#I have so many things I could link to this post

[jeonscatalyst]

LET’S TALK ABOUT “ARE YOU SURE?!”

I started doing a very long review of the entire season of AYS but I changed my mind along the way because I have seen so many other people give reviews of the show which I generally agree with so me doing another one just to repeat the same thoughts felt a little unnecessary so I decided to look into some aspects of Jikook’s special bond which AYS practically reaffirmed or which some us might be finding out for the first time. This post is going to be incredibly long so brace yourselves.

These are mostly my observations and some of these observations are not new to me at all. These observations would be supported by mentions of moments from the show or twitter links to see some described moments.

*Jimin listens to Jungkook

I love how Jimin and Jungkook listen and pay attention to each other but it was especially beautiful to see this aspect of their dynamic play out in AYS. I noticed that no matter how unimportant what Jungkook was saying seemed, Jimin always listened to him, validated him and participated in the conversation . The two moments I recall the most (there are more) were from the Jeju episodes. In episode 5 while at the meat restaurant, I loved how Jimin just sat there listening as Jungkook explained to him how to tenderize meat. You could tell that for some reason that topic was important to Jungkook or he loved talking about it and Jimin knew this so he encouraged the conversation by asking follow up questions and Jungkook happily explained things to him. Now I don’t particularly think Jimin was very interested to know how to tenderize meat or all of that but it was beautiful how he created a space where Jungkook felt comfortable enough to just talk about the most simple things knowing that someone was actually listening and paying attention to him.

Then we also have the moment when they all got back from the last restaurant they visited in Jeju. We see Jungkook happily telling Jimin that he saw two bikers on their way home and this was so sweet on its own because things like this show you how innocent and child like Jungkook is because things like that still amuse or excite him but what was even more touching to me was Jimin’s response. Jimin didn’t just stay quiet or just say “ok”or “really” and leave it at that but he actually engaged in the coversation too and told Jungkook that he saw him waving at them. This was really precious to me because it’s beautiful how Jk knows that he can talk to Jimin about any and everything and he would always get a response that doesn’t make him feel like what he is saying isn’t important.

These are things that people easily ignore or undermine but seeing moments like this explains why Jungkook said he found the greatest comfort in Jimin and why Jimin is who he went to when he needed company.

*Jungkook is more verbally expressive around Jimin.

I don’t know if many people have noticed this but when watching BTS content, it is easy to notice that Jungkook is usually quieter among all the members. He doesn’t talk much and rarely ever initiates topics for discussion but just goes along with them. We usually see more of the physically expressive side of Jk when he is around other people but AYS showed me a side of Jk I must I admit I didn’t know too well.

With Jimin, Jungkook is more vocally expressive. We saw him literally take lead of conversations, vocally express how much he loved the show and how much fun he was having, we saw him initiate conversations quite a bit and I must say this felt new ans different from the Jk we know in other content who usually can’t even speak over his hyungs. We usually saw him try to say something and eventually give up, he didn’t vocally express his thoughts much unless he was specifically asked but with Jimin, he is so different. Maybe the more accurate way to put this is that Jungkook is the biggest yapper around Jimin even though he goes quieter with others.

I also love the fact that we don’t only see him vocally express his happiness. I love that we see him express his frustrations at Jimin too. When he is mad at Jimin he doesn’t hide it, when he is not impressed he doesn’t hide it, when he is sad or hurt by something Jimin says or does he doesn’t hide it. This shows a very deep level of understanding and trust because Jungkook knows he doesn’t have to pretend around Jimin. He is sure and secure in whatever bond they have that he is ok with showing Jimin every side of his. His happiness, excitement, pain, sadness, frustrations, anger. This is what an ideal relationship is like to me. This is what a real deep connection feels like to me and seeing Jikook like this melted my heart. I was so happy to able to see this side of Jungkook because it’s not a side we had seen alot.

I love how Jungkook feel comfortable talking about the most mundane things in settings where he feels the most comfortable or with people he feels the most comfortable with. After watching AYS, I got to finally understand why Jungkook loved doing very long lives so much. I think we can all agree that there is a certain level of comfort Jungkook feels when he is Live. He talks about any and everything to us seated on the other sides of our screens watching him. He tells us about the size of Bams poop, tells us about meals he loves to cook, tells us about the most unserious stories about wanting to meet and befriend ghosts, he feels comfortable falling asleep with us watching. When I think about it, I feel like he does that alot because he knows he can just talk and we would just listen without judging or openly judging the things he likes to talk about. Maybe with some friends or actual people in his life, he can’t just sit with them and talk about whatever he wants to talk about because some people might not find the “weird” things he likes to talk about fun or interesting, i mean how many people want to just sit there and hear about meat tenderizing? How many people want to sit and hear or talk about the size of a dog’s poop? How many people would just be quiet and listen to you talk about sand fleas? I think when Jungkook is around people he or settings that he knows he can just be completely himself and talk about whatever he want, he just goes off completely. That is how I see him and Jimin.

*Jikook truly enjoy spending time together

I’m sure many of us already know this but AYS once again showed that Jimin and Jungkook actually love spending time together. I’m not talking about time where they can just meet, do one of two fun activities and then go their separate ways, I am talking about them truly enjoying each other’s company no matter what they are doing. We saw them sticking together, choosing to do almost everything together and going to bed together even when there was another member in the mix. After their showers on those nights in Jeju, they could have just gone and done their different things like we saw tae do but they enjoyed sticking together and doing things together. It makes sense why over the years, we have heard from members and staff that Jikook were together alot. Makes sense why they called themselves all nighter buddies and we saw that dynamic at play in Jeju.

*Jikook have an insane amount of Inside Jokes

This is one nobody can argue. Jimin and Jungkook have an insane amount of inside Jokes and they watch alot of the same things. So many times people around them don’t understand the things they say. Hell even us watching had to wait for people to dig and explain to us what some of the things they said meant.

We saw this at play again throughout the AYS episodes. I love how Jimin and Jungkook instantly get each other and how they immediately pick up what the other is saying while others around them are still trying to figure things out. This is one of the ways you can tell that two people spend alot of time together and know each other deep.

*Jikook don’t need alot to feel happy and to have fun with each other

Jimin and Jungkook are two people who can create fun and happiness for themselves in any situation. They don’t need to be doing any fun physical activities to really enjoy or have fun being around each other. Just a simple drive, a walk, a meal, or just sitting down talking is fun for them. Just a train ride listening to music from the same airphones is interesting and fun to them. They don’t get bored around each other doing the most mundane things. They honestly enjoy the smallest things and as Jungkook said “These simple things were fun” (referring to walking around the streets of Tokyo with Jimin in 2017)

They create their happiness and fun anywhere they are doing anything …..

It’s just the little things….

Little 5 year olds playing after lights out😂

*Jungkook loves making Jimin laugh

This is something we all already knew but seeing it again in AYS was so cute. Jungkook really loves making Jimin laugh and I guess that the fact that Jimin is usually ready to have all his teeth out laughing and any little thing Jungkook does, gives him more motivation. Jungkook doesn’t mind looking like a clown if it means that it will make Jimin laugh. He teases him even sometimes just to get a chuckle out of him.

* Jimin finds Jungkook very endearing

Do I even need to explain this? Sometimes it feels like to Jimin, Jungkook is the cutest, most endearing, funniest person in the world. I don’t think we see Jimin laugh around any other people as much as he laughs around Jungkook. The man is a giggling mess anytime he is around Jungkook and I can’t even blame him because Jungkook sure likes making him laugh. He sometimes gets lost in Jungkook too you know….

*Jikook just get each other

Another thing I noticed again in AYS is how much Jikook just get each other. They don’t need words ti understand how the other feels. Doesn’t matter if they are being silly or serious, they just get what the other person is trying to express.

An example of this would be while they were at the ham and pink sausage restaurant in Jeju, after their little “incident” Jungkook immitated a meme which someone did when he needed an apology and Jimin understood what Jungkook needed immediately just by seeing him immitating that meme, and he apologized.

(First clip from this compilation)

Another moment that showed how much they just get each other was in episode 8 when Jungkook noticed that Jimin felt sad about the trip ending. Jimin didn’t say anything but Jungkook noticed it and starting doing stuff to cheer him on starting from playfully touching his head (even though he knew Jimin didn’t like when his head got touched) and reminding everyone that Jimin doesn’t like it bit he is doing it, to teasing him with the camera in his face infront of the restaurant to opening the windows of the car on their drive to the airport because he knew Jimin had said he goes to cold places when he is is a slump.

Touching his head

Playfully zooming into his face with the camera

Opening the windows to let the cold air in to lift their moods:

We also saw him being soft and reassuring to Jimin after he sensed that Jimin felt bad about the trip ending. What he says here, how he looks at Jimin and how he rubs Jimin’s nape/back trying to comfort him, was so beautiful.

* Jungkook likes zooming into Jimin’s face

Do I even need to explain this part? We’ve seen him do this for years and it was kinda funny to see it again on AYS

*Jimin is Jungkook’s Jungkook!

I don’t even know how to explain this other than saying than showing you this….

Jimin constantly singing Jungkook’s “3D” as “peuriri” and constantly going “standing next to you” every two seconds is so Jungkook of him. Jungkook gets a taste of his own medicine and doesn’t know how to handle it.

*They clearly keep up with each other/ they know each other so well

Contrary to haters beliefs that Jikook don’t keep up with each other outside of content, it is clear that they do. We saw it when Jimin dropped “Face” and we saw it again on AYS with Jimin and singing Jungkook’s song before it was released, Jimin knowing about Jungkook’s schedules, Jungkook knowing about Jimin’s second album release and even seeing the video of Jimin dancing with kids. Infact during the Jeju and Sapporo episodes, it was so obvious to see that those two knew alot about each other’s activities, schedules and plans. You didn’t see them getting surprised after getting information about each other.

To add to this, it was very clear that Jungkook knows what Jimin likes and vice versa. He knew Jimin would like his food spicy, he knew Jimin would enjoy the beef stew he cooked in Jeju. Jimin knew Jungkook would enjoy climbing and racing so he picker that place. Jimin knew Jungkook liked driving abroad, Jimin knew Jungkook had to go to the US to film with Usher etc. No arguments here.

* Jungkook loves to cook for Jimin

We already knew this but this was once again confirmed in AYS.

* The people around Jikook know how much Jikook are around each other.

Over the years, we have heard from members and people around Jikook say just how much time Jikook spend together and we once again got something like that from AYS.

Tae saw Jk do the soju bottle trick and immediately assumed that Jimin taught him. This is something that many people would miss but If Jikook didn’t have a habit of being together alot and drinking together, Tae who actually knows two of them personally wouldn’t have immediately assumed Jimin taught Jk that trick after seeing him do it and the funniest thing is, Jimin said Jk didn’t even learn it from him so why didn’t Tae think of anyone else or even assume that Jk learnt from tiktok or youtube? Why did his mind immediately go to Jimin? Jimin is not the only member or only person connected to Jungkook who drinks Soju. It was interesting getting yet again another confirmation of just how much the members and people around Jikook know about them being together alot.

*Taekook and Jikook are NOT the same.

I’m sure everyone already knows this but watching the Jeju episodes with Vminkook just once again showed how much of a difference there is between Jk bond with Tae and Jimin.

While some jikookers didn’t like the fact that Tae joined Jikook in Jeju, I loved it because I love seeing vminkook together as they are adorable and also because when they are together, you really get to see the difference in their dynamics. It was very noticeable how Tae and Jk bring out the chaos, playfulness and childishness from each other and they have so much fun doing activities together but you could see clearly that those two just don’t gravitate to each other in the same way Jikook do. By gravitating to each other I don’t mean sitting side by sideto have meals and none of that nonsense taekookers consider people gravitating towards each other. What I mean is, even if Jikook are not seated together, it was easy to see how their eyes searched for each other while they talked. While they all discussed, it was easy to see that Jk’s eyes mostly searched for Jimin’s and vice versa, it was easy to see how they mostly talked to and interacted with each other more during meals even though Tae was there. It was easy to see how they usually stayed with each other after their baths and only went to bed together while Tae always went to bed earlier. It was easy to see how when ever they had meals, Jikook would always look to each other to ask “is it good” regardless of whether they were alone or with Tae. They spoke to each other more, interacted more and even when Jk tasted something that seemed familiar to what he had had before, he looked to Jimin to ask if it was what they had at another restaurant at some point.

They understand each other in ways others don’t. They quickly get each other’s jokes while Tae sometimes looked a little lost. They have the same humor infact, you just cannot miss to see the difference when you pay attention. It was as clear as day and night.

It was also clear that unlike Jikook, taekook don’t really feel the need to be around each other much when they aren’t actively doing anything. We all saw how early tae usually went to bed not caring alot to hang around Jk, we saw how much time he spent on his phone even while they all were together, we all saw how even when Jk got out of the pool just after Tae did in episode 5, he didn’t go to shower at the same time Tae did. We Tae leave to shower and go to bed while Jk stayed behind teasing and playing with Jimin before they showered and later went to bed together around 4am. It was the same thing that happened the night before. Jk was clearly thoughtful of Tae and wanted him to feel included but we could see that he didn’t really feel the need being around him much because if he did he probably would have showered and gone to stay upstairs with Tae but he didn’t. He stayed downstairs with Jimin and they only left for bed together while tae was already asleep. This isn’t new as we know Jikook have always loved spending time alone together at nights and in their quiet moments but it was interesting to see unfold in AYS.

Remember all the times members (especially Tae) mentioned Jikook being together alot at nights? Some people said he lied all those times because he was hiding his relationship but we could all see that happen in AYS. It happened on both nights they were there.

While Jikook have this strong gravitational pull and enjoy being around each other’s vicinity at all times and not just when there are fun activities or other things to be done, we could see that this wasn’t the same with taekook. Tae felt like napping, he went upstairs to nap, Jimin felt like napping, he napped in the living room next to Jungkook who was cooking. Over the years, we have tons of moments where Jk could be seen going to sit or sleep by an already sleeping Jimin. They crave each other’s presence even when they aren’t doing anything but this isn’t the same for taekook and AYS confirmed that once again.

*Jikook are so domestic

Watching AYS, it was so easy to see just how domestic Jikook are. We got an opportunity to have a look into what their lives and days look like when they are not busy being idols and it was the most comforting beautiful thing ever. Them waking up and going to cuddle each other, cooking together eating together, going shopping together with Jungkook disappearing and getting on Jimin’s nerves😂, have little discussion’s together, drinking together, watching and reacting to a show of themselves together, making plans to eat, sleep, shower, play etc together, it was just so perfect. Perfectly and positively boring everyday life yet they looked like they had so much fun doing all of that TOGETHER!

*They have the most random conversations and do the weirdest things

Just jimin casually talking about wanting to sculpt his ass and Jungkook listening attentively😂

Whatever this conversation was……

I don’t know what goes on in their minds

Whatever this was

*Jungkook loves Jimin’s attention /loves to tease him to get it

*Jungkook is inlove with FOOD!

He looks at food like true love😂

*Jikook could be sus sometimes or most of the time tbh

Whatever this was…..

I mean….

This taken out of context…..

Hmmmmmm……

*Jikook like to bicker

They bicker sometimes like an old married couple

*Jimin and Jungkook loved their trips with each other!

Do I even need to explain this? I feel like the entire episode 8 explains this pretty well.

Ok, so these are some of my observations about Jikook from AYS. I might be editing this post in the future to add some more observations as I rewatch the entire show to see if I can catch other things I missed. Consider this my review of the show.

[catboybiologist]

LMFAO i saw your pics posted in a lolcow thread 🤣

Yeah they've always been there, I think I made it into kiwifarms during my dark souls femboy days. Although that's slightly more malicious.

Also this goes to a minor point: I meet so many metrics of how to be a "good tranny" (educated, able to defend my "biological" existence, have "the good hobbies") and long ago realized that it didn't fucking matter. So might as well play up the less palatable aspects of my personality.

Although I do appreciate being linked these kinds of things just to see what's up, idk if you'd be comfortable DMing it. It could be why I got those couple of lazy transphobes in my ask box, so it's just nice to know when those will happen.

[y-rhywbeth2]

Elves: Social Life

Society, family, friends, dating and marriage, blah

Link: Disclaimer regarding D&D "canon" & Index [tldr: D&D lore is a giant conflicting mess. Larian's lore is also a conflicting mess. There's a lot of lore; I don't know everything. You learn to take what you want and leave the rest. etc]

Physiology and quirks | Names & Clans and Houses || Pan-Cultural things: Social life | Time and Age Categories | Art, Entertainment and Technology || Elven 'Subraces' still a wip || Philosophy and Religion & Pantheons || Half-elves | [WIP]

I hit the point where I'm tired of editing and checking sources, so here's some idea on how relationships work for elves whatever level of coherency it has. There might be more or contradictory information in other novels, but I do not have that much free time.

Mostly surface elves, mostly elves in elven lands. Though it also applies to elven diaspora communities (who do stick together and maintain their culture).

• Elven social life in general, plus greetings and etc

• Gender roles in society (or lack therof)

• Family and terminology

• Dating, sex and marriage That I guess you can use for ideas for your elven pcs or if you're dating the vampire who probably doesn't give a damn about elven social mores, the druid or whoever. idk how much elven social norms matter to Ketheric, but if you want to fuck the villainous old man you could give it a shot.

-

'Elves who lived even in reasonably close contact were so connected to each other through the Reverie and the Weave that they shared at least some shadow of each other’s emotional experiences.'

There's a balancing act involved in elven societies where personal freedom is greatly prized but at the same time they're very community-centric cultures.

An elf is an individual part of many things: their House, their settlement, their environment, the People as a whole (which includes the Seldarine). The health and wellbeing of all of these things is the health and wellbeing of you, as your elders will teach you growing up.

Regardless of blood relation elves will usually address an elf of same rank and age as siblings; 'brother,' 'sister,' etc. Another term for a young (surface) elven stranger is 'thaes.' A friend is 'ebrath,' for surface elves and 'abbil' for drow. Although insofar as I remember I think it's used to address an elf you don't know and just met with that term until you learn their name or title. There's a whole host of titles and honorifics for nobles, elders and important people.

Elves prioritise their Clan/House allegiance first and foremost, their homeland second (be that Evereska, or the Wealdath, or Ched Nasad, or wherever), their subrace next, and then the elven people as a whole.

House politics is a whole other post, but suffice to say your House is usually your family, your political party and likely your employer with its own internal culture and laws that you follow, and you'll likely be working in the family business (or one of them). Your personal reputation affects your House reputation, and your House's reputation and the reputation and behaviour of your clanmates also affects your reputation and determines what doors are open or closed to you. If an alehouse is owned by a member of a rival House, or one of their allied Clans/Houses, don't expect service; if a village or hunting grounds is home to a rival House/Clan don't expect a warm welcome there.

The higher your personal rank and the rank of your family, the more the personal-community social symbiosis affects you. What counts as lessening or increasing personal and familial prestige varies by elven culture and what they value.

There's another balancing act in elven culture with really, really deep intimacy and also not intruding on another's personal space. There must be room for quiet and solitude and respecting the individuality of another in between the mind-melding and oversharing.

An elven social circle is often decided by hobbies and careers, where the elves gather together to learn from elves with skills they desire and debate and infodump about whatever hyperfixation they're absolutely obsessed about with those who share it (those who don't share these interests make poor conversation for each other). There will be months, if not years, where individual elves won't be seen or receptive to socialising because they're busy with whatever project they're working on.

Privacy is a concept, but it's not as strong as it is with non-elves. There is no nudity taboo, and a significant amount of elven magic used in daily life, even outside of communion, involves mind reading (usually for security reasons).

Your fuck ups will be remembered. Evereskans at least have no social taboo against plainly discussing the personal business and even the failures of others amongst themselves even if you're standing right there, so you will hear about it and your neighbours will know. It's taboo to be overly frank or cruel to you about it - and most are not intentionally being cruel, just matter of fact - but there will be reactions like pity and scorn all over.

The lack of privacy is actually one of the complaints elves often have about their own culture when it gets too invasive.

Elves are also very good at holding a grudge; forgiveness is not a virtue in a people who relieve their memories over and over every night, including any pain you've given them.

Their in-group thinking also lends itself too neatly to xenophobia. The Tel'Quessir are masters at the sport of us vs them, and choosing 'them' is a betrayal that can garner a response of mass hysteria and violence depending on the nature of the slight (real or perceived), although violence is significantly more likely from elven youth (aged under 100-250ish years old). Aiding an N'Quess against an elf? The height of betrayal.

An elven 'in-group,' usually their immediate community, is often tightly knit even if they don't like each other or spend much time together: the community's young are encouraged to grow up together and be educated together for the first 10-20 years, and shared reverie and the connections of the elven soul joined by the Weave and Sehanine provides a mild empathic link in the background which means that harming another elf in ones 'group' should rebound on the perpetrator to at least some extent. To harm your own is literally to harm yourself.

Elven friends and family usually commune and reverie together, allowing them to know the others' thoughts, memories and personalities almost as well as their own.

Expressing sadism and spite or engaging in violence amongst non-drow (and many dark elves too) is greatly frowned upon, it's considered 'lowminded' and the behaviour of the N'Quess. Even Lolthite drow frown on open violence and conflict within settlements, both for its disruptive effect and because it shows a lack of sense and skill (tavern brawls, military training and slum raids notwithstanding).

All that is far from saying that elves are incapable of resenting or harming other elves, as their long history of bloody disaster shows.

Relieving their memories in reverie means that elven relationships - the good and the bad - are long lasting. An elf remembers their grudges against you because every now and again they get a refresher where they literally reexperience the times you pissed them off. An elf stays in love with you because those early days and emotions stay fresh in their minds.

Exile is a great punishment, and elves encountering others marked such (whether they were exiled for something they did or self-exiled) respond with 'suspicion and hostility.' Exiled criminals and the most severely outcast often take up worship of Fenmarel Mestarine, patron god of said outcasts, and frequently pack up to live in the wilds alone. You can often spot why they're exiled because they often wear a personal token somewhere on their person symbolising it.

Elves usually expect their friendships and romances to be very emotionally intimate affairs where it's normal to know somebody's deepest fears and desires at a degree of knowledge that, say, humans would not volunteer. Friendships go deep. Aside from the racism that's one of the biggest contributors to their aloofness around non-elves. The time it takes to get to know some of them notwithstanding (humans in particular will be senile or dead before your newborn child is legally old enough to vote and elves like to take their time), the concept of losing such close loved ones in only a century or two (or worse, less than one) is devastating and they will relieve a life and loss for hundreds of years after their friends are gone. There's an argument amongst elves about whether a brief lifespan makes it all the more important to make use of that time and that at least they'll have the memories, or whether loving the 'shortlives' is a form of self-harm.

(While the traditional word for non-elves is N'Tel'Quessir, or N'Quess, in human lands the slang word aethen or 'the others' has caught on.)

Rule of thumb: Half-elves, gnomes and halflings are the most socially acceptable friends in that order. Elves and gnomes being the most culturally compatible N'Quess, with a respect for community, art and nature, as well as loving a good time. Humans and dwarves are in competition for the elven culture's least compatible, with dwarves generally winning since their cultures often have polar opposite values. Orcs and half-orcs - and other goblinoids -can expect to be viewed as vermin rather than people, though a half-orc might get an extremely racist and condescending congratulations on 'defying their base nature' or some shit. (Whatever elves on the whole think of the dragonborn has never really been discussed, and it's safe to say they don't like tieflings.)

There is a status, Sha'Quessir, the Elf-Friends, granted to non-elves who are loved by an elf (platonically or romantically) and perform some great service for the people which is rewarded with adoption. The individual is, for all social purposes, one of the People and must be treated with the same respect, with the price tag being that they must act as one of the people and share in their concerns and causes (like the grave-robbing of elven burial sites and tombs, the out of control deforestation and loss of elven homelands, etc). They're even allowed to live on Evermeet, and can be recognised by a token on their person called an elfrune.

In terms of politics it's usually a clash between the conservatives who want elvendom exactly as it is and 'always has been' with a clear distinction between the 'right people' and the others and what counts for a 'proper elf,' and the moderates and liberals who chafe under a millennia of tradition and/or think the Tel'Quessir need to join the rest of the world in the modern year before the oncoming future crushes them all.

-

Inclining/'bobbing' your head in acknowledgement is the equivalent of a handshake, at least amongst Evereskans.

Elves do not have a tradition of shaking hands, and an elf raised in elven lands unaccustomed to the notion is liable to be confused and uncomfortable if you try and touch their hand without permission. Probably something to do with communion usually being initiated by holding hands and the fact that the palms of the hands are extremely sensitive, so touching hands is probably significantly more intimate to an elf.

A polite farewell is: 'Sweet water and light laughter.' The response to which is: 'Back soon for soft songs and bright wine.'

When introducing somebody to another person/s you end the introductions with: 'May your meeting and parting be of equal pleasure.' To which the person you're introducing should say: 'My honour is brightened.'

A full formal greeting when approaching strange elves on the road (outside the bounds of civilisation) is translated as: 'Fair be our meeting, for our hearts are light and our swords sheathed, we hold peace in our hands and its light guides us.' Which is to be sung.

Welcome home is simply 'Glad homeagain.'

Pressing foreheads together seems to be a display of affection.

All elven cultures have a custom of exchanging gifts, where the character of the gifter is measured by the value of the gift (such things being judged primarily by their aesthetic beauty and any magic it contains, with its material value benign judged second). It's polite to offer a gift of equal value in return. For the original gifter to refuse the return token in exchange is viewed as odd.

Amongst the dark elves of Ilythiir an exchange of weapons was a display of trust, and sometimes a pledge of service/assistance should they ever be called on,' which may well still exist amongst modern dark elves. Although Menzoberranzan has a variant where you take another's weapon, display your skill with it and hand it back to illustrate 'I mean you no harm' as a peaceful greeting with strangers.

There's a tradition called the Rule of Saving: When one saves another's life, the saviour can invoke a debt which means that the individual owes them their life to do with as they please.

Gender roles:

Rule of thumb, due to their entire pantheon being genderfluid elves tend towards egalitarianism in their societies. If your gods encompass both genders then it's hard to say one is lesser or greater, and some consider androgyny in mortal elves to be a sign of divine favour.

On the other hand that doesn't mean elven societies are totally free of nonsense (and horror).

Many societies also have a slight inclination towards matriarchy (dark elves infamously having more than a 'slight' inclination in the majority of cases); a woman's word often carries more weight in discussions if she chooses to weigh in. Evermeet in particular saw a shift towards matriarchy as Queen Amlaruil grew to become a beloved monarch and ended up with an inner council of advisors comprised of the female elders of the noble houses.

Dark elves are of course infamous for their matriarchies: Lolthites, Kiaransaleen and Eilistraeeans all favour - if not mandate - female leadership. Men are artisans and helpers, women are leaders.

On the flip side there are the patriarchal elven societies.

Aquatic elves have a patriarchal nobility.

At least one city of Vhaeraunites has ignored the part of their god's doctrine that says 'equality' and instituted the patriarchal mirror of Lolthite society.

And then there was the sun elven empire of Cormanthor (which was sun elven by origin and overarching culture, but had significant moon elven population), which was a nightmare where women would bitterly comment that they were good only for arm candy and providing heirs and that many elven men would say they didn't believe women had brains; women couldn't socialise with elves outside of their House without their patriarch's permission, and one woman had a nervous breakdown at the idea of confronting her husband on the grounds that he could very well beat her to death for talking back in public and throw her corpse out the window and then just get a new wife (he does later, hungover, threaten her with a horsewhip for challenging him).

So you know, fun times.

Mostly you're getting full gender equality.

-

Family:

One's family, strictly speaking, is one's Clan (or House, if the family holds noble status (doesn't make every member a noble though)). Aside from your parents, siblings, first cousins, grandparents, uncles, aunts and such you have a network of in-laws, cousins and employees sharing your surname and playing a part in the family business/es. The largest Houses will have people scattered around the world that you've probably never met.

Ancestry is also a very important part of elven identity, and an elf will know the famous and infamous stuff their family got up to. If the fame came from heroism and great deeds then the family will obsess over it, if it's negative press then elves will carry the stigma or do their best to make sure the knowledge never sees the light of day (you do not want word getting around that you're descended from the Vyshaan or Dlardrageth, for example.)

That's your ancestry and Clan or House, but the immediate blood relations, and likely the people who raise you, are your Blesséd.

Due to their lifespans and low fertility rates, siblings rarely grow up together since it's likely that older siblings will be adults by the time they get any. Educating and watching over the family's children is often a task for the elderly, who can no longer work, so that they can still make use of their centuries of experience and contribute to the community.

Family lineage tracks matrilineal and patrilineal. Except for most drow, who only track matrilineal.

For the drow I only know of the words for mother and father ('Ilhar' and 'Ilharn')

For surface elves (for most of which there are no gender neutral variants given):

Parent: O Child: Sum Cousin: Tyss Cousins: Tyssir

Brother: Tan Sister: Nys Daughter: A'Sum Son: E'Sum Granddaughter by daughter: A'a'sum Grandson by daughter: E'a'sum Granddaughter by son: A'e'sum Grandson by son: E'e'sum Niece by sister (sister-daughter): A'Su'Nys Niece by brother ('brother-daughter): A'Su'Tan Nephew by sister (sister-son): E'Su'Nys Nephew by brother (brother-son): E'Su'Tan

Matrilineal line: Mother: O'Si Grandmother: I'Osi Grandfather: I'Osu Uncle: Osi'Tan Aunt: Osi'Nys

Patrilineal line: Father: O'Su Grandmother: U'Osi Grandfather: U'Osu Uncle: Osu'Tan Aunt: Osu'Nys

-

Dating and marriage

'The love of an elf is a deep and precious thing. Misused or spurned, it can be deadly. Realms have fallen and been sundered for love, and proud elder houses swept away. Some have said that an elf is the force of his or her love, and all else just flesh and dross...' - Shalheira Talandren (who is a bard so is perhaps being a touch melodramatic as her trade demands)

Like many non-human people, elves referring to their sexual and romantic partners translate the terms in common as 'mates' and the act of sex as 'mating.' (Dwarves, orcs, dragons and vampires also refer to their SOs as mates... although that vampire was an elf, so maybe it's just certain vampires. I don't know about gnomes and halflings but it's the preferred terminology for many demihumans and nonhumans).

This is one of those things where it depends on the writer, but apparently some degree of demisexuality is very common for elves, where it can be a cultural norm to be baffled as to why you'd lust after somebody when you have no affection for them.

'Her men, however, were staring at Takari with such a look of feral hunger [...] Under the circumstances, they could hardly have developed any feelings of love for her, so it was hard for an elf to understand why the mere sight of her naked body should inflame their passions.' - The Summoner.

Somebody wearing revealing clothing or dressed naked would not be seen as advertising a desire for sex, that's just how they're dressed.

They also apparently have lower sex drives, which I suppose could make sense for a longer-lived species.

Courting will involve trying to impress upon the object of your affection the sincerity and depth of your feelings with songs - or poetry if you've failed as an elf and really can't sing - and dancing.

If things are moving towards the erotic then the dancing starts to take on that tone.

There is a form of acrobatic dance amongst elves that involves the dancers wearing nothing but body oil and bells, tied to their bare limbs and beaded into their long hair (which is worn loose), and this dance will often be performed with the aid of a fly spell or some equivalent.

Such dances are actually used in public performances, so while they might be sexual (or not) they aren't necessarily seen as inappropriate (though they can get grumbles from sun elven elders about how back in their day they didn't have this kind of impropriety).

Just in general it seems like elves like bringing magic into the bedroom, but aerial sex seems a popular choice from what I've seen on elf sex.

And ears and apparently hands are erogenous zones.

'On the subject of giving pleasure to elven maids, [the diary] mentioned using one's tongue gently on the palms of the hands and the tips of the ears.' - Elminster in Myth Drannor (despite the 'maidens' part it applies to elves in general)

For lovers who decide to engage in Rapport/aleiryid and bind their minds and souls in a permanent empathic link, the terms 'spirit-deep mate' and 'life-mate' have been used. 'Aleiryid' itself may be a noun for such a partner, and can only be used to refer to a life-mate.

Elves, regardless of how committed they are - eternally psychically linked or no - still generally expect to be given their personal space just as with any other relationship between elves.

In terms of monogamy vs polygamy, sun and maybe moon elves may be more inclined to monogamy and green and wood elves towards polygamy.

Green elves, and by extension most wood elves, default to polyamory. Jealousy is perverse and will disapprove of displays of such possessiveness and flirting and love are just parts of the joys of life. Which isn't to say they don't feel it, but the green elven approach to a love rival is basically, to quote one character, '[they'll] have to share!' The sylvan elves of the High Forest usually dance in trios rather than pairs.

Moon elves probably vary on that cultural norm; there's been an occasion where a moon elf pov character can be read as uncomfortable with polyamory, but on the other hand the silver elves are also infamous for their love of freedom and hedonism, and said character notes his own moon elven father would not begrudge his green elven ex-wife her flirting. Also in moon elven pantheon Corellon has a Queen who is simultaneously three people, so there's a religious argument to be made for 'the gods approve of polyamory' I suppose. As oathbreaking is considered one of the greatest sins possible in moon elven cultures one imagines that infidelity (and definitely breaking your marriage vows) is also very high on the taboo list, regardless of what the relationship set up is - Fun is important, but if something matters enough to make a commitment for it you keep your fucking commitment.

The dark elves of Menzoberranzan have usually been portrayed as serial monogamists, with a side of 'women can fuck as many men on the side as they like.' Dark elves in general don't expect a pairing to last forever.

Sun elves, I'm not so sure. They have a very strong emphasis on lineage and house politics and frown on 'philandering' though so legitimate marriages, family duty and knowing who the parents are is important regardless of monogamy vs polygamy.

Marriage ceremonies are most popular during Midsummer celebrations.

Elopements are most popular on nights of the full moon, when Hanali is supposed to bless your union with good fortune.

In common elves stick to the translations of 'spouse,' 'wife,' 'husband.' 'Consort' crops up, probably refers to nobles spouses.

Between moon elves at least, marriage can be a very simple procedure: you weave a flower crown and place it on your lover's head. That's it, you're married now. You don't need any witnesses or officiants; the prince of Evermeet married his human girlfriend by placing a flower crown made of laurels on her head in the middle of the woods during a private moment. None of the nobility nor his mother approved of him having a human girlfriend nor would they have permitted it, but doesn't matter: flower crown. Generally though there is more ceremony surrounding weddings

There has also been mention of handfasting too, which may be a similar deal, just with trying ribbons around your enjoined hands rather than putting flower crowns on your head.

If you want to bring a high mage into it - which is unusual in the modern era, when they're almost extinct - marriages have also involved the arcane.

Marriages, formal and informal, are performed by priests of Hanali Celanil who are bound by their faith to help you regardless of what society thinks - all lovers must be protected. I suspect most marriages take place under the moonlight, since elves seem to be lunar-centric, but that's just an assumption.

Entering into u'aestar'kess was a popular marriage tradition in love matches, a magical linking much like Rapport/Aleirin, but the enjoined beings can - through concentrating - engage in true 'verbal' telepathic communication. If one of the bonded is in danger then their connection will also alert the partner, who will generally stop at nothing to get to them. Also unlike aleirin u'aestar'kess permits two bonds to exist rather than just one.

Creating an Aestar'Khol was also a popular way of getting married - the ritual wove an oath, in this case marriage vows, into tangible existence in the form of a stone the size of a fist and likely in the shape of a statuette, though a quicker casting will produce a rock covered in inscriptions of the vow. It also allows the spouses to know that their partners are faithful, because breaching contract causes the vowstone to shatter.

Some elves, namely nobles, do arrange marriages, it's a useful way of calling dibs on particularly promising mages, warriors, priests, artisans and etc by having them marry into your House. There's also historical precedent for crackdowns on arranged marriages because squabbling and intrigue over powerful wizards was getting idiotic. If your family picks out a spouse for you you don't have to marry them, but you may face social and financial repercussions from your refusal. Not always though; some nobles, even sun elves, have turned their nose up at tradition and married non-elves and had half-elven heirs without losing too much prestige.

A holy order in the service of Hanali, the Chaperones of the Moonlight Tryst, are rogues and rangers who are tasked with discretely safeguarding elven lovers from those who would interfere with them or use their relationship for some end (blackmail or some other intrigue, for example). They can also be called upon to help arrange secret meetings between star-crossed lovers and aid elopements.

[queens-of-spirits]

The Poolverine Playlist

So as I mentioned in the latest chapter of my fic, I have a Poolverine Playlist. I had some people say they were interested so here it is! Please let me know if you have additions or edits to these songs to share! It’s under read more because it is loooooong. I was going to add links but tumblr will not let me add that many.

Like a Prayer by Madonna (3 versions). You know why this is here, I know why this is here, no explanation needed, it is their song

The Power of Love by Huey Lewis and the News. It’s the song that plays while Wade is searching for his dream man a wolverine

You’re the One that I want - From Grease. The Honda Odyssey song!!! The thing that, combined with the come hither motions, the taunting, the belt grab, and literally ever other part of this scene, makes it clear that there was a little more than fighting going on in that car.

If I Could Turn Back Time by Cher. I know this one is more from the second movie, but the themes of time travelling to undo past mistakes (specifically of cruel worlds like those initially shared between them) really fits their story

The Masochism Tango by Tom Lehrer. My personal alternative soundtrack to the Honda Odyssey scene. They both were enjoying stabbing each other a biiiiit to much for this not to be fair game.

Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes) by Edison Lighthouse. I can’t stop imagining this playing over a series of domestic vignettes post-movie where Logan realizes he’s in love. Also, there is hand-holding imagery, you’ll see a lot of that in this list.

Problems by Mother Mother. Particularly the first few verses. The whole finding love in a strange place while locked up in a cage is very them (“Not all of you was asleep,” anyone?) and that first bit about the singer believing that the subject is good enough for heaven but they aren’t? I can see the edits in my mind’s eye. The best part? It works no matter who you imagine as the singer.

Wrecking Ball by Mother Mother. This could be either of them, but I just can’t help by see Logan dealing with his anger and violence and idea that he ruined his worlds and then the two coming together to be fucked up and break shit together.

Curses by The Crane Wives. This is so Worst Wolverine. His world is destroyed and it’s his fault, but then Wade comes along and makes it all easier somehow.

Tongue’s & Teeth by The Crane Wives. Again, so Logan it HURTS. Feeling like a monster that hurts or destroys every good thing and will ruin Wade too, but willing to accept the fact that Wade seems to know this, but doesn’t care.

Predator by The Crane Wives (I really like their music lol). It’s on their latest albums and again. It really embodies the character of Logan to me. Tim’s hard to describe without just showing you guys the lyrics, so honestly go listen to it guys.

Sticks and Stones by The Pierces. This one is hard to describe, so please trust me and listen to it with Poolverine in mind

Iris by The Goo Goo Dolls. Okay, if I had to pick another song for the hand holding to Madonna scene, it’s this one. The vibes are immaculate, the theme talking about not being understood but finding someone who sees you are perfect, but that’s not why it’s here. It’s here because if two lines that are so much like Logan in that moment where he rushes in to save Wade. One: “you’re the closest to heaven that I’ll ever be/And I don’t want to go home right now.” This one is Logan finding something in Wade he’d thought he’d lost and realizing, perhaps even in that moment, that he doesn’t want to go back to a fixed world. Two: the very first line “and I’d give up forever to touch you.” Logan believes that if he goes in that chamber he will die, but he breaks down the door anyway. He’s literally giving up his effectively immortal lifespan (forever) to touch Wade because he’d rather die with him that live in a universe where he doesn’t exist.

Too Sweet by Hozier. This one is so Logan falling in love with Wade post-movie. Logan having another chance at life and Wade trying to pull him out of his most self-destructive habits while Logan can’t think of anything but how Wade is too good, too sweet for him.

This is Love by Air Traffic Controller. I love these boys but they are a liiiiittle toxic. This is that (plus the knife and gun imagery)

The Red Means I Love You by Madds Buckley. Remember that scene where Wade bled into Logan’s mouth and he had that feral ass grin and laughed? Yeah.

I WANNA BE YOUR SLAVE by Måneskin. You say rough sex I say Poolverine.

Big Bang Theory Man by Clare Fader and The Vaudevillians. It’s another toxic romance vibes song. This one has guns lol

Somebody to Love by Queen. I think this really exemplifies their lives before they find each other. They’re both lost, both put down by life and the world. They don’t know it yet, but they’re just looking for somebody to love.

You Give Love a Bad Name by Bon Jovi. A little more toxicity for the boys. Logan singing this about Wade works well. Like with the idea that Logan played his part in Wade’s game and got sent to the void. Plus comparing Wade to a loaded gun? Yes. Just yes

You Make My Dreams (Come True) by Daryl Hall & John Oates. I like to believe that they both made each other’s dreams come true. Wade got to team up with Wolverine and Logan got a second chance.

The Other Side from the Greatest Showman soundtrack. Look I know Hugh is the one singing here, but I can’t help but draw comparisons from this song to Wade dragging Logan away from the bar where he’s content to waste away.

I Don’t Care if You’re Contagious by Pierce the Veil. My beta reader (crypticanid here on tumblr) recommended this one so it’s here.

The Chain by Fleetwood Mac. The chain is them holding hands to save the world :-)

Dancing in the Dark by Bruce Springsteen. Here for dad rock energy and because it fits pre-movie Logan.

Shackled And Drawn by Bruce Springsteen. See above (Springsteen is peak dad rock to me)

Angel Eyes & Basketball by Foot Ox. Look at these opening eyes and tell it isn’t Logan “There are flowers growing all around a massive animal inside of me/And it's so ugly/And I'm so broken/And I'm so ugly/And it's so broken”

Heaven’s Gate by Amélie Farren. This is so Worst Wolverine pre-movie. He’s lost and helpless and blames himself for ruining his world. Also, the bit about “I was told that I was vital in the plan to save my life” is giving Logan agreeing to help Wade so the TVA can fix his world. And not believing in Wade and always running away before finally deciding to stay and follow? So represented in this song. Also! “‘Cause I didn’t deserve heaven, but I’m standing at its gate”? That is so Logan when he sees the start of his life with Wade stretch out before him.

Creepy Old Guy from the Beetlejuice musical soundtrack. This is one of the silly ones, but I find the idea of Wade singing this about Logan, who remember is over 200, really funny. He’s Logan’s controversially young girlfriend.

November by Sparkbird. It’s a song about travelling grouch parallel universes and the vibes are very Poolverine. Plenty of knife imagery.

Loser, Baby from the Hazbin Hotel soundtrack. Look I know this one is a little off the wall, but c’mon, it’s a song where an animal themed alcoholic and a hyper sexual gun-lover who are heavily implied to have feelings for each other sing about how life sucks and they’re both losers, but at least they have each other. It’s one the nose (I would actually cry if someone did artwork of them dancing in front of that billboard like in the show)

[stormblessed95]

Hello Storm,

where is the ending line between "good" shipping and "bad" shipping?

I'm talking about fictional characters AND real persons from various media and genres ,canon and non-canon.

As a BL fan and mostly a fanfic reader for almost 15+ years (!), four years ago Jikook became my first rps couple and I decided it will be definitely the LAST .

Some limits and boundaries around BTS' shipping community got crossed several times with poor taste and insane thoughts .

So now I started to questioning things ..for example, maybe it's better to go back to canon BL-media, leave the members alone and focusing - only musically speaking - to the group ?

Going cold turkey on Ao3 ? Avoiding shipping AND supporting spaces in general?

Too many questions and I admit I'm a overthinker, but after the Tkk french book maybe is really getting out of control for everyone.

Hello my love! As a very avid shipper since a very young age, who before Jikook, doesn't really engage in RPS spaces either, I 1000% get what you mean. So here is where I'm going to link you to a bunch of different posts I've made before that cover this topic. Will you come back and let me know if they helped or not? 💜

This post covers the question what is shipping culture in kpop

This post is about the question, what are ship wars?

This post is I think where I draw that line of what is good shipping (supporting Jikook as individuals and potentially queer ones at that) and bad shipping.

Dealing with rumors about RPS ships by shippers post here

Respecting Privacy Post here

And here is my post where I talk about fanfiction in real person ships. You'll notice the tkkr hate book is an example that falls directly under my "things not to do and cross lines and aren't okay" paragraph. Lol

In the end, do whatever you are most comfortable with. Outside of my blog and a few others, I do not engage with a ton of RPS fics. I read some that are sent to me from friends I trust to engage in that stuff nicely and correctly and that's basically it. I've gotten a few recs from here also and only read the ones that sounded like I would be comfortable with. In fandom spaces, you have to interact with them in whatever way works best for you personally. And if you can quit ao3 cold turkey, I would so shocked and impressed 😂 I could never. I have 10 ao3 tabs open right now lmfao

Hope those posts help 💜💜💜

[nitrochiraldegenerate]

had to delete the previous tweet and post a new one which you cant find the concert with.

I was asked by a person to post the link on their behalf. seeing as its part of archiving, I agreed. unfortunately, people on twitter started interacting with the tweet and while I was sleeping it got too many views, so as soon as I could, I deleted it. Ive lived most of my life on private blogs and tumblr where I got used to archivers writing details about the thing they are posting, in a way that even if the links dont work anymore or the images wont load, you can figure out what was in there to be able to search it up or imagine what it could have been. but with twitter it gets tricky and I end up having to delete a lot because I never imagine people interacting with it to that degree.

hopefully, no damage done. Im getting a bit tired

[vodkacheesefries]

big spoilers for dragon age the veilguard from early access players beneath the cut.

Also lengthy rambling/opinions.

proceed at thine own peril

In theory I'm okay with things being boiled down into a handful of simple questions to help new incoming players establish a background for their game.

HOWEVER, we're only getting three, and those are:

Did your Inquisitor disband/keep the Inquisition?

Did they vow to save/stop Solas?

Who did they romance?

That's it. This is. A choice.

I get it. it's been 10 years since Inquisition came out and longer since DA2 and DAO. A lot of people probably haven't played the early games, and there are hundreds if not thousands of choices across all three games that including them in Veilguard would be difficult.

But there are a handful of choices/decisions that it is absolutely wild to me that they aren't including in Veilguard's questionnaire. At the bare minimum I was hoping for the following:

What was the fate of your Grey Warden?

What was the fate of your Hawke?

Who drank from the Well of Sorrows?

Did your Inquisitor disband/keep the Inquisition?

Did your Inquisitor vow to save/stop Solas?

That's it! Only two more questions than we already have, and two of them are the same as the ones we're getting. All of the important story choices, and small choices that you could make in the prior games boil down to the fate of your character in that game so there's no need to get more detailed than that.

For example, obviously if your Warden survived the final battle, the dark ritual took place, so there's no need to ask more about it. Obviously if Hawke was left in the fade, they didn't go to Weisshaupt, and Alistair/Loghain/Stroud stayed in the Fade. Obviously if Morrigan drank from the well of Sorrows, your Inquisitor isn't going to be linked to Mythal, but Morrigan is.

Those feel like arguably the most important story beats from the previous games and I feel like that still keeps it simple enough and doesn't rely on importing potentially thousands of choices you made across the three prior games, while still explaining just enough without having to explain too much to new players.

(side note: I suppose if we want to get extra fancy we can add a question for "Who did your Warden/Hawke/Inquisitor romance" because callbacks to those relationships have always been fun, especially if we're getting any sort of cameo of past companions. Which at this point, I don't think we are.)

As far as past player characters returning, I get why that's hard to do because there's so many different endings for the Warden, and even Hawke post Inquisition. Would I like for them to show back up? Sure. But I'm okay if they don't.

TBH the most I've been hoping for is that maybe somewhere in a level/mission you're on, maybe with Davrin, you could find an easy to miss crumpled up letter/codex entry on it talking about how if your Warden was still alive they found a cure and disappeared into a well deserved retirement and to not bother them with anymore end of the world bullshit ever again.

Hell, I'd even accept it if it mentioned they'd started hearing the Calling and went to the Deep Roads and they're sorry they couldn't do more. I just want to know what happens to them. It doesn't have to be a pivotal plot point or anything.

Crumbs.

I am begging for crumbs, Bioware.

PS: I know it sounds like I'm being incredibly critical of the game, but I am actually very excited for it and I do think I'll enjoy it, despite any ties, or lack thereof, to prior games. I'm a big fan of being critical of the things you enjoy.

Now if you want me to get really critical because I don't like something, ask me how I feel about Inquisition because WHOOO boy I could give a Ted Talk about how much I dislike Inquisition.

[bittermarching]

(I've said this before but,) It's annoying to me how so many people feel compelled to spread disinformation and present every situation as completely black and white, regardless of the facts, to manipulate other people into agreeing with them. This happens all the fucking time, especially online.

A recent example: M. Williams, the man who was recently executed in Missouri (not putting his full name bc I don't want a bunch of illiterate keyboard "prison abolitionists" telling me to kms). Lemme first preface this by saying I Do Not think he should've been executed. Just to be clear.

There are a million zillion posts on this site claiming that there was "overwhelming forensic evidence definitively proving his innocence" and that the "only evidence" linking him to the crime was the testimony of two cellmates who were rewarded for their testimonies. Both of these things are false.

What linked him to the crime was a) the victim's stolen items were found in his possession (obviously he could have just been a fence, but the items found were a ruler and a calculator, which have no value so why would a fence have that?); b) the testimony of his girlfriend who said that he confessed and had scratches on his neck and blood on his shirt and the victim's laptop in his car; c) the victim's stolen laptop was recovered from a man who said Williams sold it to him; d) the alleged jailhouse confession his former cellmate claimed he made. Neither Williams' girlfriend or the man who bought the laptop received any reward for testifying, as far as I could find. The gf was awaiting trial on an unrelated crime, but it doesn't seem like she got a plea deal or anything for testifying. The cellmate did receive a reward, so that imo makes his testimony somewhat less persuasive. There was also the fact that he had a history of armed robbery.

However! And this is why his death sentence should have been overturned (regardless of whether you support the existence of the death penalty at all), there were several serious issues with how the crime was investigated, the trial, and post-trial handling of the case.

First, regarding the forensic evidence, the DNA of an initially-unidentified man was found on the knife. It turns out, that DNA belonged to one of the prosecutors who contaminated the evidence by repeatedly handling it without gloves. (This is where people seem confused, claiming that the DNA belongs to the real culprit, but that is false). The fact that the evidence was mishandled alone should have been enough imo to overturn his sentence bc the jury did not have this info when they convicted him.

Second, the prosecuting attorney handling voir dire (jury selection) had a Very Clear racial bias, as he eliminated all but one Black juror, and the reason he gave for eliminating one of them was that he "looked too much like" Williams. Which, I mean. Come on, that's just insanely clear anti-Black racism.

Third, the bizarre, intentional mishandling of this case post-trial. First, the former governor stays the execution and forms a panel of judges to review the case. But then, the new governor suddenly dissolves the panel before they finish their investigation and just decides to lift the stay on the execution. A lawsuit was pending to have another trial into Williams' innocence, given all the new evidence about the mishandling of the trial, but the state supreme court found that they didn't have the authority to withdraw the execution order. Williams accepted a plea deal devised by prosecutors that would have his conviction commuted to life without parole. The state sup. ct. blocked the plea deal. The governor denied his plea for clemency. Basically, the people in positions of final authority seemed absolutely determined to go through with this execution no matter what.

I might've missed some details here, I read a bunch of articles and tried to piece things together, but the length of this post was already getting away from me.

But the point is, I hate how ppl feel the need to oversimplify complex issues and events in order to convince others of the point they're trying to make. It is true that there were actual, material pieces of evidence linking Williams to the crime and that he did have a history of armed robbery. But it's equally true that the investigation and trial were biased and mishandled and that the governor and state supreme court seemed hellbent on having this man executed. Honestly, I don't think he was innocent -- it's undeniable that he was at least involved in the crime in some fashion. HOWEVER, if there is any doubt at all about a person's guilt, the death penalty should be off the table. And there was absolutely doubt. The evidence did not conclusively 100% show that no one else could have committed the murder and the investigation, trial, and post-trial were all very messy to say the least. And that should be enough to make people outraged at his execution! You should be able to accurately present the facts and let people decide whether they agree with you. And yet every post I've seen on this case falsely claims that there was definitive evidence proving that he was completely innocent, portraying him as just some random man the state decided to target despite having no connection to the case.

Even when I agree with the point being made, the disinformation people spread to manipulate others into agreeing with them really pisses me off. It's like we're all mini-politicians nowadays willing to say anything to accomplish our own agendas and I can't trust anything without verifying it with 15 separate independent sources. (I mean I've always done that bc I'm a full time skeptic, but still). This case is just one example, but it's constant and it drives me insane.

And, for the record, I'm not some death penalty fanatic who just loves throwing people in prison for no reason. I have done volunteer work for the Innocence Project, including their death penalty divison which aims to get inmates off of death row. Which is more than most of y'all can say, so.

[meamiiikiii]

5% of a color headcanon.... two versions since b&w emphasizes the dagger more i think but i still like the warm tones ASFSADA

i am not biased towards rainbow daggers whatsoever i promise (lie)

((also friend is streaming now and im there too!! bit more info linked here, its rated mature tho))

[kazamajun]

well have you considered that maybe the unstoppable force is in love with the immovable object

maybe the reason one refuses to stop and the other refuses to move is because they both long for the collision

[poetrysmackdown]

hi hiii i wanted to say that your account is so refreshing to see, esp with the passion you have for the arts. as someone who's been meaning to read (and write) more poetry, do you have any recommendations? some classics that everyone and their mothers know? perhaps some underrated pieces that changed you? or even just authors you like, I'm very open to suggestions :]]

Hi! Thank you so much for this kind ask :) So exciting that you’re looking to delve deeper into reading and writing! I had to take a little time to answer this because my thoughts were all over the place lol.

For a review of notable/classic poems/poets, I honestly just recommend looking at lists online or, hell, just binging Wikipedia pages for different countries’ poetry if that’s something you’re into, just to get a sense of the chronology. I read one of those little Oxford Very Short Introductions on American Poetry and thought it was pretty good, but online is quicker if you’re just searching for poets or movements to hone in on. Poetry Foundation also has lots of resources, in addition to all the poems in their database. I guess my one big classic recommendation would have to be Emily Dickinson (<3), but really the best move is just to find a poet you already enjoy and then look around to see who their peers were/are, who they were inspired by, who they’ve maybe translated here and there, etc. and follow it down the line as far as you can.

For some personal recs, here are some collections I’ve really enjoyed over the past two years or so. Bolded favorites, and linking where select poems from the book have been published online. But also, if you want a preview of a couple poems from another of the books to see if they interest you, DM me and I can send them over! You can also feel free to pilfer through my poetry tag for more stuff lol

Autobiography of Death by Kim Hyesoon trans. Don Mee Choi

Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings by Joy Harjo

DMZ Colony by Don Mee Choi

Hardly War by Don Mee Choi

Whereas by Layli Long Soldier

Geography III by Elizabeth Bishop

Dictee by Theresa Hak Kyung Cha

Don’t Let Me Be Lonely: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine

Mouth: Eats Color—Sagawa Chika Translations, Anti-Translations, & Originals by Sawako Nakayasu

The Selected Poems of Osip Mandelstam trans. W.S. Merwin and Clarence Brown

The Branch Will Not Break by James Wright

This Journey by James Wright

God’s Silence by Franz Wright

Duino Elegies by Rainer Maria Rilke (the translation I read was by Alfred Corn—I thought it was great, but idk if there are better ones out there!)

DMZ Colony, Hardly War, Dictee, Don’t Let Me Be Lonely, and partially Whereas are all book-length poems with some prose poetry and varying levels of weirdness/denseness/multilingualism—if you were to pick one to start with, I’d say do Don’t Let Me Be Lonely or Whereas. Mouth: Eats Color is some experimental translations of Japanese modernist poet Chika Sagawa, with other translations and some of Nakayasu’s original stuff mixed in—it's definitely a bit disorienting but ultimately I remember having such fun with it, as much fun as Nakayasu probably had making it. It’s a book that emphasizes co-creation and a spirit of play, and completely changed my attitude towards translation.

If you’re less interested in that kind of formal fuckery stuff though (I get it), can’t go wrong with the other books! Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings is the one I read most recently, and it’s great—Harjo also featured in Round 1! Franz Wright also featured, and God's Silence is the collection which "Night Walk" comes from. James Wright (father of Franz) is one of my favorite poets of all time, though his poetry isn’t perfect. Even so, I’m honestly surprised he’s not doing numbers on Tumblr—Mary Oliver was a big fan of his, even wrote her "Three Poems for James Wright" after his death.

I mentioned in another post that one of my favorite poets is Paul Celan, so I’ll also recommend him here. I read Memory Rose into Threshold Speech which is a translated collection of his earlier poems, but it’s quite long if you’re just getting to know him as a poet—fortunately, both Poetry Foundation and Poets.org have a ton of his poems in their collections. There’s also an article by Ilya Kaminsky about him titled “Of Strangeness That Wakes Us” (!!!!!) that’s a great place to start, and is honestly kind of my whole mission statement when I’m reading and writing poetry. Looking at the books I’ve recommended above, a lot of them share feelings of separateness or alienation—from others, from oneself, from one’s country, from language—that breed strange, private modes of expression. That tends to be what I’m drawn to personally, and that’s some of what Kaminsky talks about.

Sorry of the length of this—I hope it's useful as a jumping-off point! And if you or anyone ends up exploring any of these poets, let me know what you think! If folks wanna reply with recommendations themselves too that'd be great :)

[pineapplefulfillseveryneed]

Sparks tour 2023

[necrotic-nephilim]

for the ask game (3)

au where all robins develop a mental link after fighting some magical criminal of the week. what would they see in each other's minds? what secrets and repressed feelings do they discover? how would they deal with it?

for the ask game!

oooh, i love telepathic links that end up revealing secrets. especially with a family like the Batfam, who are usually so convinced they're good enough at reading each other to not have many secrets kept. so weird reveals are always fun

if i did this, i'd do DamiTim. just because of all the like, "deep dark feelings that are being hidden" for Robin shipping, DamiTim is the most fun for me. you expect DickTim or DickJay or JayTim, even DamiDick. but there's something that's so enjoyable about Damian having his feelings forcibly outted. not just to Tim, but to everyone. the way it'd be an active landmine none of them knowing what to say but all feeling each other's reactions. i honestly think Damian would try to punch somebody about it. (also, if you do a history of TImSteph where they've had sex, Damian would be directly linked to Steph's memories of how Tim was in bed, so that's fun as both something horrifying and enlightening just to screw with his feelings some more.) would they end up together? in my head probably, but it'd be weird and likely toxic bc how do you date someone you know inside out and know exactly what they think of all your flaws and what parts of you they obsess over. the answer is not very well but hey, the sex is good-

i think Jason *directly* feeling how everyone felt about his death would really rock him. he's heard all the apologies, but part of him isn't convinced there's truth to them. so to be crushed by Dick's *grief* over his death would be a come to jesus moment for him. but on the less fun flipside, you have him feeling how Dick feels about him *now*. because Dick doesn't really *like* Jason and deep down, sees Jason as a lost cause. that's his "deep dark secret". and Jason would feel and know that from the one person who he still wants to believe in him. i really do think Jason would have the Worst Time with all this, overwhelmed with everyone's intimate and complex feelings over his death. Jason is a very defensive person when it comes to his death and how reactionary he gets when other people make it about them, not him. so for Jason to have to constantly deal with that in his head, i truly do think he'd lash out a bit. the arguments. yelling at Dick and feeling Dick's guilt and snapping bc Dick has no right to feel guilty now. feeling that Tim viewed Jason as a failure. it's just a damaging mindspace to be in and man do i think Jason would take a While to recover.

oddly though, i think it'd be a good bonding moment for Steph and Jason. we really don't get much exploration of Steph and Jason bonding over dying. bc sure, Steph didn't actually die, but she *did* experience the social death where everyone believed she was dead and mourned her as such for a good while. she also felt *directly* responsible for her own death. a lot of blame falls on Steph for War Games (for the Doylist reasons of sexism but yk) and Jason feels responsible for his own death for walking into a trap. but unlike Jason, Steph had no suit in a case, no memorials, her name held no infamy. so i think she deserves just a bit of righteous fury about how dramatic Jason can be while she just has to move on bc hey, it's not like she *really* died. and she buries those feelings well, but not well enough to hide them from a mental link. and Jason, who hasn't really considered Steph before because he was so wrapped up in his complex over Tim, confronts those feelings with her. if anyone is going to know how he feels, it's going to be her. you could do it platonic or romantic, but i do think when Jason sinks to his lowest, she's the one who snaps him out of it, both with tough love and genuine compassion for his situation.

for the less serious crack of it all: they're all going to have far too intimate knowledge of each other's sex lives. everyone's gonna know Dick has fucked Slade. everyone's gonna know Jason has fucked Talia. in my heart, i believe Tim has slept with Anarky (Lonnie, not Ulysses) and everyone would *know* that too. absolute judgment all around. it's the spider-man meme of "wait you've done WHAT with WHO" and honestly, it gives a nice distraction for the more serious feelings. it's a palette cleanser they can default to. like when the fighting gets a little too serious and they're cutting too deep for comfort, someone's going to blurt out "well at least i didn't fuck Deathstroke." and the whole moment goes awry with laughter. bc i do think, at the end of it once they get through the worst of the angst, they'd be closer for it and self-aware of the ridiculous nature of all this. it's enlightening, in a way to see how they all felt about their time as Robin and the baggage/trauma they hold. even the ugliest feelings they hold for each other don't completely suffocate the fondness/respect.

that said, knowing the baggage/trauma. oof. i don't think Dick has ever fully opened up about his history with Mirage/Tarantula/Liu and now it's forced to sit in the open. Damian has never admitted the worst of being raised in the League. Tim hasn't fully faced the suffocating image of his dead father and his deep-seated want to kill Boomerang. all those ugly truths they stamp down bc well, either you're a vigilante or you're a well adjusted person, are out in the open now. and it's ugly and gruesome to force those thoughts to be shared. they all want to comfort each other for different reasons, while simultaneously not wanting their own trauma to be acknowledged. it'd be fun to see who'd instinctively react to whose trauma first. because it's an overwhelming rush of information, and you just naturally get pulled in certain directions. i think Damian would react to Dick's history of sexual abuse first, whereas Jason would be reacting to the murderous rage TIm is trying to fight off. Tim is reacting to just how much guilt Steph carries about War Games and all of it is very crunchy. there's so much they'd all have to talk about and it'd take days for them to address it all, between the arguments about the ugly parts. would they come out stronger for it? yes. but only if they didn't kill each other in the process. i hesitate to do a "and they come out one big happy family" ending, bc it's not very in canon, but i do think the bond of the Robin mantle is something special. even when the link is broken, they hold onto a freakish understanding of each other. they react and move in sync, can fight together without needing words. are they emotionally on the same page/have they forgiven each other for the worst of it? absolutely not. but they've got each other backs. it's a very much "if you called i'd drop everything to save you. but also we don't have it in us to hang out casually." bond, which i think is deeply underrated in fanfiction. sometimes, you can care about people but you have to do it from a distance.

[averlym]

"one day, i cut him an apple. when he saw it, he laughed" (click for better resolution!) ,,, tag from @elliotly

[deus-ex-mona]

god forbid a woman has hobbies

[succubusfuccubus]

Embroidering the Magnus Archives

Here is a google doc masterpost of @kirikiri1 episode Hoops, in order. Just in case anyone listening to the Magnus Archives would like to follow along. Some episodes haven't been done (yet?), and so I've left them blank.