#However... if the white immortal is the mother then... also whats up with her? She hasnt been mentioned much for a short while...

[drag0nalias0]

oooooohhhh!!! My theory about the shrine maiden seems to be halfway correct!! I mean its not confirmed yet but theyve said something somewhat similar!!!

[sapphicjackal]

Bingyuan Soulmate au 5

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Shen Yuan told himself he would wait until the next day to read the web novel he found, Proud Immortal Demon Way. The web novel had only been uploaded for 20 days now, making it fairly new and unknown. It was probably only because Shen Yuan had searched with keywords that the exact webpage came up. So far it only had 4 chapters, each one being a reasonably sizable length.

Normally, this was the kind of story that Shen Yuan would truly enjoy.

It seemed intriguing and held great promise. The bits of world building that had already been sprinkled in were captivating and promising. Shen Yuan could see the makings of a great premise.

However-

The protagonist is named Luo Binghe, and this is a story of his suffering. 

The first chapter starts with a baby, one abandoned to float down the freezing Luochun river during the coldest night of winter. Named Luo Binghe, the unwanted orphan lived on the streets. How he survived infancy was left vague, but he was eventually taken in by a poor washerwoman who had little to provide other than the love in her heart.

Luo Binghe wanted for nothing, even while having so little. He was spat on and bullied by the masters that his adoptive mother worked for, but he was content purely because he had his mother. She taught him to cook and she brushed his hair while telling him stories of peerless immortal cultivators. 

She worked tirelessly to provide for him, all without a single complaint and wearing a warm smile. She saved meticulously for a long while to be able to afford a jade Guanyin pendant for her son, only to find out that the jade was fake. The heartbreak of it all took its toll, especially when there was no extra money for food and her health began to take a turn for the worse.

Luo Binghe had to beg for food to give her, and work to get her medicine. On the day she died, he went out to beg in order to get her a bowl of watery congee. He was beaten for the right to have a cold bowl of food, and by the time he returned, she was already dead.

From there, he lived another two and a half years on the streets until he turned 10, the minimum age requirement to take the test for the Cang Qiong Mountain Sect. Renowned as the top cultivation sect in the world, it was also the only sect open for anyone to join so long as they had potential and were chosen by a Peak Lord. 

Luo Binghe traveled up the countless stairs and threw all of his effort into digging a hole, wishing with all his heart to be chosen. He was overjoyed when a peerless immortal cultivator stopped before him, one who looked distinguished and elegant, dressed in greens and white. Luo Binghe was the only one chosen for the second highest ranked peak, Qing Jing Peak.

This should have marked the turning point for Luo Binghe’s miserable luck, the beginnings of something good.

The first chapter ends with Luo Binghe’s tea ceremony, with his new Master dumping hot tea over his head with a cold look of disdain. Luo Binghe’s tears mixed with the dripping tea while his Shizun scoffed at him, proclaiming him a worthless Beast. Shen Qingqiu tossed him his manual, telling him with a sneer to learn it well before kicking him out.

Things don’t get better.

The next day, Luo Binghe received his materials from the Head Disciple, Ming Fan. He was only given the worst of what they could offer, and he was barred from being allowed inside of the Disciple Dormitory. Luo Binghe was forced to find shelter in the woodshed which became his home.

It marked the start of the relentless bullying from Ming Fan and the other disciples. Shen Qingqiu had clearly marked the boy as a pariah, meaning the whole Peak left him to fend for himself. He was kicked out of lessons with some Hallmasters, and given endless chores that kept him from attending the classes he was allowed in. The only person who treated him kindly was Ning Yingying, but this only drew further ire from Ming Fan who had a crush on her.

Life was miserable, but Luo Binghe did his best to rise above it. He did his work, and he learned what he could. It took months for him to even be able to read his manual, but once he could, Luo Binghe threw himself into studying cultivation. Only. He didn’t know that the manual was a fake. One made to look genuine, but would waste the years of greatest potential for a cultivator, and could even lead to death.

The fourth chapter left off on Luo Binghe being whipped for hours because Ming Fan blamed him for messing something up. Luo Binghe was left bleeding in the dirt while his scum Shizun walked away.

Shen Yuan finished reading with a foul taste in his mouth, staring blankly at his phone screen long enough that it turned off automatically. Normally, this kind of narrative was one that Shen Yuan enjoyed. One where a protagonist starts from nothing and climbs their way to the top, then slaps their faces and takes revenge on everyone who had pushed them into the dirt when they were at their lowest. Shen Yuan liked YY stories, it was easily his favorite genre to read.

Maybe once this could have been the start of Shen Yuan’s favorite story.

Instead he felt nothing but sick.

His soulmate had told him pieces of this information, accompanied by all of the feelings that went along with it. Binghe had told him that his mother died close to three years ago, and how much he missed her. 

Maybe if he found the story first, he would have seen Binghe as a protagonist first. Maybe he would have found it cool to be soulmates with a fictional character. It wasn’t even that hard for Shen Yuan to wrap his head around. He knows tropes very well, and a modern guy finding out he’s soulmates with a fictional character is a popular genre.

But-

Shen Yuan has spent hours writing to his soulmate for the past few days, in those snatches of time that Binghe manages to steal. He’s spent a few days getting to know his Bing-er in all of his earnest and sweet glory. Binghe was a true white lotus, born in the muck yet managing to remain pure despite it all.

Shen Yuan has spent 15 years loving his soulmate. 

Ever since he knew of the concept from his parents. He’s been writing to his soulmate since he could hold a pen, first it was nothing but the sloppy scrawls and doodles of a child, but he learned quickly to write. Literacy had extreme importance in society, and children were taught to read and write as soon as possible so they could communicate with their soulmate, especially among those with wealth.

Binghe has been at the end of every message. 

Even if they’ve only known each other for a short time, Shen Yuan has cared for his soulmate his entire life.

Binghe is more than a protagonist. 

Shen Yuan didn’t manage to sleep a wink. The first half of his night was spent reading, and the second half spent waiting for Binghe to wake up. He knew Binghe rose with the sun, and so he only had a few more hours to kill while waiting. He flipped through tabs on his phone, opening and closing apps restlessly. 

Shen Yuan doesn’t think about his soulmate being abandoned at birth. He doesn’t think about years of getting tormented by those around him. He doesn’t think about a confession laced with pain. This one likes Qing Jing Peak. Qing Jing Peak does not like this Binghe.

No.

Shen Yuan doesn’t think about it at all.

He lost track of time, flinching in surprise when he finally felt the tingling swipe of a brush on skin. Shen Yuan sat up in bed and turned on his lamp, fumbling for his marker. He couldn’t help his smile at Binghe’s words even if he tried. All of the suffocating heaviness was lifted all at once, leaving him feeling light and unburdened.

“Wishing Yuan-ge a happy day!” Binghe had written, his brushstrokes precise and careful, words filled with happiness. 

“Good morning Bing-er.” Shen Yuan responded, returning the sweet greeting of his little white lotus of a soulmate. 

Shen Yuan bit his lip, staring down at his arm. He had thought about what to say for hours now, so he pushed back his strange hesitation and began to write. “You told me you had trouble cultivating, I thought about it last night. The most important part of learning is cross referencing. Is there any way you could look at someone else’s manual?”

“Yuan-ge?” Binghe wrote, shining with innocent curiosity.

“Make sure your material is real. People could be trying to hurt Bing-er with fake material.” Shen Yuan asked, full of worry and suspicion. 

“This one will check.” Binghe responded, he felt faintly skeptical, but completely truthful. It took a heavy weight off of Shen Yuan that he didn’t even realize he was carrying.

“Thank you, Bing-er. I hope I’m wrong.” Shen Yuan wrote, feeling utterly relieved though it was threaded with an underlying anxiety. 

Shen Yuan went through the rest of his day with Binghe’s situation lingering in his mind. He ate breakfast the chef made with his mother and meimei, both his father and his older brothers already left for work. He went back to his room and did his schoolwork.

Technically, Shen Yuan attends the best private academy in Beijing. However, he doesn’t actually go onto the campus because of his health concerns. His parents worked it out so that all of his work is sent to the house and his tests are administered by teachers who come to him instead. 

Shen Yuan used to resent it when he was younger, wishing that he could go to class with other kids and make friends, but now he’s glad he does have to spend most of his day surrounded by other teenagers.

In addition to his standard curriculum, his mother also has him tutored in the four arts. It was something that Shen Yuan actually enjoyed though his siblings found it to be tedious. Now he would have to take it even more seriously and learn more outside of his lessons so that he could teach it to his soulmate. 

Hours earlier than he expected, Shen Yuan feels a brush on his skin. He can immediately tell something is wrong, the feelings are overwhelming, upset, and heartbroken. Shen Yuan excused himself from dinner and went to his room, checking his wrist.

“You were right, Yuan-ge. It was fake.” Binghe wrote, full of helpless anger, bitterness, and pain.

Shen Yuan swallowed heavily, feeling furious for Binghe. The confirmation that his soulmate's life is at the very least connected to the web novel was something that Shen Yuan would need to think about later. For now, he needs to comfort his soulmate.

“I’m so sorry, Bing-er. You deserve better.” Shen Yuan wrote, wishing that he could do more for Binghe to keep him safe. If everything is true in that web novel, then right now his soulmate was living in a woodshed. A fucking woodshed. He was being hurt by everyone around him and doesn’t have a single good thing to his name. 

Binghe deserves nothing but the best and now Shen Yuan is all too aware that Luo Binghe has been forsaken by those around him. Shen Yuan wants to find the author and thrash them until they answer why Luo Binghe has to suffer. Why did they do this the the sweetest person that Shen Yuan has ever met? How can they stand to hurt Luo Binghe who has never done anything wrong but had the whole world against him from the start?

“Yuan-ge.” Binghe wrote, his brushstrokes shaky and filled with desperation, longing, loneliness, and pain.

Shen Yuan choked on secondhand pain, feeling his heart break for the overwhelming betrayal that Binghe has suffered. Shen Yuan wishes nothing more than to be there for his soulmate, but all he can do is write. 

Shen Yuan concentrates on sending comfort and love, writing messages one after another to his Binghe.

“My Bing-er, I’m here. I’ll always be here.”

“We’ll figure this out, Bing-er, I’ll help you.”

“I’m so sorry Bing-er, you deserve better than this.”

“Bing-er deserves the world, I would give it to you if I could.”

“I’m here, Binghe.”

Shen Yuan runs out of space on their left arm, so he leans over to begin writing on his leg. He choses one sentence, the most important truth he wants to impart onto his soulmate. He writes small, repeating the line uniformly spaced out one on top of the other until it fills the skin from his ankle to his knee. 

When Binghe still hasn’t responded, Shen Yuan starts writing a symmetrical series of lines on his other leg.

“Binghe is precious.”

He had nearly finished on his second leg when he finally received a reply from Binghe, right above their knee.

“I wish Yuan-ge was here.” Binghe wrote, his words containing fathomless amounts of yearning.

Shen Yuan grit his teeth, wishing he could fulfill Binghe’s wish. He wanted nothing more than to give Binghe everything. Everything he deserves, all the love he should receive. Shen Yuan feels useless, but he pushes that away.

All he can do is try his best to help Binghe in any way he can.

That day, Shen Yuan subscribes to Proud Immortal Demon Way, and he never misses reading an update as soon as it is uploaded. He leaves comments criticizing the author for making Luo Binghe’s life so needlessly miserable. He hopes the author will listen and lessen Binghe’s suffering.

[rosanna-writer]

you're in the kitchen humming

Summary: When Elain’s visions throw a wrench in her plans for Solstice dinner, Azriel comes to the rescue. Pairing: Elriel Warnings: None Word count: ~1.2k

A fluffy Elriel oneshot for my bonus giftee, @duskandcobalt!!!!!! I was so excited to get a chance to write for you, too!

Again, a huge thank you to the @acotargiftexchange organizers for all their hard work putting together this event, and Happy Holidays everyone! <3

Read on AO3 or under the cut.

Elain groaned aloud the moment she woke to too-bright sunlight. Today, of all days, she didn't have the time to oversleep. But the sun was already high in the sky as she reluctantly slid back her duvet.

There would be precious little daylight today—the Winter Solstice. Her sister's birthday. At this rate, she'd be putting the finishing touches on dinner with only faelights to see by.

Elain had wanted to make fresh bread, and the dough would take a few hours to rise. Plus, she needed the oven for Feyre's birthday cake, as well as the time to decorate it, and the bottom rack wouldn't fit all three side dishes she'd put on the menu, so that would require several timers running at once to stagger the cooking times.

Nuala and Cerridwen had even offered to help. But when Elain had written out a schedule to keep her Solstice cooking on track, she'd been so sure she could manage it all herself. Her friends worked hard enough the rest of the year—she'd waved them off and told them to enjoy the holiday with their families.

Maybe she hadn't pulled her weight all those years in the cabin, but Elain would never let that happen again.

She hadn't, however, accounted for a night of fitful sleep interrupted by strange visions of the future. The same onyx box, Vassa's screaming, burning feathers. Nothing she hadn't seen before, but lately, the Mother or the Cauldron or fate seemed to be sending them more frequently. Elain had tossed and turned for hours until the sense of dread finally abated enough for her to drift off. Visions always exhausted her, and she'd slept in without meaning to.

Even an immortal wasn't getting any younger, though. Elain sighed and forced herself out of bed.

She dressed hurriedly, digging out an old dress she wouldn't mind getting covered in flour. As she ran a brush through her hair and tied it back, she considered what items from her elaborate, complicated menu she could skip.

If she started this late, the fresh bread wouldn't be ready until nearly midnight. But there would still be time for the cake, and if she hurried, she wouldn't have to simplify the intricate fondant paintbrush she'd had planned for months as a surprise for Feyre. And maybe they'd be alright if she nixed the side of brussel sprouts and only served the green beans for a vegetable…

The sound of activity in the kitchen didn't register with Elain as she rushed down the stairs, even if it should have. Since Nyx's birth, she'd been living in the townhouse alone, enjoying the peace of a house to herself for the first time in her life. The lack of silence should have sent alarm bells ringing in her head.

But maybe it was impossible to panic when she could also hear the peaceful sound of someone contentedly humming to themselves. She paid it no mind until she skidded to a stop in the doorway and took in the sight before her.

One tendril of shadow curled around a wooden spoon and stirred batter, while another held a different bowl steady and a third cradled a potato that a fourth grated into slivers. Another one—Mother above, was it even wearing a chef's hat?—carefully separated the yolk from an egg white.

Elain was so shocked by all of it that she barely even noticed Azriel washing his hands at the sink. Ridiculous of her really, when his massive wingspan took up half the kitchen.

"What is all this?" Elain breathed.

Azriel turned, wiping his hands on a dishtowel. "I got started on cooking so you could sleep a bit longer. It seemed like you needed it."

Elain blinked and decided not to question exactly how he knew how fitfully she'd passed the night. Azriel, after all, always knew things he wasn't supposed to. It was his job.

While she continued to stare at the frenzied activity before her, Elain shook her head as if to clear it. The whole thing was surreal, even stranger than the harbingers of doom that had kept her up half the night.

"Have�� Have the shadows always been able to cook?" The more she thought about it, the more that bit confused her. Azriel's pantry—bare save a few sticks of unseasoned jerky and half a head of cabbage—was a thing of horror, and even in Velaris, he ate those packaged Illyrian field rations when left to his own devices.

Azriel unsheathed Truth-Teller and got to work chopping a bundle of carrots. "They learned for an undercover mission in an upscale restaurant a few centuries back."

Elain let out an exasperated little laugh. But there was still plenty left to do before they joined the rest of their family at the River House, so she rolled up her sleeves and reached for the checklist she'd made a few days before, slipping it into the front of the binder where she kept her recipes. Several items were already crossed off in cobalt blue ink.

"What do you think you're doing?" Azriel's voice went midnight-dark, sending a shiver down Elain's spine and her toes curling in her slippers.

"You've done so much already, but I can finish the rest. Thank you," she said.

Scarred hands curled around her waist, lifting her up and placing her on an empty stretch of countertop as if she weighed next to nothing. "I know you can, angel. But you deserve to enjoy the holiday without running yourself ragged before dinner."

Elain nodded, her throat suddenly tight. It was hard, sometimes, to remember that she didn't need to make up for all those years in the cabin. Feyre and Nesta cared more about spending the solstice together than having a table full of intricate dishes and elaborate desserts.

At least for now, they all had the peace they'd fought for. Maybe one of these days she'd stop being so terrified of squandering it.

Azriel made to turn back to the stove, but she reached up and tugged his face down to hers. She pressed a kiss to his lips, then another one to the tip of his nose for good measure. When Az pulled away, his eyes had that soft look he only reserved for her.

"Happy Solstice," Elain said with a smile.

"Happy Solstice," Azriel murmured back. He returned to chopping the carrots, and a shadow handed her a warm mug of tea from the kettle she hadn't noticed on the stove. "It's your kitchen, so give me all the orders you think are necessary. But don't you dare lift a finger until we're ready ready to leave for the River House."

Elain took a sip of the tea—a bit stronger than usual to help her wake up and with just the right amount of milk and sugar. "Alright," she said, feeling a bit better.

Just for a moment, Azriel's lips quirked upward into something close to a smile. He dumped the carrots into a pot on the stove, then turned up the heat on the burner. There was still an onion to chop and mix in with the grated potatoes, but he paused just for a moment and kissed Elain's cheek.

"Be a good girl for me, and I'll give you your present early," he said, and her answering giggle was music to his ears.

[demonslayedher]

Just thinking about how Chachamaru is a male calico, at least according the Taisho Secret right before chapter 195 that calls him manly. It really doesn't surprise me that he's male, because so many references to calicos I've seen in manga, mascots, and temple architecture specify that the featured calico is male.

This is because they are rare, and therefore considered lucky.

The figure that gets thrown around the internet is that supposedly only 1 in every 3000 calicos is male. (I'll bet the people who did the often quoted study at U. of Minn. College of Vet Med would love to tell you how it's more complicated than that.) This has long made male calicos popular not only in Japan, but in other countries as well. The thing is, though, the male calico might not always be so lucky.

To be very brief about why calicos (and some other multicolored cats) are almost always female, this is because, put very simply, one X chromosome gives us the black splotches, and one X chromosome gives us the orange splotches. That might leave you wondering where the white patches come from, and this is the part where I say that genetics is never simple and you should have fun reading about it. The important takeaway here is that in order to show this color pattern, a cat needs two X chromosomes, one from its mother and one from its father.

Typically, a male cat has an X chromosome (from its female mother, who only has two X chromosomes) and a Y chromosome (from its father, who had both an X and a Y), but because the calico coating can only occur with two X chromosomes, this male cat somehow got an X, a Y, and... hmm, another X somewhere.

So not a typical XY male, not a typical XX calico... this sterile XXY male calico has an extra chromosome, and mutations often are not ideal for the health of the animal with the extra chromosome. This particular condition is Klinefelter’s Syndrome, which can lead to a male calico having cognitive and behavior issues, weaker bones, increased risk of diabetes due to higher body fat, and perhaps a shorter lifespan.

Now, none of the fictitious lucky cats I've seen have ever been portrayed as anything less than smart and pleasant, though a lot of the maneki-neko are pretty round. For everything Chachamaru is tasked with, I have to assume he's above-average when it comes to intelligence, reasonably healthy enough to handle long-distance travel, and for a cat, he's extremely, extremely cooperative. For the record, the same Taisho Secret (as well as Yushiro's statement in Chapter 194) makes it clear that for most of canon Chachamaru was a regular cat, for he was not made into a demon until right before the final showdown with Muzan. Even with her hands full making the medicine for Muzan, she still put a lot of effort into changing Chachamaru so that Yushiro wouldn't be lonely. It's ironic that Chachamaru winds up immortal, rather than doomed to a potentially shorter lifespan due to his mark...ings. In the first place, was Tamayo perhaps moved with pity for a sickly kitten and nursed him to the health he's in now?

Or did she always keep her eye out for a male calico, wanting to put some faith in them being good luck?

Also, what sticks out to me in this Taisho Secret is that Chachamaru, not having a language in which he could communicate with Tamayo, had no choice in becoming a demon. Tamayo felt sorry about that. The word bubble over manly little Chachamaru says, with bravado, "Fine by me, if that's what the woman I'm smitten with wishes." If Chachamaru truly is that smitten with her, that perhaps accounts for what an unusually cooperative cat he is. But it also reminds me of a fan theory that I saw once (and found worthy of weight) which said that perhaps Tamayo's blood technique has an effect like makes others smitten with her, and Yushiro might had been under its influence, however strongly or subtly. If such a thing were the case, it might or might not had been something Tamayo was conscious of. If she was conscious of having some effect like that, she probably felt awful about it but found it a necessary precaution to keep any demon she made under control. If she wasn't conscious of such a thing, that means she might had subconsciously developed it out of loneliness, and had been trying to keep company at her side.

[dailydemonspotlight]

Bai Suzhen - Day 146

Race: Drake Arcana: Fool Alignment: Dark-Neutral December 16th, 2024

Ahhh, snakes, what has mythology done to you? These adorable little limbless critters have become the subject of so many baseless rumors in so many mythologies! From Adam and Eve's downfall at the hand of a lying serpent, to the Hydra's great many heads, snakes have had a bad rep in many mythologies, and... well, it makes sense. A snake could have spelled the end of a life, back in the day, as untreated venom would kill a person slowly, and there wasn't any quick fixes or antidotes back then. However, in today's society, I intend to rehabilitate the Snake's image, and I'm not the only one who liked them- in fact, as the story of Bai Suzhen, today's Demon of the Day, shows, the ancient Chinese were rather big fans of them, too.

The Legend of Bai Suzhen, also known as the Legend of the White Snake, is a rather well known Chinese fable originating in Hangzhou, and it's a story with many iterations and places it's spread to- it's gone beyond just China and spread to Japan and many other countries nearby, even all the way up to France. The basic premise of the story is one that's been repeated often, but in several different forms throughout many mythologies- an animal turning into a human to pursue their true love. This trope can be seen in varying forms with many other fables, such as with some stories related to the Selkies, for example... though the story I'm thinking of is far less... consensual. Ew. Still, the White Snake falls on the more wholesome side of the coin, instead being a tale about one Bai Suzhen, a powerful snake-demon who hides far under the water.

Depending on the tale, Bai Suzhen either achieves a human form through a gift from one of the eight immortals or from her own diligence, and she attains this form due to a longing for human life. She ends up falling for a human doctor named Xu Xian at first sight, possibly due to her being saved by him in a past life when she was just a snake, and as she meets with him more they form a bond that quickly turns into a romance. Now, this is where things change again, depending on the retelling- it's sometimes seen as a tragedy, while others claim that Xu Xian was tricked by the evil snake, but either way it ends with Bai Suzhen's true form being revealed. In the retelling I'm working off of, a buddhist monk named Fai Hu appears before the couple and tells Xu Xian that his newly wedded is a snake spirit, procuring a wine to transform her back into her true form. As she drinks it, she shifts back into a snake, and the now heartbroken Xu Xian ends up going into shock, suffering a breakdown that leads into his death.

Desperate to save her husband, as her feelings for him were genuine, Bai Suzhen ends up stealing a herb from the land of the immortals and brings her husband back to life. However, the newly revived Xu Xian follows along with Fai Hu to a temple to cleanse himself, leading to Bai Suzhen attacking Fai Hu by 'unleashing the waters and flooding the temple,' actually being a really clever tie to a Chinese Idiom that goes as follows: 大水冲了龙王庙 (大水沖了龍王廟), or "surging waters flooded the Dragon King temple," meaning to not be able to recognize a familiar person and causing a dispute between them. This can be seen in the story as in the fact that Bai Suzhen attacked her own husband, who likely didn't recognize her, and it led to a major scuffle. However, during the battle with Fai Hu, the couple's child they bore together would end up offering sacrifice to his mother in more widely accepted (and far less tragic) ending to this tale (whatever that means) and ends up collapsing the pagoda around them, causing the family to reunite with each other, recognition back in their eyes.

Overall, the story is pretty intertwined with a lot of other elements that show themselves in Chinese literature, but the ultimate theme at the end of the day is the dedication and love shown between a weird doctor and his hot snake wife. D'awww... Anyway, what's the deal with her design in SMT? (Also, in a lot of retellings, there's more characters such as an emerald snake that accompanies Bai Suzhen named Xiaoqing, but the retelling I was working off of culled that as it was a general rundown of the overall plot of the play.)

Bai Suzhen's design in SMT takes a lot from both sides of her being- her immortal snake-spirit side, and her human side- and combines them both into a unique and honestly gorgeous design. The white color palette is rather obviously a tie to her being the white snake, while the green jade atop her headdress may be a connection to Xiaoquing. I'm not so sure where the flowing robes come from, but they certainly add a very unique vibe to this already fantastic design, so I'm not complaining. Overall, she's a very fun and well-designed demon with a huge folkloric presence, and she's a NON VILLAINOUS SNAKE IN A MYTH! At least, in most retellings. There are... exceptions. Thanks for reading, and have a good one :)

[bright-side20]

Vassien & Swan Lake retelling

Art by : jemlin_c

_The young Prince Siegfried was informed by his mother that she'll organise a ball to find a princes worthy to be his wife.but he didn't like the idea that his future wife will be imposed on him.

"His mate. She was nothing like Jesminda... She’d seen him not as a High Lord’s seventh son, but as a male. Had loved him without question, without hesitation. She had chosen him. Elain had been … thrown at him."

>Siegfried was forced by his mother to marry a princess from the ball. Elain was chosen for Lucien through the cauldron; they didn't choose each other

_When Siegfried was going to a lake to hunt, he saw a magnificent flock of swans, one of them transformed into a beautiful woman, queen of the swans, her name was odette, Siegfried approached her and promised that he will not harm her, she revealed to him that she and other maidens have been placed under a spell by the sorcerer Von Rothbart. By day, they are transformed into swans, and only at night do they regain their human form.

"Especially not with Lucien on the continent, hunting that enchanted queen. A bird of flame … and a lord of fire. I wondered if they’d found each other yet."

>Siegfried went hunting when he met Odette, Lucien went on a mission to hunt Vassa.

+

"Elain’s throat bobbed. “He keeps them all at the lake.” --“Other women like her?” _“Yes—and no. Their feathers are white as snow. They glide across the water—while she rages through the skies above it."

>In the tale, there were other maidens cursed into swans, and Elain said that there are other women also transformed.

_The spell can only be broken by true love. The prince fell in love with her. He vowed to break the spell and remain faithful to her.The sorcerer tricked Siegfried by disguising his daughter, Odile, as Odette. He promised himself to her, which broke the vow he made to Odette.

_In most versions of the tale, the story has a tragic ending. However, in the happy ending version, Siegfried ripped off Von Rothbart’s wings, stripped him of his power, and broke the curse. Then, he happily married Odette.

"Lucien stared out the window as if he could see the lake across the sea and a continent. As if he were sitting his target."

>Foreshadowing of Lucien facing Koschei 🤷🏻‍♀️

+

Breaking a curse through the power of love, sounds like something Sarah would do.

_Elain and Azriel =Blodeuwedd and sleeping beauty retelling = Elain saving Azriel through the power of Love.

_Vassa and Lucien =Vasilisa, firebird and swan lake retelling =Lucien breaking Vassa's curse through the power of love.

It would be a great parallel 🤷🏻‍♀️

In an interview after the publication of ACOWAR, Sarah said that the future couples are based on events before and after ACOWAR, and she mentioned that she likes 'Vasilisa the Beautiful' and the 'Swan Lake' tale.

In ACOWAR,ACOFAS, ACOSF, the building up of Elriel was quite obvious, but there was also a slow burn development for Vassien. We know that Sarah loves slow burns:

"yes—queen by night, firebird by day.” He blew out a breath. “Nasty curse.” --“The human queens are still out there,” I said. Maybe I’d hunt them down. --“Not for long—not if Vassa has anything to do with it.” --“You sound like an acolyte.” Lucien blushed".

"Even with Elain here, he's become close with Jurian and Vassa. He's voluntarily living with them these days, and not just as an emissary. As their friend."

"A twitch of the lips, a spark in that russet eye. “She’s doing well enough. Savoring every second of her temporary freedom.”

"Nesta said, “And Jurian and Vassa?” “At each other’s throats, as they like to be,” he said, a tad sharply. She wondered what that was about—and for the life of her couldn’t read it."

But Vassa is mortal and Lucien is immortal 🗣️

>Feyre, Nesta, and Elain were mortal, and now they're immortal🤷🏻‍♀️

So yes, based on all this I think Vassa and Lucien will get a book after Elain's book.

[tamaruaart]

The Vengeance AU

Hi y'all- okay so damn, I have been holding this one off for QUITE a while- I've had this idea in my head for a bit but I never made full AU out of it, but before that I guess I should give a "heads up" of sorts?

I already have a post about Zhao's family tree. And there you can see she had two siblings, Mao-Yin and Syaoran (who were actually twins)

Something I try to make clear is that Zhao (As well as Quanshuǐ and Yue) is not only an OC for Lego Monkie Kid, but also for the original Journey to the West book. Though her role is fairly minor. And in her JTTW book version a lot, and I mean a lot of things are different than in LMK.

Like for example in JTTW her orange hair was actually a punishment, while in LMK it's her natural hair color. Or how in JTTW Quanshuǐ was one of Zhao's temple maidens while she was still living with her family. And also in JTTW Mao-Yin and Pangfua (Zhao, Mao-Yin and Syaoran's mother) committed a suicide in a river while in LMK they just kinda disappeared.

(However all of the JTTW lore about Zhao and her family is canon in LMK in this AU)

I'm trying to write LMK!Zhao as if she was an actual LMK character. I'm changing things I think the actual writers would have changed to fit the tone of the show.

One thing to mention in the JTTW version is that Zhao's brother Syaoran was actually killed via homicide by a few soldiers, and there's a lot to say about that but I'm not going to get into it (this is changed in LMK where he's still alive). Anyways, in JTTW he had a child with one of Zhao's late flower maidens who's name was Měi Lán.

The child's name was Yuǎn'ān (far & safe/far from danger). Basically at the end of jttw yadayadayada zhao wukong argue wukong kill zhao yadayadayada yuǎn sad and angy. And that's basically his JTTW lore /j

He's honestly such a minor character I don't think he would appear in LMK at all. He probably wouldn't even be a canon LMK character at that-

But then I was having a brain rot and thought "What if I made an AU where Yuǎn'ān is a canon LMK character and he was a villain trying to kill MK as revenge so that Wukong can feel the pain of having to lose someone so close to him. Because he knows he can't harm Wukong as Wukong is immortal... but MK isn't" ?

And now we're here! So, enough chitter chatter time for Yuǎn'ān!

(He takes after his father. A LOT. Also if you point out how wonky the feet look I'm throwing you into the dumpster)

General Premise:

In the vengeance AU Yuǎn'ān is one of the main villains. In short, word got around about a certain "Monkie Kid" and a certain "White Tiger" heard about it. He could never forgive Sun Wukong for what he did, but even then he can't do anything to Wukong because he's immortal. Unfortunately, or well, fortunately in Yuǎn's case... The Monkie Kid isn't immortal. Forever grieving the petty loss of his aunt, he sets out to "get rid" of MK, and maybe then Wukong will finally know what it feels like to lose someone oh so dear... Or maybe, just maybe.. he already knows?

Personally:

Yuǎn'ān is... Not exactly an optimist to say the least. He's extremely devoted, salty (this whole ass AU is just him holding a grudge) and a biiiittttttttt passive aggressive. You could say he's a sort of He-Wolf. Also he's a literal copy and paste of his father smh (ironic 'cause he never even met him-).

Not to mention stubborn, oh my god this man listens to no one-

However, deep down he doesn't have the guts to kill someone, like he could definitely injure you (he's got the hunting spirit after all) but not... To exactly murder a person.

Yet, only destiny will determine if he'll end up listening to his gut, or to his head...

Anyways, this is cringe but idc TRIVIA TIME MOTHERFUCKER >:D

Q&As:

How old is he?

Ageless. But mentally I'd say around his early twenties (Maybe 23-24)

Are Quan and Yue also going to be in the AU?

Quanshuǐ doesn't appear in the AU. Yue exists but we don't really see him.

Does Yuǎn have orbs for hands?

No I was just being lazy when I drew him :(

Did his earrings belong to Zhao?

Yeah :)

What are his pronouns and sexuality?

He's demisexual and pan, pronouns are he/him

Any funfacts about his appearance?

He gets his eyes and freckles from Zhao. And his hair is from his father

I don't see his freckl-

LOOK CLOSELY AT HIS FACE AND SHOULDERS.

Are any canon key events and characters changed/removed in the AU? And when does Yuǎn'ān appear?

No. No events nor canon characters are removed. Yuǎn gets foreshadowed sometime during the end of season 2. Then he gets fully revealed in season mid-season 3 and starts his whole "IM GOING TO FUCKING KILL Y-" thing.

Will he be redeemed?

We'll see. (probably-)

Does he have any OC x Canon parings?

For now, no. And honestly I'm not planning on any because I don't exactly see him as the romantic type. I'm open if any of my tumblr friends/moots would be interested in Oc x Oc crackships with him tho, heheh! 👀

Can he also heal like Zhao can?

Eh, I'm still debating but probably not

Will you be posting a lot about this AU?

Probably not a lot. But I'm sure you'll get some content of it from time to time.

Why is he so salty??

That's just the way he was born man 😔

Anyways, yeah! That's basically it, thank you for reading! If you have any questions about this mf feel free to ask :D

Ba-byeeeeeee

[owlghosts9]

I find that the idea of respect is something that is brought up a lot in PJO. So I made a list of the three types I see and the characters that mostly appear with them.

Parental respect. This is the most common one, that usually has an almost blind follower feel to it. My main example of this is Annabeth’s complete devotion to Athena, giving respect only to people who Athena respects, like Zeus, and not giving any respect to people Athena disrespects, like Ares and Medusa, or to people Athena doesn’t express much of an opinion on, like Hermes. This also can apply to Clarisse doing whatever she can to impress a father who clearly doesn’t like her, or Thalia fighting in the name of a father who turned her into a tree to “save her” when he could have truly saved her life. But I think the clearest version of this is with Ethan Namakura and the way that he is willing to give up an eye and fight for a titan just because Camp Half-Blood didn’t respect Nemesis. He sees his sacrifice as something small if it means that he will bring that respect to both his and his mother’s name.  

Respect by choice. This is something that is a very defining trait for Percy, especially in the TV show, and it is one of the main parallels he has with Luke. Percy chooses who he wants to give his respect to, and he decides who deserves it and when. He chooses to disrespect Zeus, Ares, and Poseidon, at least until his father earns it. He chooses to respect Medusa, despite the rivalry between her and Poseidon, in a way that Annabeth can’t seem to understand with her black-and-white sight of the world. This is where Luke comes in, because he too had Percy’s view of the gods, giving respect to only those he thought deserved it. He didn’t give any to Hermes, who abandoned his son and his son’s mother, and didn’t answer his “favourite child” when he called. He didn’t give any to Zeus, who rather than saving Luke’s first friend’s life, turned her into a tree. But, in a way, Luke also had Annabeth’s black-and-white thought process, in thinking that if things weren’t good now, they must have been good then, and choosing to respect someone worse than the gods, Kronos

The third and rarest version of respect is respect for none or all. We see this mostly in two people: Jason Grace and Percy Jackson. Percy and Jason are compared a lot by the narrative, and though they are very alike, it’s this that truly shows their differences. When Percy rejected immortality, it was seen as a rejection of the gods, which in a way is true. Percy found comfort in his mortality and his demigod-ness, giving more respect to his kind and less respect to theirs. He thought the best way to solve the problem was for the gods to honor their children so no more ended up like Luke. However, Jason thinks that what the gods need is more respect, and that if they receive more of it from demigods, they will be more likely to notice and help them, in the way you pay more attention to someone who pays more attention to you

[bultae-ts4]

THE ORIGINALS - PART 1

The Sims 4 original family story adaptation based on the series The Vampire Diaries.

Young Edith, descendant of a family of witches, falls in love with viking Malcolm. Together, they live in a small cottage in the forest just by the river. They share a passion for creating a big family, but soon enough they find out that they can't have children.

Edith makes a deal with her older sister Damirah, a very powerful witch, to cast a fertility spell on her. The spell works, and they have Farrah, Fabian and Ethan.

But here's the thing about magical deals, you can't break them.

↓ Continue below cut ↓

When their first born turns five, Edith gives her away to her sister, as payment for making her able to conceive. At the time, Malcolm is in war and when he is back, Edith makes him believe little Farrah died due to the plague.

Because of her "passing", the family decides to move to a "mystical land" where a witch told them the inhabitants have the gift of perfect health. There, Edith gives birth to Nikolai, Kaleb, Raegan and Hendrix.

The town they now live in is not only known for its perfect health but also its brutal werewolf attacks. Nikolai and Hendrix always dreamed of seeing the villagers’ transition, so one night, they sneak out to watch them transform into werewolves, which led to Hendrix’s death.

Malcolm is devastated after another children passes, so he looks for a way to not lose anyone else. After some time, him and Edith find the immortality spell used in the past by a powerful ancient witch. This spell would give their children more strength, speed, agility, rapid healing and immortality.

But the witch had modified the spell. The new one called the sun for new life and the white oak tree, known for eternity, for immortality. Tamera was the first descendant of the first immortal woman, and they needed her blood to complete the spell.

Malcolm, Fabian, Ethan, Nikolai, Kaleb and Reagan drink from a glass laced with the blood of Tamera to start the transition.

Then, they need to end with their human part, so Malcolm kills them with a sword. To complete the transition, they must consume human blood.

Instantly, they become a new species who could not be killed: the original vampires.

However, this was a violation of nature, and it would bring consequences. For every strength they have, they would have a weakness. The sun that gave them new life would burn them. The herbs that grew at the feet of the white oak tree would burn them and prevent compulsion. They would thirst for human blood. And the wood from the white oak tree would be able to kill them if put into their hearts. To prevent the latter one, they burn the white oak tree to ashes.

Time passes and they seem to have difficulties adjusting to their new life. As they could not walk under the sun, people in the village would look down on them, so Edith makes them a ring that protects them from daylight. The thirst is another issue that makes people fear them, so they must learn to control it.

One day, a town passenger who is oblivious of the family gifts, tries to steal from them, fighting with Nikolai, who is at home at the moment. Nikolai kills the man by accident, which triggers his werewolf gene, making him the first vampire-werewolf hybrid.

When they first got into town, Edith had an affair with the werewolf clan leader, which led to Nikolai's birth. Malcolm learns about Nikolai's gene and decides to kill his biological father, which creates tension between the vampire and werewolf species.

Edith knows that Nikolai's power is now too strong, so she casts a curse that suppresses his werewolf side, denying him any connection with his true self in order to not upset the balance of nature any further. Nikolai is very hurt after discovering what his mother did, so they have a big argument that end up with Nikolai killing her.

He frames Malcolm, who had been showing his hatred towards him for not being his child. Fabian, Ethan, Kaleb and Reagan choose to believe their half-brother, giving their backs to their own father. So, he disappears and makes a decision; he would make himself stronger to exterminate the abominations he and his wife had created.

To be continued.

Part 2 | Part 3

[demonir]

I spent all day yesterday with my mom talking abt a lot of stuff but amongst all those things she let me intensely infodump about tf2 for hours and I got to show her a lot of things, here are the highlights of me showing tf2 to a white uruguayan 53 year old woman who’s only game experience is bejeweled

I first gave her a very surface level rundown of the game plot which she found nonsensical the more questions she asked, I showed her the meet the merc vids first and at the end of each I gave her extra info about them

She thinks heavy is interesting and she’d probably like him more if he was put in a normal situation where he’s just a civilian living life, she never made a fat joke abt him so lets fucking gooooooo 👍👍👍👍👍👍

Her feelings on scout are mixed and didn’t like when I said he was one of my favorites, she said I need to like smarter people (this will be her downfall later) she did like him a lot more after we watched Expiration Date and found him and Miss Pauling endearing (she was great at picking up the subtext which surprised me) also asked her what age she thought scout had and she said 19 or 20 😭 then made a joke abt his baby face when I told her his actual age

Engineer scares her a small bit and does NOT understand how he’s my number 1 favorite (it was so hard to pretend I am normal about him in front of her) thinks him playing the guitar with a glove is stupid. I explained to her a bit of the conagher family story and she said that dell basically got the short end of the stick (because he’s tasked with fighting in the war AND maintaining the australium immortality devices when australium ran out) 😭

Thinks sniper is okay, I asked her what age she thought he had and she said 50 LMAOOOOO when I told her his actual presumed age she went “oh damn then I’m doing GREAT for my age”. I went on a huge tangent about the comic’s timeline and plot just to explain to her how he’s not ACTUALLY australian and she got sad abt him :( I did not tell her abt the jarate until a lot later bc I knew it would irredeemably ruin her image of sniper, I explained to her the game mechanic and as I was going to say “it gives the enemy a negative effect” she cuts me off and goes “yeah it makes them die from embarrassment” she also made a jarate pun in Spanish that I can’t remember at all rn I’m so sorry

Did not understand a single thing demoman said in the entire video and I don’t really blame her, her English is not good or that advanced it’s quite strange because she can understand some random complex words but had to ask me what “screw you” means so yeah she didn’t understand demomans accent she did however notice it was the same voice actor as heavy. I told her about demomans background and story and she found it so incredibly strange but wished for him to recover from alcoholism because it’s not good for him 💜 I told her abt demomans charms but she wasn’t quite charmed herself sadly (she did enjoy him in emesis blue)

Like mother like child, the Meet The Spy video was her favorite out of the bunch and she very quickly clocked in on the fact spy is scouts father without me saying anything, she said that from a technical standpoint spy is the most valuable mercenary on the team (goddamn not even the medic got considered) she also enjoyed him a lot in Expiration Date and Emesis Blue, I think hes still her favorite as of right now. Also we watched lil pootis and she laughed SO hard when I told her blu spy divorced blu ma and got with blu engie. She also frowned when red spy left lil pootis in the hallway alone and made jokes about mistreating his grandson

She did NOT like meet the medic or medic himself, absolutely creeped out by him and when I told her medic is one of my favorites she looked at me and went “your concept of what’s “comedic” and “fun” is very wrong and I hope you never get a boyfriend because I’m afraid of what you’ll bring home”….. I don’t know if she was serious or not 😭 I also never mentioned liking medic that way but I guess she fucking clocked me for it anyways. I tried to give her some medic propaganda and she found him tricking the devil to be very funny, I haven’t asked her if her opinion on medic has changed after watching emesis blue tho (I’m very curious to know since it’s a very different interpretation of him) I haven’t told her a single thing about heavymedic because I am afraid of what she’s gonna do with the knowledge of tf2 ships and I’m probably gonna keep it that way. She did seem charmed by the way medic genuinely loves his doves since she’s an animal lover herself

Soldier scared her a bit but mostly confused her, her initial reaction was rejection because of his ultra patriotism, nonsensical lines and violent tendencies however he grew onto her rather quickly to even make it to like second or third place on her list of favorites mainly because I told her about his raccoon sanctuary and the fact he is a great boyfriend (I didn’t tell her abt the naked honey fighting… I’ll show her later) and a great friend to demoman as well (she finds their cross faction friendship adorable)

Pyro absolutely TERRIFIES her she was utterly horrified by the meet the pyro video and doesn’t know what scares her more, the idea that pyro doesn’t know what they’re doing or that they do and do it anyway. I didn’t get to tell her abt pyro becoming a CEO in the comics but I’ll mention it eventually, the interpretation of them in emesis blue probably did not help her be less scared of pyro lmao. Also she thought the baby mercs in the meet the pyro video were oddly adorable and wants one….whatever that means

Overall she said the age of the game shows itself in the videos with their quality and what not and I also told her they were animated using SFM and briefly explained how it’s a free software fans have used for years to make fan content. Also she thinks the blu spy head in the freezer is the FUNNIEST shit ever

Her thoughts about Expiration Date:

She noted how this was obviously more recent because the quality was better

When she saw scout asleep in the van she went “that’s how I sleep”

She picked on a lot of details that I didn’t think she would and actually hearing her thoughts about the video after was rather fun, she did note how scout had used what he learned from spy later on the fight against the bread monster with miss Pauling for example

Nearly screamed when the bread monster ate the dove and let out a sigh of relief when she saw it was ok

Found scout very endearing when he explained he knew girls like Pauling don’t like him

The bit with the bucket made her laugh out loud I had to pause the video because she was curled into a ball laughing

I had failed to explain that they have teleportation technology in tf2 so when she saw the teleporters she loudly went “what the FUCK is that”

Loved miss Pauling a lot in fact before watching this video she asked me if we were gonna see her at some point since I had already spent a while talking abt her earlier

She didn’t have a lot of comments about other stuff I showed her that are worth mentioning but she loved emesis blue! She’s like me about liking weird confusing movies so that part she loved a lot but could do with a bit less violence, at one point whenever the characters were in danger she’d cover her face and go “they don’t die do they?” Over and over again lmao

I plan on showing her more stuff although it’s slightly difficult bc of the language barrier, if y’all have any videos or stuff you’d like for me to show her plz share but be aware of that

[wutheringmights]

Hey out of curiosity, I know most of the main cast in CTB is pulled from either Legend of Zelda game canons (Princess Zelda, Lana, Ganondorf in name, etc) or Linked Universe, but out of your original characters (especially Kat, Marigold, and the various Knights of Hyrule), did u give any of them symbolic or referential names?

Oh boy do I got the fun post for you:

Lincoln is straight up my Linksona. Just think of him as another version of the character Link

Marigold is supposed to be the typical red-headed love interest for a Link-like character; even her name is meant to fit right in with characters like Malon, Marin, and Midna.

Warriors's last name was originally going to be Warton, but I changed it to Walton when I learned that it meant "noble."

Meemaw is a reference to the Bertolt Brecht character Mother Courage (from his play Mother Courage and Her Children; I had just finished reading it for a seminar class when CTB first came to me). The characters even share a first name: Anna

Similarly, Kat is based off of Mother Courage's daughter, Kattrin; a famously silent-due-to-truama character

Kat's siblings also share names and fates with Mother Courage's sons: Eli is Eilif, and Cheddar is Swiss Cheese (yes, that's his real name)

Orlanda was named for Virginia Woolf's famous character Orlando; originally, I was going to have Orlanda be nonbinary, but changed my mind when I realized it wouldn't be a good idea to make your sacrificial character your nonbinary representation.

Shigeo's name was originally just going to be Shig, as a reference to Shigeru Miyamoto, but I changed it when I started to rewatch Mob Psycho 100. Shigeo is meant to be a homage to a common original character type I kept reading in Warriors-centric fics: the young Sheikah guy for Warriors to have a romance with. However, Shigeo was never envisioned with a romantic relationship in mind. He was always meant to be this cool, older guy type. However, I did almost have Warriors have a crush on him, then deleted that concept for space.

Gaudin was named after a French criminal for no reason. Genuinely, I just liked the name.

Anders was originally going to be named Betolt in honor of Brecht, but that felt heavy handed.

Jakucho is just meant to be the old woman version of the general Impa character to match the badass young woman version that is actually in Hyrule Warriors. Her name means "silent, lonely listening." I liked how it related to her role as Warriors's mentor/therapist.

Impa's real name, Chiyo, means "thousand generations, thousand worlds." I like how it related to the idea that she's always wanted to assume the same role as her ancestors.

I originally picked their surname Miyashita because the site I was on said it translated to something like "temple below the earth," which would reference the Kakariko Well. Checking now, it actually means "(one who lives) below the shrine," which makes way more sense in retrospect.

Ayane has no special name meaning, but her character... you do realize she's just Mask, right?

General Whitestone's name came from me asking myself what would a highly suspicious white guy in charge be called?

The name Nephus translates to "a God's son who will also become a God." Do I mean that literally? Who knows. At the very least, I wanted a snappy, but impressive-sounding name.

Vasileios means "royal or kingly". His middle name, Orionides, implies that he's the son of a great hunter.

Icarius's name is meant to be reminiscent to that of Icaurs, the famous mythological figure.

Philo means "lover or friend." A very cute name for a not-so-cute boy.

You probably have realized that the House of Nephus characters are heavily Greek/Roman coded. Originally, they were going to be Russian coded, but then the line about Faovaria being unable to attack some other kingdom due to their harsh winters would have fallen into question.

Faovaria's symbol being an octopus is a reference to how the octopuses symbolized immortality in ancient Greece.

Both of those were super off-topic. Sorry lol

I'll end with a fun fact you shouldn't look too deep into: the empire name Faovaria is derived from Farore. This was due to a concept I changed my mind about. Genuinely, it's not relevant anymore. Do not incorporate it into your theories, or something.

[spadesofgrass]

Lady Macbeth / Nora parallels:

I feel like yet another parallel of Nora and Lady M could be drawn from their views on their gender. Nora, in a more canonical context, aspires to "follow her father's footsteps" to solve his murder, to be the best she can be and often that means getting into fights, making herself into an enemy, Tommy going onto saying "you inherited your sense of wit & humour from your dad".

In my canon however, Nora's complex views on gender are only further highlighted. She closely associates femininity with her mother - someone who was aspirational, but ended up weak, frail and sick, neglected by her own doctors and when Nora was nine, she’d already passed on. With an imperfect understanding of death, shouldering most of the blame that grief inflicts upon one, Nora was forced to think in a world like this, femininity would never be taken seriously. She’s forced to give up her dollhouses and polka-dot skirts and when she chops off a little of her hair in front of the mirror, her father’s eyes staring back at her in approval, she chops some more. And some more. And some more until she looked exactly like him.

Lady M viewing masculinity as inherent, forces it to run in her blood - “Come, you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, / And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full / Of direst cruelty” (1.5 || 41-44) - rejecting femininity at the wake of wanting to bring her ambitions into fruition. She associates murder and violence and doing nothing to merely stop halfway there with the concept of masculinity - to the point where she even takes stabs (pardon the pun) at Macbeth for being “less of a man” for chickening out. By the end of the play, it is she who suffers, from a black-and-white view on her own gender; that she dreams to be “unsexed”, calls upon the spirits to essentially bless her with the cruelty of a man’s and take away what she deems feminine.

I really find it interesting that both these characters - with a lot to lose and nowhere left to go, a deep desire for blood and to set things right, motivated by either vengeance or the promise of power - sometimes both, turn to finding solace in the idea that they can’t be “womanly” - what they tend to associate being fragile, honourable, soft, wilted, perfect, fertile with. There’s no going back and that is perhaps, the source of their deepest comfort and their Achilles’s Heel at the same time. It is like a cage to them. In Macbeth, there exists a patriarchal society, also in modern-day Crimes of Passion. Masculinity feels like a pond of water in a desert to both of them - to even be able to sink their hands into it and have the ability to drink from it feels like  a rescue. But it is still, yet another cage, yet another feeling of being “cabined, cribbed, confined, bound in; to saucy doubts and fears” (3.4 || 26-27) and somehow it forces them to stay alive, to go mad, to be immortal and see their masculinity alive - a kind of crooked monster manifesting in the form of a bloody knife, broken teeth in Nora’s case as they realise they've trapped themselves in their misunderstanding.

I feel like that’s where Nora gets this “immortal curse” of sorts placed upon her. She can never die and that drives her mad. She suffers broken ribs, but walks a few days later. She steps into burning buildings and walks away with a bare cough. She engages in a nasty fight, is about to be killed by Vasili but she can still never die. 

Something or someone will keep saving her as if it’s like this immortal hand that of her father’s; much like Lady Macbeth’s infamous sleepwalking scene where she begs for the red spot to come out of her hand - “Out, damned spot! out, I say!” (5.1 || 39)  and then goes on to say “all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, oh, oh!” - despite so sure of the fact that- “A little water clears us of this deed” (2.2 || 64) - practically begging to be rid of her cruelty - one she so associates with the masculine.

While Lady M ends up suffering a terrible fate, Nora does end up growing older but death becomes a desire rather than a penance for her. But she’s a little wiser than she was before. She looks at herself in the mirror again, watching her hair grow past her shoulders. The scissors are kept far away, undesired now.

(Small note: I haven't played Crimes 3 yet, so once that goes on Wide Release, I'll make some more comparisons like these since the last book in the trilogy is supposedly about solving Jimmy's murderer)

Another note: I really love this interpretation of Lady Macbeth and the hazards of viewing gender as binary and inherent . I'm not sure if Nora identifies as androgynous but I do portray her in such a fashion via her clothes and her outward appearance. (Honestly being androgynous would solve all her problems lmao)

[v0ideddr3ams]

Finally did the SBI family tree

Well kinda

And spoiler alert, yes QSMP eggs are in it because Philza confirmed its the same character

Hey guys I've been putting this off?

Why?

Idk!

So let's start with the eldest being in the family, shall we?

The Unnamed winds, Aeolus, Ralsiah - The Goddess of the sky, direct decendant of the sky goddess. She was one of the first created, she used to control the winds. She also known as the one who dances. - Status: Dead - Colors: the rainbow actually, but combined together, white. - More Info: originally the Ancient humans had summoned her to figure out how to destroy the wither and she had refused to tell them such. She had also met a human that turned immortal when the skulk took over. We'll talk about him soon enough. During the great revolution against the GreaterX, she was the one who delivered the message of victory to the sun, turning her wings black. She went to the end to fix them but the dragons were dead.

Philza, The Angel of Death, West Winds, Death's Angel - Descendant of the sky herself, practices the arcane magic of Death, bringing him closer to his wife and other people connected to that realm. He is only an immortal because he is smart. He doesn't do stupid shit. He is also known as the Blood God Handler, but we'll get to that. - Status: Alive - Colors: Green and white - More Info: so this is the doozy; Philza has 4 kids legally speaking. Wilbur being his only biological child. From eldest to youngest it'd be Wilbur, Tommy, Chayanne, Tallulah. Now you may be wondering "what about Techno?"

Technoblade, The Blood God, The Host, The Boar, Techno - The host of the Blood God, direct descendant of an entire bloodline of piglins blessed by the Blood God himself. He does not practice arcane magic, that's Philza's thing. - Status: unknown, assumed to be alive because the Blood God title hasn't been passed down to Michael yet and things only the Blood God can do still happen here and there. - Colors: Red and sometimes Pink - More Info: Techno and Philza are closely related friends that happen to live in the same house and raised kids together (NO I AM NOT JOKING.) Techno was traveling when Wilbur was born and raised mostly, only was around the most when Tommy was brought home. Techno avoided Wilbur's birth and childhood because he wanted to stay on Kristin's good side. (Will explain later) Techno also technically helped raise Sally, but it was more training than raising. Speaking of which

Sally, Pearl of the Sea, The Siren, Calypso - Sally is the protector of rivers, goddess of the sea. At least the head goddess. There are smaller gods underneath her for specific parts of the sea. When she gave up her immortality, she was still a God because she was still worshipped. She was in the Syndicate for years before she "ran off to make a government with Wilbur" as Techno would've put it. The things you do in the name of love amirite? Sally also helped finish raising Tommy to the best of her ability along with her two kids and tubbo. Because somehow, she was the only one who was concerned about the kids being forced to fight in a WAR. - Status: Dead, dead as hell, what shoes she got? What shoes she got on the coffin??? - Colors: Fire coral red and Indigo blue - More Info: So she didn't have Fundy, we all know what happened there, if you don't go watch a vod, I ain't explainin it. Fundy is part of the generational curse Kristin put on Philza's bloodline from Wilbur down, so... yeeeaaaa. Sally did, however, have Milo! Milo was baptized in her name, whereas Fundy was baptized in XD's name. So little tidbit: Wilbur and Sally had been at religious war with each other which is stupid when Wilbur knows how important it is for a God to keep their dignity in their own worship because his moms, both his father's wife AND his BIOLOGICAL mother, are goddesses. Kristin is an example of what goddesses need, and Samantha (bio mom) is an example of what goddesses don't need. That being said, he still had the audacity to slowly strip her power away and use it to either his advantage or to have her worship another God, which was the church prime. So Sally, kinda outta spite, baptized Milo in her own name, the Pearl of the Sea, which is something a lot of pirates do if a child is born or adopted out at sea (Dream and Foolish were baptized like that by Puffy)

Putting a pause here, will repost when I feel like finishing this bc boy oh boy I'm tired.

Reminder for myself: we start off with Fundy, go to Milo, jump back up to Tommy, go to shroud, go to Wilbur-Ghostbur-Revivebur, go to Kristin, go to Samantha, go to Yogurt, go to Ranboo, Go to Michael, Jump back up to Chayanne, go to Tallulah

[journeythroughjourneytothewest]

Chapter 23 Recap: Tripitaka does not forget his origin; the Four Sages test the priestly mind

With all four pilgrims now having been “awakened to the suchness of all things,” the begin this chapter “free from the fetters of dust” and thus proceed westward “through countless green hills and blue waters; they saw wild grass and untended flowers in endless arrays.” They travel like this for an entire year, until one late evening in autumn the question is brought up as to where they shall spend the night. After some bickering between Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie over who should haul the luggage, the Monkey King reveals to the former marshal that the horse Tang Sanzang is riding is “originally the son of Aorun, the Dragon King of the Western Ocean,” and that Bodhisattva Guanyin had “appeared personally to take off his scales and horns and to remove the pearls around his neck. It was then that he changed into this horse to carry Master to worship Buddha in the Western Heaven.” Zhu Bajie, however, is unconvinced; he had “heard an ancient saying that a dragon can breathe out clouds and mists, kick up dust and dirt, and he even has the ability to leap over mountains and peaks, the divine power to stir up rivers and seas. How is it that he is walking so slowly at the moment?” Sun Wukong but declares that he’ll make Bai Longma move swiftly, and so “shook his golden-hooped rod once, and there were ten thousand shafts of colorful lights! When that horse saw the rod, he was so afraid that he might be struck by it that he moved his four legs like lightning and darted away,” not slowing until he had run “all the way up a mountain cliff.” “As his hands were weak” Tang Sanzang had been unable to restrain Bai Longma, but the terrified monk did manage to stay on the dragon-horse’s back. His new vantage point also allows him to see “several stately buildings” in the distance.

The other three pilgrims are quick to join their shifu, with Sun Wukong expressing surprise that the monk “didn’t fall off the horse?” After some more bickering Tang Sanzang suggests that they might ask for shelter at what at the distance appears to be a small village. Yet as the Monkey King’s “Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils” allow him to see the truth of the world, he’s able to tell that these structures were “covered by auspicious clouds and hallowed mists. He knew then that this place had to be a creation of buddhas or immortals, but he dared not reveal the Heavenly secret.”

Upon reaching the buildings, Tripitaka is quick to dismount and tell his disciples, especially Sun Wukong, that they must “behave with circumspection” and wait for someone to come out so that they could “request lodging politely.” They wait for a long time without success, and so an impatient Monkey King leaps up from where he had been seated at the foot of a gate and runs inside. There he finds three hallways adorned with all kinds of riches, as well as a “middle-aged woman who asked in a seductive voice, ‘Who are you, that you dare enter a widow’s home without permission.” Sun Wukong is so “taken aback” that he can only tell this woman about the pilgrim’s mission and their request for shelter in a murmur. This seemingly rich and wealthy widow invites the party in with a smile, and it is only after receiving her permission that Tripitaka, Sha Wujing, and Zhu Bajie enter. Zhu Bajie in particular is interested in their host, and keeps shooting her “furtive, wanton glances.”

After exchanging greetings and moving into the main hall, the pilgrims are served tea in white-jade cups. Their host then tells the pilgrims that Her “maiden surname is Jia (Unreal), and the surname of my husband’s family is Mo (Nonexisting).” She goes on to tell them that after her in-laws died, she and her husband had inherited an ancestral fortune of “more than ten thousand taels of silver and over fifteen thousand acres of prime land.” They also had three daughters before her husband died, but mother and daughters are now left in a state where they have “no other relatives…to inherit our vast property and land…We are delighted, therefore, that the four of you have arrived, for we four, mother and daughters, would like very much to ask you to become our spouses.”

Tripitaka is immediately struck “deaf and dumb” at hearing this proposal, and remains silent no matter how much the widow tries to tempt him with descriptions of her vast wealth or her daughter’s intelligence and beauty. Indeed, such words but make the Tang monk act “like a child struck by lightning, a fog smitten by rain. With eyes bulging and rolling upward, he could barely keep himself from keeling over in his chair.” Zhu Bajie, however, “could hardly quell the unbearable itch in his heart!” Finally, the pig asks his shifu how he could “completely ignore what the lady has been saying to you,” to which Tripitaka “gave such a hostile shout that Eight Rules backed away hurriedly. ‘You curse beast! he bellowed. ‘We are people who have left home. How can we possibly allow ourselves anymore to be moved by riches and tempted by beauty?”

The widow but giggles at this show of anger and proceeds to engage in a short debate with the Tang monk over whether it’s better to “leave home” as a monk or “remain at home” as a citizen. Tripitaka does allow that it is “undeniably a good life” to “enjoy riches and glory; you have things to eat, clothes to wear, and children by your side.” And yet, as he states through poetry, only those whose minds are enlightened won’t have to face the “rot [of] age, one stinking bag of flesh!” The widow grows “terribly angry” at hearing this, and further insists that even if Tripitaka had “received the commandments and made the vow never to return to secular life, at least one of your followers could become a member of our family.”

Intimidated, Tang Sanzang first asks Sun Wukong to join the family as a husband. Yet the Monkey King proclaims that he’s “been completely ignorant in such matters since the time I was young,” and suggests that Zhu Bajie stay instead. For all his staring, the former marshal refuses. Tripitaka finally asks Sha Wujing to follow the widow’s wishes, but the sand monk declares that he would “never engage in such perfidious activities!” A now thoroughly angered widow “quickly walked behind the screen and slammed the door to the rear. Master and disciples were left outside, and no one came out again to present tea or rice.”

Exasperated at their loss of food and shelter, Zhu Bajie starts berating Tang Sanzang, as the monk had “ruined all our chances by the way you spoke! You could have been more flexible and given her a vague reply so that she would at least have given us a meal.” Yet soon Sha Wujing and Sun Wukong are encouraging the marshal-turned-pig to stay, as “you will no doubt be given a huge dowry and a nice banquet to greet the kinsfolk, which all of us can also enjoy.” This is also apparently the first time the sand monk learns of Zhu Bajie’s history as “the son-in-law of Mr. Gao of the Old Gao Village.” Sha Wujing and Sun Wukong continue to encourage their swinish companion to accept the widow’s offer, but Zhu Bajie keeps refusing, and even states that “Each one of us is tempted, but you only want old Hog to be embarrassed. The proverb says, ‘A monk is the preta [in Buddhism a restless ghost incessantly tortured by hunger and thirst] of sensuality,’ and which one of us can truly say that he doesn’t want this?” The former marshal then declares his intention to graze Bai Longma and pulls the dragon horse outside. Sun Wukong, sensing mischief, tells Sha Wujing to keep Tang Sanzang company while he follows the pig yaoguai. Tripitaka allows this, but asks the Monkey King to not ridicule Zhu Wuneng. The monkey pilgrim agrees, and changes into a red dragonfly to go after the wayward swine.

Believing he had given his shifu and fellow disciples the slip, Zhu Bajie chases Bai Longma to the back of the house, where he finds the widow and her daughters admiring some chrysanthemums. The girls slip inside the house at the sight of the pig yaoguai, but Zhu Wuneng is able to make his case to the widow, telling her that even though he is “somewhat ugly,” he would make a good husband as he “can work quite diligently.” The widow tells him that if “there’s no great inconvenience, we’ll take you,” but she needs to discuss the matter more with her daughters first. Zhu Bajie then leads Bai Longma back to the front of the house, but he’s beaten there by the Monkey King, who heard the whole exchange and immediately tattles on the pig yaoguai, though Tripitaka “did not know whether to believe him or not.” The monkey goes on to hint to Zhu Bajie that he knows what the pig did when he comes back, which puts the former marshal in a quiet mood. Yet his embarrassment is accompanied by the widow and her three daughters Zhenzhen, Aiai, and Lianlian welcoming the scripture pilgrims into their home, their beauty so great that “Tripitaka lowered his head and folded his hands in front of him, while the Great Sage became mute and Sha Monk turned away completely. But look at that Zhu Eight Rules! With eyes unblinking, a mind filled with lust, and passion fast rising, he murmured huskily, ‘What an honor it is to have the presence of you immortal ladies!” The widow then asks the pilgrims which one of them “shall be betrothed to my daughters,” and Sha Wujing tells her that Zhu Bajie will. The former marshal protests and says they should “discuss the matter further,” but Sun Wukong states that there’s nothing to discuss since Zhu Wuneng had “already made all the arrangements with [the widow] at the back door, and even call her ‘Mama.’” The Monkey King continues to force the issue even while Zhu Bajie continues to protest, and even “caught hold of Eight Rules with one hand and pulled at the woman with the other, saying, ‘Mother-in-law, take your son-in-law inside.” The former marshal is hesitant to go but does eventually follow the widow, while the rest of the pilgrims are treated to a vegetarian dinner and guest rooms to spend the night.

After being led through numerous “doorways and chambers with tall thresholds, causing him constantly to stumble and fall,” Zhu Bajie finally makes it into the inner chamber of the house. There, the widow tells him that she’s yet to decide which of her daughters to give to the pig yaoguai as a bride, as she fears that whatever choice she makes will leave the other two girls offended. Zhu Bajie suggests that she “give them all to me,” as this will spare her “a lot of bickering that can destroy the harmony of the family,” that its very common to “have three or four concubines nowadays,” and that as he had “learned how to be long-lasting in the arts of love,” even if she had “a few more daughters, I’ll gladly take them all…You can be assured that I’ll render satisfactory service to every one of them.” The widow, however, states that his plan is “no good.” Instead, she tells Zhu Bajie to take her large handkerchief and “blindfold yourself…I’m going to ask my daughters to walk past you, and the one you can catch with your hands will be betrothed to you.” The former marshal agrees to this plan, but soon finds that he “could not grab a single one of them.” He’s soon left “Fumbling and tumbling around…sitting on the floor with a bruised head and a swollen mouth.”

The widow tells the complaining pig yaoguai that her daughters weren’t intentionally evading his grasp, but that each was deferring to the other “so that each may take you.” Zhu Bajie proposes that the widow marries him instead if her daughters are unwilling, but she suggests instead that the former marshal try on the silk undershirts that each of her daughters had made, and that he will marry the one whose shirt fits him best. Zhu Bajie agrees, and even declares that if they “all fit me, they can all have me.” Yet no sooner had the pig yaoguai tried on the first undershirt when “he suddenly fell to the floor. The undershirt, you see, had changed into several pieces of rope which had him tightly bound. As he lay there in unbearable pain, the women vanished.”

In the meantime, the rest of the pilgrims wake up and discover that “all the noble house and buildings had vanished…for the truth of the matter was that they had all been sleeping in a forest of pines and cedars. Tang Sanzang and Sha Wujing are panicked at this turn of events, but Sun Wukong is able to quickly assure them that the “women of that household happened to be some bodhisattvas from somewhere, who had waited for us to teach us a lesson. They must have left during the night, but unfortunately Zhu Eight Rules has to suffer.” And indeed, they find a slip of paper on an old cedar tree that show who these bodhisattvas were and why the pig yaoguai was punished for “loving things mundane.” The group also soon hear Zhu Bajie crying for Tang Sanzang to “Save me, please! I’ll never dare do this again!” Even though Sun Wukong suggests that they not “bother about him” and that they should “leave now,” Tripitaka says that though “Idiot is stupid and mischievous…he is at least fairly honest, and he has arms strong enough to carry the luggage. Let’s have some regard for the Bodhisattva’s earlier intention, let’s rescue him so that he may continue to follow us.” And so, not knowing “what sort of good or evil was in store for the Idiot,” this chapter concludes.

[yourfellowhuman07]

Where Do We Go Now?

A She-ra: Princess of Power 2018 fanfiction

The war is finally over. Prime is dead, the hive mind is broken, and everyone is reunited with their loved ones. However, there are some questions left unanswered. What will be the fate of Catra and Hordak? What are these new memories Wrong Hordak has? What is Etheria's place in the wider universe? Where do we go now?

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Ladies, Gentlemen, and nonbinary friends chapter 22 is finally here. This has been a slog to write, but I persisted. I was on my last brain cells writing this so I hope it is good. Also, grab your snacks and tissues because this chapter is 45 words short of 1.5k words. Please enjoy and have a wonderful day.

Also as of right now the poll for the weekly upload date for my new fic still has five hours left to vote on. So if you really want, please vote.

Also, AO3 has caught up with Tumblr, so this chapter will be posted there tomorrow. However, you can only access it if you have a registered account because of precautions regarding the whole AI situation. Sorry in advance.

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Chapter 22: Project Orion

Once again, rain battered the windows of the Crypto Castle. A blue fire crackled within the fireplace that housed all the… guests. On one side of the room sat the Alliance; on the other side sat Hordak’s brothers and the former horde soldiers. Right in the middle sat the former warlord upon an armchair, his fists balled into his pants. Entrapta sat on the arm of the chair with her hair wrapped around Hordak’s bicep. He cleared his throat.

“Now, I am under the impression that you all know why you are here. I would like to first apologize for my outburst yesterday. It was inappropriate of me, and I should have acted more rationally.” After a moment, Hordak looked at Entrapta. 

“Do you recall when I told you where I came from?”

“Yes.”

“That was partially a lie. I am not a clone I am the actual biological child of Horde Prime.” Hordak glanced down at his fists as everyone reacted with varying levels of shock.

“Why in the world would Prime want a baby?” Mermista expressed.

“He never wanted me. I was an accident my mother insisted on keeping. According to him at least.”

“Mother?” Castaspella inquired.

“Yes, I had a mother who is the only reason I am still alive. According to Prime, when my mother found out she was pregnant with me she insisted they kept me. Prime agreed as long as I was not a distraction.”

“If it is not too personal, could you tell us what she was like?” Castaspella inquired.

“I think we crossed the line of personal business a while ago.” Catra retorted, gaining a glare from Adora and Glimmer.

_______________________________________________________________

Orion sat reading on a big chair in his bedroom connected to his parent’s room. Despite being only four years old, he was very proficient at reading and had already begun reading novels and scientific articles. Like many rooms in the Velvet Glove, it was a blinding white with black accents and smelled strongly of bleach.

Orion looked up to the sound of the green barrier dissolving. His mother stepped through the door.

“Alright, star sweeper time for bed.”

“What! Please five more minutes, mama.”

“No, buts star sweeper, it is already past your bedtime.” She took the book from his hands, careful to mark Orion’s place. She started to usher him to bed as a thought popped into his head.

“Mama, why did you name me Orion?”

“Well, when I was giving birth to you, the Velvet Glove was passing right through a constellation named Orion by the local beings. Legend says he was a giant who was a mighty warrior and a huntsman that was immortalized in the stars.”

“Will you stop filling his head with that nonsense?” Orion’s father, Horde Prime stood at the door.

“Darling, it’s only a story.”

“A stupid one at that,” he looked to his left. “Is that my book?” He stomped over to the armchair, swiping the book and ripping out the bookmark. “Tell your child to stop taking my things.” He stormed out of the room, closing the barrier between the two bedrooms.

“I’m sorry,” Orion whispered, balling his fists into the bedsheets.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. Your father is just having a bad day.”

“He’s always having a bad day.”

“I know.”

“Can you sing that one song for me again?”

“Anything for your star sweeper.

La la lu

La la lu

Oh, my little star sweeper

I'll sweep the stardust for you” She tucked in the white sheets of his small bed.

“La la lu

La la lu

Little soft fluffy sleeper

Here comes a pink cloud for you” She pushed his unruly indigo curls out of his face.

“La la lu

La la lu

Little wandering angel

Fold up your wings, close your eyes

La la lu

La la lu

And may love be your keeper

La la lu

La la lu

La la lu” She kissed him on his forehead as his eyes fluttered close.

“There now, little star sweeper. Dream on.” She turned out the lights and left the room.

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“Ok, what I don’t get is how we and none of the other clones knew about her?” TD asked, leaning forward in his seat.

“Prime never let anyone see her. He never told me, but I figured her wanted her all to himself and didn’t want anyone else to touch her. Which is probably why he wasn’t too fond of me when I came around.”

“Why would Prime even want a wife to begin with? I thought he only loved himself.” Frosta inquired.

“Another thing I am not fully aware of. My best guess is that he liked the attention and affection a wife could give him. A type of adoration clones could not provide.”

“Whatever happened to your mother?” Micah asked, crossing his arms.

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Just like his mother had told him to do, Orion hid in his closet as his parents screamed at each other. He didn’t know how it started he just knew it was about him. It was always about him. 

Maybe Father is right. Maybe I am a nuisance.

He could never figure out why his father detested him so much. Maybe it was his appearance. While he looked more like his mother there were some staggering differences in looks. For one, his eyes were crimson red when his parents were electric lime green. His hair was also different, with his being navy blue, short, and curly while his parents were white, long, and straight.

At that point, his parents were close enough to the door that he could make out what they were saying.

“I just don’t get the obsession you have with that thing! It was bad enough you wanted to keep it, but spending almost all your time with it!”

“First of all, that thing is your seven-year-old son, whom I am trying to raise by myself since you have put absolutely zero effort into even being nice too!”

“That’s another thing! With every passing day, you become more and more defiant! It has gotten out of hand!”

“And I apologize for that, but I just want you to be involved in raising the child you helped create!”

“When the universe implodes, I will be involved.”

“You are such a…hmm”

“Go ahead. Finish what you were saying.”

“Fine. You are a cold, narcissistic, uncaring man who has never given a single thought to anyone but yourself! You are a terrible father and a terrible husband that sucks the life of everyone around you!”

“There is no hope for you after all.”

__________________________________________________________________

“I do not exactly know what happened after that. All I heard was her screaming grow quieter as Prime drug her away. I never saw her after that night. The next morning Prime handed me off to a couple of clones and sent us off to some unknown plant where I was educated about almost every subject and how to fight. At the age of 25 my cybernetics were implanted, I joined the hivemind, and became his general.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” Castaspella whispered, covering her mouth.

“Please, the very least you can do is not pity me. Is there anything else you all want to ask or are we done here?”

“No there isn’t,” Glimmer rose from her seat. “Thank you for telling us this and we are sorry we put you in this position. Guys let's go.” At her command, the Alliance filed out of the room leaving Hordak, Entrapta, and the five brothers in the room.

Hordak slumped down him his seat. Groaning as he buried his face in his hands. He looked up at his family.

“I am sorry.”

“For what?” Entrapta asked, wrapping her hands around his bicep.

“Lying to all of you about everything.”

“HK, that doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re ok.”

“I’m fine. It happened a long time ago.”

“Still, if there is anything you need we are all right here.” Entrapta placed her hand on Hordak’s shoulder, receiving a small smile from the former warlord. “Come on,” she rose from her seat, “it’s past lunchtime and I know you haven’t eaten anything.”

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As the Alliance boarded Darla Sea Hawk pulled Bow to the side.

“What’s wrong.”

“Nothing is wrong. After today I want to join you on your quest to befriend Hordak. Today has made me realize how hard he has had it, and maybe, like Catra, positive relations could get him on the straight and narrow.”

“That’s great! I’m glad someone finally gets it. My only problem is breaking the ice. I tried to talk to him once, but he was so dismissive. We need to get him in a place where he would be willing to socialize.”

“How about… a boys' night out?”

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Can you all tell me what Disney movie I watched before writing this?

I also found a video that perfectly encompasses this chapter:

[hoorayiread]

The Ethics of Learning Ethics

I want to be a good person. I want to positively contribute to the world and encourage others to do the same. I also just want to know what the world is like outside of myself. Thus, I read nonfiction.

A few years ago, I read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. It's a book that discusses the ethical issues that have cropped up again and again in the advancement of modern medicine, and it is full of great information. However, it's main premise revolves around the story of Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman whose cancer cells were cultured without her consent. This line of cells has led to numerous scientific advancements that have generated millions, if not billions of dollars for research companies while the Lacks family lived in poverty. The book then goes on to research that family, obtaining interviews and even befriending some of the family members. And Skloot talks about how awful it was that Henrietta was exploited in that way.

Then Skloot proceeded to not pay the family. She admits this in her book. She gives some kind of justification for it, but it's been bothering me ever since I read it.

(Robin Tynan wrote an article for Medium titled "Your unconsious bias is showing-- a critique of 'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks' by Rebecca Skloot," if you want more info)

Currently, I am reading Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond. Coincidentally, I came accross a video from Gene Lee on Tiktok, where he mentioned that very same book. He mentioned it in passing while criticising how academics are often very sheltered from the consequences and lived experiences of everyday poverty. After this, I decided to look for articles that took a more critical look at Evicted to see if I couldn't find a more well-rounded look at the issues it tackles, but the only ones I found came from landlord websites and people that felt poverty was an individual matter rather than a systemic issue (I found a right-wing website that blamed poverty on unwed mothers. Do you care if I don't cite that source?).

One issue I think I'm facing is a lot of this information I'm finding comes from white people (Gene Lee is Black, but every other person I've mentioned has been white. And I am, too). I need a diversity of sources but, hey, what would you know? Systemic racism exists! I do have some authors of color coming up on my to-read list, including another non-fiction book written by a Black woman, but still.

Then again, one cannot fix the world by reading books alone in their room.