#I want to read fairytales from the SU reality

[legendary-defender-of-fandoms]

Worldbuilding Earth in Steven Universe

Random thought, but I was watching the Overly Sarcastic deep dive of Hades & Persephone for the hundredth time and suddenly realized the Diamonds perfectly correspond to four of the highest-ranking deities in the Greek Pantheon:

White to the Olympian Queen Hera

Yellow to the Wise Warrior Athena

Blue to the Underworld Queen Persephone

Pink to the Love Goddess Aphrodite

And that got me thinking about Greek mythology in Steven Universe & wondering if the Diamonds inspired the goddesses that arguably inspired them IRL? Which led to more wondering about if they inspired any OTHER major religious icons, or how cultures & religions on Earth would’ve been affected by the confirmed presence of ancient aliens. Which led me to the following query:

Is anyone else kind of sad that we never got to know how Earth’s cultures were affected by the Diamond Invasion & the Gem War? I know that wasn’t the point of the series, and after CN made Rebecca cut the OG show short they REALLY didn’t have time for anything but the main story. But it still kinda bugs me that we have no idea how the HUMANS felt about the Gem War, or how they interpreted the events & the relics left behind.

Pink Diamond began Colonizing the Earth 6,000 years prior to the show’s main story. Approximately around 4,000 BCE. And while her Colonization was focused primarily in North America (with both Kindergartens somewhere in the continental United States of America), there was Gem activity all over the planet. What did humans think of these immortal superpowered beings from the stars? How many world religions are based on the Diamonds? Which myths are allegories for historical Gem events? We saw on several occasions that Gem iconography was integrated into modern human society (Pink’s Gem on the currency, pink diamonds used as logos) - did any other aspects of Gem culture get adopted by humans? The Diamond Salute? Certain caste systems? Are all SU cryptid myths based on sightings of Corrupted Gems or Gem Mutants? Could Steven have figured out his mom was Pink Diamond by reading a book of fairytales or studying ancient mythologies? WHAT DOES EVERYONE THINK HAPPENED TO RUSSIA?!?

[bisluthq]

hey i’m the larry timeline anon! about louis saying he’s straight, i genuinely feel like he had no choice. larries are so deep in their conspiracy that they attack his gf and say his baby is fake. you don’t really get that with harry because harry has a lot of girls who dream about being WITH him so they don’t believe in larry as much, but a lot of louis stans are larries. if you google ‘unofficial larry timeline’ it should come up, it’s on tumblr.

Okay I found it and read it. It’s definitely better than a lot of takes I’ve seen on this and I like this bit a lot: “I think fans often see this relationship as an epic love story when the reality is that they were very young and under a lot of pressure for a long time.” Like any of these pairings would be like this right. How can you have an epic pure love story when you’re under a microscope and dealing with that much pressure and have parties and money and hot people throwing themselves at you?

That said I don’t like... officially endorse this tl. I mean I’m not and never have been a Larry but people keep talking to me about this because of my stance on Kaylor and how I simp for Harry and I’ve done some of my own research. So with that in mind I must say that I don’t agree with significant elements in it. For example, I think Eleanor has only ever been real and the fact that there’s no good story for how they met is one of the things that sells it for me. Like she was a random uni student why tf would there be a receipt on them meeting? Like the more “transparent” a meeting is the more sus I find it and the likelier it is to be staged. Why stage a mess when you can stage a meet cute? I’m not saying all public meetings are fake or that it’s the only sign of a fake somethin’ somethin’ going on but it’s the first one.

I also don’t believe Kendall and Harry ever dated. I agree that they’re good friends - obviously - and I think they were happy to stunt together to benefit them both (same as how Harry also did stunts with Cara D). I get that they’re all supposedly chill people but... Harry isn’t actually chill like the Townes story and EVERYTHING ABOUT FINE LINE and especially Cherry VN is right there. He feels extremely quickly and seemingly - when he feels - extremely deeply. He’s got the womanizer playboy asshole image that was built for him over the years but it doesn’t stack with shit we actually know about him. He was broken up over his producer wearing SLIPPERS that Camille gave him as a gift. Like he isn’t a chill dude. At all.

So yeah like I disagree with certain points/theses made but I think the main premise - that if something happened it was back in 1D’s early days - is where I’m at as well. Like they were two cute boys making a big splash it’s not bizarre that they hooked up for a while back then.

I agree with your theory on Louis’s versus Harry’s fangirls. They’re all batshit tbh - like how fucking ninja Harry had to be with Camille and even more so with Kiko and how the latter had to deactivate Insta is testament to these girls’ insanity but you’re right, his fangirls want to be with him. They hate The Girls because they see them as standing in between them and Harry. (What a fun overexaggeration of personal appeal tbh like the self-confidence to think if only Harry wasn’t with horrible French model Camille or awful Japanese model Kiko he would be with them is delightfully delulu).

Whereas many of Louis’s are Larries like that’s a big part of his appeal 🤷🏻‍♀️ I must say finding out more about Larry has made me lowkey stan his relationship with Eleanor because I don’t understand how much you need to love one another to put up with the shit they have dealt with from fans. Like I mean it’s also not a fairytale everlasting love story - there’s a whole fling bébé in there - but the fact that they CAME BACK TO ONE ANOTHER after the first shitstorm and are weathering a second one is like... pretty endgame and cute. He should put a ring on it because girlie deserves it.

Tbh tho your point on why Louis has had to deny rumors so hectically can also be used to explain certain “proofs” in the linked tl. Like maybe Harry couldn’t publicly be happy for Louis having a kid because people would’ve... thought it was his kid... and also it was like a one night stand/fling bébé so idk why anyone would get super excited over that PR shitshow. Louis wear a condom next time you fuck a makeup artist challenge.

Sorry for the semi incoherent rant lol but I enjoyed reading the tl you linked and your ask tbh and it sparked thoughts.

[longforyesterday]

Ok. Here we are. Long post(/rant) ahead in response to the photo above. Sorry for my English, but I had to get these things off my chest. Thanks to everyone who will take the time to read this post, and tell me what you think!

1. They had all agreed to shut up about the “divorce” and he announced it to promote his album.

First of all, it was Allen Klein (one of the main villain in this wretched story) that had convinced John - who was very enamoured with him, his persona and his promises - not to tell anyone about it. In late December 1969 John, however, told journalist Ray Connolly, who didn’t say a word. Klein wanted to make as much money as he possibly could from the band, and announcing the break-up would have certainly damaged that prospect.  Paul did it in April 1970. That’s four months of limbo, of nothing. He was in the midlle of an uncertain situation, with a manager who profited off them and their work and that he didn’t want, his bandmates and closest friends against him. Paul loved the Beatles and being a Beatle, he never wanted them to break up but the time had come. George had wanted out for years but never left for good. We all know John had lost interest in the band and had already started working with Yoko. I feel like Ringo didn’t want the band to break-up, but just went along with the other two, hoping that Paul would eventually agree with them. Releasing a solo album (that he put together without any help from the other three) while staying in the Beatles under Klein, with no hope of a follow-up to Abbey Road, in a tense situation, after John’s “divorce” private announcement, alone against the other three would have meant - for Paul - that everything he made from it would have gone to Klein for the most part. Of course he didn’t want that. Let’s not act like this didn’t affect Paul at all.  It must also be mentioned that, while he was working on his solo album, Allen Klein and John had contacted Phil Spector to work on Get Back/Let It Be, which had been shelved.

Back in Beatles headspace, Paul sat in a room at Cavendish Avenue and, with fresh ears, reviewed the results of the second version of the Get Back LP. To his mind, the music was stark, unadorned, frighteningly bare, but ultimately thrilling. Klein, meanwhile, bluntly deemed it ‘a crock of shit’ and conspired with Lennon to bring in Phil Spector, who had just overseen the rousing production of ‘Instant Karma!’, to rework the tapes. Unknown to McCartney, Spector booked studio time in March and began slathering strings and brass, fairytale harp and aaahing choir onto ‘The Long And Winding Road’, making it sound hopelessly corny, like a BBC orchestra backing Engelbert Humperdinck. At this stage, however, Paul remained unaware of this development, his thoughts somewhere else entirely. Secluded in his music room at Cavendish Avenue, McCartney began recording his first solo album.

Tom Doyle, Man On The Run

Then came a letter (maybe it’s just me, but I find it a little passive-aggressive) from the rest of the Beatles.

Ringo Starr stood on the doorstep of McCartney’s house at Cavendish Avenue, unaware that he was about to precipitate the end of The Beatles. His tricky diplomatic mission, which he had chosen to accept in his role as the chirpy drummer, was to convince his increasingly estranged bandmate that there was an unacceptable clash of release dates between the long-delayed Get Back – now renamed Let It Be – and Paul’s freshly minted eponymous solo album, which was due to be issued only a week before. With him, he had a letter, dated 31 March 1970, handwritten by John Lennon and co-signed by George Harrison. It read: ‘Dear Paul, We thought a lot about The Beatles and yours [sic] LPs – and decided it’s stupid for Apple to put out two big albums within 7 days of each other. So we sent a letter to EMI telling them to hold your release date ’til June 4th (there’s a big Apple-Capitol convention in Hawaii then). We thought you’d come round when you realised that The Beatles album was coming out on April 24th. We’re sorry it turned out like this – it’s nothing personal. Love, John and George.’ Paul – his patience already strained, his temper on a hair-trigger – invited his friend inside and very quickly absorbed this information. Then he erupted. ‘I told him to eff off,’ Paul says. ‘Everyone, to my mind, was completely treating me like dirt. It was kind of like, “We’re the big guys, we’re the grownups.” And I said, “No way, man. Get out.”’ Ringo swiftly departed with the sound of Paul’s fury ringing in his ears. McCartney refused to budge and his solo album was released on 17 April 1970, forcing Let It Be back another two weeks to 8 May. It was the moment when Paul McCartney finally gave up on The Beatles, the point where he mentally quit the group.

Tom Doyle, Man On The Run    

Of course the news provoked public outrage, and Paul - trying to set the record straight - later said 

‘It was all a misunderstanding,’ he protested. ‘I never intended the statement to mean “Paul McCartney quits Beatles”. I didn’t leave The Beatles. The Beatles have left The Beatles, but no one wants to be the one to say the party’s over’ 

Tom Doyle, Man On The Run

but John was furious because he had wanted to announce it to the world and Paul had beaten him to it. He didn’t announce it to promote his own solo efforts, he wasn’t the type of person to do such a thing: Paul left that limbo he didn’t want to stay in and did what had to be done, even though it was painful. His first solo album resented from the announcement, and McCartney was destroyed by critics for ages because of it, not because of the songs, and by John, George and Ringo too.

2. “He sued the Beatles”

Yes, he sued them, that’s a fact. He sued them in December 1970, at the end of an year during which he had received worldwide hate and criticism for his actions and for his album. He could have sued the other three immediately after the release of McCartney or Let It Be (and he was booed during screenings of the movie), but procrastinated and thought a lot about it. He also had a nervous breakdown because he felt worthless and useless and because of that difficult situation within the group (which at that point didn’t exist anymore) and with Klein. We could have lost him if it hadn’t been for Linda.  There was no other escape from that situation. He brought his former bandmates to court with a heavy heart. He “killed” the Beatles, but he also saved them from their manager. In the end they all recognised Paul was right about Klein, and he did them a favour by freeing them from that shark and from Apple.

3. “It’s a drag”

Imagine having just learned of your close friend’s sudden, terrible death at the hands of psycopath. Imagine burying yourself in your work, in the studio to deal with your grief, and crying your eyes out all the while (George Martin was there with him, and I trust George Martin). Then you come out of the studio and a journalist shoves a microphone in your face, prying, asking you for a reaction to the sad news you’ve been trying to deal with for hours. He probably was still in denial. Everyone has a different reaction to death and grief.

4. “He lost their songs to his little Jackson mate”

Paul and Michael had worked together on two singles, and MJ had hung out with the McCartneys in their Scottish estate. He had also asked Paul for financial advice, and he suggested investing in song-publishing. The Beatles catalogue was up for sale and Jackson seized the opportunity. Of course Paul didn’t think MJ would go after their songs and was upset about it (eight years of his and his former bandmates’ hard work in another man’s hands? I would be furious) and he and Yoko weren’t able to outbid Michael and to get the songs back, which only happened ten years ago. 

5. The credits for ‘Yesterday’

Every song in the Beatles catalogue that wasn’t a cover, written jointly with Ringo or written by George was credited to Lennon-McCartney, even when they wrote and composed separately (especially after 1967). Paul and John also agreed that the credits could be reversed, if either of them wanted to, on any future releases. When I first got into the Beatles, I thought that that was a good arrangement, but in my book the name of the main composer should go first. For example,in my opinion, A Day In The Life is correctly credited to Lennon-McCartney, but Eleanor Rigby, which was Paul’s creation with some input by John, should be McCartney-Lennon. But this is just my opinion. Now, Yesterday. We all know Yesterday was and is Paul’s baby. John repeatedly said he had nothing to do with it. In Wings Over America (1976), Paul reversed the credits for five Beatles songs, and John didn’t say a word about it. In 1996, before the release of Anthology 2, Paul asked Yoko to reverse them only for Yesterday, and she disagreed. He didn’t ask her to remove John’s name. After Yoko’s refusal, (probably unbeknownst to Paul) Linda, who was at the height of her chemo treatment, phoned her to ask the same thing, only to be answered “That’s never going to happen”. She could have been more empathetic and polite. Maybe she refused beause Yesterday is the most covered song of all time and still makes a lot of money?

6. “Salieri and Mozart”

Some people may argue that I’m bringing Yoko into this for no reason whatsoever, but - actually - there is a reason. The comparison with Salieri and Mozart was made by Yoko herself in a BBC interview in December 1997, when Linda was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. Put yourself in Paul’s shoes.  Your wife is dying and your best friend’s widow rubs salt into the wound and describes you as the Salieri to her late husband’s Mozart. Common knowledge has it that the two composers were enemies, and that Salieri even poisoned Mozart, but in reality the Italian musician was Wolfgang’s mentor and tutor, and we probably wouldn’t have had Mozart without Salieri. If you choose to make that comparison just as Yoko made it, you should keep in mind the historical truth, and that Salieri was essential. The person who made the comment said that Paul is the modern equivalent of Mozart, and for a reason. Mozart had been a musical prodigy since his childhood, and Paul was and is still considered by many an all-round musician and multi-instrumentalist. People who worked with the Beatles like George Martin and Geoff Emerick, their sound engineer, even said that he was the most musically talented of the four. He also composed Yesterday in his sleep, for heaven’s sake! You can have your favourite among the four Beatles, but you can’t deny his talent. (The commentator isn’t doing that, but a lot of people did it in the past and still do to this day.)

7. *I’m not going to repeat those last words*

Read up on his life and work, dear commentator, and then tell me if you still think that. And his solo work shouldn’t be dismissed like that. Maybe I’m Amazed? Another Day? Band on the Run? Live and Let Die? Here Today? I could go on. (The other former Beatles wrote some clunkers too, let’s not forget that). I think that many of the nasty, horrible comments about Paul come from what John said about him immediately after the break-up. John regretted them later, walked back on them, apologised and made peace with Paul (who never badmouthed him in the press), but the media ignored that and continued spreading lies. Paul wasn’t and isn’t perfect, neither of them was. A lot of people (mainly boomers) just like to act like John was Saint John of Peace from Liverpool and never did anything wrong, while the other three were inferior to him and evil people, especially Paul. Nowadays (thankfully) people tend to be objective and to not believe the old whitewashing propaganda that has been perpetuated by the Lennon Estate. But this post is not the place for that.

[yasuda-yoshiya]

Sorry I haven’t been around here much lately! The last few weeks (/months, really) have been rough for me, but I’m feeling a bit better at least for now. For now I’ll just drop some overdue thoughts here on some of the things I’ve been watching since I finished Utena:

Princess Tutu

I found Tutu to be a really sweet and charming show with a ton of heart, but I'm also sad to say that I don't think watching it straight after Utena did it any favours for me. Utena portrayed the same kinds of themes around breaking out of predefined narratives in a way that personally hit home for me a lot harder, so Tutu ended up feeling a bit like a watered down version of the same ideas to me... Which is a shame because I do still think it's a really cool show with a lot to like about it! It's visually and aesthetically gorgeous, I adore its whole cosy meta-fairytale atmosphere and the ballet theme and the whole general feel of the show a lot - it just didn't end up leaving that much of a lasting impression on me in the end. I may well come back and revisit it some day, because I feel like I'd probably get more out of it coming in with a clearer idea of what to expect and without Utena's shadow unfairly hanging over it.

For the characters, I loved Ahiru and Fakir! They were both so endearingly earnest and I really liked the respective directions they ended up taking both of their character arcs and their relationship (Fakir passionately rewriting the story to be about Ahiru's bravery and courage at the end made me cry so hard! That's like, the exact kind of individual heartfelt expression of love that hits straight to my heart when it comes to fictional couples, waaaah...)

Mytho and Rue were a bit harder to connect with for me; I felt like I couldn't really get invested in Rue's feelings for Mytho for the most of the show since the backstory around them wasn't revealed until the very end. (I did like Ahiru and Rue's relationship quite a bit, though! That sort of feeling of the narrative artificially pushing them into being enemies when they really could have helped each other as friends was well done.) On Mytho's end I just never clicked at all with the whole raven blood subplot that seemed to dominate his character in the second season, unfortunately. I couldn't make it meaningfully connect for me, even though I had quite liked him as a character in the first half of the series (even in just my generic "hnng cute boys struggling with the idea of having feelings" way). I'd be interested to see on a rewatch whether those two would work better for me having a better idea of where their trajectory was going from the start, since I felt like I didn't really "get" what they were going for with their relationship or how I was supposed to be reading them until the very end (I'm slow okay).

Steven Universe

What an absolutely lovely series! I've been wanting to check this out for a long time, and I'm glad I finally got the chance because it really is excellent. I totally fell in love with the whole Crystal Gem family, and the balance between them all having their own personal issues to deal with while still being able to draw love and support from each other was done really well. I really loved the handling of Steven's PoV in the first couple of the series especially for how they handled his growth around coming to understand that his parental figures are really flawed people who have a lot of baggage to deal with, but also without framing their personal problems or their relationships with each other as being at all within either his power or responsibility to "fix". Instead, his moments of growth are more about more consciously registering the burdens they're under and making those little gestures to ease them wherever he can, like consciously showing appreciation for their parenting efforts with the test, or giving Amethyst more time to vent things out with her friend when she's stressed out instead of asking her to take him home right away. Likewise, on the gems' end, we really get the sense that e.g. Pearl's love for Steven is real and valuable and "saves" her in a very real sense, but also that it's not going to ever fully erase her depression or her grief over losing the life she had with Rose before and that that's okay.

I would say as the show went on, it felt like it lost some of the grounded and occasionally harsh nature that originally drew me to it - the first couple of seasons felt like they had a sort of constant legitimate tension in the background with the gems trying hard to keep things together in a hard situation in a way that still obviously had its cracks in it, and a sort of acknowledgment that "maybe not everything will be okay, but there's still a lot of good in the world and in our relationships that's worth living for", which I appreciated. Whereas I felt like they moved a bit more towards unambiguously positive resolutions as the show went on, with a bit less of that willingness to leave things "unresolved". (Of course the show still has a lot of those moments, like the reveal of Rose's past in particular, but even then I wished that the fallout from the reveal and its lasting impact on the gems was given more time and weight than it was.) That feeling culminated for me in the finale of series 5 and the way the plot with the diamonds was resolved, where it felt like the show pretty much parted ways with reality entirely and fully embraced a kind of ideal fantasy positivity.

But I don't think that's necessarily a totally bad thing, either - it's still a very genuine and heartfelt kind of positivity that can be hard to find in narratives as unapologetically queer as SU is (especially in media targeted at young kids!) and I'm sure a lot of people really need that gap filled in their lives, so I can't really bring myself to resent it overall. The characters remain as endearing and lovable as ever, the show still made me smile from beginning to end, and all in all I have nothing but great appreciation for all the important ground it's willing to tread as a kids' show touching on a lot of extremely relevant contemporary issues in a positive and responsible way. It honestly makes me feel really happy and hopeful to think of kids getting to grow up with a show like this! So while I might personally have ended up resonating more with the show if they'd taken a different direction, I feel like I still have a lot of respect and understanding for the route they did end up taking, too, and I'm glad to have experienced it.

Mob Psycho 100

I thought this was a very cool and interesting show! As "deconstructing shounen tropes" series go, I feel like this one successfully hits a unique sort of sweetspot for me in the way that, rather than brutally tearing apart shounen conventions out from the roots (which is also something I can enjoy a lot when it's done well!), it's instead focusing on taking a lot of the genuinely positive ideas that draw people to shounen - the ability to overcome adversity through personal growth and "the power of bonds/friendship", positivity in the face of despair, and so on - and re-examining them through a more grounded context that asks "Okay, but what does that actually look like in the real world?" Because, you know, it definitely DOESN'T look like people with magical god-given superpowers blasting through everything that challenges them with the sheer force of their specialness and their pre-assigned role as the "main character", right?

So I was really impressed by Mob as a series for not only being so thorough about deconstructing that (to the point that the voice encouraging Mob to use his powers more and be a super special hero is an outright "devil on the hero's shoulder" kind of character!), but also for going that extra step to examining what real positive growth actually DOES look like. I felt like the series did a remarkably insightful job overall (especially in the second series) of sort of gently but firmly differentiating "real growth" from "shounen growth" in that sense. I really loved those little touches like the Emi episode, where the viewer is effectively led to expect a moral about how "people will like you more if you act more genuine and be yourself!" - but then the show very deliberately switches gears to the idea that trying to be more genuine is already worthwhile in and of itself, just because you're living in the world with a more conscious awareness of what's important to you and standing up for the things you care about, and how that authentic way of living can inspire other people and have a positive impact on them too.

And similarly, I absolutely love Mob and Reigen's weird, messy, problematic relationship being the emotional centrepiece of the series, because it's the exact opposite of the kind of friendship you'd expect to be centred in a "POWER OF BONDS!!" themed show, but that's also why it just... really really works! It's such a humble and near-accidental and flawed and limited connection, and I love that Reigen is also allowed to impact Mob in negative ways and have selfish motivations and be unambiguously portrayed as a genuinely pathetic and terrible person and a bad influence on him too, and that the show doesn't remotely shy away from that - and yet somehow it still absolutely shines through that both of them would be worse off without each other, that the "power of their bond" really has changed them both for the better as people. Not through any incredible magic connection, but just through those little moments where they save each other through things like Reigen telling Mob "It's okay to run away", or Mob telling Reigen "You're a good guy".

Because the show is so upfront about the limitations of their "bond", it really does make the emphasis on its positive impact and how fortunate the two of them are to have been influenced by each other really work and have value, I think - because it comes across as that kind of approachable, recognisable "miracle" that really can and does happen in people's daily lives. It doesn’t claim to be a perfect friendship, or to have the capability to fix all their individual problems just by existing, but it does still come across loud and clear that they’ve been a genuinely positive force in each other’s lives. I definitely came away from it with a greater appreciation for those little chance encounters and humble relationships that have helped me and shaped me as a person! On the whole, I'm sure the show isn't for everyone, but I would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys shounen as a genre at all, because I feel that it really works as a remarkably critical and self-aware yet loving celebration of the spirit behind those kinds of stories.

[reksekhet-blog]

I'm finally reading The Satanic Bible ReVision and I absolutely could not put it down last night until sleepiness forced me to. My on-again-off-again relationship with Setianism has been like a collision orbit.

From a young age, I've always been fascinated with the concepts of transformation and metamorphosis. I would work with psychological concepts and my own theories within the safety and harmlessness of imagination and stories. In terms of philosophy and especially the occult, I shunned outside sources and came up with my own observations of consciousness. I had this sense that there was the potential of everyone to become a better and ideal version of themselves, and I called this The Great Becoming. In college, I made a friend who was heavy into occult reading, and it would be often that I would relate something of my own that would be met with a surprised and enthusiastic "I read that in a book once!" My reactions to this were annoyance at first but as it continued, I wondered if there were essential truths of consciousness, in the same way that there are of Natural Laws, and anyone can discover them if they looked enough.

It was actually "The Four Agreements" that finally severed me from Christianity back in 2009. It is ultimately a RHP book, but it firmly presents to the reader the reality of their own Subjective Universe and the SUs of others, as well as the concept of willful change of the personal SU. I spent the next few years flirting with (but never committing to) Wicca and Buddhism, and a Wiccan book about Becoming A Goddess propelled me even farther. I wish I could remember exactly what that book was but I had to read it secretly as a library loan, lest my ultra-Catholic parents stumble across it. Having it actually in my personal collection would have been an unnecessary risk.

When I began my relationship with my now-husband in 2013, his hard (yet Eastern-leaning) atheism snuffed out my vulnerable "generalized spiritualness". I gradually embraced his stance, thought the more I tried to be content with the Natural Universe as the everything and my consciousness and self-awareness as merely a delusion of animal intellect, the more miserable and depressed I became. I began flirting with an atheistic form of paganism, seeing gods and goddesses purely as psychological archetypes that I could temporarily align with and nurture within myself. It helped, but I needed more.

I joined The Satanic Temple in late 2014. I'd heard about them from a news story about their public antics and so I researched them and found their tenets to be, well, completely reasonable and in alignment with my own beliefs. It was a great formal stepping stone to the LHP - a firm rejection of Christianity. However, it was still firmly atheistic. I read a copy of The Satanic Bible. Wait... I am my own god? Of course. At last, the beginnings of something for my starving spirituality, even if at first embraced as nothing more than pure psychology. I could work with this. I'd spent so many years of my life being taught and rewarded for giving away my own power that using it for myself felt wrong. Nevertheless, I persisted with unlearning the ways in which I'd been domesticated.

While perusing the TST forums, I came across the first reference to the Temple of Set (TOS) presented as part of a trinity of current LHP alongside COS and TST. This caught my attention. I immediately went to the TOS website and devoured everything there. There it was, my simple notion of The Becoming, but FAR more mature. It made so much sense while seeming so crazy - I had to have more. I searched and found a PDF of Black Magic. Reading that text, I had the epiphany of my life: many of my own philosophies, here I was reading them in a book! However, here they were much expanded upon and connected to each other. The concept of consciousness and metaphysics belonging to a dimension ABOVE the domain of the Natural Universe was at last the explanation I needed for what Almighty Science couldn't explain and why. I felt like I was reading something written by a future version of myself who had years more knowledge, reflection, and experience. The fact it was written by another person was astounding evidence to me of absolute truths of consciousness.

I didn't return to that text for some time, as my mind had been a bit shaken by it and there was a lot that had been difficult to grasp, if not outright alien. Over the next few years, I returned to it a few more times, each new reading making more sense than the last, and revealing truths that I could see and experience for myself. In the meantime, daunted by the extreme amount of personal responsibility that the text charged, I kept exploring other spiritual options. In a way, a juvenile part of myself really didn't want Setianism to be correct. However, as I continued to rule out others, Setianism and Atheism were the only two that remained, and Atheism would again be a route to self-destruction. I was no longer ignorant enough to believe in fairytales, but my will wasn't yet strong enough to accept the challenge and commitment of Becoming. Also, I had an extreme sensitivity to rejection for most of my life. Should I apply to TOS at that time and be rejected, it would crush me.

I realized that I could not and should not attempt to join TOS at that time, even though it was the only viable way forward. I had much personal work to do on myself, on my own. Applying while I was still in that current state would be coming from a place of desperation and helplessness, which would surely be obvious and not help me to be considered. I resolved that I would not apply until I had Come Into Being as a proper initiate, by undertaking the work of transforming myself and my life on my own. I realized that I'd only be able to allow myself to apply to the Temple of Set once I no longer felt a need for any outside force to "rescue" me, as this feeling was merely a RHP holdout.

Two years went by, and I have succeeded. Finally, now, I am all I need. For a little while, I decided that I actually didn't need to apply, and I could carry on just fine on my own. However, I am beginning to realize that some guidance on this quite perilous journey could be helpful. I no longer need "saving" but I could benefit from some instruction. That, I feel, is what the Temple of Set can provide to me. Should my application be rejected (which I honestly don't foresee) it would not devastate me as it would my former self, but it would give me a great deal of pause and reassessment.

I look forward to finishing reading ReVision, and I'll also be picking up more of Aquino's books. There are several books on the TOS website reading list that I must look into as well, as I'm finally ready for the responsibility of this knowledge.

The time is nearly right, but there is no rush.

[a-goddess-called-infinity]

Chapter 2: Legend

Synopsis: Steven learns some gym mythology, and then the Crystal Gems catch wind of the fight in Wakanda. 

DISCLAIMER: I have not seen the entire SU series unlike the MCU and may not be familiar with every nuance. As such, I apologize for mistakes or if characters appear OOC. This is an AU, however, so I took certain creative liberties. I do appreciate it if you take the time to comment to help me make this fic better. The period in which this happens in the SU timeline is ambiguous and for simplicity, I’m focusing on the main four plus Peridot and Lapis.

Words: 1,416 

AO3 link here

Previous - Next 

-

Earlier that day, in Beach City~

“Too bad your test isn’t on gem history, I could really help you study for that,” Steven sighed as he slouched back on the couch. His best friend Connie had come over to hang out on the condition that she study a bit for her history test while there. 

“I dunno Steven, you tend to not listen to Pearl’s history lessons,” Connie retorted playfully. Steven shrugged, “I don’t do it on purpose. I just get… Distracted,” he replied.

Connie giggled, “Yeah, it’s hard not to with the way she rambles.”

There was a moment of silence as Connie continued to look through her notes. Steven was quickly getting bored, but he didn’t let it show. He decides to try to revive the conversation.

“Some of the Gems are pretty old. They could probably tell a lot about history.”

“Mhm,” Connie replied half-heartedly.

“You think they’re old enough to confirm stuff like mythology?” Steven pondered out loud. Connie looked up from her notes and thought, “That’d be really cool! I’d ask all about greek myth,” She hummed. 

“I’d ask about Vikings!” Steven declared.

“Oh, oh, even better,” Steven added on with great conviction, “the Big Bang.”

“You mean, how the universe was made?”

“Yeah!... Well, they probably aren’t that old,” Steven laughed. Amythest was made here on Earth. The others were presumably made on Homeworld.

“Don’t the gems have their own mythology?” Connie asked. Steven shrugged, “I think so. They have shrines and temples and cool magic stuff, but I’ve never asked,” he admitted. Upon saying this he realizes he could simply ask them. It’d hopefully turn into storytime.

As if on cue, they turn to the sound of the temple door opening and see Pearl and Garnet walking out. Steven commits to his idea and hops off the couch, bounding towards them with a twinkle in his eye. 

"Oh, hello Steven—"

"Guys, how was the universe made?" He blurts out the first question on his mind, interrupting Pearl. 

"Oh Steven," Pearl says, waving her hand in that way she does when there are trivial questions, "There's simply no scientific way to trace back the origin of the universe. To do so would be to trace back the origin of matter itself! We—"

Steven shook his head insistently as she started to ramble, "No, no, like, how do you believe the universe was made?"

"Eheh, what?" Pearl said incredulously. Now, she was a history guru and there were plenty of legends depicting the universe's birth, but that's all it was; legend. Fable. Fairytale. Not facts, equations, or science. Even though she wasn't as skeptical as, say, Peridot, it wasn't even plausible with their gem "magic", or so she believed. 

"The legend of Infinity," Garnet says simply as she adjusts her glasses. Steven gasps dramatically, that was quite possibly one of the coolest titles he's heard. 

"I-It’s just a silly fairy tale," Pearl dismisses slightly flustered, "it's quite far fetched, the prospects of Goddesses and all that—"

"Whoa, no way!" Connie piped up as she abandoned her homework and joined Steven's side, "Tell us!"

"Garnet," Pearl quietly groaned.

"Tell us, tell us, tell us," the two teens chanted. 

"Ok, I'll tell you," Garnet says with a small smile. Steven and Connie gasp and take a seat on the floor. Connie has her knees up and her elbows resting on them as her hands support her head. Steven is laid back with his hands on the ground and his legs splayed out in front of him. They eagerly wait as Garnet prepares her tale. She clears her throat.

"Before the universe, before the concept of time itself, there was nothing yet everything all at once. The threads and energies of the void wove and collided into an entity. She was a Goddess called Infinity,” she went on. Steven and Connie were completely entranced by her story. Even Pearl enjoyed it, though she didn’t let it show right away. 

“Over a span that was simultaneously billions of years and milliseconds, She decided to create the universe, and in doing to She split herself into six parts.” Garnet lifted her hands, snapping her fingers with each word for emphasis.

Snap! “Space.”

Snap! “Time.”

Snap! “Power.”

Snap! “Reality.”

Snap! “Mind.”

Snap! “Soul.”

“Whoa…” The teens cooed in awe.

“Each part became a gem that launched across the newly birthed universe, granting it the ingredients necessary for life. It’s said that Homeworld was created at the exact spot She split, making all of gem-kind direct descendants of Her.”

As Garnet finished, the wheels in Connie’s head were churning, “Wait, do her gems still exist? Somewhere in the universe?” She gasps after asking her question, “Do they each have their own forms?”

“To the latter question, yes, theoretically they do,” Pearl butt in, “But for as long as gems and other lifeforms have existed, they’ve never been found. If they exist,” she added. 

“That means they can fuse right? And reform Infinity?” Steven blurted out, ignoring Pearl’s skepticism. He was gushing over the fact that God was a giant woman. Oh, what he’d give to meet her! “It’s said if Infinity would ever reform, she’d look over her child, the universe, and judge her,” Garnet said solemnly.

“The universe is a woman too?!”

“Steven no,” Pearl interjected again, “Her point is that with the state the universe is in, she’d probably, well—”

“Boom,” Garnet finished, mimicking a very under exaggerated explosion. Steven’s and Connie’s faces fell.

“Well, I think she’d be the nicest person to exist,” Steven said dreamily, trying to conjure an image of her in his imagination. “She… has galaxies in her hair! Long, fluffy hair, and… Six arms with each gem! Where ever she walks, life springs up…”

Connie joined in, “... And her voice is so heavenly people who hear it can’t comprehend it and die from its magnificence!”

“Yea— wait,” Steven said, having to double-take what she said.

“She has eyes all over her body, and is on fire!” Connie was thinking of something closer to arch angles. Steven laughed nervously.

Before Pearl could ramble about how ridiculous and mildly insulting their renditions of the gem goddess were, Peridot yells frantically from across the room, "Guys, come look at this!” The four of them head over. Amytest emerges from another part of the house to see what was going on as well.

Peridot is sat in front of the TV while scrolling madly on her tablet while Lapis Lazuli is entranced on the TV. It was the news.

“I was reading some crazy articles and flipped to the news and it’s real!” Peridot explained, not looking up from her tablet. Everyone watched the TV intensely.

“According to officials, a massive alien fleet has entered our atmosphere. Reports say that the fleet is similar to the one that attacked New York a few years ago. The fleet seems to be landing somewhere in Africa, although the report is unofficial.”

As the news anchor talked, there were diagrams of the various ships entering Earth’s atmosphere with time stamps. When he mentioned New York, images of the alien army that attacked were shown and compared to the very limited pictures of the current described situation. 

“We can help this time!” Steven declared. During the aforementioned Battle of New York, Steven and the Crystal Gems were busy dealing with a different threat. Other events such as Sokovia and Germany were largely unknown by them and the world until after the fact. 

“This is hardly a gem issue,” Pearl argued. It was a weak excuse, but the gems had an unspoken agreement to keep their heads down. Obviously, they were well known in Beach City, but the “city” itself was small and inconspicuous. Anything that happened there was written off as just “the quirks of the town”. Plus there was the Sokvia Accords, and whether or not they would somehow have to comply with them if they were to make themselves known to the world and their governments was a mystery they didn’t want to solve. After all, there were extraterrestrials with impressive powers.

“Guys, an army of aliens is attacking us for probably the fifth time. Aren’t we Earth’s protectors?” Connie counters.

“Yeah, let’s go kick some alien butt! They don’t stand a chance against us!” Amythest agreed.

Glances were exchanged before Garnet nodded, “The closest warp is… The caverns,” she declared. There was no arguing with Garnet and her future-vision. 

With that, everyone headed to the warp. 

[whatzaoverwatch]

Werewolf tracer and her gf on a full moon?

Gunna do a reveal thing for this request (Awooo Werewolfin London *rimshot*)

Note: FemalePronouns

Werewolf!Tracerwith Girlfriend on a full moon

[Name] noticed that Lena was seeming a bit more…energeticas of recently. She hadn’t really took note of it until recently. Granted sheloved that her little time jumper was always a bundle of positive energy, butthis time around it seemed different. She was getting anxious and a lot closerto her. Almost needy in a sense.

She noticed it right away when she asked her to go see amovie with her. Lena was very much wanting to leave and head straight home.Feeling herself getting pulled down the streets of Kings Row, [Name] struggledto keep up nearly tripping over herself on the cobblestone. She took a glanceover to see that Lena had her eyes focused on the sky as they moved.

“L-Lena wait, stop!” [Name] pleaded halting herselfbefore she would trip over herself. Lena turned around quickly seeing thefrazzled look of [Name].

“What’s wrong [Name]?” Her tone a little bit concernedbut seeming eager to move once again. Having enough [Name] pulled her hand awaywith a frown.

“What is going on with you Lena?” She demanded watchingas Lena try to brush it off with a gaze to the sky.

“Nothing at all love, just very excited to get home. Ihave a su-“Being cut off with a finger point, her eyes slightly widened at thesudden snap of her girlfriends stance.

“Yes there IS something wrong. You’re hiding somethingand you aren’t telling me. What is going on Lena you’ve been acting like thisfor the past week and it’s scaring me.” A frown formed on [Name]s face seeingthe conflict in Lenas face.

“Love…I…I want to tell you really…but,” Looking back tothe sky a bit of nerves were seen in her step as she went to take [Name]s handagain, “I can’t…not yet, we have to get back home right now.”

Feeling [Name] step back pulling her hand away in theprocess, her heart ached seeing her fold her arms.

“No, I am not going anywhere until you tell me what’sgoing on. What are you hiding from me?” [Name] suddenly saw Lena tremble in herspot placing a hand over her chest. Her glare lightened seeing the discomfortthat formed on her girlfriends face, “L-Lena??”

“Oh no…” Lena muttered looking over her shoulder to seethe dark clouds that formed from the sky part to reveal the pale full moon thathung in the sky. She was too late. Turning back to [Name], seeing the worriedpanic in her gaze, she stepped back placing her hand out, “[Name]…I’m sorry youhave to see this.”

“What??” [Name] questioned in worry seeing Lena hug herstomach tightly hunched over with a groan. Stepping closer she reached a handout to try to touch her girlfriends shoulder, “Lena are you alright?”

“[Name]…stay back please!” She begged out loud going ontoher knees as her eyes shot wide towards the moon.

As if it was some kind of wicked nightmare, [Name]watched Lenas body suddenly change shape. Her clothes torn to reveal darkbrunette hair that coated her pale skin. Watching her stumble in the alleywaythe two of them were in, [Name] watched helplessly as her girlfriends shapemorphed into a more canine like form before her eyes.

Lenas eyes goingcompletely yellow as she stared at [Name]. Her stance very intimidating butready to pounce so easily at her. A long howl escaped Lenas throat while thetail that grew from behind her swayed slowly only to pick up it’s speed. [Name]could only just stand there, mouth covered by both hands as she had witnessedthe transformation.

Every folklore and fairytale she had read as a child werequickly becoming reality. It was no question at all, her time jumper was awerewolf. Trembling a bit she watched as Lena turned to [Name] her eyes staringare her for a long while. A part of her wanted to scream and run, but the builtup of fear in her body kept her still. The creature approached swiftly, allwhile trying not to scare [Name]. Standing over close to [Name] their gazesnever left one another.

[Name] took themoment to try to relax herself, seeing a sudden look of tenderness in Lenaseyes. Moving her hand she slowly moved them towards the wolfish jawline, shenoticed Lena hesitate for a second until letting her place her soft handsagainst her fur. Suddenly [Name] felt completely comfortable near Lena,although a bit shaken up from witnessing what had happened.

“Lena…” [Name] muttered watching the tail behind her waga little still having that energetic side to her. A small smile formed on herlips before looking back at her werewolf girlfriend, “Well…I guess that wouldexplain a lot of things.”

Lena lightly shrugged leaning down to gently nuzzleagainst [Name] to comfort her. The fur tickled her skin but felt just as softas her usual short locks. Her anger, worry, and fear melted away feeling a softgiggle come out of her throat seeming to relax Lena.

“Come on then, I’m guessing you’ll have a lot to explainback at home love.” Before she could even wonder how the two would get home,she felt Lena quickly scoop her up into her arms and dashed quickly through thestreets.

Of course having a time jumping girlfriend, no one wouldbe able to see a werewolf dashing across Kings Row. Out of anything she feared,she didn’t expect THIS to be the reason why Lena was acting up. But a part ofher was alright with it, after all she always wanted a dog when she was alittle girl. But she didn’t consider having a girlfriend as one.