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rosesradio · 9 months ago

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Leo Valdez in Ceaseless Eve: Let's Discuss

⚠️ The following contains spoilers for any & all of Ceaseless Eve ⚠️

How can I begin to talk about my boy??

To start, I should probably give some context or lore about me:

I started reading the books when I was nine. I was sick in bed one day, and my dad wanted to read me something to make me feel better. "It's just like Harry Potter!" he'd said, holding up a copy of The Lightening Theif. (My ill feelings towards the wizard books now, I had inhaled the series when I was eight and read nothing else. Thank goodness I expanded my horizons, right?).

So, he started to read Percy Jackson while I laid in bed...

And I hated it, lol.

What can I say? I was a brat. Or maybe I just wanted to be left alone with my stomachahce or fever or whatever I was sick with. So, one chapter in, my dad gave up and left me alone.

When I felt better, I picked the book back up...and I went through the entire first series in a week. Even now, my dad jokes that I just had a problem with him reading them, not the book itself. (And yes, we watched the show together, he enjoyed it--I'm still badgering him to read the books himself though...maybe I should read it to him when he gets sick...)

So, I got into pjo. The details are a little fuzzy on when exactly I read the sequel series, though I believe it was sometime in middle school. All I know was that the moment I first read about Leo...I had the biggest fictional crush on him, lmao. I remember a time in 2016 where 13 year old me would watch Viria's "How Far We've Come" video and I'd write Leo x readers in the notes app of my iPod touch (unfortunately, those fics have all been deleted, otherwise I would not hesitate to share that horror with the world. But rest assured, the reader was very much Not Like Other Girls lol).

I'm not sure when exactly valdangelo first became an interest to me or where I found it, but I remember reading the books and feeling like we were robbed of those two interacting. They were always something in the back of my mind, though I was always working on other projects and had no idea where to start in the event that I did write something for them.

Until the hype for the show was starting, and I thought that it would be cool to explore a bit of an AU quest between Leo, Nico, and Piper. I thought about the one-off line about how a "confused pizza guy" had found his way to Camp Half-Blood once and ran with that. Also, ever since I started working, I give my favorite character my job if applicable. At the time of writing, I was a food delievery person, so that's why I went with that. The fic was really a character study of Leo more than anything, so I really appreciate all of the people saying I got Leo's voice right :')

So, there are a couple big changes that were made with Leo's character in the ceaselessverse that differentiate the character from canon:

1.) Leo doesn't make mean jokes about his questmates.

This is a change that I actually regret making, and I might toy with a sort of compromise in the sequel. At first, people who were anti-leo made comments on how rude he could be, and I saw that as something that needed to be "fixed" in CE.

However, now that I think about it as a neurodivergent person...I can't help but wonder if that is connected to him being neurodivergent? Like with me, especially as a teen, I was anxious in social situations and often didn't know what to say, so I would make jokes, and a lot of them didn't land. Sure, I shouldn't have made those jokes, and Leo shouldn't have made the jokes he did, but the neurodivergent nature of it all as well as him being an awkward teen sort of explains that, it doesn't excuse it. I think the rise of purity culture and the lack of desire for nuanced characters has (pardon my lack of professionalism) fucked up the vibe. Like a lot. I think it's fine (great, even!) for a character you like to have flaws, especially if they stem from an aspect that makes them more relatable. If you want neurodivergent characters but hate them for exhibiting traits that are frowned upon, well...you might just want neurotypical characters with quirks and labels.

2.) Leo isn't a "ladies man"

I don't regret this change at all. That shit was weird, Richard.

That being said, I think it was fine to have a character who has romance on the brain and is flirtatous. Hell, it's even fine to have a character that's weird towards women and tries to "jokingly" sneak a peak at a female character changing (sorry if you were trying to repress page 114 of mark of athena)--that's just fiction, but you can't expect us to root for that character (especially in their goal of getting a girlfriend).

So, while Leo is observant of the girls around him and thinks they're cute, I think this was a change that was adjusted to age better, yk?

3.) Leo was (accidentally) responsible for his mother's death (sorry, Esperanza)

This was the first change made to accomodate the lack of Gaea.

Of course, you'll notice how most all of the character's (outside of those from the og series) backstories were altered to accomodate that, but this was something I was particularly interested in exploring. I'm not going to pretend to be a better writer than our buddy Richard (though I think some of his decisions were really weird...and he'd probably think the same thing about me, tbh), but I think it was a bit of a copout to have Leo think he killed his mom only for it to be Gaea's fault, so he's, like, "redeemed". I wanted to explore a route where Leo was responsible, even by accident, and what that would mean for his greif and healing process. I hope that was explored thoughtfully to you guys in CE.

4.) Leo was a bully to escape bullying

This one was a little controversial lol, but I think it's more interesting.

I can see where it'd make sense in canon to have Leo use his comedy to escape bullying--he does a bit of the same thing in the ceaselessverse, though I believe it works too well. Leo is welcomed into becoming almost like friends with his bullies, though there is clearly a power dynamic at work. I have had "friendships" like this in middle/high school, and I thought it would be interesting to show how lonliness can lead you to make stupid decisions in order to feel, at least a little bit, like you belong somewhere.

This is, of course, stopped as Leo became closer with his sister, Sarah. He finds that caring for someone outside of his own survival starts to make him feel like a person again, and he wants to become better for her sake. It's really sweet to me and highlights yet another great type of platonic relationship dynamic to be explored, but more on Sarah later.

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Of course, there are several other little changes made to Leo's character for a variety of reasons--if you notice any and had any particular feelings about them (hopefully positive, but it's up to you), please let me know by sending a letter via carrier pigeon directly to my house (or by, like, commenting on ao3, tumblr, or whatever etc if you're weird like that).

what was i saying. anyways.

I could talk about Leo's character all day--about how his arc of controlling his abilities instead of fearing them mirrors Piper's, about how his sexuality is (and probably will) never be stated directly in the text, so it's up to reader interpretation (he's vaguely bi but mostly queer To Me but also idc). If you ever wanna hear more of my thoughts on him with any specifics, feel free to send an ask! Or Whatever !

A favorite tool in Leo's toolbelt: The Dormio

Leo has a lot of cool little knick-knacks, some canon and some not. His wristwatch with the hidden message was a strong contender, but ultimately the Dormio wins for sure. What can I say? I would love to see dreams--maybe not my own (Hypnos plagues me with stress dreams :') ), but other people's.

The Dormio was originally called the DreamViewer, which was kind of a placeholder name because, frankly, it's dumb as shit. I have to credit @heavens-vault for coming up with the new name, thank you <3 The name is based on a dream interfacing system by MIT.

(Did some of the editing get lost in the sauce, and the device is still called the DreamViewer sometimes? Maybe. No further questions without my lawyer lol. I plan on doing a mass edit some time in the future. Save me mass edit, mass edit save me, etc)

All that to say, the Dormio is not a one-off. We'll just have to wait and see what role it plays in Ivory Rain...

Bonus Character!

Sarah McAllen: Let's Discuss

So, my first pjo OC...

Sarah is first foreshadowed in chapter five, when Leo and Piper are discussing the quest at Nico's cabin door:

"Us?" now it was Piper's turn to look confused. "You mean...you understood that line in the prophecy, the 'daughter of doves' thing?"

"Sure I did!" Leo replied, feeling his heart skip a beat, his smile a tad nervous. "There's more to me than good looks, Beauty Queen." Hopefully, that settled Piper for now. Sure, that orientation video was not very informative, but he didn't have to explain to everyone why he knew these things about Greek mythology.

After reading through chapter nine, it should become clear that Leo has a little bit of background knowledge on Greek Mythology due to Sarah's loud interest in Mythomagic. Although their background has been covered in the text, I thought I'd mention a couple things about her.

I realized kinda late in her development that I actually did the same thing in an older longfic for a different fandom I wrote when I was 15--giving the main character a younger sister, motivating him to be better and take care of her. I'm not sure if there's any psychology behind me wanting to write my faves as older brothers, but it's interesting!

I did give Sarah a couple things in common with me, even if she's not a self-insert. She's a writer, one of the reasons she falls into the Apollo cabin. She also has what Nico describes in chapter 18 as a "medical brace" on her knee. This will be further addressed in the sequel, but I gave her the same disablity that I have with my knee. I don't want to delve too deep into the medicality (medicality?) of it all just for my comfort, but I wanted to show a chracter that has a disability but can also be a hero, like they did in the tv show. I hope you guys read that and it made you happy :-)

I will say that Sarah is not going to be too much of a major player in the sequel, I don't want to put my OCs too much into the spotlight when I already have a lot of canon characters I want to work with. Still, she will always be really important to Leo, and their relationship will always be really important to me.

Also! To tell you a secret...she will not be the only OC in the ceaselessverse, but I guess you will have to wait and see what I mean in Ivory Rain...

#leo valdez #valdangelo #pjo #CE DVD bonus features

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patchwork-crow-writes · 9 months ago

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(Resend because i got the order wrong aldjfakfj)

Hey there! So you know the official art of Ralsei titled "Floralsei" where he's surrounded by flowers? I've been interested in the possible symbolisms behind these flowers and wanted to share a bit of my analysis with you haha. (I know there's a chance that merch isn't canon, but we also get "Weird Route" foreshadowing through the Line Stickers, so who knows? ¯_(ツ)_/¯)

In the picture, I think we can identify several flowers such as 1. "Red Roses", 2. "Lily of the Valley", 3. "African Violet" , 4. "Hibiscus",5. "Snapdragons" and 6. "Forget-Me-Nots". (link to pic: https://imgur.com/a/NXAs1jv) I'll try to list the symbolism of each one here…

"Red Roses": These flowers are placed prominently in the center, forming Ralsei's scarf and adorning his hat. While they appear as dark pink in the artwork, I interpret them as representing red, especially considering Ralsei's default scarf is called the Red Scarf. Red roses are traditionally associated with romantic love, which aligns with Ralsei's one-sided affection towards Kris.

"Lily of the Valley": This flower symbolizes purity, happiness, and sweetness. It carries diverse symbolism and is often used in various settings, such as weddings and religious ceremonies, to convey messages of hope, purity, and the joy of new beginnings.

"African Violet": (I'm not entirely certain about this, but the shape seems to resemble the flower in the pic…) This flower signifies loyalty, devotion, and faithfulness. In addition to representing faithfulness and fidelity, African Violets can also convey admiration and respect, especially when given as a token of high esteem.

"Hibiscus": Often associated with beauty, femininity, and delicate charm, the hibiscus is known for its stunning appearance and vibrant colors. It symbolizes delicate beauty, youthfulness, and a sense of joy.

"Snapdragons": These flowers embody both deception and gracefulness. According to legends, their unique appearance with "dragon mouth" shapes can represent deception, while others view them as symbols of grace and openness. (Deception seems particularly fitting considering Ralsei's mysterious nature and the secrets he keeps from Kris and the others.)

"Forget-Me-Nots": These flowers serve as a clear reminder of the phrase "Don't Forget." (It reminds me of Ralsei's Line Sticker where he's depicted singing "Don't Forget.")

Let me know if I made any mistakes, and I would greatly appreciate any feedback you have!

Oh, I didn't actually know about this! Some Ralsei fan I am, lol :P It's very pretty though, I've just seen that it's a print on a T-shirt, which I'm now sorely tempted to purchase because of how good it looks! Thanks for bringing this to my attention, it's appreciated :)

Moving on to your analysis of the different types of flowers... there's not too much I can really add here I feel - flowers and their meanings are sadly not my forte. However, a lot of the meanings you transcribed here do definitely relate to Ralsei and his character. Of particular note is the Snapdragon and its allusion to "deception" - as you rightly state, our favourite fluffy boy is definitely withholding crucial information from everyone, both about the plot at large and his own character.

You know what else caught my eye, actually? I'm just checked because I wasn't sure if I was misremembering, but Lily of the Valley is actually poisonous, and can cause skin irritation if touched directly, and its berries can cause serious harm or even death if ingested. It's a stretch, but applying this to Floralsei (what a name, by the way!) you could perhaps posit that whatever secret he's keeping, it's so dangerous it might cause irreparable damage if it were to ever come out. Or perhaps it's a warning - he may be pretty, but get too close and you'll get hurt.

With that said, however, I don't actually think Ralsei is secretly malicious or anything like that. My current theory is that he's not telling us stuff for two reasons - one is that he's directly serving the narrative by revealing pieces of vital information at critical moments in the story, as evidenced by the dramatic reveal of the Roaring and the Titans JUST before Berdly creates a new dark fountain in the cyber world; and the other is that he is trying to protect his friends from information that they might find distressing, and/or won't be relevant to them unless the worst case scenario happens (which it's obviously gonna... but I digress).

I'm sorry I couldn't really add any more to this discussion, because it is quite fascinating! I'd be quite interested to see what others think, if any further insight can be provided on this topic!

#ask #answered #anon #Ralsei #Floralsei #Deltarune #Deltarune Art #Official art #Flowers #symbolism

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script-a-world · 1 year ago

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Submitted via Google Form:

I am creating a world where there have been interracial marriages since like they met and it's been thousands of years since. It's a very interconnected world now with basically no racial purity (is there a better way to say that? because that seems rooted in racist vocabulary and my world is the opposite). The only people who do not mingle are those akin to the uncontacted tribes in real life. Mainly, I'm trying to figure out how to figure out what people look like - there's only so few people out that are very mixed race, there's too many that are mixed but only specific mixes like White/Black, White/Asian, White/Hispanic. No..now, this isn't taking place on Earth but they are still human and I'm only able to come at it with how real actual people look like. No, bascially all of my world will be people who look White/Black/indigenous American/indigenous Pacific Islander/indigenous Asian/East Asian/South Asian/Hispanic/etc... Everything gets mingled, churned up in the gene pool and spit out. I'm not sure how to go from there. There are so so few actual examples that are very mixed. Also, I'm not at all an expert at looking at faces so yeah.. a lot of times I'm not even sure what I'm looking at in a racial trait. Hell, there are real life instances of let's say, looking at a Chinese and Japanese side by side, someone can tell them apart and where the differences. I still have no idea what they're looking at. Hell even someone actually Chinese couldn't tell what the differences were. Of course, I don't need to get very specific in details at all, but I have to have some sort of description that isn't well a lazy description that says nothing.

Feral: So, this ask gives me the idea that you were raised in a pretty racist culture (I can relate) and are trying really hard to leave that behind. And I want to encourage you to push into real education. Intention is not enough when it comes to shedding what we were taught, often subliminally, and consciously relearning - and that doesn’t feel good the way the color-blind approach many nascent liberals tend towards does.

It seems like you’re still caught in certain patterns of thinking, especially in the idea that eliminating racial distinction and sublimating and homogenizing is anti-racist when it’s actually kinda colonialism in a fancy new hat. And the “races” in your ask - a mixture of racial identities, ethnic identities, and very broad geopolitical groups - already have a huge genetic diversity within them and in several cases do in fact already overlap with each other.

There’s also a misunderstanding of how physical traits are genetically passed. They aren’t amalgamated like mixing blue paint and red paint and creating purple paint. Skin color, hair color, hair texture, and face and facial feature shapes and sizes don’t just meet in the middle between what the two parents have - and keep in mind that this kind of thinking is usually only applied when thinking about the children of a racially-mixed couple and not of say a white parent of Italian descent and a white parent of Scandinavian descent.

And there are traits that can seem to disappear from a family line only to pop up generations later. A more diverse gene pool will not produce a population of individuals indistinguishable from one another; there will be even more diversity of physical traits - specifically traits that we’re not accustomed to seeing together in our more racially segregated world.

Utuabzu: Something you should seriously consider is the background of your world. Is this the planet humans (or equivalent species, but let's just assume you're asking about humans) evolved on or is it a colony? Because if it's the former then it's pretty unlikely that you could homogenise the entire global population without some sort of catastrophic bottleneck event, something that reduces the global population to a small number in a single location that then recolonises the planet. Because the reality is that most people don't want to leave their communities of birth, not permanently anyway. People like to live in the place they consider home, and to live in a culture they understand, and absent a significant push or pull factor they will want to stay roughly within their home environment. This is part of why you don't generally see mass migration between countries with equivalent levels of economic development and political/social stability.

Given that, it's pretty hard to see how you could get enough migration around the world for long enough to homogenise the gene pool. There's probably always going to be general regional trends. There's also what Feral said about how genetics works. Appearance isn't just controlled by one or two genes. It's controlled by a huge array of genes that we still don't entirely understand, and many genes impact multiple seemingly unconnected things. A good example of this is that the gene for red hair also produces pale skin, because it prevents the production of eumelanin (the black pigment) while allowing the production of pheomelanin (the orangy-brown one). This is also why red haired people freckle - freckles are made with pheomelanin - and don't tan - tanning uses eumelanin.

Now, if you aren't writing about the home planet, you could have a fairly homogenous population due to something called the founder effect. Basically, because when a new population is established the genepool is limited, the traits of the founding individuals can have an outsized impact on the later genepool, with normally recessive genes spreading to enough individuals that the trait they code for becomes extremely common. So long as the population is predominantly composed of descendants of these founders, this effect is likely to remain active - so, so long as there isn't mass immigration that outnumbers the people born in the colony to at least one parent descended from the founders. This is easily enough accomplished by having the colony be really far away, and thus having an unreasonably long travel time for most people. If it takes many years to get there, few people would be willing to abandon their whole lives to migrate to a place they've never been.

A final thing to consider is that race is not and has never been a genetic or biological category. It's a social one. It can be correlated with certain physical traits, but it doesn't necessarily need to be, and in many parts of the world the salient 'racial' categories share most phenotypic traits. In others 'race' isn't particularly correlated with phenotype at all, and is instead primarily about culture or even religion. And not every society even has a concept of 'race'. You can simply not mention it, and instead have characters with a range of phenotypic features that nobody ever comments on, and it can be assumed that 'race' is not a relevant concept in that culture.

#google submitted #evolution #race #genetics

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exitpursuedbyavulcan · 11 months ago

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I definitely see your perspective with those points! I guess I just find it kind of amusing that fans made one of the only Targaryens who canonically does not partake in an incestuous dynamic, has a non-targ love interest (in Alys which I personally think GRRM absolutely did on purpose imo), and is only devoted to that one non-targ woman for his entire character journey into someone who does engage in it. And ofc that’s totally fine, all writers can do what they want with these characters but it’s just kind of funny. When it comes to that scene about Helaena, that’s also an interesting point because I definitely agree it shows his tendency to gravitate towards doing his duty for his family but I don’t know if that’s a sign of him being a typical targ rather than the writers demonstrating he’s a complete contrast from Aegon in every way and would carry out any expectations placed on him. That’s why it was mind-boggling to me when people perceived that scene as him having feelings for her and created an entire pairing based on that when that wasn’t the point at all. In relation to him fighting for the throne, one could say the main reason for him doing that is to uphold Valyrian values but I also think a big part of that is the fact that Aegon is his brother and he will fight for his family (despite not liking him as a person). To me, I can’t get invested in Targ pairings that include incest because it just demonstrates how these children are indoctrinated from a young age and told about “blood purity” (hence that scene where Aemond talks about Helaena) and that’s just the opposite of romance (to me ofc). Aemond is a really interesting character and I think alot of people tend to misinterpret him. I think when Alys comes along, it will provide more insight into who he is as a character and what he leans towards when it comes to women. Although I’m sure most fans will hate on her since she’s not the typical Targ princess most people self-insert as (as is expected of that fandom).

Ok I'm putting these together because I think they're from the same person, but if they're not, I apologize!

Before I start my responses, I do want to say that I find some of the language you're using (calling people's opinions 'funny,' saying that people with differing opinions to yours 'misinterpret' Aemond, 'the typical Targ princess most people self-insert as (as is expected of that fandom),' claiming you know exactly what GRRM 'intended,' and saying that other people's takes 'confound you') to be very condescending. I'm more than willing to have lit crit discussions, as I enjoy them a lot, but I am not willing to engage when part of your opinions include condescending to others.

Because of this, I'm only going to respond to a few things you said in bullet point format.

People are allowed to write whatever relationship dynamic they want to. If they bother you that much, don't read them. And certainly don't publicly talk about how much you disagree with and dislike them

I don't believe Alys is involved in Aemond's 'entire character journey.' She's a big part of his journey, for sure, but I don't think she's the main part of it. I believe that like everyone else in the story, family, sexism, and the pursuit of power is the main focus of Aemond's story.

I'm not a fan of Helaemond, but I can very much understand why people interpreted that scene in that way. I also do not claim to know what the writers intended with that scene, only that I saw it the way I saw it.

It's totally fine that you don't like targcest. Don't put down people who do.

The way you talk about the other people in the fandom is very offensive to me. We can have disagreements and opposing viewpoints, but there is absolutely no reason to be as rude as that.

Unless you have actual proof from GRRM himself that what you are saying is precisely what he intended when he was writing the story, don't presume to be the ultimate authority. Just saying 'everyone is entitled to their own take' does not mean that what you said was not patronizing and rude.

I hope you will continue having these discussions, but as I said. I will not engage with condescension. I know there are points in your asks that I did not talk about. If you would like to talk about them, you are more than welcome to send another ask or DM me, so long as you are respectful to other people in your message.

You are entitled to your opinions. You are allowed (and encouraged) to discuss these opinions with other people. But you are not entitled to act superior and look down on other people's opinions. The entire point of opinions is that no one is right, they just have their own interpretation.

#asks #hotd meta

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kafkaoftherubbles · 1 year ago

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白银发的超人类（然后与《致不灭的你》挂钩）// Silver-White Haired Human Alien (Plus a tangent to two TYE characters)

I got recommended a really interesting video this morning! It's about 18 minutes and 30 seconds long:

youtube

I recommend watching it just to add to the view count (and leave a comment as a sign of engagement to the discussion!), but for the purpose of my musing, I did jot down some notes.

Generally, white hair symbolizes:

purity

wisdom, which can easily be related to

divinity, which then easily relates to

power, in both senses of the word. "Strength, including the supernatural kind", and "rulership".

What white hair symbolizes, as a whole, is exceptionalism.

These characters are human and relatable, and yet they are also alien and "abnormal" in other important ways. There are broadly two kinds of exceptionalism:

Group exceptionalism - where it's an entire tribe, race, species etc. that possesses white hair

Individual exceptionalism - well... whatever it says on the can.

The kind of character tropes that may be represented by this hair color are:

divine right and rulership - basically, some sort of prince or princess and rulers. Related to the idea that a being that is divine and above is more "fit to rule."

powerful mentors

prodigies

a character bearing a heavy burden or sometimes, sickness; but they are also stoic and strongly soldiering through

hybrid - a character that straddles between two powers, factions, tribes, races, or even concepts (nature v. science), etc.

an enigma - a character meant to represent mysteries

Fushi's white-hairedness fits a lot of these ideas so much that many of their granular qualities can be predicted through this framework completely.

But there is a twist. That default "white-haired young boy" look that fits them to a tee... was not their form to begin with.

It belonged to an ordinary boy, who was only exceptional by elimination—when you're "the last person" of an entire community, you're exceptional just because you have no competitors. In many ways, there was nothing exceptional, wise, divine, or powerful about the Nameless Boy. There was nothing alien about him, either. He was so nondescript that he wasn't even named in the story. His fucking wolf had a name. He himself would have died a nobody if he never met the immortal.

----

Show of hands. How many To Your Eternity readers/anime watchers started out thinking the Nameless white-haired human was the main character we will follow throughout the story? I know I did. I fully expected it. And then he fucking died. And then the alien ball-rock-moss-wolf took his form.

I find it interesting that the Nameless Boy's form fit so many of these classic white-haired tropes and ideas, yet he himself was pretty damn close to a nobody (perhaps more fittingly would be Virginia Woolf's term: he's "Mrs. Brown."). Again, he was so mortal that he succumbed to sickness, despair, and death, having lost out against an indifferent universe. It was only after Fushi took his form that all of these "expectations" of the white-haired character are played straight:

Fushi's purity was touched on in the story by the Guardians. Their specific narrative was that they guard against anyone or anything attempting to poison his purity.

Fushi's wisdom is cumulative and slow, and I'm sure both readers and in-story characters will doubt if they could be considered wise. Nonetheless, even if they hadn't yet reached that threshold, Fushi is undeniably actively learning about life and grappling with all its thorns. Surely one can recognize this, itself, is already a process leading to wisdom.

Lastly, Fushi's divinity and power are pretty much self-evident, considering what they are.

In a meta sense, the Nameless Boy was Fushi's most fitting form just because the former possesses literary connotations and tropes the latter genuinely possesses. Fushi fits the literal "Human Alien" concept, in that:

the human is descriptive; the alien, the subject. This is an alien that nonetheless takes on human qualities, and does so gradually.

(I wonder if Oima planned her main character right down to these mind-boggling details).

They are an exceptional being, spawned from an exceptional (albeit formless) species, becoming an exceptional individual. They are to be a sort of divine shepherd of the Earth; a hybrid of lives and concepts; an enigma to the very world they are to care for. They might even be a mentor, albeit an accidental one, to the Nokkers in terms of interacting with physical beings. They're saddled with the burden of immortality and the Beholder's plans for them so much that they hunched their shoulders frequently.

-----

And yet NONE of these apply to the original owner of that form in the slightest.

This flows into interesting hypotheses.

If everything was created by the Beholder (barring natural reproduction, I guess, because does he really look like someone who would care which sperm and ovum combine every time unprotected sex occurred? Not just humans have sex, you know), could the Nameless Boy had been created by him for Fushi?

If the Nameless Boy was not created specifically for the Beholder's experiment, could he have dropped Fushi in an area close to where the Nameless Boy would be one day so that the first human—and beginning of the orb's humanity—Fushi acquired are from this form that fit its traits perfectly, especially meta-wise?

Could any of this come to the fore in the final arc of this story?

And! Though the Nameless Boy was dead since the first chapter... In a meta sense, could the shadow of this story be about the "Nameless Boy" gaining all the qualities his "form" traditionally signifies? (Note: The "white hair exceptionalism" trope is not exclusive to Western literature. It is also found in other cultures, like Chinese.) This would also play into, DING DING DING, the Buddhist philosophical idea of the skandha ("aggregates") informing a being's qualities; given that TYE has already shown quite a surprising amount of Buddhist thoughts, I wouldn't put this as too wild.

Again, will this play into the finale of the story?

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Let me close this essay with a poetry left on Bilibili, on the first episode of TYE, by 弼马温侯 (translation by me):

“请你…永远记住我…” 你的陪伴与愿望，赐予了我初成灵智的点点火光；我以此身铭记你的模样，前往那茫茫的彼方；此后路上的欢乐与向往、迷茫与彷徨，皆是为了奔赴心中的那所乐园——那个你曾向我诉说的梦想。

"Please... remember me forever..." Your companionship and your wish—they granted me my first sparks of sapience; With this body I remember your form before advancing into the unknown. All my joy and hopes, all the confusion and loss... I will gain them all because I am heading to that paradise— The very one you once told me, the one from your dream."

Thank you for reading my ramble.

#I've said it before; there is not a shred of originality in me #all I'm good at is mix-matching ideas and thoughts I came across because of my voracious curiosity #hence essays inspired by someone's work like this one are pretty standard of me hahaha #I wouldn't have come up with these thoughts if not for the original creator of the video first and foremost; so please support the video!#happy to your eternity tuesday/wednesday!#fumetsu no anata e #to your eternity #to you the immortal #fnae #tye #Youtube

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morningstar-chronicles · 1 year ago

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my DR brother (jon) <3

okay, so as of when i shift, i won't have any siblings living with me but within the first few months (i decided to change when i originally shift from 13-14 to 15 because of how the timeline works out for me lmao (basically i scripted in my ex for... reasons, but didn't want to shift back to a point where i would have to date him AGAIN for him to be in the timeline... that relationship was supremely uncool) of when i shift, so around when i'm 15-almost-16 my paternal half-siblings will come find me.

jon and clary are both kids of jocelyn fairchild (my DR adoptive mum, who enters my life around the same time these two do) and valentine morgenstern, my biological father, making them both my half-siblings. we never lived together growing up (valentine raised three kids including me- jon, jace, and me, but he kept none of us in the same house as each other so we all grew up as only children with an absent-on-a-good-day-horrible-on-a-bad-day father) and clary grew up with mum, which... unfair. but okay.

okay shit starts to get kinda dark and traumatic below the cut soooo beware ig

basically the whole story is the valentine had jon and started experimenting on him with demon/monster blood while he was still an infant. mum basically realised "holy shit this man is insane" and ran away, but by that point she was already pregnant with clary. she raises clary in brooklyn, new york, and never tells her they're shadowhunters (part angel, for people who don't know the mortal instruments series).

the reason she didn't take jon with her was because when someone is injected with demon/monster blood, it effectively changes their soul to be more "demonic" or evil, for lack of a better way to say it. basically jon was possessed and because the demon blood was, you know, in him, there was no effective way to exorcise him without risking burning his entire body alive from the inside out with heavenly fire. mum obviously couldn't bring herself to do this to her literal child, so she just left him, since, in her eyes, jon was effectively already dead anyways.

valentine raises jon- kind of. for the first few years jon effectively acts like a feral animal, and more or less lacks any sense of human awareness. somehow -not entirely sure, but probably more experimentation and torture- valentine trains him into being a somewhat functional human being. during this time, he's also raising jace (a kidnapped shadowhunter orphan who he injected with angel blood) to be like a super-soldier for his blood purity cult. after jace starts to show promise, he abandons jon entirely. he's already had me by this point, and considers me his "golden-child" despite the fact that i'm considered "impure" literally by his own standards, but that's neither here nor there.

anyways, clary kills our father indirectly because he murders jace (her boyfriend, long story, i promise they're not related emotionally or biologically. it is literally such a long-ass story, that shit could be a post all on it's own). jace comes back to life. confused? me too. no time to dwell on it, we're moving on.

jon is a homocidal maniac for a while because of the demon/monster blood, until jace cleanses him with the sword of heavenly fire. i don't think he was trying to cleanse him, usually that sword kills people, but basically it gave jon a stab wound but also effectively made him human (well... shadowhunter. not precisely human) again. he remembers veryyy little from his time being possessed. he also has a son with the seelie queen. does not remember him at all. i'll come back to him in another post.

anyways, jon reconciles with mum and clary, and they start going through valentine's stuff. they stumble across my birth certificate and find out i went missing three years ago. they make it their mission to find out what happened to me. they find a warlock, who tracks me down in the demon realm, and they fuckin teleport into my living room and scare the shit out of me. i fight them on instinct and they're like "yeah this is probably a shadowhunter at the very least" and tell me he was their father too. i stop fighting them. we get to know each other.

jon is about five years older than me, and despite having been through hell (both literally and figuratively) he's a really kind, gentle person at his core with a lot of empathy for other people, me in particular (he might not remember a lot of stuff... but he remembers valentine being a pretty fuckin shitty dad lol). he's extremely protective of me, blames himself for not being able to protect me despite being a child and also possessed and also having no frickin idea i existed. we're able to reminisce about how awful valentine was, but we also share a sense of understanding what it's like to miss him too, knowing that he didn't always present as a monster, and occasionally had a moment or two of being gentle and loving. it definitely messed with our heads, but we have each other, even if no one else really understands what we went through.

he kinda hates all my s/os and exes on principle until he actually meets hunter. gives him like. a mild shovel talk. immediately loves him because hunter is very loveable and also kind of has sad, pathetic, wet kitten energy (im sorry bby i still love u). hunter and jon are like best friends after that because they've been through shockingly similar situations (abuse from a father figure, threat of being "replaced" by a better model, not quite human, lives with crushing guilt of their brainwashed actions, etc). should i be jealous? maybe, but i'm just glad jon doesn't hate his guts because hunter would have cried.

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arkadijxpancakes · 23 days ago

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This is a very interesting discussion!

I want to look at it from the other direction: I wonder whether such a spell would have worked. Don't get me wrong: I'm sure the Blacks would have tried to cast such a spell. I just can't see it working.

Blood purity is a social construct. It isn't based on something biological or genetic that a spell could detect and latch onto. It's a concept made up by wizards to force a certain hierarchy and power dynamic on their society.

When it comes to blood purity, we know the following things:

Wizards who prided themselves on their magical heritage and who looked down on muggle-borns have been around since the founding of Hogwarts (maybe longer), but it wasn't as strict or as prevalent as it is today.

During the Middle Ages, many families, who call themselves pure-bloods today, intermingled heavily with muggles. (The Malfoys did this, for example.)

The concept of blood purity we in the books is a reaction to the Statute of Secrecy. When wizards went into hiding, they cut themselves off from the muggle world and denounced any relations they previously had. They also put a lot of emphasis on their wizarding heritage, so they could cling to their power. Anything and anyone who wasn't deemed pure enough was cast out and expelled.

Pretty much all pureblood families have muggles in their family trees. They just tend to delete any records, disown them and pretend they don't exist.

I would also like to add the following assumptions:

The whole system of noble houses and inheritance that we see in the books is very English. The system wouldn't really work outside of England/the United Kingdom. So while wizards from other European countries probably have similar systems (just like the European nobility), this isn't necessarily the case for non-European cultures. Even if they have hierarchies based on magical heritage, they might work entirely different. It's also possible that they have no hierarchy in that fashion at all.

The concept of blood purity is constantly evolving. This is necessary in order to adjust the concept to the political climate of the day.

It's likely that the concept of blood purity is regularly used in petty power struggles between families. (So they would air each others dirty laundry, accuse each other of being the child of a muggle-born, etc.)

All of this should lead to the situation that there is simply no one definition of "pure-blood" that everyone agrees on. In fact, it's likely to be the opposite. The whole thing is probably very contentious. If you ask three wizards for their definition, you might get at least four different answers. It can probably go from "Everyone who has four magical grandparents" over "everyone who can trace their magical ancestors back to at least the Statute of Secrecy" to "Everyone whose family is on that list that my great uncle wrote thirty years (He was probably blackout drunk, back than, but I'm not going to tell you that.)" to "Everyone with magical parents, except [family name], because I hate them!" to "I don't know, but I could really use a wolfsbane potion, so please hand it over if you happen to have one. Otherwise, I'd advise you to leave. Now."

So what is and isn't a pure-blood probably depends on the time period, the generation of the wizard you're asking, the individual opinions of said wizard and the time of the day.

Crafting all that into a spell is probably not easy. If you only put "Has to be a pure-blood" as a parameter for the spell, it will probably not work, because the spell doesn't know what a pure-blood even is. So the caster would need to be much more specific than that. But as soon as they get more specific, they need to factor in as many eventualities as possible. Otherwise, they risk fucking their family over with that spell. (For example, it would be really bad if the spell decided that the spouse of the current heir isn't pure-blood enough and that their kids shouldn't be able to inherit. Or the family could get themselves into a situation where they would prefer a not-so-pure member as their heir, because the inheritance would go to a different family otherwise. The spell could block that, too.)

However, as soon as the caster starts to factor in eventualities, they open the spell up for loopholes. And those loopholes could then be exploited to circumvent the spell or to break it altogether.

Or the spell ends up with a foundation, that just folds in on itself, as soon as the right person looks at it funny. (Imagine, the caster decides to define pure-blood as "anyone the current heir accepts as pure-blooded". It probably works decently well - until the spell hits Sirius, who just chooses to accept Harry as a pure-blood and who then continues to make Harry his heir.)

I find the family dynamics interesting Bella seems to still care for Cissy and Andromeda too despite Andromeda becoming a traitor

Sirius on the other hand only care for the Potters as I think he really didn't care much for Regulus (I could be wrong though)

But honestly this has been bugging me but why was Sirius still able to inherit Grimmauld when he was disowned/removed from the tapestry?

How can the Will be written? It wasn't sure he is still part of the family, and he prefers to spend time with the Potters and after their death, wasn't he busy chasing after Peter before being thrown to Azkaban?

Friend, you have set a terrible curse upon me. I went combing through the books to look for any mention of wizarding laws, since we know so terribly little about them, and now I'm sitting on an essay on law in the magical world :(((

As for the rest:

Your guess is as good as mine vis à vis the inheritance of Grimmauld. I went through the conversation that Dumbledore and Harry have in book 6 about it and we learn very little:

and

We basically learn that Sirius's will is legally binding because Harry becomes Kreacher's owner, which means that somehow wills in the magical world (or at the very least some wills) are also magically binding.

I also find it interesting that Dumbledore seems very sure that:

There's a separate enchantment on Grimmauld to prevent it from being owned by non-purebloods

The ownership of Grimmauld has passed onto Bellatrix.

We are generally supposed to take Dumbledore's word as law so it's interesting that he's proven wrong and Bellatrix isn't the rightful owner. I get the vague sense that Dumbledore didn't put much faith in Sirius's abilities and partly added enchantments to Grimmauld because of that.

Also, it's never proven conclusively wether said anti non-pureblood enchantments even exist.

As to the matter of Sirius's will, I find this passage from book 3 to be interesting:

To me, this reads like Harry's parents appointed Sirius as Harry's guardian on top of him being made godfather, not as part of it; mayhaps as part of a will?

It's not unreasonable, they did know they were being haunted, and perhaps this also helps us establish when Sirius's will was also made. I can imagine Sirius making (or amending) his will as a consequence of the Potters' will, especially since this likely happens after Regulus died and he also knows Grimmauld is likely to pass onto him.

Just throwing this out there, idk.

Changing subjects completely, these are the only times Sirius talks about his brother:

and

I think Sirius's words are vague enough that you can read them pretty much however you please. I get the vague impression that Sirius himself is not sure how he feels about his brother but he recognizes that Regulus behaved they way he did in order to please their parents (and perhaps to compensate for Sirius's own unwillingness to uphold the family ideals).

I also went looking for proof that it was Sirius who kept Regulus's room unchanged once the order moved into Grimmauld, since it's a popular fandom assumption, and the books say nothing on the subject. I honestly think it's more likely that Kreacher is the reason why the room was kept as is but that is just pure conjecture.

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asirensrage · 2 years ago

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Ridea, you don't know us. We mainly kept a kind eye on proceedings during the Darkling crisis in the OC community a year or so back until it calmed down. We don't have a name but we are just a group of writers who want the community to be a good place for people. We are like Batman but better ROFL. We kept a weather eye on the people involved in the Darkling crisis and there was a few stirring trouble, believe me, including anons and off anon. We see the struggle of littler OC blogs being ignored or overlooked in favor of the 'popular' blogs. We also watched the insane OCFA try and take power. As of now, we are currently watching Maddie's next move too. We are also watching certain people who changed URLs lately; there are a handful we are trying to keep track of that our informants feed information back to us on. This in relation to separate private accusations against these peeps of stealing OCs and ideas, as well as bullying. Nothing is proven. Plus since we aren't OFCA we aren't going to share these URLs publicly either. But these people are under observation, close observation, and there is no escape ROFL. We will act if anything is proven but mind you, in a safe and respectful way. Harassing and abusing people on anonymous is not our way. Why are we telling you this? Because we like you, Ridea. We like your spunky attitude and sense of justice. We love your spite porn. So we are considering asking you to join us but we just need to be sure of you and we aren't quite there yet. We have to have trust in the ranks. But consider this a friendly housecall 😋

Anon, I don't know what you expected sending this to me of all people. I don't know what interaction you've seen me have in the past that made you think I was someone who would accept this bull. But okay, I'll respond.

First off, how are you going to claim you're not the same anons behind the ofca when you're claiming the exact same things they did. This entire asks sounds like it came from them, from the information you're trying to peddle to the way you sign off. Saying you're not them doesn't make it true. Especially when the evidence points otherwise. Nice try but I'm not stupid. I can see exactly what you're trying to do. Stop claiming you're watching people. It's fucking creepy and no one asked you to.

Second, I was only around for part of your so called "darkling crisis" which is stupid, in my opinion. Besides that, you realize I am a fan of the character right? That I have fics starring him? I enjoy problematic characters and we've been through my thoughts on purity policing. And with that...

Why are you so obsessed with specific people? Move the fuck on.

Your focus on "popular" blogs is unhealthy. You need to stop focusing on what others apparently have and focus on your own content. You spend so much time harassing people on anon (despite claiming you don't but I sure as hell didn't ask for this mini essay in my inbox) that you're wasting time you could spend on creating things. If you're that focused on follower count, which people can't even see, go on tiktok or instagram where people think that matters. If you're concerned about reblogs and engagement, the only way to get that is to engage with people in return. You can't assume they'll come to you. Stop focusing on others and create the things you want.

Finally, I don't care if you like me or not. I'm not interested. I've never been interested. You go back and forth between warnings, wanting me to join you and vilifying me. Make up your mind. Let me be clear though. The answer is no. I don't want your "housecalls". I don't want your support because I'm certain you're the same assholes behind all the other anons. You still sound like a cult. Leave people alone.

In short, fuck off.

#stop being a dick #anon #this was creepy and so obvious #find something better to do #stop watching me #why are you so obsessed with me? and others?#and why are you laughing so much in this? like in odd places...#I probably missed stuff to respond to but I hit the major points #why do these always happen on mondays?

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archived-kin · 4 years ago

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solomon deserves a husband so i'm giving him one (it's you)

note from kin: i don’t know HOW i’ve managed to get this out so soon after my last piece but i do know that it is a miracle (now watch me disappear for like a month lmao)

anyway there’s a severe lack of content for the boys in this fandom and therefore i am here to try to mitigate that!!

(as a heads up, this is sort of an au version of obey me’s story?? there’s no exchange program, and the general human world doesn’t know about the devildom or celestial realm, apart from sorcerers and similar special cases. solomon and simeon both still visit the devildom, though - solomon because he has a sort of job at the r.a.d., and simeon as an ambassador sort of thing for the celestial realm. the r.a.d.’s also less of a school and more of an organisation?? i haven’t really fleshed it out haha)

fandom: obey me!

character(s): male! reader, solomon, mammon (briefly), simeon (briefly)

pairing(s): solomon/reader

warning(s): blasphemy??? solomon disses god really briefly and that’s about it

genre: fluff!!!!!!!!!

As a general rule of thumb, Solomon doesn’t believe in destiny.

He’s lived long enough to know that, no matter what he does, the universe does not care about him, much less have some sort of plan for his future. The course that the world takes isn’t affected by some grand puppet master pulling the strings; one has to force the so-called path of fate in the direction they want it to take if they want something. Solomon knows this better than anyone.

It’s as much a downfall as it is a strength - as much as power as he’s amassed over the countless years, his constant need to challenge the universe’s power has lead him down a path far from humanity. There had been a time when he was like every other human on the Earth, when he was still young, full of hope and determination and promise, believing earnestly in some God high in the sky who would guide him through his life.

He shudders to think what sort of insufferable fool he’d been back then. An almighty God? Don’t make him laugh. The ruler of the Celestial Realm is incompetent at best, and a downright childish brat at worst. He doesn’t know how the angels put up with him - though he supposes his realm-smiting power is part of it. Why the universe chose to place such power on such a being’s shoulders will always be beyond him.

Long as it has been since he had been so naive, Solomon has learnt his lesson, to say the least. He’s seen people come and go, witnessed kings and queens reign and fall, watched on as friends and family live and die. It’s a truth that he’s been forced to learn across the years of his long, long life, a curse that he brought upon himself the moment he gave up the purity of his soul in pursuit of magical arts.

He supposes he’s always had an insatiable thirst for the unknown - to play all his cards out front, to tempt fate’s hand, to jump into the void and hope to find ground beneath his feet when he lands. It’s that sort of reckless abandon and hunt for knowledge that has led him so far down this path, through so many years, across so many sleepless nights. The world continues to swirl around him, always changing, but Solomon refuses to be swept away. Because, even in the tumultuous movement of the universe, there has always been one constant that keeps him anchored - you.

The night he'd first met you isn’t as clear in his mind as he would have liked. He wants to be able to remember everything - the way the soft blue light of the will-o’-whisps had lit up your eyes in the dark of the night, the way that your hand had felt in his as you greeted him with a handshake, the way that you had said his name for the first time - in sharp detail, but Solomon knows better than to hope to recall something so long ago so perfectly.

He’d still been relatively new to a sorcerer’s��life at the time - excited and determined and a little too full of himself. You… well, he doesn’t remember exactly, but he does remember thinking that you must be the most handsome being to exist. The you of today would probably shake your head and dismiss the past you as an obnoxious high hoper, but Solomon has loved you for so many years that he’s never been able to think of you as anything less than perfect.

There are times when he wondered how he managed to stumble upon such luck. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Solomon has has had truly insufferable periods over the years he’s known you, and he’s always considered it a miracle that you still chose to stay. Even through all the restless nights and the exhausting trips, even after all of the clashes and vexation, you have refused to give up on him.

He had asked you once, in the aftermath of an argument spurred by his inability to confide in you and your own frustration with his refusal to communicate. He remembers that night so vividly that it might well have happened just yesterday - the frustrated shouts, the shattering of glass, the warmth of your arms around his shoulders as he finally collapsed on himself. He doesn’t know what your face had looked like as he stuttered the question out in stuttering breaths, head buried in your shoulder in an effort to conceal his tears, but he imagines that it had been soft.

“I’m not going to leave you to yourself,” You had told him matter-of-factly, stroking his hair with such fondness that it still sometimes brings a tear to his eye when he remembers it on particularly long nights. “And I’m not giving up on you, either - not now, not ever.”

Solomon had been unable to speak, too choked up by his feelings and the sudden, overwhelming love spreading through his entire body to reply. He’d only sunk deeper into your embrace, wishing that the moment could last forever.

I wonder if he still remembers that…?

“...lomon! Anyone home?!”

He jolts up from the table he’s sitting at so abruptly that he nearly knocks his head right into Mammon’s chin. The Avater of Greed, however, reacts quickly, and hops back before Solomon can break his jawbone.

“Jeez, you’re off on a different planet today,” He comments, setting his hands on his hips as Solomon shoots him the sort of look that tells him that he’s not particularly enthused about his presence at the moment. “What’s up with ya?”

Solomon isn’t quite sure how to answer. Sorry, I got distracted thinking about how perfect and lovely my husband is and how I’m the luckiest man in the entire world - nay, the universe - to have him. He nearly physically shudders at the thought of how much teasing he’d receive if he answered like that.

Instead, he chooses a much safer and still technically true option. “Just thinking about going home today.”

Mammon nods in understanding, pulling up a seat next to him and throwing himself down into it without much grace. “I feel ya. S’ been a long day.”

“You’ve barely done anything today,” Solomon quips flatly, not particularly impressed by the demon’s attempt at… empathy? Relatability? Either way, it isn’t working. “I doubt it’s been that hard.”

“Now, now, Solomon, let’s not be rude,” interjects a soft voice from behind them. Simeon is still dressed in his fancy envoy cloak - the one so long and heavy that it trails along behind him like a bridal train, decorated with a number of elaborate golden charms that jingle as he moves.

Solomon attempts to shoot him a slightly annoyed look, but it’s kind of hard to stay irritated by one of the literal embodiments of holiness and light, even if he wakes you up at very unholy hours of the morning to help him figure out how to answer an email. Solomon isn’t ungrateful for the new age of technology descending on humanity, but he’d like it a lot better if it hadn’t somehow reached the angels as well. The amount of times he’s had to tell Simeon that he needs to actually turn his D.D.D. on before he starts calling someone is… embarrassing, to say the least.

“You’re back in the Devildom, I see,” He observes as the angel pulls up a seat and sits beside him. “Did Michael send you down again?”

Simeon nods with a smile. “There were some arrangements that needed to be made with Lord Diavolo. Naturally, I volunteered.”

“Naturally,” Solomon echoes, raising a brow at his friend. “I don’t suppose your biases had anything to do with your decision?”

“Well, they may have had some effect,” Simeon answers with a shameless smile and shrug, beginning to undo the tassels of his heavy cloak and draping it on the back of chair he’s sitting on. He’s still wearing all of his regular clothes underneath it - including the other, much smaller cloak. Solomon wonders how he hasn’t somehow melted in the heat.

“When’re you gonna start heading home, anyway?” Mammon asks, beginning to pick at a loose thread on his jacket sleeve. “It’s gettin’ late.”

Solomon blinks and looks up at the clock. “...ah, you’re right. In that case, I'll get going now.”

Mammon shoots him an odd look as he pushes himself up from the table and reaches for his bag, managing to hoist it onto his shoulder with some effort. He’s never been particularly good at heavy lifting - you’re usually the one helping him carry everything around the house.

“Oi, oi, what’s the rush?” the demon asks as Solomon adjusts the weight of his bag and starts heading for the door. “You on a timer or something?”

“I promised [Name] I’d be home earlier tonight,” is Solomon’s slightly absent-minded reply as he fiddles about in his pocket to find his transportation charm, nearly losing his balance and dropping his bag in the process. “I’ll see you both tomorrow.”

Mammon watches him in clear confusion for a moment as he pats down his pockets, mumbling a quiet curse under his breath as he realises that he’s left his charm at home again. How many times this month does that make it now...? He supposes that he could always perform a teleportation spell, but knowing his luck with those, he’ll probably end up somewhere in Morocco again.

“Oi, Simeon,” Mammon hisses to the angel, who cocks his head slightly to the side and leans over so as to hear him more clearly. “Who’s this ‘[Name]’ Solomon’s talkin’ about?”

“You don’t know?” Simeon blinks at him in blatant perplexion - as if he can’t even fathom the idea that Mammon might not know who Solomon’s talking about. “He’s talking about his husband.”

There’s a long moment of silence. Then—

“Solomon has a HUSBAND!?” Mammon practically shrieks, completely flabbergasted. “I thought he was totally, like, the forever alone type!”

“Don’t tell me you’ve never noticed?” is Simeon’s bewildered response. “Who do you think Solomon is always talking about buying groceries for?”

“I thought he was just buyin’ them for himself!” Mammon fires back, looking far more ruffled and shocked than he probably should be. He whips around to look at Solomon, who’s flicking through the little packet of blank charms he keeps on him at all times in an effort to find the right one to create a temporary transportation charm. He’s had to do it so many times this month that he’s already beginning to run out. “You’re married?!”

“Of course,” Solomon answers vaguely, briefly raising his left hand, allowing Mammon to spot the soft glint of a ring around his fourth finger. “You’re not?”

“Wh— ‘course I’m not!” Mammon exclaims, positively scandalised by the very concept. “Why would I get married, huh?! It’s a waste of time and a waste of money!”

“Think whatever you like,” Solomon dismisses him easily, which only seems to irritate Mammon further.

Finally having found the right blank charm, he plucks it out and begins carefully tracing patterns onto it with a single glowing finger. He’s dimly aware of Mammon furiously whispering to Simeon in the background, with the angel responding in kind, most likely sharing some exaggerated story from back when the three of you had worked together - when Solomon had accepted a job from the Celestial Realm. The details of the whole thing are a little fuzzy to him now, long as it has been, but he’s almost completely sure that Simeon somehow still remembers the whole thing flawlessly.

“How old even is he?!” He hears Mammon hiss.

“I’m not so sure myself,” Simeon replies, placing his chin in a thoughtful hand. “Let’s see… their two millennial anniversary’s coming up in about two years, and I remember Solomon saying that they got married when he was around two hundred or so… which means he’s about twenty-one hundred years old.”

“Holy shit,” Mammon mutters in disbelief, turning glance at the sorcerer as he starts folding down the corners of his charm into the right shape. “Humans aren’t supposed to live that long. How’s his husband still alive, then?”

“That isn’t really a question for me to answer,” Simeon shakes his head slightly. “I suppose you can always ask him yourself if Solomon ever brings him to work with him.”

“I doubt it,” Solomon speaks up for the first time since announcing his departure. “He’s usually busy during the day. Besides, transportation charms make him queasy, and I’m not making him walk all the way down here.”

“Aren’t you a wizard?” Mammon asks, scratching his head. “Just do one of ya fancy teleportation spells. Why d’you need a charm?”

Solomon sighs. He hates to admit it, but he can’t be bothered to make up some other reason to cover up for himself. “I’m afraid that teleportation spells aren’t actually particularly accurate. We could end up somewhere in the Pacific if I’m not careful.”

Mammon looks thunderstruck. “Then what about all those times you’ve teleported us?! Don’t tell me we coulda ended up in, like, the Archaic Pit or something?!”

“Well, it was always a possibility,” Solomon shrugs in reply, finishing the charm with a deft flick of his hand. “You’re a demon, I sure you could have handled yourself.”

“But…!” Mammon crosses his arms and turns away like a grumpy child. “Hmph…”

“Do say hello to [Name] for me, will you?” Simeon requests as Solomon turns to open the door, ignoring the sulking demon sitting beside him. “We haven’t been able to talk for a while.”

“You text him every day, don’t you?” Solomon asks, shooting him an unimpressed look. “I’d say that’s conversation enough.”

“Now, now, there’s no need to be stingy,” Simeon countered with a smile, tilting his head slightly to the side and leaning forward. “Besides, one misses the presence of an actual person after a while of nothing but electronic communication... especially texting is so difficult. Tell him he’s always welcome to come around for some tea - Luke would be happy to see him.”

Solomon shakes his head, but makes a sound of affirmation nevertheless. You had mentioned that you’ve missed seeing Simeon since he’d started the whole negotiator businesss, and he isn’t the sort of person to deny you the company of a friend. “I’ll let him know. Anyway, I should really be going now…”

“Have a safe journey!” Simeon calls after him as he swings the door open and sweeps out. Solomon waves a hand over his shoulder in response, then disappears down the corridor, most likely to a quiet spot in the courtyard to use his charm. He’s been banned from using them indoors ever since he accidentally shattered one of the fancy artifacts in the assembly hall and sent hundreds of shards flying everywhere. Apparently Barbatos is still finding tiny pieces of glass in the crevices of the floor.

“Why didn’t Solomon ever say anythin’?” Mammon asks Simeon after a moment of quietude. “Seems like the sorta thing you’d mention.”

“Solomon’s a private man,” Simeon says with a shrug. “Besides, he and [Name] have made plenty of enemies over the years, and you’d be shocked by how quickly names and locations can spread…”

“Does he mind us knowin’ about it, then?”

“Well, personally, I’ve known for a while,” Simeon answers, “And I’m sure the others will have worked it out by now - Solomon’s always finding ways to mention [Name] in passing. But no, I’m sure he doesn’t mind. He’d say something if he did.”

Mammon nods and goes silent for a little while. Then he asks, “What’s this [Name] like, then? Must be some guy if Solomon liked him enough to put a ring on him and keep him for that long.”

“Well, let’s see…” Simeon drums his fingers thoughtfully against the tabletop. “He has quite the penchant for raising deadly plants, he hasn’t gone more than a full month without exploding something or another for about five centuries, he takes clocks apart in his spare time, he likes his coffee with a touch of vanilla, he collects cursed books, he makes a lovely butterscotch-cinnamon pie, and he works as a curse breaker for hire.”

It takes a moment for Mammon to process all of the information that’s just been dumped on him. “...sounds like the kinda guy Satan would get along with.”

“I thought so as well,” Simeon agrees. “Their house even reminds me of Satan’s room, in a way… [Name] is quite the avid reader.”

“What, you’ve been?”

“Only once,” Simeon’s eyes flutter closed for a moment as he reminisces. “Quite a long time ago now. I wouldn’t know where to find it even if I wanted to go again, though - it’s always moving.”

“Do they move house a lot, then?”

Simeon shakes his head. “Oh, no, no. They’ve lived in the same house for centuries - it’s the house that moves itself.”

Mammon pauses. “...what?”

“The building,” Simeon clarifies. “They’ve got an enchantment on the whole thing that makes it change locations every couple of weeks or so.”

“But… why?”

Simeon shrugs. “[Name] doesn’t like staying in one place for too long.”

“Still, isn’t that a bit much…?” Mammon pulls a face. “They could always just travel, ya know…”

“As Solomon said, transportation talismans make [Name] feel queasy,” Simeon explains. “And he prefers not to use teleportation spells when it comes to him, just in case they end up somewhere dangerous.”

“And he doesn’t care about the rest of us ending up somewhere dangerous?” Mammon huffs and collapses forwards onto the table.

“Well, you can’t really compare the two,” Simeon says patiently as the demon continues to mutter indignantly under his breath. “He’s his husband, and we’re essentially just his friends from work.”

Mammon opens his mouth to make a rebuttal, then thinks about it for a moment and changes his mind. After a moment, he comments, a little less resentfully, “Well, you’d think he’d at least introduce us.”

“He’s been planning to for a while, actually,” Simeon tells him. “Give him some time and he’ll probably bring it up on his own.”

Mammon nods. “He’d better!”

“I’m home.”

You look up from the book you’re reading and hop down from your seat on the roof just in time to see Solomon emerge from the back garden, looking noticeably dishevelled, with leaves decorating his head like some sort of fancy accessory.

“Welcome back!” You greet him happily, setting the book aside and moving forward to start picking the leaves from his hair. Solomon smiles softly at you as you take his bag in one hand and start pulling him to the front door with the other. “You forgot your talisman again, by the way.”

“I noticed,” He laughs, gently removing your hand from his upper arm and wrapping his fingers around it instead. “Why else do you think I ended up in the hedges again?”

“It’s a wonder that you’ve had to make these temporary talismans so many times and you still haven’t gotten one right yet,” You tease in reply, nudging him in the shoulder. “How many points is that on the tally now, then?”

“Ten for the basement, seven for the roof, and eleven for the hedges now,” He answers with a small pout as you laugh. “Honestly, you’d think I would have learnt my lesson...”

“You never do, love.”

The door creaks as you and your husband enter the house, only to immediately be greeted by a bundle of scales hitting you head-on. You manage to keep your footing and steady yourself on the doorway; Solomon isn’t so lucky, and ends up laying spread-eagled on the floor with about two hundred kilograms of excited adolescent dragon purring on his chest.

“Looks like Triton missed you,” You comment with a bright smile, setting Solomon’s bag down beside the umbrella rack and leaning over to give the dragon a scratch behind his left horn, just the way he likes it. He rumbles happily and jingles the little bell around his neck at you. “Isn’t he getting big?”

“I saw him this morning, [Name],” Solomon wheezes from his position on the floor, somehow managing to reach up and tickle Triton’s chin with one hand despite the dragon’s weight. “He can’t have grown that much in ten hours.”

“You never know!” You tell him, reaching up and wrapping your arms around Triton’s neck. He coos in a delighted fashion and raises his head, setting it heavily on your shoulder. Solomon uses the brief lightening of the weight on him to take in a deep breath as you allow your dragon to nuzzle furiously into your neck. “Dragons are unpredictable, you know.”

“Believe me, I do,” He sighs tiredly as Triton blows out a pleased puff of hot air and knocks the clock off the wall again. “Now, if you wouldn’t mind, Triton, I’d quite like to get back up again.”

The dragon blinks and raises his head from your shoulder, glancing down at the sorcerer that he’s crushing under his weight. Then he huffs and turns away again.

“Oh, you—!” Solomon curses as the dragon seems to press even harder into him. Your laughter rings out across the hall, and while he’d normally take a moment to admire the sound, he’s a little preoccupied. “[Name], stop laughing and help me!”

“He’s like a rebellious teenager!” You splutter helplessly in reply, voice still trembling slightly out of mirth. Triton makes a happy noise as you reach up and rub his scaly cheeks, his ears fluttering slightly. “Awww, you’re really growing up, aren’t you, baby? Your poor dads are really going to have their work cut out for them, huh?”

“Hey,” Solomon calls reproachfully from beneath Triton’s enormous chest. “Your husband’s still being crushed down here.”

“Oh, right!” You click your tongue and give Triton a meaningful look. He grumbles but obeys nevertheless, hopping off of Solomon (though not without knocking all the air out of him by using his chest as a launchpad) and scampering off, most likely to go play with the salamanders that have set up shop in the storage room again.

“I’ll never understand how you manage him so well,” Solomon sighs as you bend down to pull him to his feet, rubbing at the sore spot on his chest. “He never listens to me.”

“Aw, he loves you, really,” You reassure him, taking his hand and pressing a comforting kiss to his knuckles. “He just likes roughhousing with you.”

Solomon shakes his head, wanting to complain further about the big lizard that the two of you had adopted six months ago after the last one grew up and flew the nest, but then he sees the smile on your face, and he feels the flicker of irritation in his chest die down almost immediately. It’s at times like this that he’s really reminded of how absolutely worth it all of the nonsense he has to put up with at work is - because, at the end of the day, you are here, with your warm eyes and your lovely smile, with your comforting hands and your warm embrace, and there is no road too long to walk if you are waiting for him at the end of it.

“I know,” He sighs, tugging off his shoes and stepping into his favourite pair of slippers - the ones with the little cat faces printed on them that you’ve charmed to always maintain a perfect temperature for his feet. He glances at your own feet and notes that you’re wearing your matching pair as well.

The two of you have long since set up a routine for this sort of occasion, and you both fall into it with unconscious ease. Solomon changes into something more comfortable while you put the kettle on in the kitchen, and the two of you inevitably spend so long snuggled up together on the largest armchair in the living room, unwilling to leave the warmth of each other’s presence, that the water cools down, and you end up having to put it back on again. Then you sit together at the table, you with a coffee with a dash of vanilla and him with his favourite chrysanthemum tea that you always brew just the way he likes it. Sometimes you’ll sit side by side, shoulders pressed up against each other as you show him the specifics of your latest curse-breaking commission, and sometimes you’ll sit across from each other, holding hands across the tabletop as he tells you about his day.

Today it is the former, but Solomon can’t help but zone a little out of the detailed deep-dive you’re giving him about the intricacies of the spell that’s cursed this teapot to shoot its contents at anyone who attempts to fill it. It isn’t that your explanation is boring - quite the contrary, in fact; Solomon could probably listen to you describing the most mundane or trivial of things on loop for the rest of his life and be perfectly content with it. No, it’s more to do with the fact that this is the first time he’s been home before dark in a long while, and he can’t help but revel in the fact that he can spend time with you like this again. Of course, there’s something wonderful in coming home to be able to collapse into bed beside you and bury his face in the crook of your neck, drifting to sleep as you burrow closer to him even in your sleep, but Solomon can’t run off of that forever - he needs to see you with your eyes open as well, after all.

“You’re not listening to a word I say, are you?” You ask as you note the far-off look on your husband’s face. You’re not offended in the slightest by the way he starts at the directed question, evidently guilty, but you are a little puzzled. “Is there something wrong?”

Solomon’s mouth falls open slightly, then shuts again. There’s something about the way you’re looking at him so earnestly that makes his heart stutter like nothing else. Honestly, you’d think he’d be used to this after nearly two thousand years, but it seems that he’s still as weak for you as he was on the very first day of your marriage. “...I suppose I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”

“You always have a lot on your mind,” You counter softly, giving his hand a brief squeeze. “Come on, you can tell me.”

He laughs quietly, bringing your linked hands up to his face and gently holding yours to the side of his face; you, in turn, unfurl your fingers from around his and rub his cheek affectionately. After a moment, a fond smile pulling at his lips, Solomon replies, “I’ve… missed you a lot this week.”

You pause in mild surprise, but it quickly turns to endearment as Solomon presses his body even closer to yours. The hand that you’re using to hold your mug of coffee moves to settle on his shoulder as you pull him closer. “Really now? What a coincidence. I’ve missed you lots as well, love.”

He chuckles a little bashfully, his cheeks flushing. It seems that your ability to fluster him hasn’t declined even a bit over the years. He’s still well and truly besotted.

You can’t help but find it rather amusing that, despite already having spent a good hour and a half or so in the living room, bundled so close together in the blankets that you could feel his breath on your skin, the two of you are still nestling so close together now. You suppose it’s the effects of a week with much less contact than usual.

You lean forward and press a kiss to his jaw before pulling back again, reaching for your coffee and taking a sip. Solomon exhales softly, pulling his own drink towards him and draining the last of the tea in a single mouthful.

“You know,” He says, setting his empty cup down on the table. “One of my coworkers was asking about you earlier.”

“‘Coworkers’,” You snort at his choice of language, earning a reproachful poke in the side as punishment. “Come on, just admit that they’re your friends.”

“Fine,” He sighs. “One of my friends, then - Mammon, the one that Lucifer’s stringing up all the time.”

“The one with white hair?” You recall, thinking back to the group photo that Simeon had sent you a while back. “He’s the Avatar of Greed, right?”

“That’s the one,” Solomon nods. “Apparently he never noticed that I was married.”

“Well, you can’t really blame him,” You say, giving him a playful nudge. “Honestly, the way you keep your mouth shut, you’d think I was some shameful secret or something.”

Solomon looks scandalised by the very idea - it had only been a little joke, but his eyes flash with such affront that it’s almost as if someone has genuinely called you such a thing. “Of course not! I’d never—”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, I was joking,” You cut him off before he can get more riled up. Solomon calms down quickly once you set a comforting hand on his knee, though he still looks a little indignant. “I know why you don’t like talking about us much, but really, it’s okay. They’re your friends, aren't they?”

He hesitates, then nods, releasing another deep sigh soon afterwards. “I suppose. There isn’t much I can really do about it at this point anyway… according to Simeon, most of them have somehow figured it out already.”

“They’re probably a lot smarter than you give them credit for, Sol,” You hum, reaching up and brushing a stray lock of hair out of his eyes for him. “They’re demons, after all. They’ve lived even longer than us.”

“Believe me, they really aren’t.” Solomon shakes his head, a frown pinching at his brow at the very memory of the amount of things that his coworkers have done recently - some of the most notable being Diavolo setting an entire flock of geese free in the courtyard for an ‘experiment’, Levi quite literally throwing himself out of a window just to win a bet against Mammon about who could get down the stairs faster, Asmo causing a stampede in the main hall by dropping and shattering a bottle full of a powerful aphrodisiac potion that became even more powerful once released into the air, and Lucifer accidentally breaking one of Solomon’s favourite cauldrons when he’d transformed into his demon form and inadvertently smacked halfway across the room it with one of his upper wings.

“I’d really love to meet them some day,” You sigh, swirling the contents of your mug around. “They sound like fun.”

“Trust me, the trouble isn’t worth it—” Solomon attempts to reason with you, but he gives up laughably quickly as you pout at him in protest. “Oh, fine. But don’t blame me if you get sick because of the charm again.”

“We don’t have to use the charm,” You shake your head. “Just do a teleportation spell!”

“You know that that’s risky,” Solomon sighs, chucking you under the chin and leaning forward to kiss the tip of your nose. You laugh as he draws back again, a pleased smile rising on his face at your reaction. “We could end up anywhere.”

“You’ve teleported them a bunch of times, though, haven’t you? And you haven’t ended up in Texas or the Sahara Desert any of those times!”

The resemblance to his earlier conversation with Mammon and Simeon is almost uncanny. “That’s different. I was still teleporting them within the Devildom, not across an entire realm barrier… and besides, I can afford the risk with them. You’re a different story.”

You pout again, shoulders dropping in defeat, though it doesn’t escape Solomon’s notice that his sentiment seems to have appeased you at least a little. “...guess we’ll just have to use a transportation talisman, huh…?”

“That’s your only option if you really want to visit, yes.”

You go quiet for a moment or two, nose wrinkling and face scrunching as you think it over. Solomon doesn’t mind the lack of conversation - he entertains himself by studying your features, wondering for perhaps the millionth time how he managed to find someone like you.

Finally, a determined look rising on your face, you nod and proclaim, “Then I’ll do it!”

Solomon cocks his head slightly to the side. He can’t say he’s surprised by your eagerness, but he had expected it to take you longer to make up your mind. He opens his mouth to say something, but tou answer his question before he’s even asked it, a skill that you’d managed to pick up within the first year or so of knowing him.

“I really wanna see what you actually get up to when you work,” You explain, looking a little sheepish. “You’ve had a job there for nearly two years and I’ve never even said a word to the people you work with.”

Solomon laughs. “It isn’t usually a requirement in the workplace. Wear appropriate uniform, bring any equipment you need, introduce your husband to your coworkers within the decade…”

“Still, I’d feel bad if I didn’t at least meet them,” You say. “Besides, I want to see Simeon as well. You said he’s working down in the Devildom for a bit as well, didn’t you?”

“Why are you so eager to see him, huh?” Solomon’s tone is light and teasing, so you know not to take him seriously as he puts on an hurt expression. “I’m offended. Your dear husband’s right here and you’re thinking about some angel.”

“Oh, stop it, you,” You shake your head in slightly exasperated amusement as he runs a finger down his cheek in lieu of a tear. “You know it’s not like that.”

“Isn’t it?” He pulls an exaggeratedly petulant face and pretends to turn away like an upset child. “Sometimes I feel like you love him more than me.”

“Simeon’s a lovely guy, but you’re still the only guy for me, you doof,” You tell him, tapping fondly at the cheek he’s turned to you with your free hand. Solomon obligingly turns back around to look at you, a grin pulling at his mouth. “Why would I marry you and then stay here for two thousand years if you weren't?”

“I guess I always assumed it was out of pity or something,” He jokes in response, leaning forward and briefly brushing his nose against yours. “And, just so you know, you’re the only guy for me as well.”

“I’d better be,” is your lighthearted reply as he pulls away. After a moment, looking at him expectantly, you begin tentatively, “So…?”

He sighs, but gives you a smile nevertheless. “I’ll ask Diavolo. He probably wouldn’t mind if I brought you without asking first, but Lucifer definitely would.”

“What’ll we do if they hate me?” You ask. “Do demons actually eat humans?”

“They wouldn’t dare,” He replies firmly. “Not if I have anything to say about it. Besides, they won’t hate you. I doubt anyone could.”

You laugh and drop your head to rest on his chest. “You’re too nice to me, love.”

Solomon turns to wrap both his arms around your shoulders, setting his chin on the crown of your head. You smile into his jumper, looping your own arms around his waist and pushing yourself closer to him.

“I’m not just being nice. Honestly, [Name], you’re kind of the most perfect man in the universe.”

#obey me #obey me imagines #obey me x reader #swd solomon #swd mammon #swd simeon #solomon x reader #reader insert #male reader #fluff #domestic sorcerer husbands #planning on turning this into a series if i can haha

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ofhouseadama · 3 years ago

Note

Could you explain a little more what you mean by separating sex and love? Sorry if that's too forward!

I can but like, the answer will go into the details of my childhood sexual abuse and recovering from CSA and things I learned in trauma therapy so like. Tread carefully below the read more.

I was sexually abused by my older sister from about the age of 3 to about the age of 8. I was forced and groomed to perform sex acts on her and was digitally raped, kissed, etc. Which at first made me hypersexual as a pre-teen/teen and then sex repulsed in my early twenties, as I started to grapple with the abuse that had been done to me, how it fit in the wider dysfunctional and abuse dynamic of my family of origin, and the full extent of my C-PTSD and the ongoing enmeshment, boundary crossing, and emotional fuckery that my family of origin relies on to keep the whole charade going.

I really really struggled to accept my sexuality because 1. raised in an Irish Catholic family but also because 2. the person who sexually abused me... is female and so you know, was I gay because I was Born That Way or because I was abused and 3. C-PTSD is at it's root, a developmental disorder. There is no "before," for me. All my earliest memories are of being abused by the members of my family. The foundational building blocks of who I am are all related to survival instinct, to maladaptive coping mechanisms, etc. I was raised in a home with physical, emotional, sexual, and verbal abuse, let alone the staggering amount of emotional neglect that came from my parents. I don't have a great sense of self, even now. My entire identity developed around survival and appeasing my abusers.

When I was safe from my parents, that is when my sister would take the opportunity to sexually abuse me. She only stopped, I recently put together, because our father chokeslammed her against the wall for something unrelated -- I believe she became frightened that he would do it again/do worse if the sexual abuse came out.

And I just... kept silent. To protect her. To protect myself. And I made myself forget, until I was in college, when I was 600 miles away from home and safe and had a real family for the first time. It all came bubbling up.

In order to survive, I have to separate sex and love.

Because after I finally came out about the sexual abuse, when my abuser was pregnant, I was told to get over it and to be the bigger person. That she loved me. That she was just doing what was done to her onto me. That no, she didn't need to go to therapy. That none of us needed to go to therapy. None of the sexual abuse needed to be addressed, because that happens to everyone, and I just needed to let it go. That I was the problem for bringing up the problem and expecting it to be addressed -- especially once my sister had a miscarriage and weaponized my speaking out about her abuse against me.

Sex and love are related but separate things, in my mind. Sure, I have sex with my wife. I have sex with my wife and I really enjoy it because we love each other, we communicate well, she understands my needs and my limits and my body. I know she'll never hurt me, I know she finds me attractive, and that enables me to relax. But the sex isn't about love. It's not like, two souls meeting. Sex isn't spiritual for me. It's not emotional. It's fun. It's a conversation. It feels good. It's something we do together.

But the things that my sister did to me weren't above love. The things I did to myself as a teenager weren't about love. The things I did trying to fill the hole in myself weren't about love. I couldn't have sex in a way that wasn't about self-harm or control or manipulation until I gave up on sex = love, or that if you love someone, therefore you have sex with them. Which like, I'm sure people are reading this and going, "well yeah, that's purity culture for you," which is true! Purity culture breeds silence and an environment ripe for abusers! Even within families! Especially within families!

Anyway, that's probably more than you were asking for.

But for me, sex is sex and love is something else entirely. Because with therapy, I also had to unlearn that love is control, that love is manipulation, that love means that you have no boundaries, that love means you share every opinion and feeling and live codependently ever after.

I love because I am capable of love. I am capable of loving someone well, in a way that makes them feel safe and secure in being vulnerable and communicating their hopes and dreams and wants and needs, and makes me feel safe and secure in doing the same.

I have sex because I like to have sex. I don't have sex for anyone but myself. I have sex because it makes me feel good. I have sex with my wife because she makes me feel good, and I like to make her feel good.

Separate.

#ask #anonymous #when i say trigger warnings i mean trigger warnings

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demons-fanatic · 4 years ago

Text

Rosaria: Our Lady, Holy Mother

So, I've been replaying Dark Souls 3 and during so, I've honestly been realizing way more about some characters and really indulging in them. One of them is Rosaria, Mother of Rebirth.

Warning: Spoilers for Dark Souls 3 for the ENTIRE post below!

In Dark Souls 3, there's a particularly interesting character named Rosaria. She leads a covenant called "Rosaria's Fingers" which are directly opposed to the Way of Blue and Blades of the Darkmoon. Which leads us to our first major point; Who is Rosaria and why does she hate the Gods?

At first glance at her character, Rosaria is really dark. As in literally dark, her black clothes, black hair... etc. Opposed to the Gods who are usually represented by White or Divine Colors(See Gwyn's Family) and I'm not sure if it's really intentional but it is something that is obvious. Next, what exactly does Rosaria represent or what is her place in the Dark Souls world? For this, we must look at a Japanese Myth.

The Story of Izanami(伊弉冉尊) and Izanagi(イザナギ) is the basic creation Myth for Japan. They were both the first Man and Woman, they created the first land. They did so with a Spear that was gifted to them and then created the Great Sea. They birthed two children, Hiruko(蛭子) and Awashima(粟島), Hiruko in particular meaning "Leech Child". After giving birth to Kaga-tsuchi(火之迦具土, Literally "Shrine of Flame"), Izanami dies and is sent to the Underworld, becoming the Goddess of Death. Izanagi comes to look for her and while going there, Izanami tells Izanagi not to look at her. However, he does anyways revealing the Underworld has permanently obstructed her form. This terrified Izanagi and he left her in the Underworld. After this, Izanami proclaimed she would kill one thousand people a day but Izanagi said he would father a thousand and five hundred more a day. They were officially divorced in this event.

As we can tell, there are a lot of interesting things we can gather once we connect Izanami to Rosaria. And you might be asking... can we even do that? Well, yes. Rosaria is connected to divinity in some way. Only large people are seen to be deific and once we get Rosaria's Soul(I'll get to that later) we can acquire Gwynevere's Miracles meaning even if she wasn't a god, she was heavily connected to the Gods in such a way she knew and or used these Miracles. It is also worth mentioning that Leonhard calls her a Goddess, but that could be due to his adoration. The other connection is that in some way, Rosaria was betrayed by the Gods so badly she now garners followers in the hopes they will kill members of Royal Covenants and steal something taken from her, tongues. Another connection is Hiruko and the Slug in Rosaria's lap, Hiruko was considered inadequate as a Child and deformed, as you can tell the creature that lays on Rosaria is definitely a deformed creature, similar to the Man Grubs, possibly her Child as it is the biggest(this has no evidence what-so-ever). The last connection is also something pretty interesting; The Deep and the concept of "Kegare(穢れ)".

This leads into a lot, so be wary of this part if you want to read it. So, in Shintoism, water is a very important part of the entire thing. Along with this is the concept of purity through flowing water or "Harae(祓)". Flowing things, especially water, is clear and clean unlike still water which collects grime and impurities. Of course, you want to be clean, right? Well, this is the concept. Flow is good, stagnation is bad. While we are stagnant, whether spiritually or physically, we collect impurities and do not really do anything. You may ask... How does this relate to Rosaria, specifically the connection of her and Izanami? Well, let's look at the place she's at. I don't even mean her room but the entire location. The Cathedral of the Deep is full of Kegare, absolutely full of it. All of the water is disgusting and muddy and mucky, poison comes out of the faucets and the foundation of the Cathedral is sinking. The entirety of the Deep is also just Kegare, but I plan on making a post just on that. So, yes, Rosaria is surrounded by Kegare and so was Izanami. The Underworld filled her with impurities and deformed her entire body. Rosaria seems to be very dirty herself, in her hair is slime and she lacks a tongue, which was stolen from her. Both Women are considered deformed and dirty and are surrounded by stagnation. Rosaria herself does not move and only sits in her Chamber, same with Izanami only staying in the Underworld, stagnating, in a way. Now, this is not extremely high evidence but it is an interesting connection that could explain Rosaria's role and some of her inspiration.

Next is another connection but this time it's in the Universe. This one is quite obvious if you've played Dark Souls 1 and this is Rosaria and Anastacia. Both scenarios play out very similarly. Their Souls are stolen by Men who bring their Souls to Anor Londo but for different reasons. Lautrec's is actually never stated and thusly is unrelated. But Leonhard's is because he wishes for no one else to have her. Claiming that you and most likely everyone else will just steal it too. Why they have similar plotlines, I have no idea and it doesn't really make sense. Though, it is possible that Rosaria is a Firekeeper of some sort as she can Respec(reset skill points) the Player Character and the only other Character's in the series who can do that are Firekeepers. However, her Soul doesn't look like a Firekeeper's(reference below)

(Rosariaiis's Soul)

(Fire Keeper Soul)

Admittedly, it does look like a bit of Humanity is swirling in her Soul, compared to others but, who knows. She probably is a Firekeeper but we'll probably never get an answer on that. And by the end, Anastasia does have her tongue back but for some reason Rosaria does not and it is absolutely not clear why this is the case.

Next, let's talk about the bit of lore she does have. It's said that her tongue was stolen from her First Born and that could be a lot of people. First off, it does imply more Children and that does fit with something later. So, who is this first Child? Well, most signs point to Aldrich, whose Bodily slime is actually near the doors of Rosaria's Chamber, this proves not a lot but given the fact Aldrich is a cannibal, he definitely did something to her whether or not it be he stole her tongue. But of course, why wouldn't he eat all of her? It's kind of confusing and this part of the lore is extremely lackluster and even if you think about it you can't get anywhere.

Next, let's talk about her Covenant, but before we do that let's ask another question. Is Rosaria someone we have seen before? Well, if you're telling yourself "Hm, she sounds like she could definitely be Gwynevere" you'd be right. Not that she is Gwynevere confirmed but more signs point to yes than no... Let's go over the evidence:

Is a Goddess

Connections to Miracles about Gwynevere

Connections to the Old Gods in some form

Has Children(Amazing point, I know)

Have Magical Abilities

GNow, I know this isn't much but all together it is pretty telling evidence that something is afoot with the connections. Your first thought of it being against is "Oh, well yes it's possible but isn't Gwynevere like 40 feet tall" and well, no, not really. Even in DS1 this can be debunked in the same room(sorta). We all know Gwynevere is an illusion, so how do we know her real size? Well, in the Ornstein and Smough Boss Room we see these statues .

As we can see, Gwynevere is almost as tall as the Gwyn statue which is basically built to scale. Presumably, anyways. And as we can see, Gwynevere is not as big but she is pretty tall. Now, let's compare it to Rosaria(with Player scale too):

(Source)

As we can see, this height is actually plausible. Rosaria isn't actually that much taller or bigger. Her legs are long and torso about the same size. The next point against it though is the names... Rosaria is obviously not the same as Gwynevere. But, assuming that if you're running away from your family, you'd change your name too. And the Miracle she gives with her Soul, Bountiful Sunlight, which mentions Gwynevere's occupation as a Mother and Wife. This obviously fits in with Rosaria's mentioned child and children, assumedly. But, it's never said that she was married. But, Gwynevere is married, to the God, Flann. They could be hinting at the fact that either Rosaria is Gwynevere's daughter or her, herself.

Another suspect of who she could be is the Queen of Lothric. We know the Queen left after her Husband became mad with the power of the Dragon. There is also evidence for this. Gertrude, the Heavenly Daughter, is said to be the Daughter of the Queen, Rosaria is surrounded by Man-Grubs that are reborn via her and there is actually a Man-Grub near Gertrude's cage. The Queen is said to have several Heavenly Children and the Queen is also compared to a Goddess of Fertility and Bounty(Gwynevere). Rosaria is considered a Goddess and the Queen was worshipped as a Goddess for sure. Another Child of the Queen is the Dancer of the Boreal Valley, how do we know this? Well, the Dancer's Soul gives another of Gwynevere's Miracles, Soothing Sunlight which explicitly states the Dancer is a member of the Old Royal Family, at least for the most part as in it's in her tree. So, how does this connect back the the Queen and Rosaria? Well, it's very much told this way with Miracles the Queen is the Daughter of Gwynevere, who was also her Maiden and carried on the stories of her Mother to her Children. This does make the most sense in comparison to her actually being Gwynevere, but, options. Rosaria's tongue though is still a mystery, I have no idea if her firstborn(presumably Lorian or Aldrich but... that has no evidence) stole her tongue and if that's the case, why. It could just be apart of the hellscape that is Dark Souls 3's lore.

So let's talk about the covenant, Rosaria's Fingers. As to why they are called as such, I am actually not sure and it honestly seems to hold no important to what I see. The member's of this Covenant have a prefix regarding names of specific finger's, somewhat. Yellowfinger is not really a finger. There's also the symbol for the covenant which is actually the Papal Cross of the Christian Religion and is the Emblem of the Pope, there is actually a Pope in Dark Souls 3 in the form of Sulyvahn but there seems to be no connection other than Aldrich being connected to Sulyvahn and that's really it. Rosaria's Fingers collect the tongues of their foes, which are the Way of Blue and Blades of the Darkmoon, two covenants that are explicitly connected to the Old Gods. Obviously, this tells us that Rosaria not only hates the Old Gods but it's possibly they are the ones that stole her tongue from her. Meaning her firstborn is most likely connected to the Old Gods, but as given before, that was obvious. It is either that or the Old Gods have disrupted her in some other way. In other aspects of the Covenant, Rosaria gives the option of Rebirth(or Respec'ing) which basically lets someone reallocate their skills, what implications this has in the universe is completely unknown and is probably just a way to make yourself stronger. You can rebirth yourself in-universe until you become a Man-Grub, and it's basically literally what the name implies. But the descriptions imply it might not be that simple. Some of them wield staffs that cast holy spear spells to protect Rosaria. Why she can do this is not clear, nor why it happens is not clear either. It doesn't seem that she hates her subjects or anything of the sort, so it could just be a curse she has given her abilities.

Rosaria doesn't really have a lot to her character, along with that she barely has lore, unfortunately and all that can be gathered aside from the only clearly stated things is guesswork and it's not that much fun. The only cut things that have come from her is a cut Boss Track related to her(interesting to note this track IS similar to the Dancer's who is interestingly not a Boss at first), whether she was the boss or not, is not clear.

Unfortunately, this seems to be all that Rosaria has to her but if you know anything else or want to correct some information for me please do so! I'll gladly edit something things and I might add more. My next post is hopefully going to be the Angelic Faith of Lothric and the Primordial Serpents.

#Dark Souls 3 #Dark Souls III #DS3 #Dark Souls Lore #Dark Souls Theory #Soulsborne Lore #Soulsborne #rosaria mother of rebirth

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female-malice · 3 years ago

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youtube

I'm not a fan of Megyn Kelly, but listen to her segment with Nancy Hogshead-Makar and Cynthia Millen.

It's an informative and accurate segment. There's no misinformation. There's no racist dogwhistles. This segment isn't about Biden or police brutality or immigration or taxes.

This segment is about women's rights.

Megyn Kelly invited a Title IX lawyer onto her radio show. All of her listeners who are intersted in the segment will look up Nancy Hogshead-Makar. When they do, they won't just learn about women's rights in relation to sports. They'll learn about the war Nancy's waging against schools that sweep sexual assault under the rug.

There's a lot of people that will say Nancy Hogshead-Makar is a conservative collaborator for appearing on Megyn Kelly's show. But Nancy appearing on Megyn's show doesn't make her advocacy less effective. It serves her current purpose more directly. She's reaching more NCAA sports fans through Megyn Kelly than if she went on a liberal WNYC podcast. And we all know those liberal WNYC podcasts would never invite Nancy to speak anyway.

Nancy's appearance also elevates Megyn Kelly's typical content level above conservative tabloid radio. Now there's eight minutes of women's rights. Now Megyn's listeners have more resources on women's rights in sports, schools, and institutions.

Everyone reblogs post after post about how the left is just as misogynistic as the right. Isn't it possible that conservative women like Megyn Kelly are just as concerned for women's rights as we are?

I know one of the biggest concerns about gender critical conservatives is homophobia. But there wasn't anything even remotely homophobic in these 8 minutes. If you go through Megyn Kelly's entire broadcasting history, I'm sure you could find her presenting some homophobic stories. I know for a fact you'll find her presenting racist positions on black civilians murdered by police officers.

I'm not here to defend Megyn Kelly. I'm here to say that Nancy Hogshead-Makar did the right thing by speaking on the show. The NCAA swimming championships are two months away. The NCAA has been dead silent. USA Swimming has been dead silent.

Should Nancy keep waiting around for liberal media outlets to call her back while Thomas continues competing? Would that political purity help women in swimming in any way? Nancy knows that it wouldn't. She knows what she's doing. She's been a Title IX attorney and women's rights advocate for 30 years.

#Youtube

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verobatto · 4 years ago

Text

Destiel Chronicles

Vol. CII

It was a love story from the very beginning.

The Bad Joke and The Scoobynatural

(13x14/13x15)

Hello there!!! This time I'm gonna talk about one of the most OOC episodes ever and one of our favs episodes Scoobynatural. I put them together bc one was so bad I needed some fresh air. Hehehehe.

Let's start!

So OOC that hurts...

Episode 13x15 "A Most Holly Man" was written by Dabb but also by Robert Singer.

This episode was odd, with easy bad jokes, and OOC. It also had Wincest subtext, and it was very messy.

If you rewatch the entire season, this episode seems to be out of context. If they've wouldn't put the search for the element they needed for the spell, it could have been passed as an episode from another show.

I could write more criticism, but let's just talk about little pieces of dialogue that worked as clues, I'm very sure it were put by Dabb (even if I dislike his writing) more than Singer.

The three elements the gangsters wanted to get were:

Incense: Is used by christian rituals to elevate prayers and gifts from the parishioners to God. This could be speaking of Chuck coming in the next season.

Chalice: The chalice represents sacrifice for christianity. The Holt Blood of Jesus Christ that have his life for humanity. So, is talking about a future huge sacrifice. It could be taken for Dean and his Mal'ak box or Castiel in 15x18.

Skull: it's related to death, and it could be speaking of Mary Winchester death in season 14.

Another little take from this episode was this little piece of dialogue:

MARGARET: Oh, don’t thank me yet. Greenstreet has all the trappings of a gentleman, but… I would advise caution.

Okay subtle, but not that much. The last name is a combination of two words GREEN and STREET, it's obviously related to Dean, and the quote after this 'has all the trappings is a gentleman, but... I would advise caution." It's obviously talking about AUMichael!Dean.

A brief comment about the Wincest subtext... We had Sam flirting with Margaret and Dean showing signs of jealousy, it could be taken as annoyance, but, because is Singer involved, I would say it was intentionally written to be Wincest subtext. And after this we had Dean flirting... Super out of character, with a brunette... With a lame excuse... Unnecessary. But it worked to make this time Sam the jealous one. Connecting the drops, my dears...

Dean has faith again and the distracting rubbing lips...

In this episode we can also rescue another good points as Dean declaring he has faith. Remember at the beginning of the season he was lost and faithless, I ask myself what could happen to make Dean to recover his faith???

Oh yes, Cas is back.

Then the rubbing lips... We had the same gesture from Cas in the previous episode, so, I wrote two entire metas about how Dabb team used the hands to show foreshadow. So I truly thought Dean and Cas would kiss... Hehehehe. It could fit perfectly, but nah.

This episode also talked about how a priest, a righteous, a saint man, was trying to get the most precious thing for his community.

Trying to get back the most important thing he had, willing to make any sacrifice for it, it's the same would lead Dean to say 'yes' to Michael. When Lucifer kidnaps Sam and Jack.

(This could be just nice because family, and because Dean raised Sam, so Sam represents a son and such, but, because is Singer... Wincest again.)

Another piece of dialogue I found is the following...

FATHER LUCCA: (...)And what your brother’s doing, it’s a good thing.

DEAN: Yeah, or a stupid thing.

FATHER LUCCA: Or both. Many times, they can be the same.

This is telling Castiel's name, Because Dean is always asking him not to do stupid things.

Another foreshadow was Father Lucca talking about Lying is wrong, is a sin. This was the preamble to one of the most revealing episode that will bring Chuck back. The episode in which Jack erase the ability of telling lies in the whole world population.

Dean's cave meaning and visual narrative.

Episode 13x16 was full of symbolism, and is one of my fav episodes.

At first, we had Dean fighting against a huge green dinosaur, practically a monster in green. Just like the Squirrel/Godzilla in one t-shirt we'll see in episode 14x04, is representing DEAN, his inner photography of himself. He sees himself as a monster.

Everytime we see SCOOBY-DOO in Supernatural, it's related to Dean's innocence and purity. Those qualities on him will be the key to release him from his emotional prison in season 14.

Visual Narrative in Dean's cave

Let's talk about the Dean's cave. When Dean says to Sam "Be like Elsa, let it be," he's referring here to the most deepest feelings and fears. Elsa released what she had tried to repress her entire life, her powers. And once she accepted what she really was, she was really free.

This will happen to Dean too, the process had just started. Now that he got Cas back, and now that deep inside he had accepted he can't live without the angel, he will slowly be able to embrace his bisexuality, to accept who he really is. The climax of this metamorphosis it's gonna be describer through the whole season 14. It's the birth of Healing!Dean.

Dean's cave represents that. First of all I want you to know that the Dean's cave had been made to watch movies with Castiel. It's subtextually displayed by the location of the two couches and the color of the lights in front of them: RED AND BLUE. Those are Dean and Castiel's places. That place had been built to share time with his angel.

Gif credit @out-in-the-open

Fred and Daphne were Dean's bisexuality representation.

Mostly than Dean having a crush over the two characters (openly with Daphne and repressed over Fred) both characters were representing Dean's bisexuality (just like Pamela and himself in Rocky's bar and his friend and the waitress in 15x07).

When they had to team up (just like in 14x04) we had Sam and Vilma represented the insight, the intelligence. (Just like Sam and Sam). Castiel pairing up with Yaggy and Scooby, the innocence and the talking dog, the most precious thing for Dean. (Remember Dean would take a bullet for that dog, that's why Cas was compared several times in season 12 with a dog, and that's why Dean follows him anywhere to keep him safe after suffering his lost).

Gif set credit @gentleman-demon

Finally, the bisexual team Dean with Fred and Daphne. In one opportunity Dean asks Daphne what does she sees in a man. Without mentioning she loves ascots, what this symbolically represents is Dean asking to his female side what she really likes to see in man. And we have Fred related to blue color, as a switch mirror with Castiel. Also because Daphne describes the perfect man as STRONG AND HONEST. Which are characteristics related to Castiel.

Castiel's entrance a la 4x01 and the dinosaur in love

Castiel enters in the mansion the same way he did in 4x01, stormy, mysteriously, and bright.

Immediately after his entrance, we had this weird dialogue...

DEAN: It's a book we're writing. Yeah, about...killer stuffed dinosaurs. It's called...

CASTIEL: "The Killer Stuffed Dinosaur in Love."

FRED: Huh. Great title.

SCOOBY: Yeah. Great title.

"It's a book we are writing " this is very meaningful Because, the book they're writing despite the one Chuck is writing, is Team Free Will, but... We are talking about DESTIEL. Dean and Cas are writing their own story... Why? Because when they mention the title of that book is... The KILLER (Do you remember REGARDING DEAN? another brief appearence of Scooby Doo and Dean's innocence? In which Rowena told him he was a killer? So yes, Dean sees himself as a killer, that's why the image of a monster, a green DINOSAUR, and huge Godzilla Squirrel... But this KILLER GREEN DINOSAUR has a very important characteristic HE IS IN LOVE. DEAN IS IN LOVE, as he confessed in 14x12.

Do I have to explain how writers connect d Castiel's first entrance in 4x01 with this book they're writing as they go? The book is named DESTIEL.

Jealous!Castiel and the little scared ghost boy

I loved the scene in which Daphne freshly confesses Dean grabbed the ghost by the thigh and immediately Cas shows his jealousy over that.

Gif set credit @tearsofgrace

But There's another almost at the end of the episode in which Dean mentions his affair with the Cartwright Twins and Cas asks about that, and Dean's face is priceless. Because if CAS would just represent a friend to him, he were absolutely explaining to him what happened with those twins, but he didn't. Why? Because Castiel is not just a friend. Castiel is Dean's love interest. So... Better not to talk about it.

Gif set credit @sssssssim

But let's jump over the symbolism of the trapped child ghost.

BOY: I'm not. I never wanted to hurt anyone. But the bad man, he makes me.

CASTIEL: The bad man?

BOY: His name is Jay.

I want to point here we are inside of Dean's head as you've noticed so far, so... Velma is Dean's intelligence and reason, and is linked with Sam (just like in episode 14x04 in which we had the scooby-doo box opening the locked door). Yaggy and Scooby are the innocence and love, part of Dean and linked to Castiel. And Daphne and Fred are Dean's bisexuality. But There's another huge character inside of him THE MONSTER. The monster, the one he has to defeat, is represented by JOHN WINCHESTER'S TOXIC HERITAGE AND AUMICHAEL, they're part of his toxicity, his rage, his violence. The little ghost here is all the good inside of Dean, his childhood, his innocence, but the bad man who obligates him to kill, it's his inner monster. So this is a war between TOXIC!DEAN and HEALING!DEAN as we will see in season 14.

BOY: When I died, my soul was tied to a pocketknife. My dad gave it to me. It meant everything. When Jay found me, he used me to...Sometimes, I get so angry I break things, hurt people.

John Winchester's toxic heritage implies the GUILT. So, Dean's soul is tied to that GUILT. Jay represents AUMichael here, when AUMichael finds this tool, the guilt, he uses it against Dean to control him. The boy says he gets angry, he breaks things and hurts people. He's describing perfectly Dean's toxicity. His violence. We will see it in this season but also, at the end of season 14.

To Conclude:

In episode 13x15 we had a very OOC bad episode, but with a few clues for foreshadows.

Episode 13x16 was a travel through Dean's innocence, inner thoughts and repressed feelings. It's a preamble to Healing!Dean season and how Dean will be able to break free from his emotional prison, defeating his inner monster.

Hope you liked this meta, see you in the next one!

Tagging @magnificent-winged-beast @emblue-sparks @weird-dorky-little-d @michyribeiro @whyjm @legendary-destiel @a-bit-of-influence @thatwitchydestielfan @misha-moose-dean-burger-lover @lykanyouko @evvvissticante @savannadarkbaby @dea-stiel @poorreputation @bre95611 @thewolfathedoor @charlottemanchmal @neii3n @deathswaywardson @followyourenergy @dean-is-bi-till-i-die @hekatelilith-blog @avidbkwrm @anarchiana @dickpuncher365 @vampyrosa @authorsararayne @mybonsai1976 @love-neve-dies @dustythewind @wayward-winchester67 @angelwithashotgunandtrenchcoat @trashblackrainbow @deeutdutdutdoh @destiel-shipper-11 @larrem88 @charmedbycastiel @ran-savant @little-crazy-misha-minion @samoosetheshipper

@shadows-and-padlocked-hearts @mishtho @dancingtuesdaymorning @nerditoutwithbooks @mikennacac73 @justmeand-myinsight @idontwantpeopletoknowmyname @teddybeardoctor @pepevons @helevetica @isthisdestiel @dizzypinwheel @jawnlockwinchester @horsez2 @qanelyytha

@destielle @spnsmile @shippsblog @robot-feels @superlock-in-the-tardis @superduckbatrebel @2musiclover2 @madronasky @anon-non2 @cea1996 @lisafu02 @asphodelesauvage @destiels-canonahhhhhhhhhh

If you want to be added or removed from this list just let me know.

If you wanna read the previous metas from season 13 here you have the links...

Vol. XCIII, XCIV, XCV, XCVI, XCVII, XCVIII, XCIX, C, CI.

Buenos Aires, February 28 2020, 2:23 PM

#destiel chronicles #destiel #destiel meta #Supernatural meta #season 13 meta #13x15 meta #13x16 meta #Scoobynatural #Scoobynatural meta #Castiel #Dean is bi #Dean Winchester #Sam Winchester

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rpbetter · 3 years ago

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Wha-? Now people are labeling muns who just play devil's advocate and don't have strong feelings either way about what other people write? I didn't sign up to be a 'proshipper' just for not caring what other people ship. I don't care about a lot of things. Why the label for this particular thing? It sounds so dumb, like a way to yank in more muns who just want to mind their own business into drama and 'sides'. I agree with your post, I'm just angry at the rpc for being babies. And the labels...

I'm always angry at the RPC for being babies and the labels, it's alright, Anon.

I believe (and I could be wrong, because for the most part, I tried to stay out of any and all fandom-related things for years and years - I just want to enjoy the movie/shows/books, I don't need or want to discourse about that shit, you know?) that all of those terms originated in fandom, outside/predating transfer to the RPC.

I know when I encountered them initially, it was in fandom, not the RPC part of fandom...and at that time, it was just the label of people being "antis." A label they gave themselves by, literally, asserting themselves as "anti-character here-."

It's been my supposition that the RPC's transition to being more canon character and fandom-based than OC-preferred led to an organic transfer of more fandom-specific terminology (and behaviors). As places like twitter and tumblr became hubs of fandom and RPCs, they brought tags to the table. While that is an absolutely wonderful thing, it also means that we all started out tagging things with good intentions, only meant to be tags. You could tag something, pulling from a random fandom here, "anti-Daryl Dixon" from TWD and the plethora of fans who love that character could block it. It was a peacekeeping measure at that state, not a flag for discourse and drama.

Tag-language influencing and becoming an organic part of language, in general, is a whole other, though fascinating, topic, so I'm going to just leave that there. The point is, it happened.

And unfortunately, you quickly got people popping "anti-whatever" in their bios and blog descriptions. Not as a means of allowing others to avoid it, but as a means of making it really clear that they despised the character, fandom, ship, whatever. With purity culture 3.5 hitting in earnest, the reasons for despising those things became raised stakes. It wasn't a basis of simply disliking them anymore - you needed a dissertation how this thing was morally objectionable and destroying the world. Anyone disagreeing with you, by that logic, is morally reprehensible themselves and must be stopped. Raised stakes.

Actions cause reactions, too. People started making it clear that they were "pro" whatever, too. These became opposing designations, and honestly, I'm not sure who started up "proshipper" first. I only know I saw it being used negatively first, that doesn't mean it happened that way! What I've seen has been the entire ship/write/like what you want crowd being given that label negatively and taking it up themselves in the same way people are given to take up a lot of things they've been negatively called.

By "what I've seen," I don't just mean witnessing it happening in the wild lol it happened to me, as well. I reblogged a post about how shipping wasn't activism, and got an anon informing me that I was a disgusting proshipper (every time I reblog that, I get at least one person popping off in my RP inboxes, actually, it hasn't slowed down any). At which point, I, too, was very much like, I'm a what now? Yes, I am okay with shipping? What the hell is this person even on about?

So, it's my theory that in response to the anti movement, some people stated that they were "pro-ship and let ship" and thus...we got to be "disgusting proshippers."

Regardless, it absolutely is just another way of labeling people in order to single them out and/or keep feeding drama, yes.

And again, I feel you. I know labels, good, bad, reclaimed, whatever, seem to give a lot of people a grounded sense of identity, but I've always been uncomfortable with them. I don't understand the need for them, even if I get that they make others feel a certain way. I just want to feel the way I do, be the person I am, and have that person engaged with based singularly on my actions.

It's alright if someone else wants to freely label themselves in a way they feel is positive (though, I do wish that younger people, especially in the queer community didn't have this batshit pressure to do so, and correctly, the first time), but they've always felt threatening and restrictive to me.

As such, having people create and bestow a label on me for the purpose of designating me a problem is kind of an uncomfortable realization of why I feel negative about them. I don't like it, and it's part of why I don't like the bullshit of making this distinction in DNIs. By doing so, they're literally as hell singling people out...with a negative label they gave them for the criminal act of feeling like it's absurd to police fiction, instead, expecting adults to behave like adults when engaging with fiction and each other.

It's honestly forcing hostility and drama, when the point of being ship/write/like and let ship/write/like is not having that hostility and drama. It's merely a live and let live mentality, that's what y'all are attacking! The labeling is a rotting cherry on top that is so indicative of this same, legitimately problematic, behavior that goes on in the extremism I talked about in the post you referenced. It's...gross, let's just say that.

And I'm really sorry that it makes you upset, too! You don't have to label yourself, you can reject that and refuse to engage with those using it in this negative way. That makes me feel considerably less annoyed and disturbed! I'll totally joke about it, as I do fall into the designated parameters of being both "proship" and "anti-anti," but I don't actually label myself thus. I only consider myself a reasonable adult who has better and more serious shit going on than to worry about what fiction someone else is writing or enjoying.

Just...do be aware that, like myself and others, you're likely to be labeled if one of these hostile parties sees you reblog the "wrong" thing or make the "wrong" statement. You are being labeled in those DNIs for your viewpoint of wishing to avoid absurd drama. So, I'd advise, for your peace of mind, to try to avoid blogs stating that they're "anti" anything but drama/bullying etc., or who feel it necessary to put up those DNIs. You are who they're talking about, they just don't know it because you're not labeling yourself or being otherwise obvious about it :/

Try your best to avoid that changing, you deserve to peacefully enjoy RP! As disturbing as it is, as rightfully upset about it as you are, maybe it's a good thing you found out? In this way, I mean. Without someone bringing it to your inbox hatefully. Now you know what it means, that they mean you, and you can stay away from it! Try to look at it that way - there will always be people weirdly desperate to make their drama hobby everyone else's problem, you can only make an effort to stay out of it if you know what to look for, right?

I hope any of this made you feel better about the fresh hell that is the RPC lol keep doing you, Anon! You're not the problem, infantile drama mongers are <3

#answered #anonymous #post and ask replies #rpc terms #fandom history #potentially #tumblr rpc #dni lists

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