormenting some people in the city a date, it went well. No casualties. My partner was fine and didn’t need my help but of course like the amazing friend I am I stepped in to help finish the job” [Name] answered

“Big deal. You showed off in front of some girl and then swooped in when the job was almost done to steal the credit. Why should I respect you as my upperclassman” Nobara huffed while striking some sort of... wonder woman pose and staring [Name] down

‘I like the energy but also why is she coming for me at first sight?’

“Did you miss the part where I helped defeat a second grade with no problem? It wasn’t to show off or to brag. Who would I be trying to impress? Megumi and Yuji? And who said it was a girl?”

Nobara was caught off guard with the last response. Not only did he return the energy she gave him, but she failed to recognize a member of the alphabet mafia (LGBTQ+ community). Actually, now that she’s thinking about it, she was a little too comfortable around Megumi, Yuji, AND Gojo for them all to be straight. Gojo did give her weird vibes but not the creepy stalker weirdo kind

“So… You fight monsters with your boyfriend then?”

“He’s not my boyfriend. But I mean yeah it’s like a best friend tag team kind of thing. You’ll get used to it around here.”

“They already kind of did” Gojo chimed in

“Yeah, I saved the kid while Kugisaki nailed the cursed spirit with her straw doll thingy” Yuji started.

‘Straw doll thing?’

“Of course I did more of the work, but we wouldn’t have been able to save the day without her”

Nobara pretended to not be flattered by the compliment as [Name] tried to hold back his laugh and not howl at her pleased face. He failed. Yuji and Megumi began to giggle too. Gojo was amused by their dynamic, looking at the first years and smiling. Happy they were getting along with their upperclassman. It was really nice to see [Name] have friends too, if he only had Toge it would hurt that much worse if the cursed speech user was ripped away from him. He knew from first experience, and as a jujutsu sorcerer, there weren’t many moments of happiness in their future.

Report: July 2018

In west Tokyo City, at the Eishu Juvenile Detention Center

The sky abovethe exercise yard

“Hey what’s that?”

“What?”

“There! That egg thing!”

“Whatchu talkin about?!”

An Unnamed Apparition of Potential Special Grade was witnessed by multiple non-jujutsu sorcerers. Since it was deemed an Emergency, three first year students were sent to the scene. Of those students, one died.

It was discovered that a special grade sorcerer showed up just before the worst of the situation but could not save all three students. In his grief the entire facility was destroyed.

[aphrostarot]

Month of July Pick a Pile

How will the month of July go for you?

Please remember that this is a general reading and some things may not apply to you. Don't force it to fit. I offer paid readings on my page if you would like a personal reading. Prices are listed there. Please message me if you are interested!

Pile One (Sodalite):

Who are you currently:

Judgment:

The Judgment card shows a period of time where you have reached a result of some sort. It could be in love, career, etc. In your life, you have reached a point where you have some answers, some answers that you have sought for a long time.

What is your theme for the month?

Ace of Cups:

Spirit is telling you that you will find new love this month. For some, I feel this may be a newfound love for yourself. As you learn more about yourself, how you want to be treated, and what you enjoy doing, you will fall in love with yourself all over again. For others, it feels like a new romantic love. Spirit tells you that new love is coming your way this month and that this love is something you have been waiting a long time for.

What will you accomplish this month?

Seven of Pentacles:

You may have been planning something for a long time without seeing any results. The desire for this thing has been burning within you for so long and you have been working towards the end goal, but it just hasn't come fast enough.

The World:

The World is all about completion and having it come out here is Spirit's way of telling you that you will see results. You will finally see results in your plans this month. You don't need to worry about this anymore. You are going to have a great month this month.

What should you avoid this month?

Queen of Pentacles:

You may be the type of person who spends their money without thinking. Due to this, you often end up with low funds. Your guides are telling you that you need to be wary of this, this month. Before you purchase anything major this month, make sure you think it through.

What should you embrace this month?

High Priestess:

It's time to embrace your intuition and psychic abilities this month, according to your guides. You need to expand your abilities this month. Your guides want you to try and learn more about these this month, as you may not be fully aware of them. Your guides want you to practice them more this month if you are aware of them.

What obstacle will you face this month?

The Artist:

This month, you will find it difficult to be creative. This month, you may find it difficult to find inspiration or to think that your work is good enough. In any case, Spirit says that you are going to struggle with creativity this month.

Where can you find support?

Nine of Swords:

Spirit says that a way for you to help find your inspiration again, or to realize that your work is good enough is to embrace your insecurities as they are. Your guides want you to use and embrace your insecurities. Bring them into your work because they will inspire you and help you to create your best work.

What action do you need to take this month?

Ten of Cups:

Although you may not think that you will have a fairytale happy ending, your guides say that you need to start believing it this month. You are deserving of a happy ending, and you will receive it. The sooner you realize this, the sooner it will arrive.

Some advice/encouragement:

Four of Pentacles:

You need to be more careful with your possessions and finances this month. You should be cautious with your finances this month, according to your guides. Don't overspend this month because the money may not come as fast.

Ace of Pentacles:

Your guides are telling you that money will come into your life in the future and that you just need to hold on this month. You will soon face a change in your finances, so be careful this month.

Pile Two (Amethyst):

Who are you currently:

Queen of Wands:

You've felt very ambitious, more motivated than usual to accomplish your dreams. It seems like you want to be in more control, you want to be in a leadership role.

The World:

Completion is what this card represents. Some sort of completion has recently taken place for you. Perhaps this is why you have felt more motivated than usual. A chapter of your life has ended in one area, and a new one is about to begin.

What is your theme for the month?

Two of Pentacles:

You will be focusing on finding balance this month. This doesn’t mean that your life has been lacking balance but this month you will be experiencing more balance than anything else. Some of you though have been lacking balance in your life for some time now and that has been very difficult for you to handle, but this month that will change.

What will you accomplish this month?

Five of Pentacles:

You have suffered some great losses in your life. Because of this, you have been pretty sad. Recently, your life hasn't been going well for you and this has been very difficult.

King of Pentacles:

With the King of Pentacles coming out alongside the Five of Pentacles this is telling me that this month you are going to get out of this period of poverty. This month, you will achieve great abundance. Additionally, you will be able to exert control and leadership.

What should you avoid this month?

Eight of Pentacles:

You may dislike taking advice from others and think you know what is best for you. Your guides want you to take advice this month. This is the best option for you to help you come out on the other side. Even if you think you know what is best, you should start taking more advice from others.

What should you embrace this month?

Three of Swords:

You have been running from your pain for so long and your guides are telling you that it is time to stop. This month you need to embrace the pain that you have been running from for so long. It is time for you to feel that pain so you can heal from it.

King of Swords:

In this month, you will embrace this energy, you will heal from your past wounds, and you will begin to embrace who you were meant to be. You are strong and you are meant to be in charge and leading with quick-wit and intelligence. This month you will start to take your steps to do that.

What obstacle will you face this month?

Strength:

As I stated above, you will be taking the first steps to become the strong person you are meant to become. That doesn't mean it will be easy. Your guides are saying that this month you will struggle to find your strength.

Where can you find support?

The High Priestess:

This month, you can find support from your guides. You think that you are the only one who can help you through anything but, this is untrue. Your guides are there to help you and all you have to do is let them.

What action do you need to take this month?

Four of Wands:

Your guides are telling you that you need to take steps to find stability this month. You'll be taking steps towards your true self this month. You will be healing and finding your footing again. With that comes stability.

Some advice/encouragement:

Death:

You are blossoming, becoming your truest most beautiful self. This is one of your death cycles that you have gone through in the past, and now you are coming out of it. Yes, we go through many death cycles in our lifetimes but that is nothing to fear because it allows you the chance to heal and to blossom into your best self.

Pile Three (Rose Quartz):

Who are you currently:

Seven of Wands:

Recently, you had a fight with someone and this has affected you greatly. You didn't have a good month in June and it seemed as though the first part of it was going to be a good one, but then you had this fight and your whole world turned upside down. After that, you weren't the same.

Four of Swords:

You have been resting and trying to recover from this fight. You have gone into a hermit mode, keeping to yourself because you feel like you are the only one who has your back. You spent the last half of June alone for this reason.

What is your theme for the month?

Nine of Cups:

This month will be good for you with this card coming out. This is the card of wish fulfillment. Your guides are telling you that this month you will be experiencing some wish fulfillment. For some, the wish-fulfillment feels like it has to do with getting over your fight and healing. This month it seems you will be getting back on your feet.

What will you accomplish this month?

Nine of Swords:

You may have experienced an increase in anxiety last month. Your focus this month will be on getting back on your feet and working through your anxieties. This month, you will be healing yourself. Your spirit guides are excited for you to get back on your feet. This month you will be feeling more like yourself after taking your hermit mode in June.

What should you avoid this month?

The World:

You are just starting to regain your bearings. Spirit doesn’t want you to rush yourself take baby steps this month. During June, you avoided the world, and this month you don't need to rush yourself. You will be returning to the world, but that doesn't have to happen immediately. This month, Spirit wants you to avoid rushing into the world. If you took a social media break last month you may need to continue that again for the first half of this month. You can take your time because this month you need to focus on yourself and only do what you believe is right for you.

Six of Swords:

Since this is the progress card, it suggests you want to make progress this month, but Spirit doesn't want you to rush into anything. Take care of yourself this month so that you can keep progressing. Make sure you only do things that are healthy for you.

What should you embrace this month?

The Emperor:

Your guides want you to believe that you control the course of your life. Every aspect of your life is under your control. You may have been going through a lot in the recent past, and you may have developed a "why me" mindset that makes you think that the things that happen in your life are beyond your control. Your guides want you to believe that the things that happen in your life don't happen to you, they happen for you. Say to yourself, "what happens in my life doesn't happen to me, it happens for me.". When you do this you will begin to believe that you are in control of your life.

What obstacle will you face this month?

The Sun:

It is hard for us to accept that healing is not a linear process because, as a society, we are conditioned to look for the quickest solution to our problems. Healing takes time, and happiness will be hard for you to achieve this month. Having said that, that does not mean you will not be happy this month; it simply means that you will have to work extra hard to experience happiness.

Where can you find support?

The Magician:

Manifesting things into your life is the purpose of this card. It reminds you that you are in control of the outcome of your life and that you can achieve whatever you desire. Your guides want you to strive for happiness, to do things that make you happy, and to discover new things that make you happy. As you have been caught up in the idea that everything in your life is out of your control, your guides want you to begin to understand that you can make yourself happy.

What action do you need to take this month?

The Fool:

The card of new beginnings is your guide's way of telling you to leap into the newness of your life this month. Explore yourself this month, find new things you like to do. Since you have been in a funk for a while, now is the best time to learn more about yourself. You are coming out of that funk and are becoming a new person, allowing you to explore yourself more.

Some advice/encouragement:

Ten of Pentacles:

Here, your guides tell you that you will soon experience great abundance in your life. You just need to start to take the first steps towards getting yourself out there. This is the card of legacy building, so your guides want you to be aware that the steps you are taking now will help you create more abundance in your life.

Though tips are not required, they are very much appreciated. Thank you!

Venmo: @ aphrostarot Paypal: paypal/aphrostarot

[samwisethewitch]

Reconnecting with the Divine Feminine

I don’t think it’s groundbreaking or controversial at this point to say that all three Abrahamic religions are mostly patriarchal. Sure, we can talk about the veneration of the Virgin Mary, or the woman prophets in the Tanakh, or women saints in Islam. At the end of the day, though, we cannot overlook the fact that in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, God is a man. Since 31% of the world’s population identify as Christian and 23% identify as Muslim, that means over half of the people on Earth are completely disconnected from the feminine side of divinity.

Ironically Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are among very few religions that don’t embrace a feminine aspect of divinity. Patriarchal religion is treated like the norm in most modern cultures (again, largely because of the dominance of Christianity and Islam), but it has definitely not been the norm throughout human history. The Goddess, the Divine Feminine, has been a prominent part of human spirituality since before recorded history.

In ancient Sumer she was Inanna, the Queen of Heaven. In Egypt she was Isis, Lady of the Sky, Great of Magic, and Hathor, Lady of the West, and Sekhmet, Mistress of Fear. In Hinduism she is Shakti, the feminine principle that moves the universe. In Japan she is Amaterasu, the Great Illuminating Deity, and Izanami, the creatrix who rules the underworld. The Divine Feminine has taken all of these forms at different times and places, among many, many others.

Even the Abrahamic religions haven’t always been solely focused on masculine divinity. There is significant evidence that the Abrahamic God was originally part of a larger pantheon before becoming the sole object of worship in Israel and Judah. As part of a polytheist system, he had a consort, a goddess named Asherah. Rabbinic literature refers to the divine presence of the Jewish God as “shekinah” — interestingly, this is a feminine word, implying that this aspect of God is feminine.

The removal of feminine divinity from Christianity largely occurred during the fourth century, when Roman Christianity beat out other traditions as the sole “correct” Church. Before this some Christian groups, notably those in North Africa, had worshiped God as both Father and Mother — a masculine/feminine dyad, rather than the masculine trinity worshiped in Rome. Other groups identified the Holy Spirit as feminine, creating a trinity of Father, Mother, and Son. (Interestingly, these family triads were also common in Egyptian paganism.) When the Nicene Creed was created in 325 to standardize Christian belief and practice, it excluded these interpretations by affirming belief only in “God, the Father Almighty” and “Jesus Christ, the Son of God” and removing all mentions of God the Mother.

All of this does not invalidate the genuine, life-changing spiritual experiences people have had with modern Judaism, Christianity, or Islam. It does, however, prove that patriarchal religion is the exception, not the rule.

Modern paganism’s acceptance and veneration of the Divine Feminine is a large part of its appeal for many converts, especially women, genderfluid, and nonbinary people who do not see themselves represented in the mythology and art of patriarchal religion. The Divine Feminine is present in all pagan religions, though She takes different forms in different faiths.

In monist pagan paths like Wicca, the polarity of Goddess and God is seen as one of the primary ways deity makes itself known to mankind. In the words of Scott Cunningham, one of Wicca’s most influential authors, “The Goddess and God are equal; neither is higher or more deserving of respect… The Goddess is the universal mother. She is the source of fertility, endless wisdom, and loving caresses… She is at once the unploughed field, the full harvest, and the dormant, frost-covered earth.”

The Goddess and the God balance and compliment each other, and this balance is at the core of many neopagan religions. (There are some traditions that exclusively worship the Goddess, but we’ll talk more about that in a future post.)

In polytheist paganism, the Divine Feminine is present in the form of various goddesses who rule over different aspects of life and nature. It is not uncommon for polytheist pagans (or monist pagans, for that matter) to work with multiple goddesses, even goddesses from different historical pantheons. Some goddesses are explicitly associated with certain aspects of womanhood — for example, the Greek goddess Artemis is associated with virgins and young girls, while Demeter is associated with motherhood.

In many (but not all) polytheist systems, there is an emphasis on balance between gods and goddesses. One of my favorite examples of this is the marriage of the Morrigan and the Dagda in Irish mythology. The Morrigan, goddess of war, magic, and death, is married to the “good god” of life, fertility, and knowledge. Their union represents a balance between opposite, complimentary forces.

This brings us to another point I want to make, while we’re on the subject of the Divine Feminine: not all feminine divinities are passive, maternal, fertility goddesses.

In Western culture, women (and, by extension, feminine deities) are seen as the passive or receptive sex. This is largely a product of Victorian England, not an ancient truth.

Without knowledge of sex chromosomes, hormones, or the complexities of gender, Victorian thinkers developed a theory that men had a “katabolic” nature that was constantly releasing energy, while women had an “anabolic” nature that was constantly receiving and storing up energy. This concept of gender greatly influenced Western occultism and can be seen, for example, in Gerald Gardener’s conception of the Goddess as the passive recipient of the God’s energy.

This is a relatively new and very Western idea. In Hinduism, for example, Shakti is both the feminine principle and the energy that moves the cosmos. In the words of author Kavitha Chinnaiyan, “there is nothing in creation that isn’t a manifestation of Shakti.” Shiva, the masculine principle, is unchanging awareness — it is Shakti who possesses the dynamic energy necessary for creation.

I am by no means encouraging pagans to appropriate Hindu concepts. My point here is that no gender is entirely active or entirely passive, which is why so many cultures interpret gender in so many different ways.

Even within systems like traditional Wicca, which operate within a strict gender binary, neither gender can be completely tied down. In their book A Witches’ Bible, traditional Wiccans Janet and Stewart Farrar acknowledge that the “masculine = active, feminine = passive” model is an oversimplification. They use the example of an artist and muse. The (feminine) muse “fertilizes” the (masculine) artist, who “gives birth” to the resulting art.

Personally, I see the masculine/feminine polarity as a constantly shifting dynamic, with both sides giving and receiving energy all the time. Which side of the polarity is more active or passive depends on the situation.

Being pagan does not mean dedicating yourself to the worship of gender binaries, and it does not mean you need to uphold those binaries. God and Goddess are only two of many possible expressions of the Divine, just like man and woman are only two of many possible gender expressions.

Monist pagans see the God and Goddess as two halves of a greater, all-gendered whole. Polytheist pagans may worship gods and goddesses who fall outside of the gender binary such as the Norse Loki or the Egyptian Atum. In either case, divinity is seen as encompassing all possible gender expressions, not just cis man and cis woman.

The erasure of the feminine from Western religion and mythology means that the nonbinary nature of some deities is often downplayed or erased completely. (You’d be hard pressed to find a mythology book that doesn’t use he/him pronouns for both Loki and Atum.) Reconnecting with the Divine Feminine opens the door for other divine expressions of gender.

The end result of this acceptance of feminine and nonbinary divinity is a religious community built on equality between all gender expressions. No one is closer to the gods because of the anatomy they were born with or the gender they present as.

This paves the way for a religion where no one’s worship is restricted because of their gender expression. It allows for priests, priestesses, and priestixes. It allows everyone to fully participate in the rites of their faith, on equal footing regardless of gender or pronouns. It also creates an environment where practitioners feel comfortable exploring issues of gender and sexuality, knowing that they will not lose the support of their community if their identity changes.

Resources:

The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels

Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner by Scott Cunningham

The Morrigan and The Dagda by Morgan Daimler

“Victorian Theories of Sex and Sexuality” by Elizabeth Lee, Brown University

Shakti Rising by Kavitha M. Chinnaiyan, M.D.

A Witches’ Bible by Janet and Stewart Farrar

Casting a Queer Circle: Non-binary Witchcraft by Thista Minai

[clandestine-j]

GOSSIP GIRL, EP. 5 REACTION & REVIEW

alright

this episode was pretty good, i'm here for this vibe if they continue with it. lots of shit happened, i have feelings about it so lets go!

(this episode also helped me discover i really am a horrible person lol)

ADULTS:

NICK X KATE: Nope! Full stop, don't want it. Bitch you nasty for being friendly with him while posting about his daughter. Nick x Davis is the true otp.

JORDAN & CO: JAIL. Plain and simple, ya'll enjoying this too much. Jail. Please. I beg. Ya'll are sick. A gun in a school and you're Bruce Wayne? Bitch.

KATE: As stated above and addition, I started to be cool with you. You still have to go jail but after serving time, I might be cool with you afterwards. Then you flip flop again went back to doing the worst. Limiting the comments doesn't help. Raggedy.

RAFA: PRISON. And let me tell you, my boy, Aki, he got Fox News in the back of his pocket so, step the fuck back. That's why Max figured yo ass out. GO TO PRISON. PRISON. And he tried to play him for a fool at the end. Prison isn't enough, vanish.

KIKI: SIS! You gotta get it together for your daughter. She can't be the more but, I feel you. Do better, be better. It's not as easy as just saying it but if you have family you can rely on, start to rely. You're daughter her habits from you.

OUR KIDS:

JULIEN: BIG SISTER ENGERY THIS EPISODE. I'M LOVING IT AND LOVING IT. I think she can stop trying a bit now and but I'm here for the connection, I'm here for it all. Quick thinker, knew the circle wasn't tight. She wasn't really there for Audrey but she has been, I think she just got caught up. Since Zoya moved there, they haven't had the chance to just be sisters, to just love each other without any drama. They have not only the past month to make up for but years and she wants to do right by Zoya. I'm glad she realized at the end that, she needed to be there for Audrey but I'm not upset because I get it. I also LOVE that she finally, stood up to Monet and say and get wit it or get it out. Boom. I've been waiting.

OBIE: I wanna ride hard for you because people keep talking about your hair line. I think you need to learn that relationships will have ups and downs and it won't be perfect all of the time. I feel like Obie is chasing perfection, no fights, no problems, just coasting and it won't happen, it'll never happen. Do better. That being said, I'm glad we got something from Obie. I'm glad we got to see him being the Prince of New York. It's hella shady that you didn't just come out with the truth and you wanted to do a song and dance but Obie is doing more and using that name so yes, give me character stuff.

MONET: BYE. No, but really. Amazing one liners as always. I liked the little fight with Julien, I felt a bit of distress, I'm into it. While I did expect her to cross Julien, I didn't expect her to cross Luna and all her hard work, that was dirty but you moving the story and shit so what can I say? I don't think Monet will go for the crown but I could see her finding someone to prop up. I want more of her parents, maybe she has a very bad relationship with her mom? Also, sis, Julien is right, you can't keep jumping clients when they want to change and do up their image. No sis, no. (And you almost tanked Julien's career soooooooooooo)

AUDREY: SIS U WERE SINKING. Okay, so Audrey isn't a character I feel that connected too. She's bitchy, a little less than Lunet but still. So, I have a hard time caring but objectively, you should break up with Aki. You know him by now and maybe it's comfort or you really want to have something. It's okay, break up with him because he's a friend and not the boyfriend you need. You want someone who will let you vent, not solve. Not see. Go live with Julien. The fight with your mom is understandable (And realize that forcing people on her won't work.) because you shouldn't have to be the back bone of the family. The dad line was a low blow, the airport thing was a low blow but you're a teenage girl and what can I say? Nothing, just don't become the woman you hate even though parents are the models. That being said, if I had seen her interacting with her dad more, the line wouldn't have been as low. But I can't tell that he loves her, we don't even get a phone conversation. Do better writers. And I think at the party, she got a chance to see how her mom felt. I don't know what happened to move but I think it has something to do with her meds. Audrey, be a boss. Break up, tell him that ya'll are better as friends because it won't go has bad as you think it will. Move in with Julien (I just want to see it happen.)

ZOYA: I don't even have much to say. My sis was popping off this episode. I got sass, I got questioning her relationship with Obie. Yes, talk about how you feel about him with the girls and go girl stuff. I really felt her when she said she wanted her own friend, writers please give her, her own friends. PLEASE. I'M BEGGING. Simon, you dirty dog. I'm glad Obie got it out but he could've said something to her. I'm sick. I'm more upset that he wasn't a new friend or a love interest. Just ugh. But I liked Zoya this episode, she could worry about normal teenage stuff for the most part without having to worry about being attacked by Monet and Luna.

LUNA: MY GOOD SIS. Just like I didn't expect Monet to turn on her, I didn't expect her to not stand by Monet. I know she was enjoying the Zoya vibe and thought it was cute, she was becoming a bit more friendly sure but I wow, yas. Go off girl. I want to see more of fashion stylist Luna, a Luna sponsored fashion show where Aki models and drama happens? I'd be here for it, I am here for it.

MAX: I was ready to box. Listen. I was ready to fight this point as much as I felt for him. So, the feeling for him. He honestly, believes that Rafa is good for him. And he was catching feelings? He thought Rafa needed him in his life because he had no family, he also has no family in a sense to him at least. So, he's really caught up in this man. And I feel so bad that he said he's sober when he's with him or something along those lines. That's heartbreaking. I'm glad that talk in the end pulled him out of it, I'm glad he realized that he had a hand to play in his friends not wanting to be around him or deal with him. I'm glad he followed them and was in on the hug. Wonderful. Now my dude, you do not deserve Aki, not as a romantic partner or a friend. My boy was seriously worried, and you blew down on him WHILE using a nickname for his nickname....sick. I was ready to throw hands, like. My spirit was not right. That was so low. I keep seeing people say that because Max wasn't in a relationship, Audrey shouldn't feel some type of way and Aki is just letting his hurt roll off because he's worried but while you didn't have a duty in the relationship, you had a duty as a friend, to both of them. You ghost for a week and say nothing, no talking about the blow up or the outing and you running with this little stanky thing, you try to ease back into the group, no. And you still don't deserve Aki's time. Like. My dude did not hit you up after the kiss, he was not checking for you on that dating app, he was interested in other mens, you sat between the couple. Okay. He had been checking on you from jump. Just no. I'm sick of the shit. Never step to my boy like that again.

AKI: MY boy. Lemme get this out the way. You need to listen, not solve or give perspective. Like, she doesn't need it. I get your friends in danger but express how serious you think this is to her. I get that a long-distance relationship might not bother you and you think things will work out because there are bigger problems but talk to her. Re-assure her. Or break up with her her. As I said before, ya'll will not hate each other if you break up. And learn to just, even, pretend or something but you struggle in this aspect. Do better. That being said, Aki, episode MVP. He said, something is off, take him down. My perfect himbo man, said not my watch. And listen, you can't be as pushy because people don't respond but I'm glad you were on it. You knew. You said, I'mma run up on this man and you did. Yes. That being said, stand up for yourself, this boy does not deserve your energy. I get it. You might have a crush, this is bestie but bestie has not been treating you right for a while. And this was a new love. You're too loving, let some of that going at Rafa energy pop out around the friend group. But you a king and you care so much, just re-focus for now. Find you a cute lil thang and make the boy jelly. I need this resolved before I can accept anything canon, fanfics is where I'll be. But overall, Aki was making moves, you gotta learn something from the right wing media mogul.

GROUP: I finally feel like I talk about them as a whole. I wish they would've shown the others being upset by Max's ghosting because ya'll acting lowkey outta pocket and I didn't see anyone but Audrey and Aki check for this boy. Like, do you really care? But he fit into the group hug at the end. I know Monet saw a rising star in Zoya at the bar place, you make this a powerful DUO. YOU KNOW YOU WERE FEELING HER. Luna and Monet roll their eyes Audrey but ya'll bet not play like the three of ya'll don't enjoy gossip, fashion, talking about people and lowkey making fun of Zoya's newbie-ness together. Honestly, I'm happy we got more group interactions and little moments, I can start to kind of see how they were friends for a while even if all of them aren't close.

Random Thoughts:

how was your son missing for two weeks on and off and there isn't more panic, you different but oh no heartbreak

aki is so loving towards everyone's parents, i love it

i also love that he assumed max was with aki

audrey as the child as it worse but her kiki's acting makes me feel for her more lol

the two girls were a bit of fun, i'd like to see monet take them down or build them up for fun

"i'm chuck bass" + the lil pull was great

i feel like max was already thinking about them becoming more when he mentioned audrey pushing him out but i'll take crumbs so he was probs just thinking about sex or the group as a whole

kate get out of nick's life, nick keep her out

zoya stop talking to that woman

jordan eww no, you can have kate

i'll ship obie and aki to get aki with someone that likes him and loves him, they talk, they have do something, i'll take it, whatever

i want throuple and i want akimax but not like this, i can't take the threesome scene unless max say's sorry and aki ducks him for half the episode if it's not that, i don't want it

maybe it's the start of a dream and it ends

(i do really want the ship but i don't trust the writers or the characters)

SIMON, I WAS ROOTING FOR YOU

who or what was max suppose to be?

why am i getting teachers and not family, i've seen jordan just one too many times

rafa prison

obie had shit to do this episode, use the money, i wanna see it

when will a student or random party gain control of gossip girl, give me that

rafa prison

i also think i’m a horrible person because i care more about stopping rafa than audrey’s home life so i was rooting for aki

overall, solid episode, maybe the footing has been found? i'm here for it and ep 6 looks like it's about to pop off

[plutoswrath]

i’m jealous of your big heart when it comes to animals lmao. i’m arachnophobic and it can be so annoying to have sometimes. i haven’t been able to tie it back to astrology, as much as i would like to. i asked because i was wondering if there was a clear indicator based off certain placements like how 6th house rules animals, 6th is ruled by mercury so i jumbled them even though i probs shouldn’t have lol. and with venus it ties to personal taste so i wondered if it could indicate a liking towards a certain animal. i have sag and sag venus in 6th and embarrassingly enough, i was obsessed with horses. like i came out of the womb adoring them. as soon as i learned to talk i was a walking horse encyclopedia. my obsession died down. i’m not a horse girl, i swear on my life.

i agree with you about the cancer loving animals. animals are babies and momma cancer loves to nurture the babies. i feel like cancers are the most likely to hate the “are you a dog or cat person” question. they’d get offended because how dare someone assume their heart isn’t big enough for both. more than both, really. throw a turtle in there. a rabbit even. cancer asc peeps usually have a shit ton of animals. it’s probably the sag/abundance in the 6th. or they either own a horse or Great Dane. but this is off topic because i forgot i had a follow up question.

if you could tie an animal or a couple animals to each sign that you think best represents that sign? or just seems like one they’d like? some are so easy and others just leave me blank. my arachnophobia thinks scorpio’s deserve better than scorpions but my terror blinds me. but i was looking up the symbolism behind animals and tying them to signs. so far, i’ve concluded that while horses should go with sag, their highly intuitive and empathetic animals. their behavior is like a mirror so if you’re nervous, they are too. so pisces or cancer actually seems to be a better fit. and to stay on topic of cancer with animals, i always tie wolves and dogs in general to cancer. the wolves are tied to the moon and familial dynamics and also i think they’re a great symbolic opposition to leo and how leos tend to resemble cats. sun and moon, dog and cat, night and day, that sort of thing. i realized i’ve rambled but i’m looking forward to your opinion because i’m so lost on what other signs would have. it’s been a year old question in my brain and it’s time for help from the master.

I'm sorry to hear that, I'm had a friend once who was arachnophobic and having phobias like these is really no fun, I can't imagine what it feels like really having them. And omg don't feel bad for liking horses when you were a child, literally so many children, especially young girls, like horses simply because people decided horses where a 'teenage girls only' thing somehow?? (and I will have to dig deeper into this at a point because here where I come from the horse girl thing is soooo painfully real and I want to understand the phenomena). And if I'm not mistake, arachnophobia (like most types of phobias), stem from some kind of trauma right? I absolutely don't try to get to personal but if we look at phobias in that way, maybe it's good to also include looking at planets/asteroids that point to trauma or aspects that can represent/indicate traumatic experiences in that sense! And I agree wholeheartedly to the 'dog or cat' question, I don't get offended by it but I hate this question in general because every animal deserves my love and empathy adfghj and yes, mother feelings definitely play into this haha! I think cancers enjoy (to an extent) having that occasional (or constant) outlet for their nurturing side and the bound you have to animals is also very intuitive and requires a lot of patience and getting educated as well as being observant and reading between the lines somehow and all that dedication paired with emotional knowledge just really speaks to water signs in general (and animals don't judge openly with words, just your energy asdfgh) Uhh, I like the question regarding the animals and I agree with your takes on it so far!! I think one animal can not represent all the core traits of a sign alltogether, but I'll try my best here! and psdfghj no need to call me master because I'm literally so far from anything close to that but thank you so much still, I feel honored really!!

The Signs as Animals:

Disclaimer: some of them are inspired by my ‘the Wild Unknown Animal Spirit’ tarot deck.

Aries: House cat. I know, I always thought cats actually link pretty well to Aries! Cats are just the perfect mixture of intelligen and curious, reserved, stubborn, aggressive, senstive as well as playful/impulsive! They are quick to learn and not afraid to face off against any other, bigger animals, but also can live pretty well together with other pets in the house, as long as they don‘t bother them too much. Especially when it comes to intimacy/pda they are very picky, but forceful when demand it. Seem flexible and unbothered at first but actually have the firmest boundaries when it comes to their personal freedom. Will let you believe they need you but give it a few weeks and the neighbor has better treats than you and gone they are asdfgh, but it's actually a harmful stereotype to believe that cats don't need you because they can become extremely fond of you and grow very attached.

Taurus: Elk. Based on the interpretation of my tarot deck. The elk represents earth energy, it is grounded, is established in itself and knows their core values and acts according to them. They show consistency, coherence and care. Dedicated to who they love and what they care for. Can become narrow minded due to knowing what's best, based on their perception of what's right and necessary, which can effect their ego negatively. Very Taurus for me. Gemini: Dragonfly. I refer to the interpretation of the Dragonfly based on my tarot deck. The dragonfly represents the mind: everchanging, quick, fascinating, a reflection of the world inside us and aroudn us. As the dragonfly is very quick (refering to Mercury's fast and nervous energy) the dragonfly also calles for paying attention to what quality our mind has and to become mindful, because on first glance things always appear different tahn on first glance (Mercury floats between detail-oriented and paying attenetion and being too fast, impatient). The dragonfly is joy and magic, as well as impatience, restlessness and being unable to concentrate. Cancer: Killer Whales (but also whales in general)! I thought especially about Killer Whales, because I once watched a documentary on them and they went in depth about how they have different cultures and different languages even (if I remember correctly) in their familys. Cancer often gets associated with the home life, but I think I wanted to look at it from another perspective, as in how does family 'become' family and how do those family roots develope, what do they consist of, how do we define family and what holds it together (and especially: how do our roots shape our own emotional patterns and nature in life?). I think the mystery of the Killer Whales but the whole complexity that lies behind the fascination of how these animals function and also how deeply affected Killer Whales are by their emotions/when they are absent from their kin, just opens up another big question of family dynamics and how we relate to one another and how principles we always condoned to human beings now apply to animals too. I think the whole part about the Killer Whales relation to emotions and their family's cultures just really made me link them to Cancer. Leo: Otter. I refer o the meaning of teh Otter based on my tarot deck. The Otter resembles the energy of the inner child: it's pure bliss, playfulness, they love to live and live for life itself, and out of this eagerness to enjoy life comes also a contentment and completeness towards life itself. To reconnect with otter energy, it is advised to step into settings of celebration, or total creative self expression and from the outside looking 'unproductive/selfish' indulgence. But actually, this energy is what makes life so enjoyable in the first place.

Virgo: Octopus. Highly intelligent beings that can quickly adapt and take the initiative. Self sufficient by nature, they aren't aggressive unless provoked, they like to mind their business unless they get curious (then they cling heavy onto you because you are their new object of interest). They can change color if it's needed (Virgo is a mutuable sign and can blend in perfectly in social occasions/new situations) and tbh the inking part about octopus just reminds me of the fact that most Virgos have a really quirky side to them you only get to see when you annoy them long enough (aka you are a long term friend). Libra: Gazelle. I refer to the meaning of ten Gazelle based on my tarot deck. The gazelle combines the creation of beauty and harmony, creativity and hyper awareness of it's surroundings, very affected of the imbalances in it's environment, but in it's try to remain this beauty around them, they tend to forget their achievments and stay in the present with their thoughts, as they constantly wheigh out the 'what if's'. A very perceptive animal in the tarot deck and this attribute is equally it's strong suit and downfall. Scorpio: Tiger. I refer here to the meaning of the Tiger based on my tarot deck. Waits in stillness and darkness to reconnect to their own inner power. Healing in isolation with the help of the lunar forces, waiting to regenerate. The Tiger energy shows itself in being passionate, sensual and stepping into ones own power, recognizing ones strength. For me, this is very Scorpio (Moon) for me. When the Tiger in unbalanced, it becomes overstimulated and acts according to this hyperawareness. Sagittarius: Zebra. I refer here to the meaning of the Zebra based on my tarot deck. The Zebra stands for an open mind, visionary and eccentric, new thinking, as well as being young at heart and expansion. I personally connect horses with passion and drive, because they are truly powerhouses. Based on the meaning of my tarit deck, the Zebra also is sociable, at least people find themselves drawn to the energy of the Zebra because it triggers their desire to learn, and I think this is something very beautiful Sagittarius symbolizes when they come into your life: be prepared to broaden your horizon for more. 

Capricorn: Camel. I refer to the meaning of the Camel based on my tarot deck. Camels here represent absolute dependence on self and being able to find the answer to problems in oneself. This self reliance and capability reminds me of capricorns, the camel is finding the 'cool' aka water inside of them and Capricorn is traditionally also symbolized as the sea-goat (which I seriously think should really be considered when anaylzing this archetype) and Capricorns have (imo at least) a rich emotional life, but it's just deeply locked within. The Camel represents showing responsibility for their own actions, regulating the self and circumstances around them as best as they can, which makes sense for Capricorns, ruled by Saturn they usually are confronted with task in their life. If the Camel energy is out of balance, it shows a lack of vitality, with Capricorn representing the senior age in life makes sense, especially since Capricorns can tend to feel very old (exhausted)- Aquarius: Platypus- and no, I’m not using the Platypus because ‚wow all Aquarius are so weird like straight up aliens 🤪🤪’ I think the platypus is a good representation because it makes us question what we’ve known so far about animals and Aquarius too is a sign that introduces us to new ideas and perspectives all in the favor of progress and considering alternatives, leaving the status quo. Pisces:  Raven/Crow. I name these two in particular because as far as I know it’s only the ravens that have been documented intimating people’s voices and tones, but crows are definitely more known for their bright mind. For me people often forget Pisces mutable nature and how quick witted they actually are. These birds are hyper intelligent and their observational skills are truly amazing. In my Wild Uknown Animal Spirit deck, the crow is an animal carrying 3rd eye energy. Here, the view is clear, the crow is moving through different dimensions and sees what other’s cant. For and the emotional depth (void) Pisces is conencted to it just seem to make sense. 

[cashdiamondsgold]

S*x Secrets of An American Geisha  - Notes!

A summary from the book, as titled above. 

Men are visual and love beauty in a woman. Men are sexual and love sexiness in a woman. Men are masculine and love femininity in a woman. By making yourself beautiful, sexy, and feminine for potential Good Men, you are only “being submissive” or “surrendering” to the realities of men and women and to what can help you attract those Good Men to you.

Geisha Consciousness

Geisha has mastered the art of using all aspects of her femininity to attract, satisfy, and keep her men happy with her so that they will take advantage of her services again in the future. She is, as it were, building a satisfied clientele and a successful long-term business.

The Asian Geisha knows that her man is a simple creature who cannot be legislated into treating her well, but rather must be inspired by her personal ity, kindness, beauty, and sexy femininity to treat her well, both sexually and in all other aspects of relationship, love, and marriage.

Your differences from a man are what attract him to you. Your female characteristics exert a strong pull on his male characteristics as he experiences a gravitational attraction to you and all you represent of the feminine

The Asian Geisha knows that she should do all she can to make her man feel more masculine, more of a man. She knows that she wants to be as feminine to him as she can be.

The secret for both the Asian Geisha and the American Geisha is to display her femininity in a classy manner.

The Asian Geisha’s secret is that she knows that a man’s ego and sense of himself depend in large measure on both his feeling masculine and being seen as such by his woman. The Asian Geisha strokes the man’s ego in many ways, both to sat isfy him at the moment and to encourage him to purchase her business ser vices again in the future.

The Power of Geisha Femininity

Become attractive to a man and to let him pursue you

To attract, sat sfy, and keep your Good Man, be so beautiful, sexy, and feminine that you bring out the best aspects of his masculinity. Make him feel good about himself as a man. Do that, and he’ll never leave you.

The Western or American man is attracted to (or at least notices and appreciates) any fit, well-groomed woman who plays up her uniquely beau tiful characteristics and expresses her inherent femininity.

Geisha never lets her clients or potential clients see her when she is not at her most beautiful and feminine.

The Asian Geisha works consciously at always becoming more beautiful, more sexy, and more feminine, even if only by implementing the tiniest of changes. She makes enhancing her appearance and mannerisms a high prior ity so that she may continue to be thought of as attractive by her male clients and thus remain in demand for her companionship services. Since she is in the business of being a geisha, we can look at her efforts as similar to those of an entrepreneur wanting to make a conscious effort to maintain and to improve the quality of her product, which is herself, so as to main tain her clients’satisfaction and their loyalty to her.

the research of David M. Buss, as reported in his 1994 book, The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating, suggests that men are attracted to youthfulness or the look of youthfulness in women and to healthy-looking women. Specific elements of a woman’s appearance that were found particularly attractive included full lips; clear, smooth skin; clear eyes; shiny, full hair; good muscle tone; a bouncy, youth ful walk; an animated face; and a high energy level. As to body type, men did not tend to prefer very thin women, though men were conscious of wanting to obtain a high-status, attractive wife, because such a wife in creases a man’s standing.

You need to be at your best and most attractive nearly always,

The Asian Geisha sets a perfect example of passively, femininely attracting, rather than aggressively pursuing, men in her business life. She never calls her customers, never initiates getting together, never pays for a meal or buys a gift. These are all masculine actions. The Asian Geisha is the absolute embodiment of the spirit of femininity. She readies herself. Then she waits. She has a confidence that she has prepared herself so well that gentlemen will seek out her company, her mere presence in their lives. The Asian Geisha relaxes, waits, and is receptive to the masculine energy that initiates, pursues, hunts, and makes things happen.

Become more fashion conscious Whatever the label might say, your goal with your clothes is to high light your best physical attributes . Finally, remember this basic: Dress with a sense of class.

remember not to separate beauty, femininity, and sexiness. Instead, let’s mix your three part Geisha Attractiveness with classiness and see how you can set yourself apart from the competition. I’ll use just one example from that last long list of what respondents found sexy and feminine: “Her clothing slightly reveals some of her body.” When you dress this way, you will be perceived as being sexy, feminine, and beautiful; all three aspects of your Geisha Attractiveness will be on display.

Make Your Good Man Feel Like More of a Man

The Asian Geisha is a beautiful actress, speaking lines from a script that she has developed for the very purpose of making her client feel good about himself. She knows that a convincing, ego-building performance with her client will likely result in his future business

You will build your Good Man’s ego and sense of himself as a man through your sincere affection, not through the calculation of customer satisfaction.

Yes, even when he is not there, give him full credit for making you come. His flesh always gets full credit. When he calls  somehow the conversation comes around to the fact that you masturbated the night before. I suggest to you, dear Younger Sister, that the following (or something similar) is what happened last night and is how you tell your Good Man about it: “I miss you so much, baby. I miss your cock in me. I got so horny for your fingers on my G-spot. I thought of us making love all day, your tongue on my clitoris. So I took a nice, warm bath and put on one of your favorite silk teddies and used Mister Big to help me. I imagined your tongue all over me and your cock pounding to the back of my vagina, your arms holding me so tightly, our lips crushed against each other’s. And I came so nicely. And then I fell asleep in heaven. Thank you, baby. I love you. Come home soon. You make me feel so good.”

You Love His Cock Like No One Ever Has

Here’s the true test of your love for your Good Man’s cock. At some point after you have responded so excitedly and orgasmically to his cock, after you have so often expressed how much you love and want his cock, after you have created a shrine to his cock, he will say to you these exact words (I promise, with no doubt at all in my mind): “No one has ever loved my cock as much as you do.” It will be true, too; no one ever has

If you do love what his cock does for you, scream with ecstasy when you come on his cock (or fingers or tongue), but also tell him with words that you love his cock (or fingers or tongue), and tell him often.

your first thought upon being asked by your Good Man to make love should be, with full enthusiasm, “Yes.” Go for it. Truly be enthusiastic. In fact, a Good Man only wants to make love with you when you are truly enthusiastic. Again, try to have a sincere enthusiasm when he wants to make love with you. He, his ego, and his cock can all sense when you are not enthusiastic. And they take it badly and personally when you are not really into making love with the three of them. Show real enthusiasm whenever you make love with your Good Man.

You become more and more of an American Geisha when, instead of refusing and rejecting your man, you take the following steps in a positive, loving manner: 1. Say, “I’d love to make love with you, but (give your reason).” 2. Propose a date (not too far in future). 3. Add something special (sometimes). 4. Ask, “Is that okay?”

-- source https://g.co/kgs/CUVsRn #Femininity #levelUp #SB #SW #booksummary

[rosesloveletters]

Self-Shipping Reference.

I have been debating on creating a self-shipping reference for these two, but since I am certain of our dynamic at this point, I wanted to delve right in; I love Will and Jakob so very much and I wanted to create a little collection of our relationship like I’ve done before in the past. Most of all, this is for me so that I can have it as a reference, so there is absolutely no obligation to interact with this post. If you do, thank you for showing us so much love and care, I really appreciate it more than anything. This community is so welcoming of self-shipping and that means a lot to me<3.

last updated: June 17, 2021

please do not read if you are not interested in or comfortable with self-shipping.

word count: 2,908

Ship name?

Our collective ship name is Grimmrose, for obvious reasons (my poly heart can hardly take it😭✨💛) 

I do not feel I should need to say this (as it should already be implied), but since I do not want angry anons in my ask box about this, I will state: Will and Jakob are not romantically involved in our dynamic; the love they have for each other is familial only. They both share me, but that is as far as it goes. There is absolutely no incestuous aspects of our relationship. 

Date you got together?

Jakob: May 26, 2021. The open honesty and security within our vulnerabilities were what prompted Jakob and I to jump in headfirst. We knew how we felt almost immediately; Jakob believes in love at first sight and I value that sentiment. It was a mutual understanding that the two of us were meant to be together (even if I hadn’t already known, the darling would have convinced me - he is extremely persuasive and given to a dreamer’s mindset.) The two of us easily came to an agreement on beginning a relationship because of how similar we have found ourselves to be. It was not difficult to access what each other was thinking and how we chose to approach those thoughts and feelings. Jakob is driven by those, after all, and his bright spirit and general interest in the things that cannot be so easily explained drew me to him. 

Will: 

Platonic:  May 26, 2021.

 Romantic: June 14, 2021. 

Will was, to my surprise, not as difficult to access as I expected. He has a much different personality to Jakob’s; the two are near opposite ends of the spectrum. Will’s mission has been to protect Jakob, mostly from himself, but Jakob does not understand that the reason Will is so hard on him is because Will feels helpless around him. Jakob’s mind is so bright and open, while Will does not understand how to compete with that nor how to understand or fit into Jakob’s world of folklore and mythical, magical beings. He feels weak in comparison to Jakob’s spirit; Will values my ability to cross those lines and connect with both him and Jakob. Will has never known another to be so well-suited for his brother and he is respectful of how we interact, since until now he has been the only one who has been able to reach Jakob. We were platonic for several weeks out of respect for Jakob, but soon entered into a mutual agreement to share the love that we all have for each other; the brothers agreed to share me since they have both developed such strong feelings. 

Favorite personality trait?

Jakob: His sense of security within vulnerabilities. Jakob is more given to childlike excitement and the thrill of action whenever it is of a magical quality. He fidgets, has a distinct nervous energy/uncomfortable body language, a clear mind but one that fancies fiction over reality. Whenever he drinks, he’s giddy and excited; the only one who can get through to him in these moments are Will and I. The thing is, Jakob has never tried to be anybody but himself. He is aware that these qualities are not valued by the vast majority and are perhaps seen as weaknesses or even are simply frowned upon (much of this he experienced as a result of the way Will treated him over the years), but even all of that has never caused his personality to shift or made him close himself off. Jakob has always found security within who he is, regardless of whether those around like it or not.

Will: His protective commitment to those who he loves. Even though Will canonically admitted his frustrations over Jakob and how he “hates” his younger bother, stating how Jakob “drives him mad”, he is fiercely protective of him and committed to maintaining their relationship in spite of any disagreements or arguments. Will does not give up on those he loves. Even though it would have made sense for him to toss Jakob into the streets and leave him if he truly hates him, but Will does not. Despite his confession, he has never actually hated his brother; Jakob makes him feel weak, helpless and inferior because Jakob’s comprehension of things beyond Will’s understanding or compulsion to understand or look beyond what is right in front of him is too different and unusual to him. 

Favorite physical trait?

Jakob: His eyes. Jakob’s eyes are so expressive; they sparkle in the light and his irises twinkle. His soul appears as if it were made from stardust and every bit of him glows. His eyes reflect the innocence and playful mischief bound within him; he is a dreamer at heart and his eyes mirror that. 

Will: His smile. There is a scene when Jakob and Will first arrive at Marbaden and they are confronted by the townspeople with weapons, uncertain of who these two strangers are, and when Will tries to explain who they are his smile is simply dazzling. I believe that was the moment I found myself in love with him; I have not seen a smile so bright in a long time. Here’s a screenshot of his smile (Jakob’s expression in the background is so funny😂):

Couple song

We do not have a couple song yet; we have couple albums. 

Taylor Swift’s albums Folklore and Evermore are sister albums, so it only makes sense that they are representative of the two brothers respectively: Folklore for Jakob and Evermore for Will. 

Both albums are suited to the three of us; the feelings provoked from both establish the tone of our relationship. 

Pet peeves…

There is only one: their constant bickering/arguing and fights. It is natural for siblings to fight, but the longer I spend with these two, the more consistently they seem to fight in front of me. I do not believe the fighting affects their relationship as perhaps it did in the past; they seem very content, even after they’ve been fighting a while, and neither of them holds a grudge anymore. 

Favorite outfit on them?

I will share photos since it would take some time to explain in enough detail; I am a sucker for older/medieval clothing (perhaps this is why this movie spoke to me in such a way?)

These are my favorite outfits of theirs:

their armor is a close second, because it really makes me laugh:

Favorite meal?

Jakob: This bit is indicative of all of us and I was the one who introduced the brothers to this meal - vegetable soup; beef/broth, noodles, peas, carrots, tomatoes, corn, green beans, potatoes. The brothers are used to eating whatever is being served them at the pubs they visit and the inns at each town they stay and, needless to say, are not often prepared a meal especially one to their specific tastes. The first time I made this for them, they ate heartily and it has been their favorite since. 

Will: This is less of a specific meal and more of a eating habit of his, but Will is partial to sweet treats and desserts of all kind. His favorite treat is soft bread with a sticky, sugary glaze (wait until I tell him about glazed donuts😂) 

Early bird or night owl?

Neither of the Grimms are particularly one or the other. They both have been known to stay awake all hours of the night for one reason or another; Jakob stays up writing most nights when brand new ideas flood his mind and prevent sleep. He works whenever inspiration strikes and if that is the middle of the night, then Will or I will find him hunched over his desk, pen scratching away across the page as he squints to read what he has written under the low candlelight. 

Will stays awake late born out of a habit he has yet to change. He does not like to sleep very soundly until he knows that Jakob and I are either asleep or keeping each other company; Will takes responsibility of us quite seriously. Since we’ve begun a relationship, they do not go out as much as they once had and when we do, they are awake nearly the entire night and whenever they crash, they are both out cold. 

If I wake up throughout the night, Jakob sleeps so soundly that he would not know (he wears earplugs if we’re staying at an inn because the noise bothers him.) Will always wakes up whenever I do; the shifting around wakes him, but he does not usually open his eyes or speak to me until I come back to bed and he settles me back into my spot. 

Snorer or sleep talker?

Jakob: SLEEP TALKER! Jakob talks in his sleep nearly every night, most especially if he has had something to drink beforehand or if Will has gotten under his skin about something. Stress/anxiety also trigger it; I don’t hear him often, because he only does it in a deep sleep which is usually whenever I’ve already fallen asleep. 

Will: Will does not snore or talk in his sleep; he is unusually quiet, however, he will groan or mumble softly if he’s turning over or something like that. He does not move a lot when he’s sleeping either. 

Do you have any pets together?

No, our lifestyle is not suited to pets, unless horses used for transportation count. 

Pet names! (Both from them and yours for them)

Will’s for me: little one/little girl, peanut

Jakob’s for me: sweetheart, darling, lover

Mine for Jakob: Jakey, Beanstalk (turning Will’s mean comments into something sweet💕), Dreamer, Sweetie/Sweet One/Sweet Baby

Mine for Will: Blondie, Prince Charming (only in certain scenarios)

Ones Jakob and Will use collectively for me: Briar Rose, Rosebud, Unicorn, Beauty/Belle (a play off my favorite fairytale), Princess

Ones I use collectively for Jakob & Will: Grimmy

How often do you fight? What starts fights?

I have yet to have any fights with either of the brothers (though I have had mild disagreements with Will over the way he speaks to Jakob.)

Jakob and Will fight often and about everything, but more often than not, the source of the argument is their personality difference. Their interests clash significantly and they find it difficult to coexist at times because Will feels he must fill the role of Jakob’s caretaker, while Jakob simply wants Will to be his brother and believe in him. 

I usually do not get involved in their squabbles unless Will speaks out of turn. He can be somewhat hateful in the remarks he makes to his brother and I am not afraid to set the record straight. Jakob has gotten much better at standing up for himself; he is not afraid to get physical if things escalate to that point, though I have yet to see them lay a hand on each other. Jakob knows that one swift punch is all that he needs to deliver for Will to fall in line and understand that he is serious; he saves them for when he needs them and has only punched Will outright one time, that I am aware of. 

Who apologizes first?

This depends on who feels they are “wrong”. Will does not like to apologize, so usually it is Jakob who initiates the apology. Occasionally, neither will apologize and it is implied that they both have and things will continue on like normal as if nothing ever happened (this is best case scenario.) 

I have not known them to simply not apologize to each other for wrongdoing; Will has apologized to Jakob on a number of occasions where I have been present. If Will apologizes, it is usually for speaking too harshly to Jakob or bringing up the “magic beans” he has terrorized Jakob with for years. 

Big spoon or little spoon?

Jakob: Jakob adores being the little spoon. Even though he likes to hold onto me at night, nothing seems to compare to being held. Jakob has gone the majority of his life without being shown affection and tender love; he is so touch-starved that he asks to be held almost every night. 

Will: Will is the only F/O (aside from J) who I allow to be the big spoon on a regular basis. I trust him implicitly and know that he will keep me safe; he likes to hold onto me while we sleep so that he knows and can feel he isn’t alone. He does not like to sleep whenever it is too cold and he wants a warm body pressed against him. 

Dom or sub?

Jakob: Submissive.

Will: Dominant.

Will has had his misgivings over Jakob and I, both being submissives, entering into a relationship together, but it has not presented an issue so far. Most of the time, Jakob and I love all over each other so it doesn’t matter one way or another😂 It is rare for Jakob and I to be sexually intimate. 

Will takes on the more dominant role, since he has been so with Jakob over the years of their lives before they’d met me. Will is the nurturer and takes care of us both; he remains protective of us despite certain insecurities and fears. Will takes on more of the sexual responsibilities of their relationship with me because of his experience with women.

What are their kisses like?

Jakob: Jakob’s kisses begin as achingly shy, reverential ones that develop into slowly sensual, spontaneous or exploratory ones. Jakob likes to hold my hands when we kiss and I like the way his facial hair pleasantly scratches my face; he is always extremely gentle and never oversteps. I especially love when he kisses me with such eager impulsivity that our cheeks turn red and we laugh when it’s over. 

Will: Will’s kisses can either be covetous and greedy, fervent, and deeply passionate or chaste and flirtatious. He always cups my cheeks, chin or tangles his fingers in my hair at the back of my head while kissing me; his lips often taste sweet or sugary from how often he indulges on sweets. My favorite of Will’s kisses are the languid, open-mouthed ones when he uses his tongue. 

What do they smell like?

Jakob: Parchment, books and ink, candlewax, earth just after it has rained, sweet basil, a vaguely sweet musk, warm skin.

Will: Warm sugar, sweat/spicy musk, pine, flame. 

What are their hugs like?

Jakob: Bear-like, full-bodied, fiercely affectionate and warm. 

Will: Long, tight, unexpectedly powerful and almost needy. 

Who is more protective?

Will. 

Both brothers are fiercely protective of me and I know that, in spite of their differences, neither would ever let anything happen to me. As long as they are facing danger together, they would willingly take on any enemy (Jakob would never let Will face danger alone and vice versa.)

Interested in children?

No. Will says that Jakob and I are enough like children as it stands😂

Who needs the most TLC when sick?

Will AND Jakob. They are both huge babies whenever they are sick and all they want is to be taken care of. Surprisingly, they bicker a lot more whenever they’re sick; mainly, they fight over who gets to cuddle me first.

Whenever I am sick, I tend to react the same way and the brothers are more than obliged to take care of me in any way they are able. Will takes the more ‘hands-on’ work like fetching me a drink, food, blankets, etc. and helping me move about as I need. Jakob does not like to leave my side and he will not do so unless instructed by Will and he will fetch me whatever is needed and then return to cuddle with me. 

Who says ‘I love you’ first?

I was the first one to say ‘I love you’ to either of the brothers. I told Jakob first; we nearly admitted it at the same time. We knew how we both felt upon the first of our meetings. 

It took me a while to say ‘I love you’ to Will. Our relationship began platonically; I did not feel comfortable saying so to him until I spoke with Jakob about it first. Intuitive of human emotions is he and he was already well-aware of how we felt about each other and, with his blessing and consent, the brothers agreed to share the love and, well, me. 

Which of you is more accident prone?

I bet you’re thinking either me or Jakob. WRONG! It’s Will. Jakob and I are very steady on our feet because we are full of rambunctious energy; Will is more laid back than either of us and he gets more indignant whenever he does accidentally hurt himself. 

Bed hog?

Jakob is more of a bed hog than Will or I. He is consistently moving around in his sleep, talking, etc. There is one unspoken rule: Jakob sleeps on the left side of the mattress, I am in the middle and Will is on the right. Both use me as a barrier and do not cross to the other’s side of the bed at any point and they each take turns cuddling with me until we all fall asleep. 

Who loves the other the most?

As if it even needs to be said, we all love each other equally, but in different ways. Jakob’s and Will’s relationship and love for each other is strictly familial, while the brothers’ relationships with me are both romantic. 

Will understands and accepts that my relationship with Jakob takes priority, as we began ours first and I am unspokenly Jakob’s above all else. Any and all major decisions are made between Jakob and I; we of course always consider Will’s emotions, well-being, etc. but Jakob prefers to take the reins in terms of calling the shots, in spite of Will being the dominant and more protective one. He feels like Will owes him this and Will is happy to allow his brother this courtesy, considering this is Jakob’s first true relationship. 

[hb-pickle]

Frozen 2: Dangerous Secrets Review Essay

Why Sensitivity Readers Are Always Necessary

Before I start, I would like to make it very clear that this review only critiques the aspects of colonialism and representation in Frozen 2: Dangerous Secrets. I will not be discussing the romance, side characters or anything else like that. Also, I would like to make it very clear that none of this review is meant to personally attack or berate the author @marimancusi . I firmly believe that none of the cultural insensitivities in her book were intentional, but were simply the result of a non-indigenous, white author writing about experiences she could not personally relate to. My only goals for writing this review is to show the author how her book unintentionally perpetuated many harmful and outdated ideas about racism and colonialism, and to convince her and Disney to contact and hire sensitivity readers before they create content about vulnerable racial/ethnic groups. 

I would also like to state that I am an African American woman and not indigienous, so I have personal experiences with racism and colonialism towards black people, but not towards indigenous communities. So if any indigenous people see problems or inaccuracies with my review, I would be happy to listen and put your voice first.

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To summarize quickly (with full context), Frozen 2: Dangerous Secrets is about Iduna, a young indigenous Northuldra girl (oppressed racial/ethnic minority) who was suddenly and violently separated from her home and family when her people were betrayed and attacked by the Arendellians (colonizing class). As a result of the massacre battle between the two groups, Iduna is permanently separated from her home (caused by a magical and impenetrable mist) and forced to spend the rest of her days in the kingdom of Arendelle, where she lives in almost constant fear of being exposed as a Northuldran (for the townsfolk are violently bigoted against them). Naturally, this book contains many many depictions of racial hatred and bigotry along with exploring the mindset and fears of a young girl dealing with the brunt of colonialism. Unfortunately, it tends to fumble the seriousness of these situations (out of ignorance or out of a desire to keep the book lighthearted/to center the romance plotline), which results in an overall detrimental message to the audience. The missteps I specifically want to unpack are as follows.

- (1/5) Severs Iduna’s connection to her culture before the story even begins (making us feel less empathetic for the Northuldra’s plight) 

I’m not 100% certain, but my understanding is that the purpose of making Iduna a double orphan was to make her more sympathetic and to give her a reason to save Agnarr’s life (to have compassion for a stranger, the same way her adoptive family did for her). In theory this is perfectly fine, quickly establishing that the audience should like Iduna is smart and so is rationalizing her most important, life changing decision. But in practice this only functions to distance Iduna from her culture and family and make the reader care less about the Northuldra. This is because it takes away Iduna’s chance to have a strong, palpable relationship with a specific Northuldra character, which would humanize their entire group (even if only in memory). The only Northuldra characters that Iduna mentions more than once is her mother and Yelena. Both of these characters are mentioned rarely, neither have a close relationship with Iduna (her mother dying 7 years before the events of the story), nor do either of them have any specific personality traits or lines of dialogue (Yelena has exactly one line and it is about knitting). The goal of a story about a child unjustly stolen from her home should be to explore why those acts of violence were so horrific. The very first step of exploring that is to humanize the victims. After all, why would a reader care about the injustices done to a group of people who barely exist? How are we, the readers, supposed to feel bad for Iduna and mourn her family like she does, if we barely know them?

We needed more of Iduna’s memories. We needed to learn about her friends, her family, her mother and Yelena. What were they really like? How did they love Iduna? What were their last words to her before she never saw them again? Didn’t Iduna care for them? Did she worry about their well being and miss their comforts? We need to hear about how she bonded with them, how they made her feel, how they made her laugh or cry. How they taught her to hunt, forage, and knit so that when we hear how the Arendellians speak of them, with such ignorance and contempt, we are as truly disgusted and offended as we should be. 

- (2/5) Equates Iduna and Agnarr’s suffering, aggressively downplaying the brutality of colonialism (even to the point of prioritizing Agnarr’s needs)

First things first, I understand that Dangerous Secrets is a modern day romance novel for older children/teens so an equal power balance between Agnarr and Iduna is preferred (which I agree with). But, this balance extends past the romance and personalities and into attempting to portray Agnarr and Iduna’s suffering as equal. This is best exemplified in these lines of internal dialogue by Iduna:

I did not deserve to be locked away from everyone I loved. But Agnarr did not deserve to die alone on the forest floor because he’d had a fight with his father. Whatever happened that day to anger the spirits and cause all of this, it was not his fault. Nor was it mine. And while we might be on different sides of this fight, we had both lost so much. Our friends. Our family. Our place in the world. In an odd way we were more alike than different. (Page 67)

All of this is technically true, up until the very last line about them being “more alike than different”. Agnarr and Iduna’s lives are nothing alike. Iduna is a poor, indigenous girl who had everyone she ever knew or loved either killed or permanently taken away from her, stolen from her home and forced to spend the rest of her life living in a foreign kingdom rife with people who actively, consistently threaten her safety. While Agnarr, on the other hand, is a white male member of the royal family, heir to the throne, and extremely wealthy. The novel doesn’t shy away from this (at least on Agnarr’s part), and doesn’t hesitate to show us that Agnarr is royalty and will never experience what Iduna has to endure. But it behaves like Agnarr’s relatively petty, temporary, and incomparable ills are just as heartbreaking as Iduna’s and focuses significantly more time and energy building up empathy for him and his woes. This extends from small things like the book asserting that the few times Agnarr needed to stay in his castle, to avoid political assasination was comparable to Iduna’s family being trapped in the mist (against their will for 30+ years); to more concerning issues like claiming Agnarr’s separation from his parent’s is just as distressing as Iduna’s separation from her entire people. Now fleshing out Agnarr and his relation to parents is a good thing, since it can provide crucial character motivation and make him more of a well rounded character. But when Agnarr’s suffering is presented as more relevant and worthwhile discussing than Iduna’s it, by extension, implies that the frustrations of an affluent life and being separated from parents that did not value you in the first place (Runeard and Rita) is somehow more or just as pressing as facing the brunt of the most violent and terrifying forms of colonialism. Agnarr’s story may be tragic, but it is nowhere near as horrific as Iduna’s and the book should acknowledge and reflect that.

- (3/5) Has a rudimentary understanding of racism and how if affects the people who perpetuate it

Dangerous Secrets’ understanding of racism (and how to deal with it) is summed up very concisely in a conversation between Lord Peterssen and young Prince Agnarr. Agnarr asks his senior why the Arendellian towns people are so obsessed with blaming magic and the spirits (magic and spirits being an allegory for real world characteristics that are unique to one culture or people) for all their problems, and the following exchange insues: 

“People will always need something to blame for their troubles”, he explained. “And magical spirits are an easy target-since they can’t exactly defend themselves… “So what do we do?” I asked. “We can’t very well fight against an imaginary force!” “No. But we can make the people feel safe. That’s our primary job.” (Page 132-133)

Though Lord Peterssen is supposed to be a flawed character, who puts undue pressure onto Iduna and Agnarr to uphold the status quo of Arendelle, this line is (intentional or not) how the book actually views racism and how it expects the characters (and reader by extension) to deal with/understand it. Bigotry is portrayed as something that is inevitable and something that should not be quelled or disproven, but accommodated for. Agnarr, as king next in line, should not worry about ending the unjust hatred in his kingdom, or killing the root of the problem (the rumors). Instead he should tell his people their suspicions are correct, and put actual resources and time into abetting their dangerous beliefs. Even later on, at the very end of the novel, Agnarr treats the prolific bigotry and magic hatred of his people as an unfortunate circumstance he has found himself in, and not something that he, as king, has the power or civic responsibility to change. 

This could have been an excellent line of flawed logic, representing how privileged people tend to avoid/project the blame of racism, and prioritize order and peace over justice. Which would work especially well for Peterssen and Agnarr since they are both high class nobles with the power to actually make a difference, instead choosing to foist responsibility onto Iduna (in the case of Peterssen) who was only a child, relatively impoverished, and the one with the most to lose if she spoke out. Or, in the case of Agnarr, they do disagree with the fear mongering, but only for personal reasons (Agnarr because his father used it as an excuse for his lies); refusing still to actually work to improve his society. But the key detail is that this needs to be portrayed as wrong, which this book fails to do. Agnarr nor Peterssen are ever expected to disprove the townsfolk’s bigotry in any meaningful, long lasting sense, Peterssen is never confronted seriously for his cowardice and victim blaming, and Agnarr is never criticized for his anti-bigotry being based entirely on his own personal parental issues and not in the fact that he knows with 100% certainty that the Northuldra are innocent.

This flawed understanding of bigotry also applies to how the book depicts the Arendellian townsfolk, who are awarded no accountability whatsoever for their actions. The townspeople spend the entire book threatening to kill any Northuldra they find and Peterssen, Agnarr, and Iduna are constantly afraid that they would immediately destabilize the government if they found out their king was close to one. But somehow this does not translate into any contempt or distrust in our protagonist or the reader. In this novel, we meet only four openly bigoted individuals: the two orphan children playing “kill the Northuldra”, the purple/pink sheep guy (Askel), and the allergy woman (Mrs. Olsen). The orphans are dismissed wholesale because they are literal children who also lost both of their parents in the battle of the dam (so they were killed by Northuldra; somewhat justifying their anger). And the other two townsfolk are joke characters, whose claims are so unbelievable that they aren’t supposed to be seen as a serious threat. Not only that but Askel is rewarded for his bigotry when Iduna offers he sell his pink sheep’ wool (which he thought was an attack from the Northuldra) as beautiful pink shawls. These are the only specific characters that show any type of active bigotry in the entire kingdom besides Runeard, whomst is dead. Every other character is either an innocent and friendly bystander (the woman at the chocolate shop, the new orphans Iduna buys cookies for, the farmers Iduna sells windmills too, the people at Agnarr and Iduna’s wedding), has no opinion at all (Greda, Kai, Johan), or is portrayed as someone who is just innocently scared and doesn’t know any better (the rest of the townsfolk, especially those who fear the Northuldra are the sun mask attackers). Even the King of Vassar, the most violent and dangerous living character of the story, doesn’t even hold any prejudice against the Northuldra, and simply uses their imagery to scare Arendelle into accepting his military rule. 

So according to this book, bigotry and racism come not from the individual, but from society and the system you live in, but also not really because the people in charge of that system (Peterssen, Agnarr, and eventually Iduna) are also virtually guiltless. This, of course, is not true at all. Racism is a moral failing which exists on all levels of society, from individuals who chose to be bigoted, to others who tolerate bigotry as long as it doesn’t inconveniance them. It's not just an inevitable fear of what you don’t understand, but an insidious choice to be ignorant, fearful, and unjust to the most vulnerable members of society. It is malicious and irrational, and the more you tolerate it, the more dangerous it becomes.

- (4/5) Presents Iduna’s assimilation to the dominant culture as a positive

As the romance plotline of Dangerous Secrets really starts to get underway, Iduna’s life seems perfect. Her romance with Agnarr blossoms, she has her own business, and is becoming accustomed to her new surroundings (in order to make the coming drama more exciting). This is her internal dialogue as she returns to town one day:

I couldn't imagine, at the time, living in a place like this. But now it felt like home. It would never replace the forest I grew up in… But it had been so long now, that life had begun to feel almost like a dream. A beautiful dream of an enchanted forest… There was a time I truly believed I would die if I could never enter the forest again. If the mist was never to part. But that time, I realized, was long gone. And I had so much more to live for now… And my dreams were less about returning to the past and more about striking out into the future- (Page 128-129)

Again, I understand that the point of Iduna being content with her life like this is to be the “calm before the storm” of the romance arc, but the fact that Iduna is almost forgetting her old life, and that it is presented as a good thing, is extremely distressing. At only 12 years old Iduna lost everything she ever had besides the literal clothes on her back; she would never forget that. Not only that, but the real world implication that a minority should cope with their societal trauma by spending the rest of their life working for said society that unapologetically wants to kill them (and get a boyfriend) is horribly off putting. It strikes a nerve with many people of color and indigenous readers because telling minorities to “get a job” or “get a life” (especially when said jobs ignore/are separate from their own cultures) is commonly used by privileged folk to blame them for their own dissatisfaction/unhappiness with the society they live in. The idea is that minorities should continue to suffer, but busy themselves, so they stop criticizing dominant culture and defending/uplifting their own. This is part of cultural erasure, and the book plays into it, by commending Iduna for “having more to live for” than cherishing/wanting to return to her original home, for prioritizing Arendelle over herself, and for forgetting her heritage/playing it off as nothing but a dream. Devaluing indigenous culture like this, especially through an indigenous character, is extremely disrespectful.

Not only that, but it’s completely antithetical to Iduna’s character, since she claims to be proud and unashamed of who she is, but happily assists the townsfolk who hate her, and rarely mentions her heritage besides when she’s caught in a lie or actively being persecuted. This is another failing brought on by the lack of understanding of how racism affects its victims. Being a minority plays into all the decisions you make and all the interactions you have; it’s not something that you can just turn off unless directly provoked. Iduna’s would be constantly fretting about who she talks to, and who she is with because if she gets too close to the wrong person, she could have put herself in serious danger. 

Nowhere is this lack of realism more obvious than the scene directly after Iduna rejects Johan’s proposal. Iduna spends a long time thinking about whether marrying Johan or Agnarr would be better for her, and not even once does being a Northuldra play into her decision making. This should’ve been front and center because your husband can be your strongest ally or your greatest enemy. If Iduna was outed, what could she do to defend herself against or alongside her partner? If she was ever going to consider marrying for anything other than true love, her chances of survival should have been her first priority. 

What I’m not saying is that there needs to be a complete overhaul of Iduna’s personality, or that she needs to be frightened and suspicious at all times. Iduna can project strength and caution. She can be kind to the townspeople, but reserved in order to keep a safe distance. She should cling to the few pieces of her culture she has left, despite what society tells her to do. Or, on the exact opposite side of the coin, Iduna’s personality could be kept relatively the same, but the book needs to acknowledge that this is a terrible thing. Iduna is being assimilated against her will to a society that doesn’t value her and that is a tragedy. In a futile attempt at survival, Iduna buries her culture away and lives her life as a perfect, contributing, model Arendellian citizen, but they terrorize her regardless. 

- (5/5) Negatively depicts the indigenous Northuldra as murderous invaders

In Chapter 34 of Dangerous Secrets it is revealed, during a flashback, that Iduna lost her parents and her entire family group in an attack by a separate group of Northuldra invaders. This scene is completely unacceptable regardless whatever narrative/story purpose it was supposed to achieve for several reasons. Firstly, because this book is about colonialism, which we as a society already know the consequences of and how colonizers, in an attempt to rid themselves of blame, react to it. One of the very first things a colonizer/privileged class will do to make themselves feel less guilty for the atrocities they perpetuate is bring up acts of violence/wrongdoing on behalf of the oppressed. The sole purpose of this is always to make the victims look less sympathetic and less deserving of justice, equality, or attention because “they’re not so innocent, they did wrong things too, so maybe we shouldn't feel that  bad for them/maybe they got what they deserved”. And of course this mindset is absolutely horrific and unforgivable when you’re talking about a group of white colonizers actively trying to destroy and indiscriminately slaughter a large group of indigenous people, including their children. 

The second reason is because the author is a non-indigenous white person, and therefore benefits directly from the downplaying of indiginous pain. I’m sure this wasn’t intentionally malicious on her part, but that’s what she wrote; these are the consequences.  

((Also the fact that one of the Northuldra groups are murderous invaders means that Iduna was actively lying the entire book about the Northuldra being peaceful.)) 

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In conclusion, any book that incorporates the culture and experiences of a group the author is not a part of, should absolutely hire a sensitivity reader to ensure accuracy and respect. As a Frozen superfan myself, I actually enjoyed this book a lot and I was delighted to see the lore, worldbuilding and romance. I loved Agnarr, Lord Peterssen, and Princess Runa and certain pieces of dialogue and imagery were beautiful. This novel just desperately needed someone to check it. All this book needed was a bit more of a critical gaze on some of the character decisions and motivations (I truly believe Agnarr and Peterssen would have been even more intriguing and likeable characters if they were actually called out, and given time to reflect on their hypocrisies) and it would’ve been much stronger and more palatable to diverse audiences. Some elements did need to be cut out completely, but a sensitivity reader would’ve easily been able to point this out and offer alternatives that preserved the spirit of the novel, without including any offensive and distasteful implications.