#I can confirm a lot of this from my experience in living-history

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

He’s just trying to replace the British affection for Hero Harry PR with American affection using exactly the same Hero Harry stories.

Does he realize the implications? If Proud Britain's Royal Soldier can be thought of as in service to the USA, then it lays open the fact that the UK is simply a client state of mighty America (especially for the war he took part in).

Which may be the truth, or close to it, but it's a truth the establishments of both countries do not want out there - so artlessly laid bare, too.

I'm sure that in Harry's head, the colonies are totally honouring his moral sovereignty when they let him tag along to US military related events. Nevermind that bit with the American Revolution, he failed history anyway.

Well, listen. There’s a huge culture of respect for veterans here in the US, which is something that‘s a bit unique as it’s one of a few things that foreign visitors say the US does well (at least according to the commentary on my TikTok FYP).

So I think in the beginning Harry was initially given that respect - he was a veteran (on top of being the grandson of the monarch/head of state to a key US ally), he did deploy (even if it was all a farce), and he did have some respect for military service. But I think over time, a lot of the respect he was initially afforded has been whittled away but not just his own actions and behaviors, but by what Meghan has done/is doing as well, and how everything they do juxtaposes what Americans expect from veterans.

For instance, no veteran ever speaks publicly and generally about how many confirmed kills they have. No veteran speaks publicly and in writing that they don’t see the humanity in their enemy. No veteran whines about how terribly they *personally* had it; they speak about and advocate for the group at large. No veteran sees their service as a vanity project for praise and attention. No veteran uses community service as an exercise in ego flattery; they use community service to better the world they live in for the future they fought hard to protect and defend, not to line their pockets with cash and awards. No veteran will pout through the National Anthem; sure, they might not sing the anthem, but they’ll at least stand proudly at attention (to the best of their abilities) and not frown and glower. No veteran disrespects their commander-in-chief - they might not like the person, but they respect the office and give the office all due respect deserved. No veteran will use his uniforms, commendations, and/or status as a costume for dress up or as a prop. No veteran will use his service for ego-flattering, self-serving propaganda.

And in my personal experience, all the veterans *I* know never seek out praise, awards, or attention for their service. That’s the last thing they want. They’re happy with a handshake and a “thank you.

And because Harry (and Meghan as his wife) was initially given that respect, I think it went to his head in a “they like me, they really like me” way, which made him see us/American veterans more as a mark through which they can get fame and fortune rather than a community. I think — and this is just my observations — I think Harry and Meghan see the American military community, veteran and families alike, as “leader-less” because we don’t have one singular person (or group of people) leading the national support and awareness. The closest thing we have is the FLOTUS. I think Harry and Meghan wanted to be that for us — a co-opting of what the royals do for the British and Commonwealth militaries — but they really fumbled by not understanding what having served and being a veteran means in the US. And that’s why Harry’s attempts to ingratiate himself with the American military community and become a military influencer keeps failing.

[nalyra-dreaming]

"Let me know if you want to know more :))" If it's not asking much, yes, please?! I really know little to nothing about the books. I see what people post here, like, I didn't know about Rose and only found out about Viktor this week lol. Unfortunately the books aren't always available in my country and I'm still waiting to buy and read them. D:

Okay, for a rundown:)))

In the books:

Lestat finds Louis again through the rockstar career, and he writes his own story down for him, which Louis reads. Their reunion is quite beautiful, Louis and Gabrielle fight other vampires side by side with Lestat. There is a kiss backstage :)

Unfortunately Akasha kidnaps Lestat, because she thinks he is the epitome of toxic masculinity and that she can use him for her plan to take over the world (literally), burning a lot of the vampires. It’s a misjudgment though, Lestat is fearful of her killing the ones he loves, but starts to resist her ever more (she forces him to do her bidding via spells at times). Louis, Gabrielle reunite with all the others to hear the history behind Akasha and ultimately they meet up with her and Lestat, ending in Akasha‘s death. Louis and Lestat have a very romantic scene together.

Afterwards Lestat is changed though, battling with the event. He got a huge amount of blood from her, because she wanted him strong, and he experiences severe body dysmorphia and self hatred. Louis and he are in a weird “Netflix and chill“ era, visiting each other regularly, watching movies together, being petty with each other. Lestat’s guilt and that self hatred drive him to suicide, but he is too strong already to burn in the sun and he heals to retain a tan (only). The Body Thief sees his chance and offers him a mortal body for a while, and Lestat takes it. The Body Thief does not return his body though and so Lestat tries to bring Louis to turn him again but Louis refuses (very emotional scene). Louis tells Lestat to live that mortal life and Lestat has to turn to others (David in the book here maybe Daniel?!) to get his body back bc he realizes that he does want to be a vampire (after all). He manages, and there is a very beautiful but very raw scene with Louis in a church afterwards. Lestat tries to convince himself he is evil (for wanting that vampiric life back) and rapes David into darkness just as he was raped into it. All through the book Claudia‘s ghost is there and speaks with him. Lestat has Rue Royale fixed up and he and Louis (and David) live there again.

A while later a being claiming to be the Devil visits Lestat - he wants his help, and takes his soul onto a journey beyond (it is later confirmed that Lestat was gone from this plane of existence) and the events with heaven, hell, purgatory and Lestat drinking the blood of Christ (literally) shatter him. He loses an eye in purgatory, which is returned to him, altered. He goes a bit mad, confined to a church, where Louis and a few others tend to him. Louis comes by regularly to read to him, change clothes, etc. Lestat falls into a sleep.

Lestat’s coma continues, but it is involuntary at times. As he later tells it the altered eye allowed angels to take his soul to do their bidding, while threatening him. The unpublished novel at Tulane tells of one of those adventures. Lestat’s coma is hard on Louis. He is haunted by the fact that he has never seen Claudia’s ghost and with the help of Merrick, a witch, they conjure her, an event for which the diary pages are important. Claudia’s ghost is a vengeful one though, hating him, and he tries to commit suicide after. Lestat wakes up and saves him. They reunite and exchange a lot of blood and afterwards Louis is changed a lot. They leave NOLA because the Talamasca threaten them.

Something not closer defined happens while they are in the jungles, and Louis goes to Armand in NYC, where he is safe from the ever multiplying vampires. They spend some time apart, Lestat roaming, Louis with Armand, both coming to terms with who they are now. This is when Rose needing help must have happened. When Viktor was conceived and raised.

Another burning is happening - the spirit that propels them is clming to consciousness: Amel. It uses older vampires to thin out the ranks. Lestat is called and finally returns from his wanderings, and he defeats an elder and takes the core, effectively becoming the prince of the vampires. He and Louis meet, Rose, Viktor and first trouble with Roshamandes happens.

Amel is coming further to consciousness, recalling the being he was, once. Recalling who he was with, too. Lestat sets up court in his old family castle, now renovated. All big players come. Lestat goes to Louis and Louis comes to him - for good, with a very emotional plea. They are together for good after. Amel need to be removed fromthe vampires and Lestat, he gets a cloned body. Louis comes up with the solution, and holds Lestat’s hand through it.

Roshamandes, the ancient slighted bc he did not get the core is outfor revenge tjough, and kidnaps Gabrielle, Louis and Marius, sending ashes to Lestat. Lestat… shuts down. Armand goes feral (in words, incredible scene!!).

Lestat goes to Roshamandes in an all-or-nothing move and kills him, creating the “Blood Communion“ with the remains. Louis and the others are found, and Lestat can finally breathe again There is a big celebration, and the book literally closes with them dancing and kissing and Lestat telling Louis he loves him and always had.

______

This is the rundown :)

As you can imagine there is a LOT the show can do with this. In the books they kiss, the show has added sex, and so I expect some scenes to be a lot more sexy :) Louis is a lot more involved in the later arcs, his and Lestat‘s arcs are inverted. When they finally come together (for good) once more they are at peace with each other.

They have a son, and a daughter, their friends are with them. Former loves, too.

They have left their human pains behind, have accepted themselves as vampires.

Louis calls it the “monarchy of darkness“ in the unpublished draft at Tulane, and knowing Rolin knows of those drafts… I do expect this on the show :)

Obviously some of this will be spun differently. Has already been used, and/or used differently. But I expect to see the Body Thief parts, definitely. Akasha and the aftermath. And we know we’re getting the rockstar era :))

I think the show has already hinted at Amel, and so I do think they’ll finish with that arc :)))

We‘ll see. Since the relationship in the show is deliberately more explicit I think a lot of the canon events will be a LOT more intimate. It’s not about sex for them.

It’s about eternity and acceptance, both self acceptance and acceptance of the other.

And I cannot wait to see what the show makes of it.

[saintmachina]

One million dollar question: is it true that the Bible condems homosexuality? I had a discussion with two conservatives who sent me some verses that seem to confirm that but i don't know much about the context although i know this is important too

Let’s start here: why is this the million dollar question? Why does it matter what the Bible has to say about sex, or love, or human relationships? At the end of the day, it’s just a book, right?

Oceans of ink (and blood) have been spilled over not only what the Bible says, but what it does, how it functions. The course of empires, nations, and families have been shaped by the contents of this book, and from a historical and cultural perspective, it holds a lot of weight. But you didn’t ask about the sociological, you asked about the theological, so let’s explore. 

Different Christian traditions vary in their approach to scripture. For example: some Protestant denominations believe that the Bible is inspired, inerrant, and infallible. In this paradigm, God is the ultimate author of scripture working through human hands, and the resulting text is both without error and in no way deceptive or mistaken. Similarly, The Second Vatican Council decreed that “the books of Scripture must be acknowledged as teaching solidly, faithfully and without error that truth which God wanted put into sacred writings for the sake of salvation.” When a member of the clergy is ordained into the Episcopal Church they swear that they “do believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, and to contain all things necessary to salvation.”

Can you see how many of these points of doctrine overlap yet seek to distinguish themselves from one another? Theologians have spent lifetimes arguing over definitions, and even when they manage to settle on solid teachings, the way that the teaching is interpreted by the clergy and incorporated into the lives of the laity varies WIDELY. As much as systematic theology may try, humans aren’t systematic beings. We’re highly contextual: we only exist in relation to others, to history, to circumstance, and to the divine. We simply cannot call up God to confirm church teaching, and I think a lot of people cling excessively to the Bible as a result of the ache (dare I even say trauma) of being separated from God via space and time in the way we currently are.

God is here, but God is not here. God is within us, God is within the beloved, God is within the sea and sky and land, and yet we cannot grasp God to our bodies in the way we long to. In this earthly lifetime, we are forever enmeshed in God, yet forever distinct, and that is our great joy and our great tragedy.

So barring a direct spiritual experience or the actual second coming, we're left to sort through these things ourselves. And because humans are flawed, our interpretations will always be flawed. Even with the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives guiding us.

When engaging with any sort of Biblical debate, it is essential that you have a strong understanding of what the Bible means to you, an an embodied individual living a brief little awful and wonderful life on Earth. Otherwise it's easy to get pushed around by other people’s convincing-sounding arguments and sound bites.

Here’s where I show my hand. As a confirmed Episcopalian I believe that reason, tradition, and scripture form the “three-legged stool” upon which the church stands, interdependent and interrelational to each other, but I’ve also like, lived a life outside of books. I’ve met God in grimy alleyways and frigid ocean waters and in bed with my lovers. So my stool is actually four-legged, because I think it’s essential to incorporate one’s personal experience of God into the mix as well. (I did not invent this: it’s called the Wesleyan quadrilateral, but the official Wesleyan quadrilateral insists that scripture must trump all other legs of the table in the case of a conflict which...*cynical noises*)

Please do not interpret this answer as me doing a hand-wavey "it's all vibes, man, we're all equally right and equally wrong", but I do absolutely think we have a responsibility as creatures to weigh the suffering and/or flourishing of our fellow creatures against teachings handed down through oral tradition, schisms, imperial takeover of faith, and translation and mistranslation. Do I believe the Bible is sacred, supernatural even, and that it contains all things necessary to find one's way to God, if that is the way God chooses to manifest to an individual in a given lifetime? Absolutely. Do I believe it is a priceless work of art and human achievement that captures ancient truths and the hopes of a people (as well as a record of their atrocities) through symbols, stories, and signs? Unto my death, I do.

However, I am wary of making an object of human creation, God-breathed though it may be, into an idol, and trapping God in its pages like God is some sort of exotic bug we can pin down with a sewing needle.

Finally, we have reached the homosexuality debate. One of my favorite sayings of Jesus is Matthew 5: 15-17: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit." In other words: look at what religious teachings have wrought in the world. When I look at homophobic interpretations of the Bible, I see destruction, abuse, suffering, neglect, alienation, spiritual decay, and death. When I look at theology that affirms the holiness of LGBTQ+ relationships, I see joy, laughter, community building, thoughtful care, blooming families, creativity, resilience, and compassion. I see the love of Christ at work in the world. I see the hands of a God who chose under no duress to take up residence in a human body, to drink wine with tax collectors and break bread with sex workers and carry urchin children around on his shoulders. That's my limited little pet interpretation, but hey, that's all any of us really have, at the end of the day.

So, I am absolutely happy to do a play-by-play breakdown of why those passages you were given (we queer Christians often call them "clobber passages" or "texts of terror") don't hold water in a theological, historical, and cultural context. We can talk about Jesus blessing the eunuch and the institution of Greek pederasty and Levitical purity laws and Paul because I've done that reading. I've spent my nights crying in self-hatred and leafing through doctrine books and arguing with my pastors and writing long grad school essays on the subjects. Send me the verses, if you can remember them, and I'll take a look. But it's worth noting that out of the entire Bible, I believe there are only six that explicitly condemn homosexuality AND I'm being generous and including Sodom and Gommorah here, which is a willful and ignorant misreading if I've ever seen one.

In the meantime, I recommend books by people smarter than me! Try Outside The Lines: How Embracing Queerness Will Transform Your Faith by Mihee Kim-Kort, or Does Jesus Really Love Me by Jeff Chu, or Transforming: The Bible and the Lives of Transgender Christians by Austen Hartke!

And take a breath, dear one. Breathe in God, in the droplets of water in the air and in the wind from the south. Breathe in the gift of life, and know that you are loved, now and unto the end of the age and even beyond then.

[duplicitywrites]

Does fandom feel very different to you now than it did pre-2020? This could be a rather myopic viewpoint- I’m in college, so I’m young enough to have never really lived in times where fandom was ridiculed or whatever, but it still felt fringe-like in 2019. I’d go to school and chat about fanfic and fan art with my nerd friends, but fandom did not feel omnipresent in the mainstream- not just fan art or fanfic ( which is still 100% fringe like ) but fandom discussions too. Now swifties get mentioned on the news and crap. Perhaps that’s a bad example since Taylor swift is….Taylor swift, but I feel like a fandom that big and powerful wouldn’t have even formed pre 2020. Swifties certainly existed, but even in 2014, they would not be mentioned in the news.

i'm afraid i can only confirm your viewpoint as myopic because my friends weren't fandom nerds haha. the only other person i knew who read fanfic was this one guy in my year who i think only read what i wrote because he had a crush on me. which, well. not sure if that actually counts 😂

i first started engaging in fandom at large around... 2012? i think? or maybe sooner than that, i don't remember anymore. i used to rp on facebook LMAO but my later fandom experience mostly centers around tumblr and discord.

now that fandom is mainstream it really does feel omnipresent. people as a whole have changed. but to circle back to your other point — swifties have history that relates to this, because taylor used do private fan sessions (screenings)? of her album before release, and i think a majority of those fans were selected from social media, tumblr in particular, because she was active here. you can imagine how that made the parasocial aspect was even worse.

this stuff predated 2020s but it did drive a significant amount of fan behaviour. and ik not every celebrity is taylor swift, but you see a lot of that continues to be replicated because modern fandom is about 🚨 ATTENTION 🚨! so it's quantity over quality, anything that isn't an immediate massive hit gets dismissed, etc. then the stuff that does make the news so to speak gets exploited to death until people are sick of it, which again, you know, takes us back to taylor swift.

things are better when i can just enjoy my little guys in peace. which i do! or try to do. it's difficult because the rest of the world seems to want less and less to operate like that.

all this to say i think fandom can still be close to the way it was. it can still be fringe, with you and your friends in a group hanging out. you just have to block out the noise and really make that space for yourself. then you can still decide how much you want to engage with the rest of it.

[kerubimcrepin]

Live-read: "Julith et Jahash" - Part 1

In the past, I said that I would wait for a translation that is currently in the making in the russian fandom. However, because I am weak, and want to keep this blog going asap, I lied. (This liveblog will be very slow due to this, so be warned.)

This comic will let us understand Joris better... while literally all of his personality, morals, body language, and tastes, are a product of Kerubim, — this might shed light on A. family history, that might dictate his physiology (what if Julith randomly says she has an allergy? This isn't real, but it would be big for Joris lore), and the things he went through after the movie: what experience he would have with the huppermage culture, which he was cut off from for his entire life thus far.

Question: is there a single member of this family who DOESN'T fish??

Kramdam is a part of Rok Island, the name of which will be familiar to you if you're A. a player of the MMOs, B. batshit insane about Joris lore.

It might be silly, for me to point this out, but listen: the movie, the series, they all happen hundreds of years before the Dofus MMO, — so to have confirmation that Rok Island is that old, is very interesting.

I had previously said that huppermages aren't very fond of cultures outside their own, and I want to elaborate, so that my words aren't misconstrued: Huppermages culture is, in a lot of ways, a mixture of different classes, — because a lot of huppermages aren't born huppermages, but instead, people who convert to this class, and a lot of their spells are inspired or taken from other classes. However, not assimilating fully is... very unwelcome.

Having a history of oppression and at least one genocide in the years after the movie, made huppermages very understandably conservative and closed-off. But this culture, as we'll see from this comic, had some pretty toxic traits even before those scars.

HOLY FUCKING SHIT. Like I already knew about this, but I want you to understand: the stupid fucking log thing is a family trait.

Do you think Joris told Bakara "I hate magic, I hate magic, I hate magic. I HATE WANDS. I HATE STAFFS. I KEEP BREAKING THEM. LET ME OUT. LET ME OUT OF THE ACADEMY. STOP HAVING ME BE ENROLLED!!!!" and the next day she brought him a fucking log. Do you think this is what happened.

So small, and already sure that she'll never be as good as her brother... man.

Also... Bakara and Joris looked very similar as kids. At least that's my opinion.

I didn't think this comic would make me emotional, but the Jurgen family having a thing for logs is making me violently ill.

It probably was Bakara who gave him that bright idea. And Kerubim was probably like "ok son, I am someone who also uses blunt weapons, I can teach you how to do this."

There isn't some "i like to use logs" gene, it was all just Joris preferring to use melee, Bakara's memories of Jahash's melee skills, and Kerubim's skill in melee fighting.

It is just... insane to me, how Joris ends up doing this one thing that his biological father liked to do, despite how different they are as people. Despite Joris likely feeling absolutely nothing towards the man.

Well, that, or he fucking hates Jahash, though probably not as much as Julith.

Think about it this way, — Jahash and Julith ruined his childhood by their reappearance. They ruined his life for the next few decades too, probably. And after? They would always be a shadow over his life, for as long as they are remembered. It's always either "you're evil and we don't trust you because you're Julith's son" (even though he knows that Julith was framed,) or "you're not good enough, even though you're Jahash's son. How come?" (even though he knows from Bakara that... Jahash was just a man. Even if it is hard for him to put together the almost-holy image of his father as seen on the stained-glass in a temple, and the image of him that Bakara talks about, — a human person, who had fears and dreams.)

The only way for Joris to live his own life, without any judgement or comparison, without being reminded of how shit his childhood was, is to wait for the World of Twelve to forget who the fuck a Julith and Jahash even are. It's logical for him to have some irrational resentment.

And yet he brings a log to a nuke fight in season 4. Jahash would never do this, because he got good at magic, but he WOULD approve.

His parents would have loved him a lot, if they had the chance.

List of things that Joris and Bakara share:

Neurotic perfectionist who struggles with self-hatred about their skills and their body.

Cute ass behaviours and expressions as children.

Alcoholism (this is my fanon for Joris. It came to me in a vision. He's just like Kerubim and Bakara, — needs to get shitfaced to cope.)

Haunted by Jahash's success in life, even though Jahash would NEVER have wanted either of them to be haunted.

Thin grabbable waist and twinkish/waifish looks as adults. (Joris is already a twink, despite his 3ft stature, but NEVER forget the official concept art of how Joris would look if he wasn't possessed by a dragon as an infant. He would be a tall, blonde, anime twink instead.)

Whisperers have, historically, been used as servants by Bontarians and Huppermages.

Though by Waven times, they are enemies of the state (at least dissenting ones), and Joris wants you to beat the shit out of them, for the sake of his beautiful nation. (because they're dissenting)

Jahash and Bakara grew up with their dad, Juvence Jurgen.

By huppermage standards, they lived in very unusual conditions.

"All huppermage towers are super-protected, we WILL die if we don't take precautions, so I will go ahead, and deliver the message myself."

Yeah, no, they're not typical huppermages. I guess Joris has a lot in common with Bakara and Jahash. (I keep making myself sad, thinking about this.)

He thinks that Jahash and Bakara are some local hicks/rednecks that the huppermage has been experimenting on, which raises many red flags. Like the fact that apparently, human experimentation is a thing that some huppermages do. Then he thinks that the huppermage is experimenting on his own kids.

The headcanon that Jahash might have had some learning disabilities that he gave to Joris as one last "sayonara you weaboo shit" genetical move, and that it was REALLY hard for him to learn magic and impossible for Joris, stays winning.

By the way, I guess this is a good time to give you the next, very funny piece of trivia:

Joris's name literally means "George George the Farmer Farmer".

I think it's likely that, historically, before Jahash's success in life, their family were just some random poverty-stricken farmers, who happened to be huppermages.

I'M SO FUCKING SAD ABOUT THEM.

Grandpa Jurgen is literally so fucking real.

THE HEADCANON THAT JAHASH MIGHT HAD LEARNING DISABILITIES THAT HE GAVE TO JORIS AS ONE LAST "SAYONARA YOU WEABOO SHIT" GENETICAL MOVE, AND THAT IT WAS REALLY HARD FOR HIM TO LEARN MAGIC AND IMPOSSIBLE FOR JORIS, STAYS WINNING.

Juvence really cares about his kids.

"If you don't do as master says, he will kill you and all your loved ones."

Guys I'm starting to think, that between this, the political intrigues, the bullying, the "using Bakara for PR while she becomes a teenage alcoholic and not giving a shit about her" thing, — that the huppermage academy and temple, are um.... not actually Good, as an institution.

To most this is "an honour," and yet, this random selection process chose a teenage huppermage who, by all accounts, can't do magic and doesn't know a single spell.

I'm so fucking sad.

You know what else these two quotes can apply to? Haha. well. I ask you to imagine Jahash's funeral, and—— [i collapse on the floor weeping]

"He was always more like a father to her, than an older brother."

I am going to crash my car into the sea. And I don't even have a car.

[nothingiswrongwithyourarmrests]

@prismatic-bell made a wonderful well thought-out post about cultural christianity.

I think the phrasing of cultural christianity is not ideal, but the concept it's imperfectly describing can probably not be described perfectly.

In my opinion it's more accurate to speak of christian hegemony or christian culture. I live in a christian culture. The christian culture around me affects me and everyone else in my country, because it is so hard to draw a line between culture and religion because Germany was Christian for a much longer time than it has been German.

Participating in german culture means participating in a christian culture, even if we have gotten more laicistic(in the sense of strict religious neutrality) and atheist in practice in the last 40 years. The effects of christian hegemony and christian culture will affect everyone and give everyone a degree of "cultural christianity". Yes, even the members of minority religions.

The prevalence of the USAmerican Film and Television industry is giving a lot of countries "cultural americanism". I am myself participating in cultural americanism at this moment because I am writing about a concept that has been mostly defined in the USAmerican cultural context in my second language.

The Atheist movement today is being dominated by USAmericans, so the Atheist movement defines itself against the cultural context of american majority culture, which is a christian culture. It is also dominated by people who escaped religious abuse and religious trauma, usually from USAmerican christianity. The reactivity of that trauma has become part of Atheist culture, even for those who did not experience religious trauma personally. It's a major problem for the movement that a lot of people counting themselves among it do so out of disgust for religion instead of taking joy in secular and atheist values, and a lot of people that are vocal have not finished truly excavating and examining their own (cultural) biases.

Seriously following a religion (including secular atheism as a set of beliefs) often involves analysing and understanding it and the culture you are practicing it in, but secularly/laxly/culturally following the religion you happen to be born into or ignoring it does not require the same level of thought and scrutiny and intellectual honesty.

Learning about the history of philosophy has helped me grasp the interconnectedness of culture and religion, and having mandatory religious education (education about religions, not religious indoctrination) in school was a major part of becoming more culturally literate. Whether someone has examined or corrected the biases they absorbed from christian culture /christian hegemony is not determined by their religious affiliation.

I do not want to be cultural christian and would put that label to people who do easter, christmas, confirmation and church weddings without belief. What I am is continuously affected by christian hegemony and living in a christian culture, and I won't be getting rid of all the biases and blind spots of that for a long time, possibly my lifetime.

[wondergirl2007]

Top 10 Characters Who Are Autistic

Autism. What exactly is autism?

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurological and developmental disorder that affects how people communicate, learn, and behave.

Autistic people may act in a different way to other people.

Some examples are:

* Finding it hard to understand how other people think or feel.

* Being sensitive to bright lights or loud noises.

* Getting anxious about social events.

* They may take longer to understand information.

* They prefer to be on their own.

* And they may act blunt, rude or not interested in others without meaning to.

People who have autism might face challenges that people who don't have it won't, but they're still very capable of achieving goals and living a happy and healthy life just as much as someone who doesn’t have autism. In fact, there are many well-known people with ASD who have achieved significant things in their life, including Albert Einstein, Tim Burton, Elon Musk, to name a few.

Now, why am I mentioning all of this? Well because I’m autistic myself, and I didn’t even know I was on the spectrum until like, last year. And I have quite a few friends who are also on the spectrum like me, so I can relate to them a lot.

But thinking back to when I was a child, I definitely had quite a few symptoms of autism, including preferring to be on my own, enjoying hobbies such as art and music, having repetitive behaviour, being sensitive to loud noises and not understanding sarcasm or figures of speech.

For example, if someone told me to “Break a leg!”, I might think they literally mean for me to break my leg, when really it’s just a rhetorical phrase, and I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t want me to actually break my leg.

Another example is when I was in primary school, I didn’t like the loudness of everyone talking all at once during assemblies, so I was given these headphones that would reduce the noise, and it did help, but one of my teachers didn’t like the idea of me wearing them, but when I got older, I was less sensitive to the noise, so I stopped wearing them.

But I’m not here to just talk about my experiences with autism, because as you can tell from the title, we’re going to be looking at fictional characters from TV shows and films who are also on the spectrum, and how I can relate to the characters.

For this list, we’ll be looking at characters from TV shows and animated films who either are autistic, or have Asperger’s syndrome. Characters from live action films or videos games will not be on this list. So without further ado, here are the top 10 characters who are autistic.

Quick disclaimer: Not every single on this list may actually be confirmed to be autistic, but I’m still including them on the list as they have autistic traits that I can relate to. With that out of the way, let’s get onto the list.

10. Elsa (Frozen)

I’m sure we all know the film “Frozen.” It’s the sixth highest grossing film in history and is based on the classic tale “The Snow Queen”. It has a unique story, catchy music and well-written characters. Out of all of the characters though, Elsa really represents what being autistic is like.

When Elsa was young, she became less social and communicative after she accidentally injured her sister, Anna, due to being unable to control her ice powers. After her parents pass away, Elsa is unable to understand Anna’s thoughts and feelings and doesn’t realise how much her younger sister needs her.

After Elsa becomes the Queen at her coronation, she becomes much more anxious and may have even suffered from sensory overloads which cause her ice powers to get the best of her and starts a glacial winter in the kingdom of Arendelle.

Elsa flees from Arendelle to create a castle made of ice on the distant cliffs, and prefers to be by herself, as she believes she’s a threat to the kingdom due to her ice powers and doesn’t want to do any harm to anyone.

Elsa's powers being a metaphor for being autistic is a valid and powerful interpretation that people are allowed to have and share. Actually, Elsa's powers are seen as a metaphor by almost every minority who suffers for being different.

How sensitive Elsa seems to be, how she seems to look at the world different from people around, how she moves, some repetitive gestures, the way she learns some behaviors from her sister and attempts to follow them because she understands these things are important -- even though naturally she wouldn't act that way, because it is a learned behavior.

Also, the song “Let It Go” was written by taking inspiration from an autistic relative of the writer.

It's important to remember the there's an autistic spectrum and that each person is different. Autistic people are believed to learn to mimic neurotypical behaviors under the pressure of being accepted -- or better said, tolerated. Even though it hasn’t been fully confirmed, I am very much convinced that Elsa could absolutely be autistic.

9. Lola (Charlie And Lola)

I grew up watching Charlie And Lola, and I could relate to Lola a lot. After rewatching the show, it’s pretty clear that Lola has autism. She has many autistic traits including:

* Only has one close friend (Lotta) because other people perceive her as being eccentric and very odd.

* Has been labeled a “very fussy eater” by her brother Charlie, probably due to sensory problems with food, which is something I can relate to a lot as I’m a picky eater myself.

* Takes everything very literally and doesn’t understand idioms or expressions (e.g. “Don’t make faces because if the wind changes it’ll stick like that” “Don’t watch too much tv or you’ll get square eyes”)

* Reading the same book all about bugs over and over again, to name a few.

I know it’s not been confirmed that Lola is autistic, but I mean, come on. It’s pretty obvious that she is. Lola is basically me when I was a child. I don’t have much else to say on this one, so let’s just move on.

8. Goo (Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends)

Ah, Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends. A classic Cartoon Network show featuring some memorable characters such as Mac, Frankie, Eduardo, Wilt, Bloo, and then there’s… Goo.

Goo was introduced in the third season of the show and is seen as an hyperactive, happy-go-lucky, overly imaginative and talkative African-American girl. Goo does seem to have some autistic traits, such as being spontaneous, going into detail about a subject (In a rather hyperactive way) and she’s incredibly hyper active in and outside of her mind.

Goo also struggles to make friends, which is why she creates her own friends, and even though most autistic people usually prefer being on their own, Goo would rather have lots of friends, but is unable to make friends because she thinks people find her annoying due to her hyperactive behaviour, especially after being yelled at by Mac about it.

I mean, I can’t really blame Mac for yelling at her, but I just felt so bad for Goo. I also struggled to make new friends when I first started high school, and preferred to do things on my own. I didn’t mind being on my own and times, but other times I did want to have at least someone to talk to.

Now I know just because someone can be creative or hyperactive doesn’t instantly mean they’re autistic, but Goo’s imagination is what helps her less insecure about herself and not just seen as this weird, annoying kid. Goo’s creativity makes her who she is, and she shouldn’t be ashamed of that.

7. Leni Loud (The Loud House)

Now, Leni Loud is seen as the stereotypical “dumb blonde girl” in The Loud House, and she reminds me a lot of Lindsay from Total Drama, but the reason why she’s on this list is because she’s the most relatable character in the show to me.

First of all, Leni has a special interest in fashion and she even makes various clothing in many episodes. Also, a lot like me, Leni has a lot of trouble when it comes to taking things people say literally.

One example can be found in the episode “House Music” in which the Loud family forms a family band. During the episode Luna tells Leni that she can sing backup and Leni ends up taking her words literally and singing the words “backup”.

And another example occurs in “Driving Miss Hazy”, when Lori tells Leni to make her bed Leni ends up taking her literally and builds her a bed frame from scratch.

As an autistic person myself I often have problems myself when it comes to taking things people say literally and I often have trouble recognizing sarcasm or when people are joking instead of being serious.

Next, like a lot of autistic people, there is evidence that she has routines that she follows such as in the episode “Space Invader” when she mentions that she brushes her hair exactly 50 times every day.

Finally there’s the fact that Leni’s stock pose is something known as raptor hands. Raptor hands is basically when you have your arms close to your body with your hands bent. Raptor hands can be common among autistic people and it’s pretty much Leni’s signature pose.

I think it might have been confirmed that Leni is autistic, and I saw a poll of the Loud House fandom about wherever you thought if Leni was autistic or not, and more people said yes than no, so Leni may actually be autistic.

6. Julia (Sesame Street)

Julia was probably one of the first characters who I’ve seen to be on the spectrum. She is a friendly girl who enjoys various activities including drawing and playing with her stuffed toy rabbit, Fluffster, but is sensitive to loud noises such as sirens and may not answer to someone immediately.

She also enjoys bonding with her neurotypical friends on Sesame Street, who often grow in their understanding of autism in the process.

Puppeteer Stacey Gordon, who played the role of Julia, uses her experiences as a mother of an autistic child to portray Julia in an authentic way.

Julia made her first appearance in an awareness initiative entitled Sesame Street and Autism: See Amazing in All Children, which was made to provide resources “designed to serve autistic children and their families”.

Sesame Street is known for taking on serious topics including grief, racism and adoption. And autism was no exception. Being autistic myself, Julia is a very relatable character.

5. Fred Jones (Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated)

Fred Jones In Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated has a LOT of symptoms of autism, such as:

Obsessive interests (specifically, traps), Not understanding other people’s emotions, being more drawn to things than to people, talking things too literally, being unable to recognise people's hints toward him, a need for a consistent routine, finding it hard to express his own emotions and getting upset if somebody gets too close to him.

I realise a lot of this was apparently done for the sake of humour, but the writers of Mystery Incorporated really seem to have unintentionally written Fred to be autistic.

I don’t have a lot to say about this one either, because I didn’t really watch Scooby Doo all that much when I was younger, but I did know that Fred was a very popular autistic character, so here he is on the list.

4. SpongeBob (SpongeBob SquarePants)

Yes, it has been confirmed that SpongeBob is indeed autistic by the voice actor himself, Tom Kenny, but he “never meant" for it to go public with his recent revelation about the iconic character being autistic after his comments went viral.

But SpongeBob has pretty much every autistic trait an autistic person can have, such as not being able to read social cues. It's hard for the guy to know when he's bothering someone, and he's not very good at reading the emotions of others. A lot of the comedy from the show derives from the fact that he doesn't know that he's annoying.

He also has meltdowns over relatively minor things, and is unable to handle his own emotions well. We've seen Spongebob, countless times, freak out over fairly petty things. Most of the time it's played for comedy, but for certain people (autistic or not) it can be relatable at times.

SpongeBob also takes things literally such as in the episode, “Squid On Strike”, Squidward told him that they would "dismantle the oppressive establishment” Spongebob interpreted "dismantle the establishment" as "destroy the building." So he did.

And most autistic people have one certain area of extreme knowledge/expertise that they refer to as a "special interest." Something that they feel extreme, almost obsessive, passion for. It's not hard to see that Spongebob's is his love of fry-cooking. Fortunately for him, that's also his job, and he's probably the happiest workaholic ever shown on television.

SpongeBob was definitely a character I didn’t expect to be confirmed autistic when I was younger, but after rewatching SpongeBob recently, yeah, I can definitely see it.

3, 2 and 1. Grim, Billy and Mandy (The Grim Adventures Of Billy And Mandy)

So, I started watching Billy and Mandy when I was around 14 years old, and I had no idea that the three main characters were autistic. In fact, I didn’t even see any autistic traits in them at first, but after realising that the creator of the show, Maxwell Atoms, is autistic himself, and also finding out that I’m autistic myself, this is one of the reasons why Billy and Mandy is one of my favourite shows ever.

All three of the characters are so relatable, as they all have autistic traits that I can relate to, from Grim taking things literally and being easily upset when thrown off from routine, to Billy’s repetitive behaviour and not understanding other people’s emotions, to Mandy hating being touched or hugged or finding it difficult to express her emotions, and prefers being on her own.

I’m pretty sure we can all see it, especially after Maxwell confirming that Grim, Billy and Mandy were all autistic in 2021. Heck, there’s a whole video about Mandy talking about autism. (With the voice being AI, because, well, of course)

But overall, I think that being autistic isn’t something to be ashamed of, as a person with autism can absolutely live a normal life with the right support and resources. Early intervention, education, and community support are key factors in helping people with autism achieve their goals and lead fulfilling lives.

Let me know in the comments which autistic character is your favourite and why. And if there was any characters I may have missed, also let me know in the comments. And with that, I’ll see you guys later.

[thepringlesofblood]

Ayda Aguefort character sheet!

I went through FHSY transcripts and wrote down every spell she used and figured out what level she was and made a full character sheet for my beautiful wife, Ayda Aguefort.

Actual character sheet and plaintext description below the cut: here's how I figured it out.

Ayda has one (1) 7th level spell slot, and presumably no 8th level spell slots, since she can only cast Teleport once per day. This puts her at either 13th or 14th level, the only difference being that at 14th level, Divination wizards get "Greater Portent", aka an extra Portent roll per long rest. Looking through the transcripts, she never uses more than 2 portent rolls per long rest, so we will assume she is 13th level.

In terms of background, "Sage" makes the most sense. Like, you roll to determine your “specialty” and one of the options is librarian. She’s gotta be a sage. This gives her proficiencies in arcana and history, two languages of choice, and the "Researcher" feat - “When you attempt to learn or recall a piece of lore, if you do not know that information, you often know where and from whom you can obtain it." Extremely in character

Wizards pick 2 proficiencies from Arcana, History, Insight, Investigation, Medicine, and Religion. I picked Investigation & Medicine, since she already gets Arcana and History from "Sage".

Spells are tricky - I included every spell she uses in the series, but wizard spellbooks are weird in that there's kind of no limit to the amount of spells you can know, the limit is just on how many you can prepare. You automatically learn two new spells per level, so I went through and added other spells (in italics) up to the minimum amount of spells she would know, and then made a list of other spells that seem likely for her to know, or that you could switch in if you like. she does fully live in a library so like. who knows what she could know?

Also, there's a spell she uses during the fight aboard the Goldenrod that sounds a lot like Steel Wind Strike, though it isn't 100% confirmed, so I put a question mark next to it. We also don't know what exact spell she was going to use to "flood hell" - I chose Tidal Wave because it seemed most likely, but it could also be a spell of her own invention.

Final product below the cut!

the reason these don't have image IDs is bc I'm putting the IDs after the images bc there's so much text. also sorry the resolution's shit i don't know why that happened it looks fine on my computer. also i don't know how passive wisdom works im sorry its probably just her normal wisdom (11)??

image/page 1:

Character Name: Ayda Aguefort

Class & level: Wizard (Divination) 13

Background: Sage

Player name: bleem

Race: half-phoenix

Alignment: Lawful neutral

Experience points: [blank]

Ability scores Str 18 (+4) Dex 15 (+2) Char 16 (+3) Int 20 (+5) Wis 11 (+0) Con 14 (+2)

AC 14

Proficiency bonus: +5

Inspiration: [blank]

Initiative: +2

Hit point total: 72

Hit dice: 13 d6 Speed 80

Saving throws:

Strength: +4

Dex: +2

Con: +2

Int: +10 (proficient)

Wis: +5 (proficient)

Cha: +3

Skills

Acrobatics: +2

Animal Handling: +0

Arcana: +10 (proficient)

Athletics: +4

Deception: +3

History: +10 (proficient)

Insight: +0

Intimidation: +3

Investigation: +10 (proficient)

Medicine: +5 (proficient)

Nature: +5

Perception: +0

Performance: +3

Persuasion: +3

Religion: +5

Sleight of Hand: +2

Stealth: +2

Survival: +0

Passive Wisdom: [blank]

Languages: Common, Phoenix, + two others of your choice from Sage background (I chose Infernal & Elvish)

Personality Traits: amazing

Ideals: [blank]

Bonds: Fig (paramour), Adaine (best friend), Kristen, Fabian, Riz, Gorgug (transitive best friends), Garthy (parental figure/guardian/adopted child of a previous incarnation of herself), Arthur Aguefort ("father")

Flaws: [blank]

Features & Traits:

Flight (see: Half-Phoenix)

Fly speed = 80

Fire Immunity (see: Half-Phoenix)

Ayda is immune to all fire damage

Portent (Div. lvl 2) - roll 2 d20 at the end of each long rest. You can replace any attack roll, saving throw, or ability check made by you or a creature that you can see with one of these rolls (once per turn)

Expert Divination (Div. lvl 6) - When you cast a divination spell of 2nd level or higher using a spell slot, you regain one expended spell slot. The slot you regain must be of a level lower than the spell you cast and can't be higher than 5th level

Third Eye (Div. lvl 10) - choose one of the following benefits, which lasts until you are incapacitated or you take a short or long rest. You can't use this feature again until you finish a short or long rest.

- Darkvision: You gain darkvision out to a range of 60 feet

- Ethereal Sight: You can see into the Ethereal Plane within 60 feet of you.

- Greater Comprehension: You can read any language

See Invisibility: You can see invisible creatures and objects within 10 feet of you that are within line of sight.

Attacks & Spellcasting

[formatted like] Name, ATK Bonus, Damage/Type

Fireball, +10, 8d6 fire (+1d6 per lvl)

Steel Wind Strike, +10, 6d10 force

Tidal Wave, dex save DC 18, 4d8 bludgeoning & prone if fail

Equipment: so many books

image/page 2:

Spellcasting Class: Wizard (Div.) 13

Spellcasting Ability: INT

Spell Save DC: 18

Spell Attack Bonus: +10

Prepared Spells Limit: 18

(spells in italics are speculative, based on the min # of wizard spells she would have at this level. the rest are canon. feel free to add or subtract as desired!)

Cantrips (lvl 0)

Prestidigitation

Message

Mage Hand

Mending

Control Flames

other potential cantrips: Lightning Lure, Dancing lights, Minor Illusion

Spell Level 1

slots total: 4

Find Familiar

Synod

Protection from Evil and Good

Detect Magic

Shield

Ayda's Comprehend Subtext

Comprehend languages

Identify

Illusory script

Snare

Spell Level 2

slots total: 3

Invisibility

Enlarge/Reduce

Misty Step

Hold Person

Spell Level 3

slots total: 3

Sending (pirate)

Counterspell

Dispel Magic

Clairvoyance

Remove Curse

Fireball

Tongues

Tidal Wave

Spell Level 4

slots total: 3

Greater Invisibility

Banishment

Scry

Arcane Eye

Spell Level 5

slots total: 2

Steel Wind Strike (?)

Legend Lore

Spell Level 6

slots total: 1

True Seeing

Spell Level 7

slots total: 1

Plane Shift

Teleport

Spell Level 8 [blank]

other good potential spells: Unseen servant, Thunder wave, Tasha's hideous laughter, Knock, Locate object, Scorching ray, Shatter, Web, Animate objects, Symbol, Bigby's hand, Storm sphere, Control Wind, Mordekainen's Private Sanctum, Conjure Elemental, Dimension Door

Spell Level 9 [blank]

Flood Hell [level & specifics unknown]

image/page 3:

Character name: Ayda Aguefort

Age: 17 (present), over 300 (total)

Height: 6-7 ft

Weight: [blank]

Eyes: fire

Skin: dark brown

Hair: fire

Character Appearance

“A Resplendent, Beautiful Woman”

Digitigrade ankles

bird feet

golden talons

orange runic tattoos

books in bandoliers like guns

undercut: fire

wings: fire

ear cuff (from Fig)

resembles Arthur Aguefort, her father

Character Backstory

perfect :)

Allies & Organizations

Compass Points Library

The Bad Kids

The Gold Gardens (Garthy)

Fig & The Sig Figs

[a screenshot of Ayda's official junior year character art (standing), taken from her wiki page]

Additional features & traits

“a resplendent beautiful woman who from the knees down has large talons, she also has digitigrade ankles, she has those ankles that kind of kick back like a lot of animal feet do. So from the knees on down become these almost like metallic golden talons. She bears a striking resemblance to Arthur Aguefort the moment you look at her”

“She looks kind of harpy-esque until you realize that she does have arms in addition to wings. So she has these incredibly, and as they spread, deep red wings that as they approach the tips of the feathers sort of change into orange, and by the time they get to yellow, flicker in a little edge of flame on the outside of the wings. She's dressed in sort of like white linen pants with a pirate's sash on them. No guns or anything you can see. Sort of vest, a lot of sort of orange runes tattooed on her arms, you see that she has a short shock of red hair, it seems to be not on the sides or back as much, almost like a plume of red fiery hair that comes off the top of her head. And her eyes have pupils in them but are otherwise clearly roiling balls of flame.”

“You see that she does have two scrolls at the side on her bandolier, and similarly to the guy downstairs, but sort of like she has it on those leather harnesses you would have for guns, but it's two small books strapped under each arm.”

Treasure: [blank]

[wutheringheightsfilm]

interview with the vampire art history lesson part 2:

Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion, Francis Bacon, c. 1944. Held at the Tate Britain in London. Here is its catalog listing.

So! This is the painting that has been on the wall of Louis and Armand's apartment, and that Season 2 makes a point to emphasize that they're selling. Full disclosure, modern British art history is not my forte, but I have covered this in a British art history survey class, and this is arguably one of Bacon's most famous works, so there's a lot of literature you can find on this. Let's discuss!!!

Now, one claim that you can try to make here about the relationship of this painting with Armand specifically is that Armand is now connected to two 'Christian' artworks (see my post on The Adoration of the Shepherds with a Donor here): one that marks the beginning of Christ's (semi)mortal life, and one that marks the end of it, which is definitely interesting, but the thing is with this Three Studies piece is that Francis Bacon put a lot of emphasis on the fact that this is a crucifixion, not the Crucifixion. Francis Bacon was an atheist, however, a lot of his work does revolve around either critiquing or dealing with Christianity (this is not his only work to reference/allude to or show the Crucifixion, as well as his other very famous work, Study after Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X). It was a very nuanced, complex topic for him that is way beyond the scope of this post.

Interestingly, though, Bacon has made a point to say that "faith is a fantasy" [1]----which is definitely something interesting in relation to Armand...

What Three Studies is definitely associated with, though, is World War II and Greek tragedy.

The catalog entry from the Tate spends a while discussing the process of this painting, and how Bacon may have drawn from his various experiences during World War II (he was in the ARP during the London Blitz), as well as other works made around this time (namely, Figure Getting Out of a Car and Man in a Cap) referencing various Nazi imagery that Bacon had seen impacting his process for creating this triptych. Various scholars have cited Bacon as interested in the dynamics of power and violence, and the imagery of the triptych can be interpreted as either the perpetrator and/or the victim [2]. Bacon has also confirmed that this painting references the Eumenides (the Furies who are responsible for enacting revenge in Greek mythology) [3 + 4].

Now that we've covered the very basics of this work, let's discuss how this might relate to Louis and Armand. This work being present in the show has raised some interesting points for me, and some questions:

The show makes a point of emphasizing that they're selling this work. Since this work is so closely related to World War II, and Louis and Armand are currently trying to relay their experiences during World War II, is the selling of it symbolic of either 1) 'selling' their story to Daniel or 2) finally closing out that chapter in their lives?

It is interesting that in their apartment, there is only modern and post-modern artwork and architecture. I wonder how deeply this ties to Armand's trauma, since he himself was modeled (whitewashed as he was) in Late Renaissance/Mannerism artwork from the 1500s. How much of that experience drives his taste in art?

Bacon's juxtaposition and struggle with violence, power, and the dynamic of the perpetrator/victim is extremely interesting... the thoughts are still cooking about this one.

What do u guys think.... i've been microwaving this in my head all day along with the other painting!

Works Cited + Referenced:

[1] D. Farson, The Gilded Gutter Life of Francis Bacon, London, 1994, p. 134. [Taken from this JSTOR article, further cited below] [2] Referencing the catalogue here, which cites: Ziva Amishai-Maissels, Depiction and Interpretation: The Influence of the Holocaust on the Visual Arts, Oxford, New York, Seoul and Tokyo 1993, pp.189-90, 225-6, 354. [3] M[ichael] C[ompton], letter to Francis Bacon, 6 Jan. 1959, Tate Gallery cataloguing files. [4] Francis Bacon, letter to Tate Gallery, [9 Jan. 1959], Tate Gallery cataloguing files. [5] Arya, Rina. “The Primal Cry of Horror: The A-Theology of Francis Bacon.” Artibus et Historiae 32, no. 63 (2011): 275–83. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41479747.

[waitmyturtles]

A little bit more on I Feel You Linger In The Air (reincarnation, the novel version, and more)...

I am back home and recovering from a somewhat INSANELY stressful work trip (WHEW! TIRED!), and I've missed writing meta oh so very much, BUT! A couple of things will be happening in my meta life soon: The Old GMMTV Challenge Bad Buddy Meta Month starts next week (FINALLY, EEE!), Last Twilight starts tomorrow, the Den-Panuwat-penned-and-Only-Friends-adjacent series Playboyy starts next week -- we got a lot going on.

AND, AND! AND! I did myself something good while I was away. I HOUSED the novel version of I Feel You Linger in the Air, because, BECAUSE! I still can't help screaming mentally about that finale -- even though reading the novel actually made me realize that episode 12 of IFYLITA was a touch redundant.

Related to the IFYLITA novel and series: I got an ask in my inbox that somehow disappeared (@porjomkwan, if you're still out there -- thank you for the ask!) that asked about my thoughts on the theme of reincarnation in IFYLITA, and cited this fabulous post and reblog by @tipsyjaehyun and @clairedaring about this theme. Tipsy and Claire covered the majority of the ground that the drama series captures regarding reincarnation -- in particular, the GORGEOUS focus on the northern Thai blessing ceremony that calls back to a human host the 32 spirits that a host carries with them throughout their life/lives. Those spirits can be incarnated and/or reincarnated within repeated and/or beloved figures of the host's memories and reincarnated lives. (That explains why people like Ohm and Kaimook, in Jom's present life, are reincarnated as Khamsean and Fong Kaew in Jom's life of 1928 Chiang Mai. And it explains how Jom can continue to be called to different eras involving Yai, from Commander/Warrior/Mustache Yai of ancient Thailand, to 1928 Chiang Mai Khun Yai, to present-day Chiang Mai Yai Kanthorn.)

@clairedaring notes in their reblog that in the novel, the foundational theme of reincarnation AND of Jom and Yai being forever bound to each other is confirmed, directly and heavily, by Commander Yai. Claire quotes from the novel Commander/Warrior Yai speaking to Jom :

"Jom-Jao, listen, though you are fated to be apart from me, my love will never fade, and it will follow you like a holy spirit, protecting you in my place. No matter where fate brings you, no matter the danger you encounter, may those misfortunes fall upon my spirit instead of yours."

I want to confirm that this is my understanding and experience of the centering and grounding of reincarnation in the series as well (@porjomkwan, this answers your question to me!). And, this very much speaks to what I understand was a gentle criticism by Thai audiences towards the show as this season of the show ended -- because the Commander Yai period really sets in stone what Jom can expect for the rest of his live(s) regarding having Yai in his life again in another time period. In which case, I agree HEAVILY with @clairedaring that IFYLITA absolutely needs a season 2, because that Commander Yai period is so definitive of how this first season gets contextualized in the end of the entire piece.

A couple of other quick notes on the novel before I move to a comparative final point:

1) JOM. JOM IS A SASSY B IN THE NOVEL. DAMN! I honestly think Nonkul Chanon could DEF handle being a touch more sassy. "I'm a grown-ass man," Jom says at one point. Yes, you ARE, HONEY! Sassy B Jom courting and standing up to Commander Yai? It was a WONDERFUL story line. (BTW, the quality of the writing of the IFYLITA Y novel was, as expected, wanting, especially by way of a fan translation. But I have to agree with fans of the novel from Thailand and elsewhere, that the story itself was SOLID.)

2) The history behind the Commander Yai period is FABULOUS to learn about. (@tipsyjaehyun has some context about the various eras of Yai here, if you don't mind a few novel spoilers.) In particular, I spent a LOT of minutes reading about the lengthy reign of the Ayutthaya Kingdom in Thailand, and just -- as an Asian and an Asian-American watching Thai shows, getting deep into this reminds me of my own accountability and responsibility for trying to grasp what an average Thai viewer will bring by way of education-based historical awareness into shows like IFYLITA. This long Wikipedia article is a must read if you want to go deeper into IFYLITA context!

3) My third point on the novel leads into what I quickly want to note by way of at least one comparison to another show that did reincarnation themes differently, but also beautifully, by way of an original Y novel.

Until We Meet Again is a permanent FAVE of mine -- and it captures reincarnation, at least a different style of it, within its drama context. In UWMA's context, a red thread tied between the passed bodies of the lovers Korn and Intouch ensures that their spirits will find each other again in the future.

As noted within UWMA, different Asian cultures have different reads on the meaning of the red thread, from China, to Thailand, to elsewhere. This article notes northwestern and Vietnamese beliefs regarding the red thread, and this Wikipedia article notes the Chinese origins of the myths of the red thread. (Remember than in IFYLITA, the blessing ceremony of calling 32 spirits back to a host is cited as being from northern Thailand -- meaning, many of these myths, legends, and practices are utterly regional, and very tied to specific regional cultures that we can learn more about as viewers. Super cool.)

In UMWA, Korn's and Intouch's spirits inhabit other bodies -- namely, Dean's and Pharm's personages. And Dean and Pharm take on some characteristics of the spirits they provide a home to, and, even more interestingly -- Dean's and Pharm's OWN behaviors reflect the regrets and/or resistances that Korn and Intouch bear to each other, with Korn's spirit being far more forward with love than he was when he was alive; and Intouch's spirit being far more fearful of that love, knowing in the end where his love led to -- their deaths.

In IFYLITA, we see Yai's spirit being reborn essentially into different version of Yai, and all of them called Yai. In the novel, Jom treats all of these Yais as Yais that he can fall in love with -- he is in love with all of them, because the spirit of Yai is essentially a singular spirit being reborn into various different versions of the body of Yai (quick spoiler: the modern-day Yai is only half-Thai).

I happen to REALLY love these various interpretations of reincarnation between these shows, and certainly many, many more shows and movies across Asia that touch upon reincarnation as an essential theme of HOPE, of love, of joy. The various ways in which these practices are regarded, from Buddhism, to Hinduism, to Shintoism, and other Asian spiritual practices, are fascinating to learn about, including their regional variances. And they speak very much to me as an Asian, as to how I learn about cultural practices, nuances, and mores. (A comparative cultural example is how food -- like, say, a dish like Hainanese chicken rice -- differs among Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore.)

But also, as an Asian watching shows like UWMA and IFYLITA -- I *know* that when I'm watching a show that's based on spirit reincarnation, that I'm not necessarily watching a "sad" show. I remember, of the day dramas of Japan and Korea that I watched when I was younger, that I absorbed better understandings of ancestor worship and elder respect. If a house had an altar with a picture of a passed-on elderly relative -- surely it was understood that that relative had passed away and one could be sad about it. But their spirit is meant to be honored at the altar, and especially in Japanese and Korean family dramas with these kinds of scenes, you can see characters speaking to the pictures of those who have passed on, having conversations, and being the subject of annual ceremonies of honoring the dead.

In other words, what I utterly LOVED about the IFYLITA novel -- and what I truly hope a season 2 will capture -- is that the Yais of the various eras were not despondent when Jom left them. Those Yais knew that a future Yai would experience Jom again. Korn and Intouch knew their spirits would meet again one day: it was Dean and Pharm that needed to come together to make that happen.

I wrote quite a bit about the Asian cinematic tradition of sad and/or open-ended endings in my review of The Love of Siam, and I think one reason why I absolutely cannot shake IFYLITA from my system -- and even UWMA, too, although UWMA has a confirmed happy ending -- is that IFYLITA is utterly reflective of this practice of the open-ended ending, at least for the show's first season, because we KNOW, through reincarnation, that Jom WILL encounter Yai again. If you read the novel, you know that Commander Yai promises this. But even if you don't read the novel, and we never get a season 2 -- to see Yai Kanthorn strolling right into Jom's arms, without very much other context, is enough, at least for an Asian audience, to know that the spirits did their thing again. Dramatically, I do think the finale could use more finessing (cc @lurkingshan and @neuroticbookworm, to whom I said this when I finished the novel), but now that I have the novel's context, I know HOW the finale could have been improved.

I took this ask as a major excuse to just unwind more and more on a piece that I totally loved in IFYLITA, and I hope to heck that we get a second season. I am thrilled that I made IFYLITA my debut into Y series reading, because the story is just so solid, and as I often say about my really beloved shows -- IFYLITA does not shy away from being rooted in assumed knowledge about cultural practices that an Asian audience can automatically check into. It really felt familiar and homey to watch this incredibly made and well-told story about an enduring romance, and I'm so appreciative that IFYLITA will be a show I'll be holding close as this year closes out -- a year that started off on the strongest Asian note with the fabulous Moonlight Chicken. MLC and IFYLITA encapsulating 2023 for Asian audiences? We were fed really, really well.

[palacholic]

Storytime

So...it's time to introduce you to the wicked ways of my weirdness, to show you what it's like to be me, starting from the beginning...

Right now I'm in my first semester at Charles university, Prague. I've been living in the Czech republic for a few months now, I chose to move there right after finishing high school in my home country. I spent years preparing for my life abroad, studying the Czech language, taking care of all the formalities that are necessary to move to a new country, most of it by myself, getting to know the country that I consider my home and I wish to live in for the rest of my life.

Why all this? What made me take such an unexpected choice, leaving behind everything I knew, saying goodbye to my friends and family and to the life I could have had in my home country?

As you could probably guess from my username and the content on my blog, the answer is simple:

Jan Palach

Yes. That Jan Palach. The student who on 16th January 1969 set himself on fire in protest of the apathy and resignation of the Czechoslovak people following the soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia. A guy who's been dead for over half a century.

I first heard about him during a time when I was struggling a lot with my mental health. His story gave me strength and hope, what he did reminded me that there are things worth fighting for, things worth living for. I know this sounds kinda paradoxical given that he died because of what he did but that's the point - he was willing to sacrifice his life because he wanted others to live in a better world. He didn't kill himself because he hated life, on the contrary he loved it.

I found something that gave me joy, something I liked doing - reading and watching everything I could find about him. I spent a lot of time researching him and loved every new detail I found out. I started researching him out of admiration for his act and became more and more intrigued by his personality, his interests, the things he believed in...I look up to him a lot. It's incredible how much this helped me getting better mentally and eventually healing from the worst of my mental issues. I started looking forward to the future again, especially after visiting the Czech Republic for the first time.

I came to Prague to pay my respects to Jan Palach, to visit the places where he lived, to say thank you...and fell in love with the city and Czech culture overall more than I expected. I met amazing people and had some of the best experiences of my life, and soon after I realised that moving to Czechia was the right thing to do. That I would regret it for the rest of my life if I didn't go through with it, that if I stayed in my home country I would never be as happy as I am now.

Two years later I finally packed my things and went on my way...as soon as I left the airport on my arrival I felt that I'd made the right choice and everything that happened since then only confirmed that feeling. Even the bad things. It's not always easy but it feels right, in a way that's hard to convey by words. I sometimes think about how crazy this all is but I'm so glad it happened. I'm thankful for everything I have now, my friends, my hobbies, my new home. I love it every day more. And I don't care how weird it is that all this started because of a guy who died more than half a century ago. Was it only a coincidence that I watched the news that day when they talked about him? Is there more to it? Who knows? Is it relevant? I don't think so.

I hope he'd be happy to know that he saved me and how much he means to me. If I could, I'd thank him for everything.

I started this blog to share my feelings and my journey as an expat in Czechia. You'll find memes, stories of a foreigner's life in Prague and of course a lot of history-related things. I'm happy to answer all your questions and tell you more. I hope to make new friends and find people with whom I can talk about my interests. I'm glad to be here and I love you all, I'm proud of y'all for being here too <3

this post took me waaayyyy too long to write and maybe I'll edit it again sometime in the future, if you read all of this I'm genuinely impressed, please tell me your thoughts in the comments or send an ask if you want to :)

[lailoken]

hi lailoken, what would you recommend for a beginner hoping to contact local spirits? I've tried some things but had no results, so i thought I would try asking you :) my apologies if you have been asked this before, i couldn't find anything on your blog!

I may have answered something like this before, but I'm honestly not sure, so I'll do my best to just answer it here. This will look a little different for everyone, but this is what I can say based on my own experiences:

Spend a lot of time in nature.

This is really important. In my experience, it does quite a lot to teach you about local spirits and how one might best approach them. Aside from natural spaces, very old and historically meaningful locales can also be useful to spend time in, though, this is particularly useful when such locals are desolate.

Look into the native mythology and culture of your region.

This can look very different depending on where you are, but I believe it to be vital if you live in a colonized area. While I, in no way, encourage appropriating the beliefs or practices of a colonized area's local indigenous communities, I believe that attempting to make meaningful contact with regional spirits is lacking and disingenuous if it doesn't acknowledge the oldest and most traditional accounts of those spirits.

Learn about the flora and fauna of your region.

This is closely aligned with my first point about spending time in nature, but while that first point has more to do with developing a personal relationship to the land and learning intuitively from it, this point has more to do with actually learning about the biology and synergy of the lifeforms that make up that nature. I partially think this is important for the sake of respecting and understanding the land in a basic, but I also think that a lot of spiritual wisdom can be unintentionally gleaned from a scientific appreciation of nature.

Learn about the history of your region.

This may not always feel like the most thrilling or rewarding aspect of this work, but I think it is also quite important. In the same way that learning about flora and fauna teaches you about the land, learning about the history of a given region can do a lot to inform both your appreciation for a place, as well as highlighting or confirming any personal gnosis you may be sorting through.

Work on dream recall and interpretation.

I believe this to be of major importance for every form of spirit-work. Without a grasp of oneiric work, I think most spirit-work will stagnate, at best, and struggle with getting off the ground to begin with, at worst.

Pray earnestly and often, even if it doesn't necessarily feel like anything is "happening."

This is pretty simple and self-explanatory, but I think it can make a world of difference. Consistent prayer can do a lot to help with building faith, patience, and even intuition.

[confundida25]

My hero academia and the Straight agenda

Ok, listen

I have seen a lot of Anime, I had seen Anime for more than 20 years, I hear all the excuses for the poorly written female characters in shonen, all the stupid contrived ways the protagonist and his lame love interest get together in the last second of the last episode because this is a shonen this is not a shojo we don’t have time for silly little romance plots discourse. How it is not that the protagonist is gay, is just that romance is not his priority, and let me tell you that excuse doesn’t work with my Hero academia.

In My Hero Academia, we follow a bunch of teenage kids in their first year of high school, which is a coming-of-age history. 7 seasons and more than 140 episodes, now, I have not read the manga this is only an analysis of the anime.

Now, in the class 1-A, we have 20 students, 6 girls and 12 boys. Did all these girls and boys have a romantic storyline? No of course not that would be insane.

BUT all of them in some way or another talk or act in their view of romance, lets discuss about it, i have nothing better to do with my life and this show is living rent free in my head.

First, the girls, we have, along the seasons multiple times of the girls talking about crushes, about boys, who the cute boys are, we usually see them gossip and whispering about it, hell we have an entire subplot of our only female villain been crazy about her romantic feeling, almost as if this show were written for a middle age man who hasn’t never touch the female experience, but that is beside the point. We can tell without a doubt that at least: Ashido, the invisible girl, and Uraraka like and want male attention, I´M NOT SAYING THAT THEY WANT TO BE HARRAS, I'm saying that they pretty much like things like a boy telling them they look pretty in a nice dress, ok? Are we OK?

Now the boys, Mineta is a caricature of what a teenage boy is, I must say I remember being in middle school and hearing some of the boys be gross about the girls and plan elaborate ruses to harras them, sadly that happened, I also worked as a high school teacher for a few years and there are boys (and even men) who are like him, so yea that.

Besides Mineta, who other boys crave female attention? (in not a creepy way)

Kaminari is mostly the usual Mineta companion in his shenanigans a long with Sero.

Among them we have Tokoyami, he never participates in the russes of the others BUT when they go and examine all class 1A rooms, he along with the Octopus (I don’t remember his name sorry) says that the girl's rooms are “A forbidden paradise” and they are excited to be allowed to see them. Again, pretty standard teenage boy behavior, the girls are equally excited to take a peak in the boy's rooms. Tokoyami also comments in how, when he is carrying Jiro into the battlefield that her but is doing stuff to him, so please stay still to which she responds that he is a stupid boy or something like that, I saw it in Japanese with subtitles in Spanish please don’t fight me.

We also have Izuku.

Izuku Midoriya is a shy teenage boy, he reacts in panic and immediately flushes and stutters when a girl or a woman shows him any affection, we saw this with Uraraka, with Toga, with the girl from the first move, etc, he likes female attention, he thing about the female attention as something positive and desirable

Iida is a strange case, he never said anything explicit about the girls, and he never participates with his classmates in any elaborate ruses because he is the class president and in general a very strict dude, BUT we have that weird exchange when he goes with Midorya to visit Hatsume and make a super weird comment about Hatsume boobs. Like, honestly I don´t know what the hell was that.

Sugarman likes to bake and is more than happy to give pastries to all the girls and feels overwhelmingly good by their response. He seems like a nice dude.

We have explicit confirmation with  Kaminari and Kirishima, they are explicit in their feelings, Kaminari has a crush on Jiro and Kirishima with Ashido.

I'm not saying all these characters are straight, they could be bi, but in the text, in the actuall Text of the show, all of them at least want the opposite sex's positive attention.

Who is left?

The guy that talks to animals, tailman, Aoyama, Todoroki and Bakugo.

Todoroki is a special case because he has his issues, he doesn’t respond like others to social clues, you can read his interaction and admiration toward Momo as romantic or you cannot, I think is pretty ambiguous and we cannot with all true said that he likes girls. He likes positive attention in general, he likes people and taking care of his own business.

So ok, the guy who talks with animals is a shy introverted kiddo, and tailman I don’t know if I´m misremembering but I'm pretty sure that he joined their classmate to ogg the girls during the sports festival when Mineta and company trick them to dress as cheerleaders, I could be wrong.

Aoyama is mostly explicitly gay, or you know, the most explicit gay a shonen anime could be.

But they are minor characters (except Todoroki), is understandable that we are not sure what is their deal, again they are 20 1A students and like a trillion other characters.

But Bakugo Katsuki is not a minor character. He is pretty much a co-protagonist. And we never. Ever. Watch him wanting female attention in any way, nop, zero, nothing. So, it must be delivered.

And this is not me being delusional and claiming Bakudeku is real, this is me confronting the facts.

Bakugo's group of friends are the boys, the bros, Kaminari, Kirishima, and Sero, and he never join them in anything related to the girls.

His interactions with women are few, first, his battle against Uraraka in the sports festival, now, Kaminari also fights a girl and he slips a comment about how pretty his opponent is, Bakugo never comments on Uraraka´s body, he has the opportunity, he doesn’t.

We see him concentrate in the fight, he doesn’t want to lose, not because he doesn’t want to lose to a girl but because he doesn’t want to lose to anybody, he goes hard on her and the audience buuuu him, even his friends call him out in his behavior, to which he responded that Uraraka was not weak, he must take the fight seriously, I know I know Feminist icon Bakugo Katsuki (I'm joking).

We have another interaction with that girl from the other school, the sexy lady that creates illusions that were part of the group of people who fail the test for the provisional license. She pretty much flirts with Bakugo and he pretty much ignores her.

Bakugo is a character who wants fame, he wants power and glory and money, when he is being a brat in the first episode he rants about how he is going to be the number one hero and he is going to be rich and famous, he wants all those significant of success.

He never talks about women in those fantasies.

Girls pretty much don’t matter to him.

But does he ever crave Male attention?

Yes, he does, he likes it when his minions follow him around and obey his orders, he is tormented by Izuku's admiration, he wants all might attention.

I'm not saying that his friendship with the Bakugo squad is not genuine or that he had a crush on All Mighty (he totally had one when he was little and grew out of it but that is my headcanon), im saying that he had no female friends, he doesn’t want or need or crave female attention, his necessity to be the best comes from himself and other men.

So, there is nothing in the text that suggests that Bakugo Katsuki is a straight boy, yeah I know, I also had read the ton of Bakugoxfemalereader works floating around, they are good and fun, but they are an extrapolation of the character.

Nothing in the text ever suggests that Bakugo Katsuki likes girls and that is fact

[moondal514]

writerly ephemera

✨ share some little bits of you, easter eggs, memories, etc. you have left scattered in your fics or art. if you fancy it, tag a pal. ✨

thanks @seasy33 for the tag and thank you @decaflondonfog for this fun game! i love any opportunity to yap about my writing

🎻 “Neil being concertmaster this year means that he now has a clear vision of Andrew in his principal cellist spot. Today he has chosen to abuse this. Over the drone of Wymack giving an obligatory basic music theory lecture he stares at Andrew, blue eyes digging daggers into him. Andrew decides he is not going to look at him and pointedly stares down at his music stand”

there are quite a lot of moonie-isms in and we could be forever future bound. i was a cellist in my high school orchestra like andrew, though i was nowhere near as good as andrew in this fic 😂. all of the classical music pieces i mention or have the characters play are all pieces i’ve either (attempted) to play myself or pieces i enjoy listening to. andrew’s college app experience and existential angst about the future is based on a combo of what my poor little sister is going through right now with her college apps and what i myself felt in my senior year (of both high school and college, rip). this bit i chose to highlight is based on actual shenanigans i used to get up to during orchestra class with my friends in the violin section, which included our concertmaster. i was 2nd chair cellist, which meant i was sitting in the front row and had an extremely clear view of the violin section, so there was a lot of silent communications done during class 😂

🌾 “Chengling exclaims over the scenery they pass like a rich city boy that’s never seen a rice paddy before, oohing and aahing over the rice stalks and the animals he sees in the distance”

it’s me, i’m the city girl that likes to ooh and aah over fields and animals like i’ve never seen them before 😂. the vibe i was going for in i try to live in black and white, but i’m so blue is what summer break in an asian household would be like, which i based on weeks of summer breaks spent with my own asian grandparents. this included refusing to use air conditioning even though it’s really hot, going on long drives, and eating bingsoo, or baobing as is in the case of this fic

🌸 “Hyacinthus was a beautiful boy fought over like a child’s playtoy by two forces of nature. He was an unintended victim of the petty squabbles of immortals, those of vast power he could not ever hope to stand before, forever immortalized by blossom”

kevin is such a good character to write greek mythology references into his pov cuz it’s totally plausible he would be very familiar with them as a history major (speaking as a history major myself..though i'm also a greek mythology lover so i'm biased 😂). as soon as i saw the prompt of “kevin day with hanahaki” i knew i wanted to reference the hyacinthus myth cuz it’s such a good framing device for kevin and how he views his position with riko in this fic: a mortal subject to the whims of the careless god that has taken him as his companion. the title, in your sad wound (my own guilt), is even taken from the part of ovid’s Metamorphoses that contains the hyacinthus myth

☀️ “There is a child in a tree and he is burning with a fever. He is all that is left of what your beloved destroyed himself to protect, your beloved who burnt himself out in a blaze of his own glory. The suns have been shot, systematically plucked from the sky and destroyed. This one is the last one left, glowing weakly in your arms”

this passage from i am a wreck is a reference to the story of hou yi shooting down the suns, which was actually one of the earliest chinese myths i can remember learning in my childhood. iirc it’s even confirmed that the sunshot campaign in mdzs is named so as a reference to this myth cuz of the wen clan using suns as their symbol

🖊️ “That evening, you lie on the floor belly down and write a letter. You write slowly and carefully, your neatest writing yet. You feel like those girls in your school that write in curvy bubble letters, and for a moment you’re embarrassed”

idk if this is a thing girls still do or not but when i was in middle school, it felt like suddenly all of the girls i knew were writing in super neat bubble letters. when i was trying to portray the middle school aaron vibe for the beginning of now i'm third in the lineup (to your lord and your savior), this part of my own middle school experience slipped in

🍲 “Tonight Renee chops tofu and vegetables to be sautéed in teriyaki sauce, whisks together egg and a mirin and soy sauce mixture to make tamago, and boils miso soup on the stove. The rice cooker beeps merrily as she puts in the finishing touches: crunchy sunomono, small cut squares of kim, and potato salad bought at the Japanese market”

Prayers for Belonging is my renee projection ficlet series where i have granted renee the high honor of bearing the weight of my multicultural angst 😂. there are fun and not so fun bits of my life i’ve written into this series. this one i wanted to highlight since it’s based on an actual meal my family eats regularly and here i have renee make it for all of the foxes

tagging: @orionauriga @ataratah @awildtei and anyone else who wants to do this!

[cookinguptales]

Excited to see that you watched vampterview! You always have such fun and interesting commentary on stuff. No pressure of course but I'd look forward to any Sarah takes you might have on it 👀

Who knows? Maybe! I'm about to go on a three-week road trip, but we'll see how much time I have!

I'm still digesting a bit, I'll admit, and I really don't know what's already been discussed to death in the fandom. Personally, my academic interests were always really focused on stories, how we tell them, how we internalize them, and how we can't help but put ourselves, our experiences, and our biases into our retellings of them. To be loved is to be changed when memories of us live in the hearts of others, y'know?

So... I'd say that I was really interested in the ways they played with unreliable narrators in the series. How the concept of the sanctity of primary sources was really dismantled. Because they were all primary sources and they were all telling completely different stories! Whether it was due to misremembering, bias, or literal mind control, even the written sources simply could not be trusted.

I remember there was this really formative experience for me was when I was 16 years old and taking summer classes at UChicago. I was studying Egyptology there, which meant I was spending a lot of time at the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures (formerly the OI) studying and translating the artifacts there.

I don't remember all the details (though I guess I could probably pin down the particulars if I combed through their collections) but I remember seeing two ancient accounts of the same war written by both sides -- and both accounts claimed victory. And, y'know, whether each side had a different definition of victory or whether someone was just straight-up lying... I mean. It brings up the idea of an unreliable narrator on a massive historical scale.

Sometimes, particularly with older historical events, we're only going to have scattered archaeological fragments that we can piece together. Sometimes we have to do a lot of guessing and detective work to come to any conclusion at all. And historically, we have prioritized written accounts over all other forms of evidence. But, y'know... people lie. Or they misremember. Or they misconstrue. Reconstructing history not just through first-person accounts but by looking at other evidence and questioning those accounts is crucial. And even then, we'll probably never find any objective "truth," if objective truth even exists in a situation like that.

So... like, an unreliable narrator is nothing new in media. But framing it through Daniel, who is a nonfiction writer trying to make sense of all of these different testimonies to construct an actual historical narrative... That made it really interesting to me. It wasn't just all of these different vampires stating their truths. It was Daniel trying to sort through all of the misdirection to find out what actually happened. And the show makes it clear that, while he gets close, he'll probably never know all the details for sure. It simply isn't possible.

So IWTV, to me, was a really interesting look at the impossibility of constructing an objective historical narrative, especially when speaking about very old events with few sources. You have mentally ill vampires who are several decades removed from the events in question, you have contemporaneous (but very biased) journal entries, you have newspaper clippings written by journalists who had very little information, you have artifacts that may (or may not!) confirm certain testimonies...

idk. I guess while I do have thoughts about the characters and their motivations, I was more interested in the way that things were framed and presented in the show. I thought that was really neat.

[riaaanna]

Queen at British Music Experience Liverpool - 12 May 2023

So in May I went to Liverpool to watch Eurovision live and had the time of my life?? ICYMI Roger suddenly appeared on stage and I was there in the first audience rehearsal which was like?? That was way more than what I paid tickets for lmfaooo absolutely amazing

But you're not here for that, SO! I finally got time to visit British Music Experience in Liverpool where they have these Queen memorabilia!

The first and most noticeable Queen memorabilia here is Roger's drum kit. I took some pictures from several angles so you can hopefully see the setup clearly.

I couldn't find a description plate for it so I emailed the BME to ask them about it, and this was their reply!

The Queen Drum kit has been on display since 2009 at the 02 Arena, later transferred to Liverpool’s Cunard Building in 2017. The Roger Taylor (Queen) Ludwig drum kit has been used in the late 1970s for their News Of The World & Jazz tour. You may notice that he changes his resonant kick drumhead with either the Queen symbol or the album artwork. This was common for drummers to change resonant drumheads frequently at the time during the 1970s.

The other Queen things are inside this glass display, and their descriptions are pretty much self-explanatory as above (let me know if I need to add alt text). The drum kit used to be inside the glass display but they've taken it out for some reason.

The first set of lyrics is from Machines, look at that "parahumanoidarianised" bit which either was previously "parahumanitarianised" or he just struggled with that made-up word lol. Still for me it's a very underrated song, I love that they brought it for half of the Rhapsody Tour in 2019 and I hope they bring it back sometime!

The next set is the lyrics to White Man, which you can see is written not only in pen but also red crayon (? marker?). I'm not sure what the extra bits in red are, next to the lyrics - looks like random notes about something and also a random doodle of something on the top left...

This set is the lyrics for Teo Torriatte, and if you look carefully at the bottom of the paper there are smaller additional handwriting for a different verse, not sure if it's Freddie's as well...?

This one wasn't listed on the description of the display but it's the handwritten lyrics to I Want to Break Free. It looks like John's handwriting rather than Freddie's, and a previous version of the description plate in 2017 (attached above) from Jim Jenkins on this website seems to confirm it.

(The website also showed that there used to be a set of lyrics for Hammer to Fall, but it wasn't there when I visited, so I wonder if it was moved somewhere...)

This is the best piece on display - one of Freddie's kimonos that he wore for the ADATR tour in 1977. I know he probably had a lot of kimonos, maybe even multiple ones of the same pattern, but this is the picture attached above is the closest one I can find online. So it does not mean it's necessarily the same one, I really don't know!

Note that even that auction website didn't even find a picture of him in it, just him wearing a "similar" one... although I haven't actually asked around as I usually would and I haven't had time to look it up myself, maybe someone can find it!

And last but not least, the main reason I went here tbh... Brian's John Birch guitar! Everything about its unique history is described on the plate in the previous picture. In this audio you can hear the moment that guitar started acting up in the middle of Brian's solo and hear the loud crash when he decided he's had enough of it lol, iconic.

And a bonus Freddie popping up on one of the screens!

That's all the Queen-related memorabilia at BME in Liverpool, but the rest of the place is pretty amazing in itself, lots of historical pieces from the music industry throughout the years, so it's definitely worth a visit if you're around!