#Not mine but this seems like something that folks who follow this blog may find useful!

[epickiya722]

Y'know the bnha fandom is annoying but it's 99% bc of the bigoted, sexist, mysogynistic fucks there. Not gay shippers. They make that 1% but literally any fandom has that, so it's not like it's anything new or unique to bnha.

And what i find worse, is all of that bigotry gets a bunch of people to believe bnha is a bigoted story as well. But it's all deflected by outsiders getting mad at gay shippers.

Like, you can say stuff abt Hori's writting, but i'm pretty sure he never went out of his way to affirm this hatred, and it pains me when people get on to putting words on his mouth and acting like it's a fact.

THANK YOU!! Let me pass you a mic so people can hear you loud and clear because OMG!!

Every time I hear "BNHA fandom is toxic" I think of several things...

Don't act as if your fandom is any better

Every fandom has those toxic people

If you are constantly surrounded by toxicity GET FROM AROUND IT

People be acting so brand new, it annoys me.

Especially people outside of fandoms.

Once, I got someone in the Stranger Things fandom reblog a Bakugou post of mine, thinking they were cute being a troll and I blocked them. Checked their blog out and they had NOTHING pertaining to BNHA, NOTHING.

I forgot what they said but it was enough to piss me off. Look, I deal with enough idiots within the fandom, I don't need your dumb ass.

It just surprises me people think BNHA is the first and only fandom to act chaotic. Acting like ship wars is something the BNHA fandom made up.

Ooooh, not long after that incident, I witness a ship war in the Stranger Things fandom through the blogs I follow. I never been so quick to dip out and write that day.

People don't find it strange that gay shippers often get blamed? It doesn't click that it's easy for gay shippers to get blamed? Do you really think that people who draw and write their ships are gonna say something outrageous just so they get people mad at them? No one thinks it's the homophobic asshole wanting to cause a problem because they don't like gay ships so they're blaming the shippers? Or the misogynist jerk who believes women should have a certain role in society so they bash the female characters who seem "not like a woman" to them? Or how about the racist who tends to talk over fans of color because they don't want those fans to be heard because HELLO THEY'RE RACIST?!

Like people, open your damn eyes!!!

I also think cultural differences play a part in the stupidity of how people act in fandoms.

I need certain fucking people to understand that something that may seem strange to you may be something normal somewhere else. That doesn't mean you, the damn outsider, speak over and bash the person who knows more about their own culture than you do.

There is a language barrier there, so instead of this whole entitled "I'm right because I don't understand you" attitude, I need people to actually get out that stupid bubble and try to understand. Not just for Horikoshi, but for anybody.

Example, the Christmas episode. The part where Eri was confused about the holidays and she pulled out the beans and say "in sickness and in health", I was confused. Of course, I was. I'm not native to Japan nor am I an expert on Japanese culture. But instead of "That's even a real holiday, blah blah", I read up on it and found out something I didn't know.

So simple, so easy! I rather at least be aware next time than to be like "that's not something I know so therefore it's not important and it's stupid".

Overall, I hope you folks can hear me sighing loudly, people need to stop relying on hearsay. In fact, just stop altogether because a lot of people in fandoms really be doing too much for me.

From these damn ship wars to "Horikoshi said this" *insert nonexistent statement/statement made up by someone else because they're fucking stupid and want to cause drama* to the audacity to be entitled I just want to punch a wall or something. This is why I don't go into certain spaces and block people.

[hillbillyoracle]

Starting a Blog

So occasionally I’ll get asked about blogging/creating longform written content and I wanted to jot down a few thoughts on what I’ve learned over the...fuck, almost 5 years I’ve been working on this blog.

This isn’t to put myself on a pedestal or even suggest that I am good at what I do, but rather just to talk about what I wish I would have known starting out.

Most of this doesn’t strictly go for spirituality blogging, so if you’re interested in some other subject - langblr, personal development, etc - this still might be worth your time.

Mindset Shift

I think the biggest thing that I’ve seen get in the way for folks who are wanted to step up their writing is mindset. A lot of people talk about process and content schedules but very few people talk about what changes they had to make to their mind on order to write so I wanted to share a couple of mine.

Commit Yourself to Sucking at it for 3 years

I was talking to my partner about this the other night. If you can be okay sucking at something for three years that one, shows you must really like it, and two, are in it to get better at the activity, not to show off.

Letting a need for validation drive decisions like writing more publicly is sure to fail. Because while many platforms do try to boost your first few posts so you’ll stick around and chase that high for years to come, that initial influx will tapper off and a good portion of your posts will net low interaction/low shares. If you can’t write for yourself or the one or two people you know for sure who will read it, then at some point, you’re not going to write.

When I was younger, I was really bad at this. I really wanted to use writing to basically justify my existence. I’d failed at so many things and I kept wanting to prove myself through writing. But that need to prove myself never seemed to win out on days when I was really tired or really down - because there was no guarantee that anything would come of it. It was a gamble and my bed was the sure bet.

When I switched to writing mostly for myself and for the handful of students I’d taught tarot to at that point, I was suddenly infinitely more motivated to make write. A student would text me a question and I’d go oh that’d be a great post actually and write it up. I’d get curious about something and dig into it for a few weeks and the write up my thoughts on it so I could find it again later. I didn’t find myself going “ugh I have to write another post this week?” anymore.

Because I liked it enough to suck at it.

Now you may look at my early posts and go - but Marz, those posts are why I follow you. Which is great! But I didn’t care for them then. I wasn’t writing at the level that I wanted to and considered just sending it at a pdf to friends. But I posted them anyways and it turns out you can still reach people who want to have the conversations you do even without writing at the caliber you really wish you could. There’s no need to hold off until you’re “ready”.

Suck at it (by your definition), regularly, for multiple years and eventually, without even really trying, you’ll get kind of good.

Document, Don’t Create

I’ll talk about this more in another section but I think it deserves mentioning as a mindset too. See too many folks think they need to teach and if they don’t have something to teach either they dabble in something for a few weeks (or a few days) and pass themselves off as having expertise or they’ll just not write anything at all. Which is how you get the #witch content being the way it often is on most platforms - mediocre and egoist.

But there is another better, more ethical, way to write and create content - document. If you stop seeing content as a bunch of people who have authority talking about what they deeply know, you’ll start seeing that most people who are successful in their early days are mostly documenting what they do and what does/doesn’t work for them.

This shift does a few things that makes writing way easier. You’re way less defensive of your work because you’re just speaking from your own experience, not defending your expertise. Your ego isn’t in it as much because when people come through with “well you’re actually very wrong” you can see it for what it is - really weird of them. You worry way less about original ideas because it’s not about being different, it’s just you processing what you’re already doing.

How to Document

So “document, don’t create” sounds good in theory but what actual content pieces does that break down into. Well I’ve got a few ideas, but it will always depend on your subject.

Check in + Reflect

This is incredibly straightforward. Look at where you’re at with your topic right now and reflect on it. Are you where you want to be? What’s standing in your way? What can you change and what can’t you change? What resources are you under utilizing? What’s the ideal course of action? What’s the most realistic course of action? What have you learned about yourself so far?

These posts are some of the easiest to write because they require basically no extra work beyond just living your life. These posts are some of the hardest to write because they’re very vulnerable and striking the balance between honesty and dumping on your audience is challenging. They help you by helping you process what’s going on in your life and they help others by giving them a model for how to think through their own life.

Reviews

One post that’s pretty easy to do is review the work other people do. To the degree that you’re able, get the materials people in your community are putting out, read them, take notes, try some techniques from them, and then review the work. This is a good idea at any level - beginners will interact with work very differently than more experiences folks so whatever level you review from, there will be someone else at that level interested to know if it works for them too.

Ideally, grab their paid content where ever possible. This supports your community first and foremost. Also people are often wondering whether shelling out the money for a given resource is useful so your content is valuable to them in that way. Good reviews are often boosted by the people who made whatever it is you’re reviewing too, expanding your reach.

In general, I think it’s best to focus on putting out reviews for things you like and skip on reviewing work that wasn’t helpful - for a few reasons. For a beginner writer, worried what people think of them, it’s way less scary to write a positive review than a negative one. Writing a positive review that’s enjoyable to read is a lot easier technique-wise than writing a pleasant + thoughtful critical review.

The only exception to this I’d say is when you try materials that are very widely recommended and you want to point out something specific about it. It merely being underwhelming doesn’t exactly make for a riveting reading experience. But if you find a work like this that perhaps made your journey harder and you want to give people a heads up (not saying to tear it to shreds here) - then that can be a time when a critical review might both be easier to write and more helpful to an audience generally.

Roundups

Everyone loves a round up. If you’ve been in your subject long enough to have amassed posts and resources you love, themed roundups are an awesome way to organize everything you’ve been consuming into a more useful format for yourself and contribute to your community by curating resources in a way that’s easy for folks who haven’t read as widely. They’re very shareable, which is a bonus, but they’re also supremely useable.

A good roundup takes a lot of work though. Most of which people never see. So it can be tempting to think these are easy to put together. But in reality, it requires liking a subject so much that you consume enough of it to have multiple recommendations for niched down topics within your subject. That is very hard to do on a regular basis in my experience.

If you like doing round ups, it will generally require having both a regular reading schedule and a resurfacing method like Readwise. Check out this system here  if you think you’ll want to do these sorts of posts regularly.

Day in the Life

I know you may think this doesn’t apply to your subject but you’d be surprised. People love seeing how other people live, even if it’s very simple and uninteresting to you. I think one reason people don’t like doint DITL posts is because they feel it would be exposing that they don’t actually do that much and that would damage their credibility. But in actuality, seeing how little it takes to get to the level you’re at is often very inspiring to people.

One thing to be careful of here is lifestyle signalling - focusing on products and practices that can be consumed in order to achieve a similar result. It’s an easy trap to fall into. It’s safer to highlight a product and be like this is what makes my day run smoothly, than to talk about all the failed days you had until you figured out what you needed or just naturally developed more motivation. Don’t displace your discomfort with what you own. Focus on your tasks, routines, and passions.

Challenges + Experiments

Everyone loves a good challenge write up.

Do you want to make a DITL but you’re tempted to add in activities you don’t actually do super regularly? Make a Challenge post instead.

This not only will motivate you to get a given habit established, but focus your mind on evaluating whether the practice is a good fit for you rather than just trying to do it because you think you should. Too often we take on habit because we think this is just what’s necessary when in actuality many habits don’t provide enough value to be worth maintaining them.

I don’t see these very often in #witch spaces which is kind of a shame because I think they’d be much more useful than people talking out of their ass about things they tried a handful of times or endlessly berating themselves about what they “should be doing”. Evaluate, friends, evaluate. I don’t work with most moon phases. I don’t do daily draws on the whole. That all came from evaluating what did and didn’t bring tangible value to my life. I’d love to see more people making posts on “Tried Drawing a Tarot Card Everyday for a Month and Here’s How it Went” rather than people going “oh I really should finish that challenge” again and again.

Do’s And Don’ts

Do Answer Questions + Don’t Bring Up Your Work All the Time

There’s really no need for self promotion, especially if you’ve committed to sucking at this for three years. Too often I have people slide into the comments on my posts or reply to posts I make in other settings with “Here’s my largely unrelated work, you should check it out”. This isn’t community oriented. People who want to know more will ask. You will build far better relationships and far better credibility if you just reply rather than mention/link your stuff all the time.

If someone is asking for a resources and you’ve specifically written about that topic - fantastic! Link to it. But also include at least some of your thoughts in the body of the reply itself.

When commenting on work that someone else has put out and no where have they asked for feedback or help - talking about your own work looks spammy as hell and not only will the post authors not like it, people scrolling through the comments will be put off too. Besides, it detracts from what will actually make you better - writing more of your own work. 

Do Highlight People Doing Good Work + Don’t Expect Anything Back

You should absolutely highlight people doing work you think is awesome. Prior to the Tumblr’s mass exodus a few years ago, a lot of the people I talked with regularly were people who’s work I admired and highlighted frequently. Some of them did the same for me but I’d say most didn’t.

It took me aback when some people started sharing and praising my work a lot and then getting upset with me when I didn’t do the same with their work. It felt crappy and like they’d only shared my work, not out of any excitement for it, but to guilt me into sharing theirs

This is a crappy position to put people in. Recognize most people who’s work you share will appreciate that you do but won’t necessarily highlight yours. It’s okay. The point of sharing good work is to bring it to more people, not to get yours.

In general do what you can to resist a transactional mindset when writing.

Do Be Generous With Your Knowledge + Don’t Try to Profit Off Everything

Especially during your three years of sucking at something, hold off on trying to profit. I fully admit I didn’t take this advice but I really really wish I had. I could have avoided a lot of guilt on my part and disappointment on the part of people who had paid me.

Don’t worry in the beginning about what you will save for “passive income”. Put up a tip jar and call it good. Then just focus on writing consistently and sharing the stuff you’re excited about.

You know what has probably netted me the most tips out of anything I did - that dice divination zine. The first one still has a following and the other two after (which I still put out for free) also still find their way to people. I knew it was something that I didn’t feel comfortable charging for since I wants to refine and iterate on it so for my own sake I put it out for free. People still saw enough value in it to tip me for it which helped me produce the further editions of the zine.

If I’d worried about trying to profit off of it, I would have missed out on the feedback of people who tested it out and I might have made less on it over all. Beyond that though, the connections that one piece has given me with the community are far more valuable than any money I could have made on it.

While yes, we absolutely should pay creators, I think it’s also worth understanding that when your’e starting out, blogging is much closer to busking than a full blown concert. Some people passing through will enjoy your work and have the money to toss you but many people won’t or simply don’t enjoy it and that’s not wrong, it just is. You’re creating, yes, but you’re also essentially practicing in public. Both parties are benefiting from the arrangement even without money passing hands.

Conclusion

I hope this helps someone a little. It’s been on my mind for a while.

I really want to see the quality of content on #witch spaces level up and I know it’s possible. I think egoistic focus on whether people are valid or not really detracts from knowledge sharing and community development as a whole.

So if you’re a lurker and you’ve always wanted to put more of your work out there, I hope this will give you the push. Come suck at this with us. It sure beats waiting on the sidelines hoping to get better.

[iturbide]

You know what? You forced me to start planning a huge post breaking down Faye, so for "revenge" I'm asking you to do one for Robin too! >:) (oh and Grima too if you want, it's always great hearing you talk about them)

MISSION: SUCCESS

but I will take this vengeance challenge starting with my boy

How do I feel about this character?

Look.  Robin has been my Summoner Support character since the day the system launched.  He’s maxed out on dragonflowers at 15.  I sacrificed a 5-star exclusive dagger with a high-rarity and very potent A passive to him over any other possible unit I could have given it to.  I have written just shy of 500k words of Awakening fanfiction in which Robin is a central figure in every story. 

I kind of love Robin a lot.  That may, in fact, be an understatement for my feelings.

Who do I ship this character with romantically?

Theoretically I could ship just about anyone with Robin (with a few exceptions *coughFrederickcough*) but my big ones are Chrom (naturally) and Sumia!  Those two are the ones I most enjoy seeing Robin with since I think they play off one another in really enjoyable ways -- and it’s even better when it’s all three of them together!

Who is my brOTP for this character?

Lissa.  I LOVE Robin and Lissa as best friends and confidantes who can tease each other but will always, always have each other’s backs.  Robin and Henry being super tight as siblings is another favorite dynamic, Robin and Sully is right up there with Robin and Lissa, and when I’m not shipping them Robin and Sumia as best book buddies is near and dear to my heart.  Also Gaius, Libra, Panne, and Kellam -- I love Robin and Kellam bonding so much it does my heart good (which is why so many of these relationships are, in fact, integral to Future Built).

What’s my Unpopular Opinion™ about this character?

oh boy I have a million of these haha but the biggest one that really is an unpopular opinion is that Robin is proud of their Plegian heritage and would never EVER forsake it.  I’ve seen a not insignificant amount of fanart that puts Robin into clothing that’s clearly Ylissean in cut, style, and/or pattern, and this drives me up the wall because Robin is canonically one of our very few characters of Plegian heritage, someone who goes around throughout the entire game in a coat that bears the literal emblem of Grima in the eye-patterned sleeves -- something that’s preserved in their Grandmaster class, no less, rather than quietly done away with.  That coat is clearly important to them, and deep down -- even with all their memories buried out of direct reach -- I think their cultural heritage as a Plegian is of the utmost importance to them, such that they would only go without some show or sign or it if they were forced to do so. 

Basically, in my personal opinion, Robin should always have Plegian touches in whatever they wear but ESPECIALLY if it’s otherwise Ylissean in appearance.  Erasing Robin’s Plegian heritage is really gross to me personally, and funny enough, even IntSys didn’t do that for once, so fandom should really have no excuse.

What’s one thing I wish would have happened with this character in canon?

For Robin?  Either meeting their mom should she still be alive, or at least getting back their memories.  It does make sense that Robin started the game as an amnesiac because it let us learn through them, and made a lot of the revelations really pack a punch -- but after a certain point?  I really, really wish that Robin’s memories would have come back to them so that we could find out more of who they were before and what their experiences had been.  Even before a full return of those memories, they could have done simple things, stuff like reactions based on muscle memory or reflexive training that surprise them sometimes, or stated feelings of deja vu -- but later in the game (and supports) I really wish they would have give us something that tells us more about their life; what would be especially nice is if those returning memories involve Grimleal rituals or teachings, because I think it would have been really powerful to have someone we love and care for so much (as our player avatar) shining a better light on the much-maligned faith of Ylisse’s neighboring nation.

I’m very, very biased about that, though.

and BONUS: Grima time

How do I feel about this character? 

I’m pretty sure that at one point, if you searched up the #grima tag, mine was one of the top blogs that came up (though I’ve been getting lazy and tagging less by character lately so I’ve fallen out of there).  I’m also pretty sure that most of the people following me ended up here because of all the Grima content I started pouring out when the first one dropped in Heroes.  Grima is one of those characters who I write about exhaustively and who subtly manages to play a role in most of my Awakening fic, including the ones where they don’t physically appear (I call those Grima Sightings and frankly I would love it if people tried to spot them). 

...I think Grima has just taken over a part of my brain and to be perfectly honest I’m okay with that.

Who do I ship this character with romantically? 

Emmeryn.  That’s it.  That’s the only character I have ever or frankly will ever ship Grima with because that was already something that came out of left field I literally cannot imagine anyone else managing to spark the same reaction a second time.

Who is my brOTP for this character? 

Robin, honestly.  I love the idea of Robin and Grima interactions where the two end up becoming close as friends and confidantes, regardless of the situation.  Is it kind of heartbreaking when it’s the whole “Grima’s in control and Robin’s in the backseat” situation?  Undoubtedly, but it’s also really moving to consider that they might learn how to work together and help each other and work toward a shared purpose. 

And also Grima getting parenting advice from Robin in Heroes during the early days of the creche is A+++ in my opinion.

What’s my Unpopular Opinion™ about this character? 

Aside from the idea that Grima is in fact the most parental of dragons and broods in the literal chicken sense or my giant conspiracy theory that Grima came to the past to do the same thing Lucina did (avert the ruined future)?  It’s probably that Grima is not an instigator of conflict or chaos: they’re antisocial and would prefer to distance themselves for the sake of having some peace and quiet rather than getting dragged into yet more conflict based on human preconceptions or judgments based on appearance. 

Fandom at large loves to play Grima as unrelenting evil and constantly in competition with the Awakening folks (especially the Exalted lineage) but...that doesn’t make any sense to me personally?  Grima hasn’t really asked for anything that’s happened to them: they’ve been used and abused by humanity by their own admission, and Validar is just the latest in the line to do the same, causing unspeakable harm for the sole purpose of raising Grima to destroy the world at his own bidding.  Yeah, maybe Grima doesn’t have the best feelings toward the Exalted Lineage, but also why would Grima be the one picking the fight?  If you mess with Grima the Fell Dragon will step up (Vengeful Fighter is their innate B passive in Heroes, quite likely for a reason), but I really don’t see them going out of their way to cause trouble.  They just want to be left in peace, but humans really don’t seem to get that.  Yes, the fanart can be funny, but it also rings false to me, because I really think Grima would just flat-out ignore the Exalted lineage unless they make the confrontation, at which point Grima won’t hold back.

What’s one thing I wish would have happened with this character in canon? 

First of all I really do wish we could have seen a peaceful resolution with Grima rather than having to destroy them, especially considering that the Fell Dragon really didn’t seem all that interested in hurting anybody even after raising the dragon form (see the aforementioned conspiracy theory).  Grima has been hurt so many times throughout their life that I think it would have been deeply meaningful if we could have reached out in an attempt at understanding, to have come to a non-violent resolution, and found peace without someone needing to die for once.  When Grima purposefully abstains from nuking the group that poses a threat to their life upon resurrecting their impossibly huge and powerful dragon form and instead flies out over the ocean -- so far they need Naga herself to teleport them -- it kind of says a lot about how much Grima really wants to fight (answer: they clearly don’t).

Other than that, though?  Just...give us more of Grima in general.  Tell us more about their history, especially the thousand years between their emergence from Thabes Labyrinth and their fall at the hands of the First Exalt.  I want to know more of that history, I want to see how they treated the humans that flocked to them, even knowing that those same humans would eventually break Grima’s spirit.  We just have so few crumbs about Grima, I want more than anything to get a meal instead.

Give Me a Character

[witchcraftingboop]

Re: Jbird & RainS. (Briar) Discourse

Previously, I have spoken with the person who made very serious allegations against JBird, calling him a racist, that were then used by others to spread slander against him. They have since apologized and admitted that JBird isn't a racist, and I genuinely think there was a stark miscommunication that went on to prompt such a claim. I don't want to name them or involve them here, since I do believe they've already reflected enough on the situation at hand, and is still deeply considering the multi-faceted hornet's nest of problems they've stumbled upon.

However, in light of the blatant dismissal and refusal to submit actual proof against the two, I feel as if I should share the information I offered this person before.

If you are basing your arguments against Jbird and Briar off of the previous, separate Discord group discussions of Trio & co. - screenshots of which have been, and continue to be spread years later, by Prim - then I especially implore you to be open to what I have to say. As a third party to this continually and rapidly spiralling debacle, I feel like there's not much I can say or do to assist my friends in being heard, but I feel as if I ought to try. Prim's following is large and actively prepared to follow her "do not interact even to ask questions" policy, so I worry it may be too late already. But I am not without hope or faith.

Tumblr is, unfortunately, a place where hate spreads rapidly, and while I do love the broad community it fosters, I am also aware that, even with the best of folks, it is hard to see the side of someone you've already decided is guilty and not worth approaching for an explanation.

First and foremost, I believe in innocence until proven guilty.

Now then! Onto my offered commentary/input! (Sorry to prattle on so much.)

To start, thedesertgod, also known as Trio, did go through and look for her personal information, which is messed up. But that person has already apologized, if I'm remembering correctly, and left Tumblr. And the other main user who helped spread information about Prim being a race faker also admitted wrong and left. The others in the chat, particularly Mystic and Ronan appear to just be making jokes and stating factual informative summaries, respectively. E-muete also said "ok no" after the Dolezal comment, which is a common "no that's too far a comparison/joke/statement" substitute among their forums and chats and often means they don't actually agree with what they themselves said. Ruby also politely reminds Trio that it's impossible to tell someone's race off of their appearance alone. So what I see here is definitely problematic, but entirely on Trio's part. I'm not saying it's not screwed up to find pictures of someone's parents and debate their race, but the persons who did those things have already left the Tumblrsphere.

Unfortunately, the people you've pointed out don't have a good history with Prim even before the whole "Trio nitpicking her race" thing. Prim used to follow more than a few of them and use their posts to fuel her platform, oftentimes creating uninformed mish-mosh articles with a voice of authority that simply wasn't warranted. As I'm sure you're aware, it's hard enough dealing with people stealing your content word for word, but to attempt to steal your knowledge? Your initiations and rites of passage? And use them to sell yourself as a master of a breadth of practices? The tradcrafters of that particular circle decided to band together and block her from interacting with them directly for that very reason. And because of that, Prim started telling her followers that they are all racist and elitist and ableist and gatekeepers. These terms over the years have become almost like triggers in that once they're said, everyone seems to put on a blindfold and fall into a frenzied rage. And to be fair, Prim is far too quick, in my opinion, to bring up racism as the reason others disagree with her. Most times, I've noticed at least, that if she calls someone racist or says they're unsupportive of POC, she nearly immediately brings up BLM activism in her posts or reblogs. I'm not saying I necessarily support calling all of her activistic inclinations performative, but where the tradcradt group she calls racist is more than willing to talk of and show proof of their contribution, Prim never has and avoids it if asked. I can see both sides, really. But the fact remains that calling someone performative in their actions, does not a racist make. Neither, in my opinion, does interacting with people who are assumed (without real and concrete proof) to be racist.

I can appreciate where you're coming from; honestly, I can. People have grown accustomed to hearing the prefix trad- and preparing for the worst. Racism is a systematic and prevailing problem in the society all around us, so it makes sense to be on the lookout for it. You want to protect yourself and your community. I can understand your sentiments perfectly. But I cannot support "guilty by association" viewpoints. As a WOC who grew up in some rough areas, I have seen boys killed under that very same reasoning. Jbird is a good friend of mine, and I have never questioned his morals or ethics. I have seen no sign of my being looked down upon for the color of my skin, nor anyone else who runs in that very same circle.

What I see is what I see in a lot of faces on this hellsite: hurt. Before Trio and after Trio left, the tradcraft community has been slandered and ostracized. They have shut themselves off to outsiders for the very thing you've done to Jbird just yesterday. They hold their secrets closer than most other communities now because persecution is seemingly forever at their door. On Prim's end too, there has been struggle and pain and needless arguing and hurt. If those you approach seem prickly, it is often because the world has roughened their edges, not because they personally are against you.

I asked for a couple examples from the group and one person (I'll keep them anonymous because I didn't confirm they'd like their name here) said: she has talked about saint magic (trio), hadean pamphlet (trio), hubris (Ruby), fairies, trad craft shit (Mahigan among others), etc etc

From what I personally have seen, her most recent was the Witch Fire podcast. A few tradcraft blogs had a debate/discussion about Witch Fire and its traditional eurocentric foundations in witchcraft not that long ago, and then Prim decided to put out a podcast that was so uninformed, I'm still worried about how younger or newer witches might be hurt by it.

Unfortunately the tradcraft community is vulnerable to that kind of thing [being called names or falsely accused] and an easy target. That's why being called those kind of harsh words - like gatekeeping, elitist, racist, and ableist - are met with so much anger from them. I take it very seriously because I've seen the kind of whiplash it has, especially on such a closed off group.

[A Reply.] Yeah no, Prim "apologizes" by talking about how she's been previously given a hard time with interjections of "but please don't go around spreading hate" and never directly apologizes to the tradcrafter in such posts. Unfortunately, her "apology" did more harm than good. I was hoping she'd just ignore it but . . . This tends to happen too 🤦‍♀️

I think that if both sides were able to approach it as openmindedly as you have, there would be a lot less drama and in-fighting on this app 😩 I really did enjoy talking with you though!

That just about covers everything I'd like to say on the matter.

I do not condone spreading hate, just as I don't condone misinformation or blind allegiance to what one person says. So if you can respectfully and openmindedly address your questions/comments/concerns, I don't see why you can't interact with Briar, Jbird, or myself. I understand it's easy to get caught up in the first perspective you're given, but it is my hope that Witchblr as a whole can be more open to hearing both sides of the story. Blindly blocking and cancelling certain bloggers is something I don't support nor encourage. I understand Prim must be tired of addressing all of the drama that churns around her, so I won't speak as to what her reasoning could be for suggesting such a solution. I'm simply stating what I hope for the community as a whole.

| | Note: The statements above were written early (I think, my sense of time is off) yesterday, and as of yet, I have still seen no concrete evidence that Briar or Jbird have ever made racist comments. On Briar's part, I have seen her observation that activism on a performative platform such as Tumblr can come off as performative, but she never once said she doesn't know or see why Prim would support and promote BLM activism. Something I think was misconstrued and lumped all together to sound as if she thought Prim were faking her contributions altogether. | |

[rrrawrf-writes]

lordy lordy loo it’s been a hot minute since i’ve made an original post, i forgot where the button was

so. some of you may have seen the stuff running around about violetvineyard and mvcreates, some of you may not have. i’m just gonna lay out my experiences here, now that other people are talking about it and now that the server has been deleted. i’m gonna try to present a fair and nuanced version; i’m not gonna include screenshots (right now) bc i’m lazy, mostly.

there are several other people who are putting up way better breakdowns than i am. i just figured i might as well toss mine onto the pile bc why not? but if you’re hoping to hear from me a story about how i’ve been wronged, per se, you won’t find much of one, because i played mainly a spectator role, and never had much trouble there. i will have a vague, lukewarm defense of some of the people involved that other people may not agree with, but again, this is all just the whole VV deal from my point of view.

@nuwuhorizons (i haven’t said how dang much i lOVE your url) and @sapiencenotes have very good receipts and breakdowns. if you want a more in-depth (and dramatic, forgive me for using the word, i’m not trying to downplay this), check them out. @time-to-write-and-suffer also has some great stuff on their blog about all of this.

all righty. so. i joined VV not right at the beginning, but soon after it was started. there was an application process, i got accepted, i was looking for a community to help me start writing more. (it didn’t help, but that’s not their fault, that’s mine.) the person who owned the server was called mina, and on tumblr, mina’s url was mvcreates. mina is a nonbinary Muslim woman of color, a professional who i believe works at harvad and deals a lot with things like infectious diseases, iirc. she was doing a whole lot of work when the pandemic came around, and so the past few months wasn’t quite as active as she had been at the start, both on the server and tumblr. 

the very first time mina came on my radar, before i joined vv, was because she had corrected someone’s typo on a post, and it stirred up a minor drama about “don’t give unsolicited criticism” and “is pointing out minor errors like that okay” and blahblahblah. i ran across that on a friend’s dash, and also ran across the promo for vv from that friend’s dash, as well, and joined bc y not.

everything was p cool for a while. it was nice to meet some new people and some of my mutuals on there. mina seemed like a fun person. she was about a year, year and a half, maybe, older than i am. the first things that kind of started rubbing me wrong at the start was how she would kind of dismiss suggestions for the server than i and a friend had, and how she kept bringing up her age - she would often say things like “well i wouldn’t do that but i’m an Old(TM) so maybe i just don’t get it” and i can’t really explain why that bothered me. i think it felt dismissive, like Younger Folks Don’t Know How Things Should Work. also, like. she kept bringing it up. as if it meant something, as if plenty of us on that server weren’t actually around her age. there was a convo on vaccinations where i wanted to make the point that a lot of anti-vaxxers should be educated instead of ridiculed and shamed, but i never really got to making that point bc she jumped in very sharply and explained that anti-vaxxers all come from a class of people who are generally educated. i didn’t bother saying anything else. 

at the start, it was tiny little things like that. i chalked it up to her personality and mine just not quite matching up. i sat down a lot and examined my own internal biases, bc i knew something was bugging me, but i couldn’t tell if it was legitimate, or if i was jealous and petty, or if i was being discriminatory towards her identity. i still wonder that a lot; i want to be careful that i’m examining her actions here, and not the person who made those actions.

because the other thing that bothered me was that she was perfect at pretty much everything. she was a decent, if not good, writer, from what i read. i thought her “art”/edits were neat, even if sometimes i looked at them going “that just looks like an edit, not your own art, but u kno, edits are art too, so i’m not gonna say anything.” she had a lot of motivation, a lot of ambition. soon, this kind of transferred over into me feeling like she acted like she had to be perfect at everything. i think this is probably one of the more “lisa is just being petty” things, rather than a judgement on her character, but she seemed to flaunt her own skills and accomplishments a lot. not that no one is allowed to brag sometimes! but it was just another layer of “this bothers me.”

then there was the hero worship.

people in the server loved mina. i liked her. i had no problems with her, even if there were a few things i was a little “ehhhh” about. vv got pretty big, pretty quickly, and i assume there was a decent amount of turnover and people who just joined to lurk or sometimes share things in the promos channel or elsewhere. but the most active folks just. they adored mina with every fiber of their being. mina could do no wrong. no one ever called her out on anything; everything she did was hailed as fantastic and wonderful. and honestly, for the most part, it wasn’t like she was doing crappy stuff. some of the praise was well-deserved, imo, but it just bordered on embarrassing for some of these people, how much they just worshipped the ground she walked on.

and she didn’t really like, discourage it. like, at the start, i think i remember her being more modest, but in general, she just let it go, and so did i, bc like. i aint that kinda jerk.

the stated purpose of violetvineyard was to have a community that valued reciprocity. reciprocity was mina’s biggest thing. there was a channel for people to post their stuff on, so the rest of us could browse and read and reblog. i, admittedly, didn’t do as much of that as i wish i did, but part of it was because i do have a life outside of the internet, a memory and attention span the size of a gnat, and because like. 90% of the stuff that people put in the promos channel were things like edits, writeblr intros, wip intros, etc etc, when all i wanted was to just read some actual writing. but that’s neither here nor there. what got hilarious to me, though, was whenever mina’s fervent admirers would talk about how mina was, quote, a pillar of the community. how vv was doing something No Other Writeblr Group Had Done Before. how Important and Special this server was.

folks. i’ve been on here for several years now. we don’t have a community. we have a bunch of little cliques who reblog from their friends and complain about people not reblogging them. noah fence, but come on. vv got pretty dang big, but it was still a small corner of a small section of tumblr. like. sorry, all y’all, but them’s the breaks.

also, this was hilarious to me bc there are several big writeblrs who have been running around long before mina and vv showed up. yet, according to these people in the server, mina had Single-handedly Brought Hope To This Desolate Wasteland.

in the end, vv became just another little clique whose members reblogged from their friends. i don’t want to devalue the good that did come out of vv. a lot of the picture being painted rn was that the majority of the server were scary dog-piling people. the majority of the server were just writeblrs looking to promo their stuff and talk about their writing. unfortunately, few bad apples, bad rep, negatives outshine positives, etc etc. but i think it did do some good re: exposure for a few folks, even tho it didn’t turn into what it could have been. 

another one of the things that was a minor irritant to me was that they eventually started archiving the vent channel, which was probably the most-used channel. that didn’t sit right to me, but as always, i was a coward had nothing to say about it, so i didn’t. the reason given was that there were often things in the vent channel that people might regret being there, so it was periodically archived and a fresh channel started.

so i’m rambling a lot about stuff that’s probably boring and inconsequential. that’s 90% of this whole vv thing, tho, you need to understand that. 

the biggest thing that bothered me about mina, i think, came about from the constant hero worship from her adoring fans. and i know there’s a whole argument to be said about expecting labor from people with marginalized identities, which is an argument i agree with - don’t expect someone of a minority group to educate you or to face trauma or to shut down bigots, etc etc. but by now, mina had a lot of followers in general, and in specific, she had quite a few people who would defend her at every single perceived slight.

she made a lot of those fun writeblr reblog games, like “send me a fruit that says this about my writing.” those were cool, i’ll admit that. but she was super into “you have to send an ask to the person you reblog from, RECIPROCITY!!!!!!!!!!!” and seemed to struggle with the fact that sometimes, people don’t follow her established rules on her posts for these games. she’d complain about it every single time that happened in the vent channel, which, again, that’s fine? that’s what vents are for, it’s annoying to not get cool fun asks when you do these games, but also, that’s life for you. she could depend on her fans to send her plenty of asks, whereas the much smaller blogs who reblogged these games would probably get f-all, half the time. if you’ve gone through nuwuhorizons or one of the other blogs i mentioned earlier, you’ll have run across the incident where mina’s friends harrassed an 11 year old for not doing her ask game right.

an eleven year old. 

and this is my biggest grief with mina. she only stopped her friends from dogpiling people... once? maybe twice? that i remember. and not only that, but there were SEVERAL occasions where she would get on the vent channel, complain about someone who had said something wrong on one of her posts (and sometimes, again, these were legitimate!), and then ask if someone in the server wanted to reply to them. reasons for such ranged from “i’m too busy rn” to “they would probably listen more to a white person than me.”

again. this, on occasion, is not necessarily a bad thing. we cannot expect labor and response from minorities. my issue was that she kept doing this. and sometimes it was fine, just someone who would drop a note on the post or send a polite anon. but this, to me, the whole asking someone else to fight your battles for you? that really bothered me. mina is a grown adult. either ignore it, like the rest of us chumps, or deal with it yourself. having friends support you is not a bad thing - if i was attacked on tumblr and my friends jumped in to defend me, i’m cool with that. but i wouldn’t ask them to, and then not do anything myself.

to me, this attitude just encourages dogpiling. this felt like she was taking advantage of the people admiring her so whole-heartedly, and using them to deal with minor grievances. (again, i don’t want to downplay some of the actual racism and xenophobia she experienced on this website, because there was some pretty sketchy stuff that did need someone else stepping in to object to. but then there was “ugh this person asked me what program i use to make my music and i don’t want to answer them bc that’s rude,” and stuff of that caliber. like, mina, you built yourself a pretty big following here on tumblr, you don’t get to complain when people are trying to ask you questions and engage with you when you set yourself up as a knowledgeable person on a subject.)

i’m going to mention @gingerly-writing because she already made a post on the subject, but there was an instance where we were in the vent channel and watched a lot of mina’s friends send anons and reblogs of a hurtful nature to one person. eventually, ginger stepped in to say “hey, i don’t think we need to keep doing this, they are a minor,” and after she did so, i also jumped in, saying something along the lines of, “yeah, i’ve seen this kind of stuff blow up in another server and end in a really regrettable situation where no one was happy, can we stop.” both ginger and i received a private message from the mods (individually) saying that we shouldn’t police the chat, etc etc. not during that message, but on the vent channel, another mod jumped in to say that the people dogpiling the blogger were also minors. as if that makes it okay, and isn’t actually extremely worrying in its own right.

after that, i pretty much took a stance of “all right then i just won’t say anything at all.” i stuck around vv because i hated myself actually really liked a few of the others in the server, including a couple of the mods who are actually really cool people, not all the vv mods are sketch, and because honestly? i lowkey knew that vv was going to crash and burn sometime, and i wanted to be there to watch what happened. due to the pandemic, and her line of work, mina became less active, and the whole server died down a bit. 

then someone reblogged one of mina’s ‘art’ posts and accused her of tracing. mina’s admirers immediately jumped into action. nuwuhorizons has it pretty well documented on their blog. there was nothing in the server about it, except one of the others said “oh man i saw that and it pissed me off,” there was some minor chat, and then i woke up and wanted to know what had happened, and was told “don’t worry about it.”

so, naturally, bc the only thing i thirst for is water and Drama(TM), i went looking for it.

found it on some of mina’s friend’s blogs, where i found who had reblogged and said mina was tracing, and followed those reblog chains, where several of mina’s followers attacked the accuser and made fun of their name and age and defended mina, pulling out progress videos and stuff of mina’s work. the accuser was trans and still a teenager, even if technically an adult, so that made things a lot worse. mina eventually posted something explaining that she was pencil tracing and had a very cheery, false-positive tone to the whole thing.

things sorta ended at that, but then maybe the same day, or the day after, user hyba made that big ol post about the Big Scary Tumblr Mirror Website Copying All Your Good, Hard Work. mina and her friends jumped on this. they threw it in the server and talked about things like intellectual property rights and “i don’t like how this makes me feel :(” and from there, went in to how tumblr was a terrible garbage site and then mina and most of the mod team decided that it was time to pack up VV and leave tumblr completely. 

pretty much everyone i know were mina’s besties have vanished off tumblr. mina made an announcement that VV was “migrating” off tumblr and discord(???) and dropped another application to join the great vv migration. i did not apply bc i just have too freaking much going on in my life and needed to get out of this for the sake of my own mental health. it was tempting as hell, tho, i will say that. 

a couple things about this - at the time, mina is also having some pretty bad things going on in her family. she was very vague on the details, but i think that really contributed to wanting to leave; on top of the pandemic and everything else, she was probably heckin stressed. but also like. she never called out her followers for attacking her accuser. she never made any sort of post talking about it. she never told her friends on the server “hey don’t do that.” she never took accountability for it, or, honestly, for anything else she or her friends have done that didn’t feel too good. the mirror sites aren’t really a big deal. 

after the server was archived, it was left up a couple days so everyone could grab contact info, etc. during this time, i was checking the ‘violetvineyard’ tag and saw someone post “what happened to mvcreates they haven’t answered my application to vv,’ and i responded with “oh, the server closed down bc of the copy cat sites.”

the same day, i got a tumblr DM from one of the former mods asking me not to give away any details about vv leaving tumblr. it was very politely worded and everything, but it was still just like

okay? vv is over? why are you asking me not to say anything. and it wasn’t like i was even spilling any hot goss, i was just repeating the excuse (and i do mean excuse) mina gave us. 

anyway, that mod is off tumblr, too, as far as i know, or else they stealthin. which is fine, u do u, buddy.

uhh conclusion time, i guess? i have a few scattered screenshots of things, but i’m not posting em bc i’m lazy and also running late for a thing. but really, for me, i didn’t have a whole lot of beef with mina or pretty much any of the other folks on vv. i thought that mina and her friends were a bit too eager for blood, and that really bothered me. i’m annoyed they shut down vv completely, because it could actually have been something great. if mina wanted off writeblr, i wish she had given the whole network over to people interested in running it; instead, what was a good thing for a lot of people is now completely gone, with no existing framework for people to build on. sure, anyone can go make their own network/family for writeblr, but now it’s just going to splinter into a bunch of different, smaller groups, and we’re all back to square one.

but whatever. i didn’t get to see the server go down in flames, instead it just ended with a hasty retreat and a few whimpers, and quite honestly i wished my staying in had paid off.

i do want to reiterate - there were quite a few people in vv who i think are great, and this does include some of the mods themselves.

i’ve also gotten a couple messages from a few other folks who had been in vv who have their own real, real sketch stories, which are making me rethink how i feel about mina and her friends, and all the good credit i gave them. i just wanted to present this bc it’s my blog and i do what i want, fight me.

and if anyone wants to chat about vv, hit me up. i keep things as private as you want them to be, and i love love love talking about this nonsense. Give Me The Deets.

[rovewritesit]

Angel Of My Dreams (Chapter 1) John Deacon x Reader Series

I’ve read so many fan fics in the past four months and I thought it was high time to try my hand at it. I’ve created this side blog so that I can 1) Express my love for Queen and 2) Not annoy the randos from high school and college who still follow my main. This’ll be a slow burn folks, so hold on to your hats.

Series summary: After reluctantly joining a band with your childhood best friends, you are thrust into oncoming stardom with no sea legs and an overwhelming sense of anxiety. But you just might find your way, thanks to some seasoned pros by your side. And the interest of one particular bassist.

This series is a work of fiction, and is loosely inspired by real people and events. Absolutely no offense is meant to actual Queen or their families.

PART 2 - PART 3 - PART 4

Pairing: John Deacon x Reader (eventually)

Chapter Warnings: Lots o’ curses

Chapter Summary: This is basically just some set up for the series. No Deacy yet, but a meet-cute to happen very soon! I got the band name with the help of some random band name generator so be kind. I’m hoping to introduce in some songs readers may not have heard - I was thinking of “Heart of the Night” by Juice Newton while writing this, hence the single name and album.

Song/Title Inspiration: Angel - Fleetwood Mac

- - - - - - -

Days of Our Lives Documentary Shoot - 2010

(Brian May and Roger Taylor Joint Interview)

“The early 80s were huge for us, for sure. I believe we were at our biggest then, internationally speaking.” Brian states, glancing over to Roger.

“Yes, Another One Bites the Dust really set things a-flame I think. The traveling and playing were constant. The crowds getting bigger by the venue. Parties, hotels, girls, more parties. We were meeting just so many people.” Roger adds.

“And one of those being a certain American female rock singer.” The interviewer adds quietly from off-camera.

Roger glances over to him with a questioning look, but Brian catches on quick, like always.

“Ah yes, that particular rock goddess. We did meet her around then, I believe, yes. Maybe a few years after.” Brian says knowingly, still playing along.

Roger stares into space with a confused look on his face until the realization hits him. “Are we talking about Y/N?” Roger mutters to Brian. “Yes” Brian chuckles, patting his friend on the shoulder.

“Oh, what a spit-fire she is! Not back then though. Fred really worked some magic with that one. Almost inseparable those two were.” Roger laughs out, a wave of nostalgia washing over his face.

Brian raises his large eyebrows, “Deacy would beg to differ I think.”

Roger smirks, “Oh, well that’s a whole different story.”

- - - - - - -

1982 - MTV Studios, New York City

You run your hands up and down your thighs, trying to will your left knee to stop repeatedly bouncing up and down. The satin of your pants does nothing for the layer of sweat on your clammy hands. You fold them together in your lap and gaze around the studio instead, taking in the bustling of crew members as they ready for the pre-taped interview. The god-like VJ, Alan Hunter, sits in a chair off to the side as someone artfully pieces his blonde locks into place. He grins over at you with a small wave. You limply lift your hand in a greeting, pasting on a small smile that doesn’t reach your eyes.

You catch your pained expression as you glimpse a monitor off-camera. A friendly woman backstage had painted your face to the point of being almost unrecognizable. Gone was the evidence under your eyes of the restless sleep you’d fought the previous night. They were wide and doed, rather than their normal crescent shape. Your lips full and vibrant, your hair bounced and fanned out around your face. And your skin seemed to be glowing, masking the spots that had popped up overnight from stress. You looked every bit the rock goddess the label hoped to paint you as, and the exact opposite of the nerves currently threatening to overtake your body.

“Y/N, I can feel you vibrating from here. Take a deep breath. It’s gonna be fine.” Rich commented from beside you. His legs were splayed out, his arms bent behind his head. Looking as relaxed as can be, as if he were on his couch at home catching a movie marathon, about to doze off.

“How can you be so calm right now?” You rush out. “Who knows how many people are going to see this interview. Do you know how many times a day I accidentally let the F word fly out of my mouth?”

Rich lets out a snort. “I happen to know exactly how much you curse, thank you. Yesterday you said fuck 3 times in one sentence. It was charming, my mom loved it.” He moves his right arm to squeeze around your shoulders. Usually, it would be a comforting display of friendship, but you shake it off.

“And look at those three. Already so at home, I see.” You nod to the three other members of the band. Steve is exuding energy like yourself, but it’s excitement that bubbles from him. His eyes flit around the room quickly as he taps out some unknown rhythm on his bent legs. A wide grin permanently fixed on his boyish features.

At the far end of the couch, Eddie and Lawrence are wrapped up in a not-so-silent game of knuckles.

“Son of a-- Will you take off those damn rings? It’s my turn and I’m still getting bruised.” Lawrence huffs. Eddie wiggles his long, skilled, silver-clad fingers in front of his face and raises his eyebrows. “It’s all about the look, baby. Gotta play the part of the guitar god.”

“Will you both knock it off.” You call over to them. “We need both those sets of hands in playing shape for tomorrow night.”

Eddie turns, probably to counter with some playful comment about how you mother them too much, but Alan approaches.

“Alright, guys. And girl.” He flashes his perfectly white teeth your way again. “We’re about 5 minutes out from going up. Anybody need anything? Water, vodka, beer…” He turns his gaze to Steve, who is still tapping lightly on his legs. “A Xanax, perhaps?”

“Waters all around would be great, thanks.” You offer. Alan nods to a twitchy PA waiting to his side and they hurry off.

“Oh wait up, a Bud Light too, if you have any!” Eddie calls after them. The other three boys echo the same as well.

“You can take the boys out of Long Island…” you mutter to yourself. Rich teasingly pokes your side. “And something stiff for the lady!” He shouts out.

��In all manner of ways” Steve giggles. You feign a shocked expression and reach over to place a gentle slap to the side of his head. He looks over with big apologetic eyes and you stifle a laugh.

In record time, the lanky PA rushes back over with a myriad of drinks, all threatening to topple over on the tray they were precariously balanced on. Another PA trails behind, handing you all water, which you’re in desperate need of. They hand the drinks out one by one and stop before you. “Your water, Miss. And I didn’t know what you liked so I have a jack and coke, a whiskey sour, and a gin and tonic.”

“The gin and tonic is great, thanks.” They hurriedly hand you the drink and go to turn away. “Love your hair by the way.” You tell them. “I’m absolute shit at styling mine. Guess I’ll have to learn now.” They smile back at you and run a hand through their short locks before disappearing amongst the rest of the crew.

“Okay, we’re ready to rock n’ roll!” Alan exclaims, getting the band’s attention as he sits down in a chair next to your side of the couch. “We’re going to start off with a few basics on the band. Your lower thirds will have your instruments labeled but feel free to explain how you guys started out, your influences, your process. I’ll prompt you in between and then we'll talk about the album and promote your upcoming tour towards the end. Should take 15 minutes tops, so keep your answers brief. But I won’t say no to any rowdy stories you want to throw in.” He finishes with a wink.

The band nods along as you gulp down a breath, your palms becoming even slicker. The stage manager’s high voice rings out around the studio. “Playback ready! Live to tape in 5.. 4...” Rich places a hand over your knee and gives a squeeze. “Light em’ up, Bun” he mutters in your ear.

“3.. 2..” She holds up a finger and then points it at Alan, a wide smile already set on his face. The camera light flicks red as the MTV open plays from speakers around the room. Alan beings as the song fades out.

“We’re here in the studio and boy, am I excited to get to know this next band. Over at MTV we’ve been watching the steady rise of their single “Heart of the Night” on the charts. And as an added surprise, they’re here to introduce their very first music video. I’m very pleased to welcome to the studio, Lo & The Limbs!”

You try to relax your face as a camera pans across the band and settles on a two-shot of you and Alan. You know your eyes are gleaming with anxiety so you glance down the couch, silently praying for one of the boys to take the lead.

“Thanks for having us Alan, it’s such a trip to be here.” Eddie says with ease, resting his forearms on his knees.

“So, I have to ask. Who is Lo? Is it you Lawerence?” Alan questions the piano player.

“Oh god, no.” Lawrence chuckles. “Our high school was affectionately called Lo High, for Long Island HighSchool of the Arts. So we sort of tacked that on while playing during those years to let people know where we were from. That and well, as you can see we’re all above 6 foot except for Y/N, so a lot of limbs going on here.”

Alan gives a short laugh. “You released your debut album, Quiet Lies, earlier this year to growing success. Why don’t you tell me how you all started out.”

“Well, the boys and I have been together for a few years. We’ve been friends since grade school and we always just used to jam about. As we got older we started playing local bars back on Long Island to mostly middle-aged crowds, trying to break in, but it wasn’t working. Then Rich had the idea to invite Y/N to join up and it’s all kind of all taken off from there.” Eddie explains.

“We needed a pretty face to balance out all these ugly mugs” Steve pipes up.

“It took a while for her to finally concede though. She was off being too studious for the likes of us.” Rich adds on with a smile and nudge to your side. Your eyes grow wide as you feel a question directed at you coming on.

“Is that true, Y/N?”

“I- I guess, I was at NYU studying documentary filmmaking.” You choke out, but continue on. “Love this lighting set up, by the way, it really hides all sins.” That gets a light chuckle out of the crew surrounding you.

“And these sins you’re hiding are…” Alan grins but quickly bounces to the next topic. “Certainly a good call, Rich. Heart of the Night is the only song off the album that Y/N is singing lead on and look how well it’s doing. How did that happen?”

“Most of our songs were already written from before when we finally got the money to record. We wanted Y/N to feel a part of it, so she went on and wrote Heart of the Night and we were all very pleasantly surprised that it’s become such a hit.” Steve explains. “She also directed the music video we’ll be debuting today. I can’t believe she let us do all the things we did in that… well, you’ll just have to see for yourselves. We can be a bit of a handful.” The boys all chuckle.

“That and she plays the weirdest collection of instruments. Rhythm guitar, any type of strings, the saxophone… She's a boss on the harmonica.” Eddie turns to you as he speaks. “You just need to get over those pesky little nerves about your singing, Bun!” He points in your direction.

You feel the heat rise behind your perfectly painted cheeks at the slip of your nickname. You cast your gaze down at your lap. Not liking how the conversation has turned directly onto you.

Alan quirks an eyebrow at you. “Bun?” He teases.

You have yet to lift your eyes when Rich answers for you. “Bunny, an affectionate nickname. It’s stuck around since grade school when she wandered into Lawrence's backyard in search of a rabbit she was chasing.”

“A rockstar called Bunny. There’s a first for everything.” Alan quips, but quickly notices your displeasure in the current topic. Sensing your growing panic, he addresses the rest of the group. “This has been quite the debut album, with more hits sure to come from it. Any bands you’ve taken inspiration from while writing and producing?”

Rich jumps at the question. “Fleetwood Mac would be a big one. The way they layer their sounds is just unmatchable. You catch something new with every listen of an album of theirs.”

“I can’t be a pianist from Long Island and not mention the granddaddy, Billy Joel.” Lawrence adds. “His songs take you on such a ride. They’re full stories, each one of them.”

“And you, Y/N?” Alan directs the next question. “Who will you be drawing inspiration from when you write your next hit single?”

You smile to yourself. “It’s gotta be Queen for me. I’ve loved every one of their albums. I mean, the way they’ve changed their sound just in the past few years alone. They’re always transcending. Never afraid to try out something new or weave a different genre into one of their songs. But you always know it’s a Queen song. I saw them 2 years ago when they played the Garden, and fu--” You catch yourself as you get more animated. “And they were all just so on. Perfectly in sync. There’s something so distinct about their sound, so practiced. I’d love to get to their level, to be able to experiment like that. To give joy in the way they’ve given it to me.” You finish. Realizing you’ve rambled for a bit, you turn your eyes downwards yet again.

“I think that’s the most I’ve heard you talk since you came into the studio!” Alan laughs. “Well, you heard it here first folks, Y/N L/N is a Queen fan, just like the rest of us. I’m sure you’re just as excited about their new album as well.” You nod quickly as Rich hides a smile. Knowing full well you’ll be first in line to purchase their new album, Hot Space when it drops.

“But before you get off to writing more hits, I believe you have a tour coming up!” Alan states, signaling that the interview is wrapping up.

“Yeah, we have a small American tour starting in February. But until then we’ll be opening up for Hall and Oates during their tour of the NorthEast next month.” Steve says excitedly, bouncing slightly in his seat.

“And with that, I think we’ll roll into the long-anticipated music video and directorial debut for the lovely Y/N L/N. Thank you all so much for coming in today and I can’t wait to see what’s next on the horizon for you. Here’s Lo & The Limbs with Heart of the Night!” Alan keeps his painted smile till the red light vanishes from above the lens on the large pedestal camera in front of him.

You breathe out the breath you’d been choking on as Rich puts an arm around your shoulders. He leans in and whispers lightly, “And only one hint of a fuck, ladies and gentlemen. She might just make it in this business after all.”

- - - - - - -

One Month Later - Veterans Memorial Coliseum - New Haven, Connecticut

The Limbs bound off the stage in full force, glistening with sweat and excitement. It was the largest crowd they’d played for by far. 10,000 people cheered from the audience as roadies and crew moved around them to set up for the main act, Hall and Oates. Rich spreads his long arms and huddles the rest of the group into a family hug, your skin sticking to one another, the smell of sweat filling your noses.

“I just want us to all remember this moment.” He speaks to the group, foreheads touching. “Even if nothing happens past this album. That was insane.”

“Absolutely bonkers, dude!” Steve says and he bounces up and down beside you. You all take a deep collective breath and squeeze.

“Alright, get off of me you fucks.” You laugh, untangling yourself from their vast expanse of limbs. “We all stink and I have to get out of all... this” You gesture to the skin-tight bodysuit your best friend, Dawn, had insisted you wear. Eddie presses a light kiss to your temple as he lets you into the dressing room first to change out of their view.

You close the door and sigh, glancing at yourself in the mirrors that line one wall of the room. Your eyes are bright, your hair is two times the size of when you went out on stage an hour before, and your makeup looks like you’d been in a fight. Grinning to yourself, you start to unlatch the halter top of the bodysuit, excited for the air to cool your skin.

Just as you are about to shimmy out of the rest of the ensemble, the door bursts open.

“Shit! Lawrence, what the hell?!” Scrambling to cover your top half.

Lawrence trains his eyes to the ceiling as he speaks. “Bunny, you gotta… just cover up and get your ass out here. You just... You gotta see, c’mon.”

Flustered, you hurry to redress your sticky body. After making sure everything is properly covered, you step out into the hallway backstage, already glaring at the boys. They’re all tight-lipped, staring at one another. “Okay, someone want to tell me what the hell is going on?” You say loudly. “Shhhhh” Rich hisses as he gestures behind him with a shake of his head. You glance over his shoulder to see the backs of two men. John Hall and Daryl Oates.

“Yeah, okay... I don’t get it. We’ve hung out with them like 5 times. Why are we fangirling?”

Rich widens his eyes at you and you glance back at them again. This time they part and you can catch a glimpse of who they’ve been talking to.

The flash of a tight leather jacket, a mustache, and two front teeth shining while laughter erupts from behind them.

You gasp.

“Fucking, fuck. That’s Freddie fucking Mercury.” You say, a bit too loud.

The bold man in question locks eyes with you. Something mischievous dances behind them as he narrows his gaze. Daryl and John move to their roadies to get fixed up before heading out on stage and Freddie lets out a sharp burst of laughter as he makes his way over. Your stomach churns with embarrassment but you can’t tear your eyes from his.

“Quite the redundancy of expletives, my dear. All you had to do was say hello.” he grins at you, all teeth. You’re not one to get too clammy in front of other musicians, but your voice gets trapped in your throat. You pray to whatever gods are out there that your eyes don’t get any wider.

Eddie’s easy charm luckily saves you. “This beautiful songstress right here is Y/N L/N.” You barely lift your arms as Freddie pulls you in for a light hug and kiss on the cheek. “But you can call her Bunny.” Eddie grins. So much for easy charm you think as you stare daggers into the profile of his face.

“Ha! Bunny? Oh my, that is wonderful.” Freddie chuckles. “It sounds as if you’re a socialite... Or a stripper. I can’t tell.” He beams at you. You can’t help but beam right back.

“Come along. Let us watch the show and you can tell me which one it is.” He says with a wink. “And introduce me to these giants you call your band.” He grabs your arm and leads you off, the boys in tow. Bouncing with excitement for what’s to come.

[if-the-crown-fits-translate-it]

Duchy Conversation 7

[The following transcript details the conversation is between one of the Crown ARG Discord members and Duchess on Twitter]

Donti: “Hello! Long time no chat! Sorry about that.. I was. Lost for a while.”

Duchess: “We all lose ourselves, at times. Fret not- we are always here, little bird.

My sincerest apologies if my responses are somewhat delayed tonight. I am still growing accustomed to my... New circumstances. Typing is a bit tricky.”

Donti: “Oh no! I heard about that, you lost your sight? (I’m speaking to Duchess, right?)”

Duchess: “Correct and correct. Not entirely, though. I still have one eye intact.

The loss is inconvenient, but I certainly could have sustained worse, so I do not consider myself unlucky. I can live with this.

How have you been, little bird?”

Donti: “Oh, that’s a new nickname! Its cute! I spent most of my time getting lost in the tunnels :/ Its been so long since I saw the stars.”

Duchess: “I see. How unfortunate. If nothing else, one should always be afforded the simple pleasure of a clear night sky. I hope that your future brings you many more, to make up for those you have missed.”

Donti: “I hope so too! It always makes me feel happy! A little piece of home, even if I don't know where home is..”

Duchess: “Tell me, Donti, do you happen to know of the story behind the North Star? It is one of the few stars which always appears in the same spot every night and by far the brightest. Sailors, travelers, and all other kinds of journeying folk throughout history have used it as a guide to finding their way home, like a compass. Because of that, they call it the homeward star. Imagine; through so many hundreds of thousands of years, one little star has been guiding millions of people home.

I wonder, little bird, if you could see the sky- where would your homeward star take you?”

Donti: “I know the North Star always stays in place while the rest seem to rotate around it... I wonder where my star would take me too.. I’m still looking for it, I'm afraid. It'll be nice to find and follow it someday.”

Donti: “How have you been,,, apart for the eye. Has your family been treating you well?

Duchess: “I hope you find yours, as well. Perhaps ours might lead to the same destination?

As for myself, I suppose everything has been fine. Duke has been lovely as ever. The rest... Well. All families have quarrels, no?”

Donti: “It would be nice if we met at the end of the journey.. But as for your family, anyone in particular?

that quarrel with you, I mean”

Duchess: “Do not waste words playing coy, dear. I know that you and the rest of the flock have heard some version of the story by now. You wish to know my feelings on king after our little scene the other night, correct?”

Donti: “Yea :)c My flock is very curious to see your opinion, especially about King! But they would like to know anything about the rest of court! They’re worried about you all!”

Duchess: “Of course. King is... An interesting individual. I was unaware of her abilities until the first confrontation we had, where she used them to menace Duke, so I suppose I do not have the most generous opinion in regards to that. However, as of now, I consider us even. She felt I had invaded her privacy and been unfair towards her, and she violently threatened my brother- twice- and took my right eye. I have no conflict with her at the present. I have no idea how she feels towards our standing, but as long as she does not continue to endanger my brother, I would consider our affairs sorted.”

Donti: “Well.. It’s nice to know you two are even?

Oh! another thing!”

Donti: “You and Duke are fond of nicknames, huh! He has "lamb" and you have "bird" which both line up with flock!

Is there,, something behind that?”

Duchess: “Ah, yes. I do delight in bird imagery, and the icon of this website made a good opportunity.

But, little bird, you recall our arrangement? A secret for a secret.”

Donti: “Oh! It’s time for the exchange? What would you like to know? :)”

Duchess: “I will only ask you for one, as your query about my naming habits was rather inconsequential.

You told me in the past that you seek a place that feels like home, and that you have not been there in some time.

When exactly was the last time you felt that you had found your home, little bird?”

Donti: “Hm.... Well, whenever I look at the stars, home is there. But we all know real home is with family, and I left them behind a while ago. I envy you? you know? you're so close with your brother.”

Duchess: “I understand, dear. A house without warm hands to hold you is as cold as any other. As I've said before, my brother and I were not nearly so close before our coronation!

You know, if I may confide in you for a moment; you are perhaps my favorite of the flock, and I see in you certain qualities that would be greatly appreciated by the rest of the family, as well.

I cannot tell you where your star must lead, Donti. But, have you considered that you might be close to that home already?

Consider this an informal invitation. Sooner or later, the Crown may offer you a nest within our walls, and I would urge you to consider it. You would never be without warm hands to welcome you, here.”

Donti: “So..? the nicknames?

That's,, a kind offer... A home would be nice. But the tunnels house my friends you see, and it's a trek from the mansion

I would hate to lose them”

Duchess: “Ah, well, who is to say that they could not one day join you? We never know what the future may hold.

As for the nicknames... Well, as I said, mine comes from the logo of the website. But if you would like to push further, I suppose it was inspired by the nature of our roles, here.

The Crown tasked us with this account for a reason, you see. We are to keep an eye on the outside observers, and perhaps find new family within your ranks. This is why Duke calls you lambs- he sees us as your shepherds. As for me, you already know my affinity for birds. I suppose it was a mix between the preexisting imagery which inspired me, and the fact that you all flit around and sing, removed from the ground where we stand.”

Donti: “ And as for the nicknames... I didn't know you were assigned here! I assumed you just used this as other court member use their blogs!

Maybe, maybe. Maybe home is with you all? Only time will tell, I guess :o”

Duchess: “Do you have any more questions for me, little bird?”

Donti: “Hmm... What about your opinions on other court members?

(that aren't King or Duke )”

Duchess: “Interesting. I will tell you, if you tell me this;

If the Crown were to approach you at this moment and offer you an invitation to the family, what would you say?

Do not fret, little bird- there are no wrong answers to this. I am simply curious. :)”

Donti: “I.... Don't know.. I don't know I truly don't know... How can I leave my friends.. But what if it's truly home? I honestly would be torn.

I'm too.. Lost. To choose”

Duchess: “Interesting. I appreciate your honesty.

I hope that you find your homeward star soon. We will always be here, if you decide it leads to us.

Now, the family... Well, the Crown is kind and generous. Perhaps a bit too amicable, in my opinion, but one must not bite the hand that feeds.

I do not know the Jester well, but he seems a lovely fellow. He was one of the only ones who seemed to actually understand my reasoning during the family meeting the other night and did attempt to defend me, which I greatly appreciated.

I am suspicious of the Baroness on my brother's behalf- he told me that he felt betrayed by her, and while I do not fully understand what happened, I am biased to put at least some trust into his claims. Truthfully, however, I have nothing against her myself.

I suppose I am rather indifferent towards the rest. Of course, I care for them- we are family, after all. But I fear I have yet to get to know them all fully, as of yet.”

Donti: “Ah, I guess that's one problem with a family so big.. People start to quarrel..

As for the honesty, I do my best not to deceive others..

... Say.... Have you, ever broken a promise before?

Duchess: “Ah...

Little bird, you are full of surprises tonight, aren't you?

I... Do not remember doing so, no. I do get... This feeling, that maybe... Well. I suppose that could be... Never mind.

You seem to have something on your mind, dear. Why do you ask?”

Donti: “A while back,,, a friend of mine,,, or a person I talked to. Was, scared about was we didn't know was an inevitability..

I promised them that we'd find a solution. But nothing ever worked... We tried so many things, Duchess.

And so, the inevitability happened.. And the promise was broken.

What if that happens to my other promises, Duchess?

Do you know that guilt?”

Duchess: “I see... I am sorry to hear that, dear. To make a promise you cannot keep is heartache enough. To make a promise that you want to keep, but are unable to carry out... There is a special kind of pain in helplessness.

But we cannot fault ourselves for the winds of fate, little bird. We cannot know the future. If you did all that you could, then you could have done nothing better. For what, then, do you blame yourself? That you wished to give comfort to a friend? Promises are made on intentions, not absolutes. That you fulfilled your intention is what matters. Que sera, sera, Donti- what will be, will be.”

Donti: “You're right.. But it still breaks my heart to think about it. If promises are intentions... Don't intentions change on a whim? What is the use of a promise of it isn't absolute?”

Duchess: “The use of a promise depends on your value of honor, I believe.

Why do we take the word of a kindly shopkeep over that of a scoundrel? Some people hold themselves to higher standards, dear. Intentions can change, yes, but only if you choose to let them. If you hold yourself to the things you say, you will never be a liar.

Perhaps you made a mistake, then. You will make many, many more- such is life. But if you fear every turn in the road, you will never be able to reach your destination. You must make those choices. Even if they are wrong, going somewhere is better than staying in place.

We cannot change our past actions, little bird, but we can always forgive them. Self-hatred breeds self-doubt. Be kinder to yourself, and the person you used to be, and you may find that confidence comes with a little more ease.”

Donti: “That is,, sound advice.. I'll take it to heart. Thank you

Unfortunately.. It's getting,, late for me, and my friends have been hounding me to get enough sleep. Until next time?”

Duchess: “Of course. Sleep well, little bird.

May you find your north star soon.”

[like-the-wings-of-butterflies]

Precious Thing (Jareth x Reader)

Summary: You’re the first human who’s ever wished themselves away

Warnings: Slight themes/discussions of depression (If you ever need someone to talk to, my inbox is always open ♡)

Word Count: 1025

A/N: I’m feeling somewhat inspired so I tried something new! For those of you who don’t know, apart from being a die-hard Queen fan, I’m also a die-hard Bowie fan and Labyrinth is one of my favourite movies ever. I’ve been thinking about extending the range of characters I write for for quite some time and finally thought it’d be worth giving it a go. I understand that many of my followers may not be too interested in this specific piece but that’s okay! First and foremost, this is a Queen blog and I have no plans to stop writing for them any time soon. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy this little piece and as always, your feedback is always appreciated ♡

(gif not mine! - all credits to the original creator//he just looks too damn good in this, I couldn’t resist)

The wind whirred past your ears as you weaved between the trees of the thickening forest. You couldn’t quite place where exactly your legs were carrying you, but you needed to get away, and running seemed like your only option. But running from what? Your emotions? Even in your frantic state you realised such a thought was foolish; it wasn’t often that that avoiding emotions wasn’t problematic.

You halted at the edge of a small lake, almost falling in as you did so. Collapsing in exhaustion, you perched yourself on the shore, leaning over to look into the shimmering water. You were met with a blurry reflection of yourself; hair unruly with a stray twig or two tangled amongst the strands and saw your face covered in small cuts and scrapes with some seeping generous amounts blood.

“Someone. Anyone. I wish to be taken away from this wretched place.” You spat through a thin stream of tears, splashing the water with your hand in attempts to rid the surface of your reflection.

Your surroundings went completely silent as a unique, masculine voice called out from amongst the trees, “They’re dangerous words to be saying in an enchanted forest little one,”

“Enchanted?” You sneered mockingly, barely acknowledging the stranger’s presence. The years of fairytales and believing magic were long behind you, the cruelty of the ‘real world’ tarnished your once vibrant imagination long ago.

“Anyone could come and snatch you up.” He continued, stepping out of the shadows and walking slowly with his hands placed behind his back.

Something about his cryptic tone lured you in and you turned to grasp at look at the stranger. He stood tall with a thin albeit muscular frame, long golden locks cascading against his glowing skin; as if it was absorbing the kisses of moonlight. A brown leather jacket with a uniquely shaped collar hung down over his shoulders, a white, low-cut dress shirt flowing out from underneath its folds and exposing much of his chest.

Anyone would’ve been ignorant not to think that he was truly celestial in his appearance.

Despite part of you thinking such things didn’t exist, somewhere deep within yourself, you felt a realisation dawn on you.

“You’re a fae.” You breathed, not fully confident in your assessment and breaking the silence that enveloped you both as you hurried to your feet.

His lips quirked into a smile, a low purr of amusement rumbling in his chest. With sharp, angular features, he looked you up and down. The differing hues of his blue-brown eyes lulled you into a trance-like state as you felt your head growing dizzy from the way he circled you much like a predator to their prey.

“And you’re particularly observant for a human.” He paused in front of you, still smiling softly. After a moment of closer inspection, you were quite surprised to find a lack of deceit in his demeanour.

You were slightly taken aback by his statement, not fully believing you hadn’t hit your head while running and weren’t vividly hallucinating. Deciding to test the waters and possibly your sanity, you formulated the most simple of questions, “Who are you?”

“My name is Jareth.” He smirked, brows quirking. Almost as a display of trust, he approached you carefully and raised his hand to hover over your face. You winced lightly as the feeling of tiny pinpricks penetrated your skin but found that after he pulled away and you swept a finger over your cheek, the blood that once stained you skin had disappeared. You looked up at him in awe, mouth slightly agape as you traced over where your wounds were only seconds prior.

“But tell me little one.” Jareth said softly, brushing away a stray strand of hair. “What has you running into the forest this late at night?”

Coming back to your senses for just a moment, you realised just how impossible the whole situation was. However what concerned you most was the lack of fear in your conscience. You were always taught that strangers were not to be trusted, and your childhood stories told you that fae weren’t the safest folk either, which is why you felt your comfort around the man jarring. Something about him felt painfully familiar, despite never meeting him previously.

“I am homesick for a place that I’m not sure even exists,” You sighed, the words spilling out of your mouth before you even had time to process them. The fae titled his head at you inquisitively in response, silently encouraging you to continue.

“I feel nothing but numb. I have this longing for a place where I am loved and where my heart is full. I have no desire to continue living here if I continue to feel so lost.” Hastily you swiped the tears from your eyes, not wanting to completely breakdown in his presence.

Should you of known him prior to your current meeting, you would have realised that the look in Jareth’s eyes was not a regular one.

Sympathy.

“Human lives are far too short for an existence such as this one,” He proclaimed before outstretching his hand in your direction. “Come with me and I shall give you the life you’ve always wanted.”

His declaration made your stomach flutter with hope, but the smallest part of you was still sceptical, “What makes you want to help me?”

“I’ve never heard someone wish themselves away before. You interest me, you’re not afraid to show the scars on your heart.” He answered solemnly, his hand still and unwavering.

The slightest smile on his face was genuine and hopeful, and despite it being so impossible, the greater part of you felt that this was so right. Tentatively, you reached your hand out to meet his own, stopping just before you touched his skin.

“And how long will you let me stay with you?”

“Only forever my dear.” Those words were all you needed to hear and with the brightest smile, you grasped his hand quickly. Warmth radiated through your entire body as the world you once knew dissolved into your new life with Jareth at your side.

[problematicwelshman]

PW Replies to Anons

Wow!  So many anons!  Like yesterday’s, they’re all on a similar topic, so I’m going to put them all in one post.  See you below the cut!

Before I delve into these, I want to tell you a story about a woman whose husband was driving her mad.  She would notice things and he’d tell her she didn’t.  She would do things, or not do things, and he would tell her she didn’t, or she did. “The lights are flickering!”  “No, they’re not.”  “I saw this letter!”  “No, you didn’t.”  Little by little she was worn down, afraid to trust her own thoughts, afraid she was going insane.  All because her husband told her that something she saw wasn’t real.

This, my loves and lovelies, is the plot of the movie “Gaslight” and is where we get the term “gaslighting.“  While the story itself is fictitious, gaslighting is real, insidious, quite often the tool of a bully and at the very least is manipulative. Keep that in mind.

That said, let's get in to the anons, shall we?

Anonymous said to problematicwelshman:

Wait did i miss something ? I’ve loved Michael for a long time but am just seeing these posts - what happened?

Anonymous said to problematicwelshman:

I'm sorry, but I've just seen one of your posts on my dash and I'm not that much into "sheendom" at the moment, so could you tell me what did Michael do that everyone is grossed out by him?

These two address the most recent poor behavior by the Welsh thespian.  I believe @profileranon​ has the best analysis, so I’ll wait while you go read her post:

https://profileranon.tumblr.com/post/626191837609295872/anonymous-said-hi-pa-looks-like-michael-has

Done?  Everybody back?  Excellent. For those TL;DR among us, Michael once again had a hissy on Twitter, mobilized his “army” (their words, not mine) and very publicly blocked three accounts in a short period of time, resulting in the traditional “swarming of the stans” to those accounts.

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE.

Three hours and HUNDREDS of replies later, including several calling for the Sky TV announcer’s head on a platter, and the swarming of accounts who thought he was overreacting (”Hit him with a chair” ?!  Really?), he changed his story. Again- I refer you to ProfilerAnon:

https://profileranon.tumblr.com/post/626199473433001984/right-got-this-so-3-hours-later-uhmmright

This, my loves and lovelies, is gaslighting.  He is saying that what his fans saw, his actual hurt/anger at what the Sky TV person said, and their subsequent actions, were wrong. That despite HUNDREDS of replies from people all thinking he was upset, he really wasn’t, hahaha, it’s a joke can’t you all take a joke.  Read the language.  “I hope it’s obvious…”  “It was very funny and the idea of me taking umbrage at it rather tickled me also.”  He knows it wasn’t obvious, and he knows very few people took it as such, but he is trying to manipulate the story, the fans, and their very real, very obvious reactions.  By phrasing it as he did, he makes people doubt their feelings- Was my first reaction wrong?  Was I supposed to find it funny?  It didn’t seem funny, maybe I was wrong?  Textbook gaslighter behavior.  (edited 8/14 from “textbook gaslighting”)  

------

Next we have an Anna Anon:

Anonymous said to problematicwelshman:

Sorry, what's wrong with Michael and AL? I didn't get it. I mean, I can def say what's wrong with them, but more about Anna, who was given so much credit and even an appearance on BBC One after becoming the mother of Michael Sheen's child... but I didn't really get what's wrong with Michael, except that he is a bit of an idiot? 

Oh Anon.  You really need to work on your research.  There have been tons of things written about her, and by many different sources.

Here are a few to get you started:

https://problematicwelshman.tumblr.com/post/626080164174069761/more-witty-commentary-from-anna-in-which-she

https://problematicwelshman.tumblr.com/post/625900659914473472/i-used-to-be-a-quiet-ms-stan-and-i-followed-all

https://profileranon.tumblr.com/post/625911322397261824/from-that-last-anon-it-got-me-curious-when-did

------

And then we’re back to the sob stories.

Anonymous said to problematicwelshman:

What do you mean by "doesn't give a shit about you unless you have a sob story"? I mean... he doesn't have time for everyone, that's for sure, but why are you so harash about it? I'm sorry, since I'm not following him 24/7 atm, so I may not know something he's done recently... And if there's something that does make him look bad, I'd be glad if you were so kind to enlighten me on it.

Anon, I totally agree.  He doesn’t have time for everyone.  We don’t expect him to have time for everyone, do we?  And therein lies a problem.  This time I’m going to direct you to this blog for the hot take, with an assist from ProfilerAnon in the 2nd:

https://problematicwelshman.tumblr.com/post/625473127491780608/not-everyones-an-angel

https://problematicwelshman.tumblr.com/post/625475876031758336/hello-pa-im-an-ms-fan-in-twitter-just-wanted-to

Pay attention to this part: “A response or a like from Michael Sheen has become currency, with people doing all sorts of underhanded things to gather it.  What the hell is wrong with people who are so desperate for attention that they’d fake a sob story and tag a celebrity?  I’ve seen non-Sheendom Sheen fans joke that the only thing they need to get his attention is a heart in their Twitter name and a sad tale.  People are noticing.”

------

And one final anon, by a different person than the other 4 in this thread (I see you, anonymous person):

Anonymous said to problematicwelshman:

Hope one day everyone in 'sheendom' will understand that he uses his fans for his own purposes and how manipulative he is. And yeah I hope one day they all will cancel him. He really deserves it no matter how much he has already given for charity. I don't believe that the man who 'loves humanity' could bully someone wherever.

From your keyboard to stans’ brains, Anon. I’m pretty sure they know but aren’t acknowledging it.  He’s shown that he’s petty and retaliatory to those who cross him on the bird app, and they don’t want to be next on the chopping block.  

So there you have it, folks. PW responds to anons.

[contentbaer]

How to build White Hat SEO Links for Contentbär SEO

So, how do you go about doing true White Hat SEO link building these days? This is perhaps the most often asked question of mine.

To be honest, there is a LOT of incorrect material on the internet about how to accomplish link building that isn't "WHITE HAT."

To be clear, requesting for links for the sole goal of getting them is against Google Webmaster Guidelines and hence not “white hat.”

The good news is that you may now produce a significant return on investment without manually establishing links. Today, I'm going to show you how I've been able to naturally grow links and generate cash without writing a single email, guest post, purchasing a PBN, or doing anything else that link builders do to build links, and how you can do the same.

Does that make sense? Let's get started.

Build Authority for Contentbär Contest Using Your Market's Vulnerabilities

SEO is marketing, not magic. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: it's not magic. Rankings for keywords and links are only a small element of marketing that will ideally result in dollar signs. So, if you could find alternative ways to get revenue outside rating a webpage, wouldn't you want to? The importance of competitor research cannot be overstated.

Here's how to spot flaws in your specialty, as well as how to turn those flaws into natural links and long-term advantages. Take a look at your top 3-5 competitors' platforms to discover where they perform the poorest and best. Determine what works and what doesn't for them.

Is it skyscraper (long form) content that they're after? Maybe 10 minute Youtube videos with unique layouts? Do they have a successful Twitter outreach strategy? and so on. The argument is that if you're just starting out and want links, don't reinvent the wheel; instead, concentrate on establishing authority. To put it another way, strive to copy what your competitors are doing first and then innovate, rather than the other way around.

Consider the following scenario: Because the market on YouTube was so undersaturated in comparison to Google when I launched my SEO service, I started developing big content there. I now have 25k subscribers and over 1 million views on my YouTube channel, and I generate clients, backlinks, reviews, and other revenue from that asset alone on a regular basis. That isn't all, though.

I'm able to divert traffic to new assets that I want to promote and make money off of, such as Facebook groups, blog entries, courses, and so on, thanks to the authority I've built on YouTube. And, if I choose, I can leverage the authority and viewership I've built on Youtube to build links simply by discussing the new assets I'm developing.

In a moment, I'll expand on this. Value is quite important.

If you're having trouble getting links, it's likely that you're not providing enough value for your audience to link back to or share the material you're creating. Alternatively, you may have no audience at all. That is why you must have a strong foundation.

Look, it may seem obvious, but figuring out who you're selling to and what they genuinely want in the first place, if you haven't already, is critical. At the end of the day, you must understand: There are two categories of users who will see your article.

People who are likely to purchase from you

Individuals who will link to you There are some similarities here, but for the most part, people who buy from you are unlikely to connect back to you. So, at first, your content and authority development should ideally be aimed toward the people who will connect to you.

Is that clear?

Doing a roundup or an interview is a great approach to gain links from these folks. Pitchbox is my favorite tool for this because it allows me to connect with some of the world's top experts in any subject with just a few clicks. Take, for example, a recent article I wrote about "the top SEO tools recommended by professionals." All of this outreach was automated, and it only took a few minutes to get the piece published. Every single one of these suggestions came from people with blogs and, in some cases, large social media followings. Not only do I get almost free content from people who know a lot about the subject I'm having them write about, but I also get the chance to gain a link from them in the future because they were mentioned in the piece.

Let's go one step further for Contentbär.

I also now have a direct line of communication with these individuals, so if any of them have unusually high authority in the industry, I could invite them to an interview on my Youtube channel, then give them the video and transcription to post on their site with a link back to me. Again, focusing on building connections and substance rather than going out to random website owners and asking for a link is a WAY better marketing strategy. Make something that people want to tell their friends about.

Figure out what your industry's true needs are if you really want to establish links. Some SEOs seems to only want to do the following:

Investigate keywords.

Find a keyword with a large search volume that appears to be profitable.

Create material based on a guess at the word count.

Inquire about linkages.

I'm hoping the page will be ranked.

For a variety of reasons, this is a bad plan.

If you want to rank for something, you should first check at what is already ranking well for that topic. It's possible that the content is already well-formatted, with thousands of words, video, photographs, comments, and so on, and in that case, simply putting words on a website isn't going to cut it.

You're trying to figure out why Google is giving that page such a high rating in the first place. It's usually because the post is something that people genuinely want.

After you've figured out these two things, you'll want to aim to beat the average user intent and go above and above in terms of not just word count, photos, video, and so on, but also in terms of beating whatever the average expectation for that post is.

If someone is looking for top gaming tips for "insert new game," and the best article on the market is some weak post about 3 strategies to win, which isn't even directly targeting what people are looking for, you could easily write an article on the top 5 gaming tips and rate it without a single link.

If you want to build links, though, you should aim to go above and beyond the average and make the top 50-100 gaming advice, and BOOM, you've got something special worth connecting to. In terms of naturally creating links, obviously you won't want to just generate content and hope someone reads it; instead, you'll want to use the strategies I outlined earlier to bring in more visitors. Here's how I'm going to promote the article you're reading right now.

Originally, I'll have it indexed by Google Search Console so that Google knows the stuff I'm authoring first appeared here.

After that, I'll make a video in which I read this article and add my own thoughts and observations. Once the film is released, I'll link it back to this page in the hopes of having it rank as a video in Google Search as well (making sure I add JSON-LD video markup to the post with a plugin I acquired).

Then I'll take the video and post it on my Facebook group, page, and personal profile in its native format. I'll publish the video to similar other SEO groups after I see how well it performs.

After that, I'll directly repost this post on Reddit. Then, to target recent visitors, I'll launch a remarketing campaign on Facebook advertisements.

Then I'll send an email to my 4k-strong email list, telling people to read the piece and watch the video. After that, I'll share this article on LinkedIn.

You get my drift. At the end of the day, my Youtube video or blog post may only receive a few hundred views and appear on Google's or Youtube's fourth page.

However, my article on various assets will acquire THOUSANDS of views before it even ranks, thus increasing the chances that I will obtain a link or a share.

So there you have it, that's how I develop links without going out and doing it myself, and how you can do it too. If anything was unclear, please let me know by leaving a comment and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

[matteredloyaltyaa]

@yukikorogashi​ asked: 💞💖💘💕 tigger bounces in with these 👀

positivity meme -- slow, still accepting

Send 💞 and my muse will say something nice about your muse

    The house had grown silent in the late hours of the night, Arthur burning the midnight oil as he was prone to do. Mind running a mile a minute, and not really getting much from late night television, he opted to sit in the office across from Itsuki’s bedroom. At the thought, he found himself glancing toward the slightly ajar bedroom door, letting in a dim bit of light from the one he kept on in the hall for her. Aside from a small conversation about her day and a request for a story from his own, it seemed like she had fallen asleep pretty easily once he had started talking.

    He was never sure if he should take that as a compliment or not when it happened, but at least ONE of them was getting some much needed rest.

    As he could feel his thoughts starting to circle, he let out a small sigh from his nose as he shifted to pull a familiar book from one of the shelves. The pages were starting to become worn with use, Arthur about halfway into his current journal. He flipped open to the current page, a partly complete sketch of their newest addition to the household: an old collie that Itsuki had affectionately named Mochi. As far as he was aware, the old guy was asleep on a chair in the living room.

    Arthur huffed lightly out of his nose at the thought, turning to the blank page and started to scribble down some thoughts.

Itsuki’s growing in so many ways every day. It honestly surprises me sometimes.

I wasn’t the only one who question my decision to adopt a kid at first. Hosea had cast me that uncertain look when I first mentioned it, and the social worker...well, I could never really get a read on them, but somehow I managed to impress someone because here we are.

She’s healthy, hasn’t lost mind or limb. I figure I’m doing something right.

I know I’m not around as much as I wish I was, and Hosea’s been a great help in keeping an eye on her. Teaching her things in that special way he has, which is probably better for her than whatever I can give. Still, I catch the odd eye or word from him about spending more time with her, which I’m trying to do. It must be working, she certainly hasn’t come to hate me or resent me being home when I am. Yet.

Still, I love that kid. The odd nights she opens that bedroom door of mine to tell me about a nightmare or storm outside and we have to stay up a little later until she can sleep again, the way she races to the truck when I pull up to the school (even during the times where I know she’s had to wait for me,) it’s all something I never thought I’d see in my life or know it to be something I would miss if it disappeared.

I want nothing more than to see her happy, and she’s always the brightest person in the room when she is. If I can help with that, that’s all I want.

Though, maybe what’s best for her is me getting some sleep so I’m not spacey and distracted with her tomorrow.

Send 💖 and my muse will say something nice about you, the mun

    “Could’ve certainly picked a worse night for this,” Arthur commented, casting a glance upwards.

    The sun had dipped below the horizon, the sky cast in a blanket of stars as the orange glow of the fire he had built cast him and his companion in a warm light. A rabbit was slowly roasting over the flames, something he had hunted earlier for the coming night. Thankfully, he had been getting better with a bow. It had saved him the embarrassment of picking out shell casings from the meat in front of her, at the very least. He dropped his gaze back down, watching the fire for a few moments before he glanced toward her.

    “I’ve certainly had worse company ‘round a fire, too. Some folks are more likely t’ greet you with a barrel of a gun shoved against the back of your head, but...nah, y’ don’t seem the type. I know you been fightin’ things in different ways, though. Kid’s always goin’ on ‘bout how STRONG y’ are, and I can see why. Life...life’s got a funny way ‘f workin’ things out. Lots ‘f good things happenin’ out there, yet there’s a lotta bad happenin’ t’ folk who don’t deserve it. Whatever good’s out there, I know it’s due t’ come your way. Hell, I’d give ya some of mine--lord knows I ain’t done anythin’ t’ deserve it.”

    He let out a vaguely humorous huff, glancing back to the fire for a moment before meeting her gaze once again.

    “Guess what I’m tryin’ t’ say is that there’s a lot of people out there who are on your side. Can’t get too far in life without people y’ can trust, and you’ve proved time and again that you’re one of those who can be that for someone, and it’s a fool who don’t see that and won’t return it. Y’ deserve more than y’ get, much as that might not mean much from someone like me. Y’ got a lotta fight in y’, and you’ve never had a point a gun t’ prove it. Folks see that.”

Send 💘 and the mun will say something nice about your muse

I remember seeing Itsuki for the first time all those years ago, and jokingly I was like “who’s lost child is this?” lol

However, I can honestly say with my whole heart that I am so glad to have been introduced to her character. However, I can’t say much to how she is portrayed on her blog, as I am...completely unfamiliar from the media she is from. (And considering some of the horror stories I’ve heard about the fandom, I’m very content with hers being the only blog I follow from it lol.) Yet, I feel like I’ve known her character for so long through how often she’s appeared on my blogs and all the relationships I’ve built with her through my own characters. Good, bad, everything.

Itsuki is such a strong character in not just physical prowess, but strength of will and mind too. No matter what blog I am on, I can almost always trust her to be this force of optimism and child-like joy and curiosity. Even on a blog of mine starring a certain baptist, even in the face of someone who wouldn’t appreciate her for who she is, somehow Itsuki still manages to handle that in a way that is both absolutely a joy to write with and great to play off of.

I know I’ve said it before, but often I do find myself thinking about how a character would interact with her when I am making a blog. Not only is it me trying to make room for interaction, but it is also good for general character development. She has become such a staple on my blogs, which honestly rarely happens and for as long as it has with her.

Send 💕 and the mun will say something nice about you, the mun

Becka!!

Much like you wrote in this section for me, I am also sorry this took so long because I also wanted to make sure everything sounded right. Especially after coming off a long semester of university, I’ve been trying to come back into my writing. Lol Honestly, what can I say about you that I haven’t said a million times? I always say this, yet I know it bares repeating because I know everything I feel about you to be wholly the truth. You are such a great friend, and even when you’re not feeling like you are, or you are in the middle of a falling out, or stuck ruminating on something that didn’t work out with someone, I know for a fact that you have done your absolute best in that friendship. I know you have done nothing but show me support, love, and a deep kindness since the day I met you and I know I can say absolutely that you are one of my best friends.

Hell, I know even my family asks about you sometimes because I know I’ve mentioned having our late night talks often enough. Lol I know you have helped me through so much, even in things you may not even be aware of. Being able to write with you, knowing that you’re out there doing you and being awesome, it’s everything I could ask for in a friend. It’s 3 am while I’m writing this so idk if I’m rambling like mad here, but I have a lot of feelings for you. Lol Mostly, I’m just grateful. That you exist, that we’re as close as we are, for the conversations we do have. I love you a TON, and I hope you know that. I ALWAYS want you to know that, even in the deepest darkest pits you may fall in.

I am always happy to see you, to talk with you, to write with you. I love you, and you’re always in my thoughts and I hope nothing but the best for you and I’m always so excited and happy when I do see that happening for you.

[dickwheelie]

Day 29: Secret Admirer

For the @ineffable-valentines prompt list!

Boy oh boy. I cannot believe I was able to post a fic for this prompt list, on time, every day for an entire month. For me, that’s huge. I tend to be a slow writer and I rarely finish the stuff I start. Not every fic was amazing, or very long, but by gosh, I sure did finish them, and I had so much fun doing it! Huge thanks to @mielpetite for making this list and reblogging all the entries throughout the month, they’ve been amazing. Thank you also to all the lovely folks who commented/reblogged/liked my fics, you gave me the motivation to sit down every day and write something, even when I wasn’t feeling it. Much love to all y’all.

If you go to the #ineffablevalentines tag on tumblr, you’ll see the other entries, and if you go here on my blog you’ll see all of mine. Okay, enough chat, please enjoy my final fic of the month, wherein to no one’s surprise, there is more letter writing.

__________

To the proprietor of A.Z. Fell & Co Booksellers, Downtown Soho, in case there’s another one knocking about somewhere—

I saw you in the shop the other day and couldn’t help but stare. You were gently ushering someone out the door without a single book in their hands, and I couldn’t help but find your tenacity admirable. I myself was careful not to remove any item from the store when I left, but I’m afraid I may have left one behind. I was wondering if you might have seen it, so I can come back to fetch it. You see, it’s terribly important to me. It’s my heart.

Love,

Your Secret Admirer

Aziraphale chuckled through an unseemly blush as he refolded the letter and placed it on the top of the stack that had been slowly growing on his desk for the past month. Every day of that cold, miserable February, a letter had arrived at his doorstep, with no return address and no name of sender. They were—and there was no beating around the bush about it, really—love letters, very obviously meant for him, from an anonymous so-called secret admirer.

At first, Aziraphale had been rather confused, but had kept the letters anyway, intending to show them to Crowley and have a good laugh. However, as each day passed and each new letter arrived, Aziraphale found himself quite charmed by this secretive writer. Clearly, they were a regular customer of some kind to know Aziraphale so well. They made all the right jokes, said all the right things, made references to all the right literary figures; either they had discerned Aziraphale’s tastes with perfect accuracy, or they had much in common with him.

Some of the letters were extremely lengthy; others, like today’s, were only a short paragraph or two, recounting the admirer’s feelings for him. Some were maudlin and prose-laden; some were humorous and sweet; others still were almost salacious in tone, never saying anything too outlandish but bordering on the cusp of it, hinting at things and implying things that made Aziraphale blush absolutely scarlet. All of them were quite flattering, and left Aziraphale’s mood brighter for the rest of the day.

Aziraphale had been charmed by humans before, and even been romantically pursued by some of them, but never before had one so captivated him with the written word. (This, of course, did not include works of literature. That was a very different kind of captivation that involved less blushing.) He’d never had a secret admirer before. It was all very thrilling and romantic.

Not being able to write back was a bit frustrating, but Aziraphale supposed it was for the best. Though he was quite flattered, and had reread some of the letters more times than he’d like to admit, at the end of the day, his admirer was only a human who only knew him as a bookseller.

Besides, Aziraphale was already taken. Speaking of which, he ought to get himself ready to meet Crowley for dinner; their reservation was at eight.

I ought to tell him about the letters, he thought as he went about selecting a bowtie. Crowley ought to know, after all, that he had some competition. Aziraphale laughed aloud at the thought. After dinner, he decided, he’d bring Crowley back to the shop and show him the pile of letters.

And so he did. Aziraphale poured them both a glass of wine and brought Crowley into his study, presenting the pile of papers as though it were an ice sculpture.

“Terribly sorry I didn’t mention these to you earlier,” said Aziraphale cheerily. “I suppose I didn’t want you getting jealous that I had a secret admirer.”

“Jealous? Me?” said Crowley wryly. “Never.”

“Well?” said Aziraphale, when Crowley didn’t make a move towards the desk. “Go ahead, read some of them. You have my full permission.”

“Hmm. I dunno,” said Crowley, making himself comfortable on one of the armchairs on the opposite side of the room. “Seems like your private affair, to me.”

“Nonsense! Here, I’ll read one to you.” Aziraphale selected one at random from the middle of the pile, unfolded it and cleared his throat. “Oh, this is rather a good one.

“My dear bookseller—

“I’ve read every Wilde I can get my hands on, but apparently even your shop doesn’t hold the book which may contain a description vivid enough to capture you. In my experience, none do; not Whitman, not Keats, not Dickenson. The most complimentary of love poems do not contain a subject more appealing to me than you are. I’m afraid there may not be words in the English language or any other to describe your radiance. Compared to all the other authors and poets, who am I to attempt such a feat?

“I must try anyway. You, of all the beings of the Earth and Heaven above and Hell below, deserve to know your own wonder. Compared to you, my perspective is lowly, to be sure. Still, was it not Wilde who once said that we are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars?

“Endlessly Yours,

“Your Secret Admirer.”

Aziraphale had to pause to surreptitiously wipe at his eyes. That one had been particularly moving when he’d first read it. “Now, wasn’t that just lovely?” he said after a moment. “They know my tastes so well.”

Aziraphale glanced over at Crowley to see his reaction, but to his surprise, Crowley was smiling. A small, rather sweet smile, not at all jealous or mischievous. “Yeah,” Crowley said, “it was alright.” He put out his hand. “Can I have a look?”

Aziraphale handed him the letter and Crowley perused it, his expression much more pensive than Azirapahle would have expected. After a minute or two, Crowley said, “Yeah, not too bad, really. Not much I’d change, on this one. Just that the references to Heaven and Hell were probably a little too on the nose. And I’m pretty sure I used ‘complimentary’ incorrectly there.”

“Oh, really?” said Aziraphale, taking the letter as Crowley passed it back to him. He gave it another quick once-over. “No, I think ‘complimentary’ with an ‘i’ is correct. If it was an ‘e’ then it would be wrong, as in ‘complementary’—wait a moment.”

Aziraphale looked back up at Crowley so quickly he could have given himself whiplash. “You said I. ‘I used it incorrectly.’ Crowley. Did you—”

Crowley grinned, and crossed the room to press a kiss to Aziraphale’s brow. “Happy Valentine’s, Angel,” he said. “Well, happy February. The fourteenth went by and I had more I wanted to say, so I just sort of kept going.”

And suddenly, it all made sense. Who else, after all, could know Aziraphale so well? A human, with limited time on the planet, observing Aziraphale from afar, could never reach such an intimate understanding of him, and what he loved.

“Oh, my dear,” said Aziraphale. He glanced over at the pile. He was already planning a late night of reading through them all again, this time with the proper demon in mind. “Do I even have to say it?”

Crowley stuck his hands in his pockets and bobbed his head from side to side in a pantomime of thinking. “Well, considering it look me bloody ages to draft these all up, and write them by hand, and train the mice to deliver them, and stop myself from bragging about them to you every day for the last month—”

Aziraphale interrupted him with a kiss. “All right then,” he said, laughing. “Thank you, secret admirer.”

Crowley beamed. “Ah, it was no big deal, Angel.”

***

On February first of the following year, Crowley woke up to find an envelope sitting on his bedroom windowsill, outside his flat. It was addressed to “The handsome gentleman on the fifth floor,” and there was no return address. Inside was a letter, written on very old parchment and with very expensive ink, which read:

My dear,

Forgive me for my boldness, but I happened to see you in the Ritz the other day (you were with a rather good-looking gentleman in white, a very lucky man, if he had the privilege of being your dining companion), and you seemed to me to be the most dashing person in the room. Nay, in all of London. I found myself thinking about you for the rest of the evening, and I just had to draft up this letter to tell you exactly how lovely you looked that night. Though you wore dark glasses, I could occasionally catch a glimpse of your eyes behind them, and their beautiful golden color, and I found myself nearly speechless every time.

In all of creation, I have never found a being so wonderful to gaze upon. I imagine that if I were to, hypothetically, take the place of your ever-so-fortunate dining companion, and have a conversation and a drink with you, I would also never find someone so fascinating, so caring, so clever as you. I imagine if I were lucky enough to know you so well, your wit would be as dazzling as your eyes.

With the Greatest Affection,

Your Secret Admirer

Scrawled at the bottom of the page, in a much hastier hand, was a postscript. Crowley read it, cackled uproariously (which helped to hide his blushing), and went immediately to phone Aziraphale, intending to explain to him the point of having a secret admirer.

P.S.: Please do let me know if you received this! The doves are not very good with street directions, unfortunately. I am working on it with them. Much love! —A

Crowley also intended to tell him that he bloody well loved him, too.

[jswdmb1]

24 Frames

“You thought God was an architect, now you know

He's something like a pipe bomb ready to blow

And everything you built that's all for show 

goes up in flames - in twenty- four frames”

- Jason Isbell

This may come as a shock, especially to those who know me well, but I can be very stubborn. Sometimes this can work into my favor as it helps bolster confidence when I take a difficult position that I know is right, or it can help me persist when odds are long such as starting a new business.  But this often is a character trait that I know can hold me back.  In particular, I bristle at things I am told that I “should” do even when it clearly would be in my best interest to do whatever is being suggested.  It usually takes someone equally stubborn to get me to move off of my position, but this did happen recently.

My wife is always on me to watch various different television programs, but I always balk.  I watch some TV but is it well documented (on this blog) that it is pretty much limited to PBS and reruns of old game shows and sitcoms.  I don’t like to leave that comfort zone, and it takes a lot for me to try out a new show – especially one that is episodic that expects you to come back week-after-week. I know that means I miss out on a lot of good stuff, but I’m okay with that as it allows me to keep my time on the tube under control and I don’t get more involved with something than I really want to be.  But on this one particular show, she was quite persistent, and I was challenged to at least give it a try.

The show is Schitt’s Creek, and I am sure you have heard of it if you do not already know it well. If you haven’t seen it, do not worry, as I will not be disclosing too much about the program.  Even if you have heard a lot about it and feel you know the story, part of the charm of the show is watching the characters develop throughout the series, so plot turns and the such are not as important as in some other episodic series.  The basic plot is that an extremely wealthy family of four, including two adult children, are forced to move to a small town when they lose everything overnight due to a business manager not paying taxes.  The series starts with the scene of revenue agents raiding their mansion as the family frantically collects a few belongings, so no time is spent on their past life.  Every moment from the first scene is spent on their life afterwards which involves living somewhere in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of regular folks.  It sounds like a typical fish-out-of-water setting (think the second Bob Newhart show for the closest example), and that is certainly mined for plenty of laughs, but it quickly becomes clear that the show is about much more than this.

That is all you are going to get from me about the actual show, because no more details are relevant to the rest of this post.  Except that the acting in this show is brilliant and worth watching for that alone.  The father and mother are played by Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara, both of whom I have been watching for decades in their various film roles and on the hilarious SCTV program.  The chemistry between the two is so natural and genuine that you quickly adopt them as Johnny and Moira Rose and forget their 40+ years in show business as other characters.  The children played by Levy’s son Dan and Annie Murphy are equally good and get a lot of the laughs as their clear lack of reality in their past lives plays to insane results when applied to the real world of the town of Schitt’s Creek.  The supporting cast is not just a bunch of wacky neighbors but add much depth to the show and develop themselves over the course of the series, especially the character of Stevie played by Emily Hampshire. The character of Roland Schitt, played by Chris Elliot, may be the best second banana on television since Cosmo Kramer. Again, none of this gives away much if anything about the show or the various plot arcs, but it should give you extra motivation to watch as talent like this collecting in one place is rare indeed.

And why exactly am I so intent on you watching this show?  While the quality of the program and the enjoyment it will provide you is enough reason to dive in, I have discovered a much greater purpose to following the evolving journey of the Roses.  Even though the show was created over five years ago, and largely wrapped production on its sixth season before 2020, it has become for me the perfect allegory for the United States right now.  Our country is going through the same experience that the Roses went through much of the first two seasons.  After the sudden event of COVID-19, we found ourselves much in a place like Schitt’s Creek. Over seven months into this pandemic, we are still stuck in what life was like before and when will it ever return. I do not think this is much of a spoiler alert for anyone who is rational, but how the way things were is never coming back.  COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on our society, and we like to blame it for all of our current problems, but it simply laid bare all of our faults and weaknesses almost overnight.  We are now no longer able to push those existential problems aside and have to face them head on. Many of us are not up for the challenge and would like something to change things back overnight, but that is not happening.  It doesn’t matter if there is a vaccine, or a new president, we have to face that we collectively lived lives that were not grounded in reality and our fates hung delicately in the balance just waiting for something like COVID-19 to come and bring it crashing down.  Just like the Roses lost everything in one quick raid, we now find ourselves building our lives all over again in a strange place where we are very uncomfortable.

Now I know that is difficult to hear and very depressing, but here comes the good part.  Just because things have changed does not necessarily mean that we can’t grow and develop into something even better than we had before. Obviously, a deadly disease like COVID-19 is not something we ever wanted, and it has brought countless suffering and death to too many people, but it does provide for a starting point to helping us grow beyond some of the shallower lives we lead previously.  It may take a lot of tough love, but we will eventually get the virus under control and the big question will be what is next.  For me, there needs to be an evolution past wherever we were before this all went down. I think our guide can be the Rose family in Schitt’s Creek.  The a-ha moment for me came at the end of season two titled “Happy Anniversary”.  I will disclose nothing more about it other than to say it was a transformative episode not only for the Roses, but for my own outlook on things as we move into what will be a very dark winter.  

If you are a watcher of the series, some of this may make more sense to you, but I think even you could benefit from another viewing to see if you can apply some of this to your own life as well.  I am actually only through Season 3 so far (I know enough about what lies ahead to be able to write this post, but it hasn’t ruined a thing for me), but I am already making plans for starting over to pick up things I missed the first time around. And it is important that you start in the beginning and move through the episodes sequentially.  Not so much because you will lose the story, as many of the stories are self-contained within an episode, but because you will miss out on the character development along the way (again, kudos to the actors and actresses in this show who so brilliantly developed these characters). I know this is playing it up quite a bit but trust this one-time reluctant viewer to be assured that your time is going to be well spent.

This many come off as a review, but it really is not.  I mean, if I were a reviewer, I would include some of the above in my story (and end with four stars or whatever the highest rating is), but this has become so much more for me.  It has served as a life-saving antidote to the poison spewed in traditional media and social media that makes me nauseous on a daily basis.  I find myself occasionally daydreaming about a funny scene I saw, or a subtle profound moment in the show, which has replaced some of the constant worry about the pandemic, or economy, or the election, all of which have a life-or-death feeling to them.  It has proven to be a rare new tool in my arsenal against anxiety and it will end up being one of my lasting memories of 2020.  That is a lot to say for one show about a year as particularly disastrous as this one, but I sincerely believe that.  

So, don’t be like me and be stubborn if you haven’t seen this show.  As soon as you read my last sentence, get yourself on Netflix and start watching with Season 1, Episode 1.  And make sure you don’t have anywhere to be tomorrow because the one negative is that it will be hard to stop once you get started.  But I think it is okay right now to binge on something that is finally showing us that there is a way to succeed in life without putting others down or placing selfish pursuits over relationships.  So, dig in and enjoy and I promise that I have learned one other thing throughout this experience – keep an open mind.  Because when you keep your mind closed, you shut out a world of possibilities, even when that world seems to have none.  

Enjoy,

Jim

[xxsovereignsarayaxx]

Supernatural - Road to Revenge Chapter 3

Authors Note: Everything is coming together nicely! I’m really proud of what this is turning into. I can’t thank everyone enough for the likes and re-blogs you guys are awesome!  Word Count: 2576 Warnings: None.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2

“So Lila...is it?” Dean asked sarcastically, bashing his hand on the metal table as he walked into the room. With the table jarring with the impact of Dean’s hand Nia’s head shot up groaning her eyelashes fluttering as her eyes adjusted to the light in the room. “You’re still with this asshole? She asked me with a grumble.

“You really want to be left in here?” I asked bluntly as Dean walked around the room and positioned himself so he was leaning against the two-way mirror. “No…” Nia replied, rolling her eyes, avoiding to look at me. “What happened?” I asked her. 

“Got busted for pick-pocketing.” She replied matching my blunt tone. “You really expect me to believe that? You called me here Ni, you said that there was something that wasn’t right. We’re here to help you.” 

My phone started to ring, checking the caller ID it was Sam. Excusing myself and leaving Dean to try and speak with Nia I exited the interview room and accepted the call.

“Hey, how’s Nia?” “We’re not sure she isn’t being very forthcoming, but I can tell she's scared and holding back. I’m just hoping she will open up…”

“I’m sure that Nia will open up once she realises you're really here to help her.”

“Yeah...Me too. How’s the other thing?”

“Rowena is still looking, Charlie and Cas are helping.”

I looked up from the phone and looked through the small window in the door frame, seeing Nia just sitting still, I could hear some muffled words from Dean. Dropping my head I took a deep breath. 

“I’ve got to go, like it or not my sister needs our help. I need to be there for her. Let me know if you get a break through.”

“I will do Nik.”

And with that the call ended, putting my phone back into my pocket I smoothed out my jacket and headed back inside the room. Resuming my seat sitting across from Nia she shifts in the uncomfortable seat. “Ni what happened?” I asked her softly, trying to reach out to her. 

“For the last time nothing happened! If you're not here to bail me out of here then the pair of you can just get lost!” She snapped bringing her head down to the table. Pushing the chair back so it made a noise I got up, straightened my jacket once more and headed for the door. 

“We can’t help you if you don’t speak up.” Dean said gruffly. 

“Nikki must still care about you, otherwise she wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t be here. Don’t take her kindness for granted because next time... You might not get so lucky. We’re both here to help you.”

“Nicole must care? Ha! Because you got mixed up with him and his delusional brother, you’re the reason I’m in here! My mom and dad should have left you in that foster home to rot.” 

“I get that you’re angry that mom and dad died, I do, but your choices led you here Nia but I’m not going to air my dirty laundry here in a police station or in front of Dean.” I replied sternly, turning to look at her.

“No you don’t get to call them that, you are an outsider. Always were and always will be.”

Nia turned away not looking at either of us.  

“If you change your mind you call me.” I told her and walked out of the room with Dean following behind. 

“What was all that about? Bringing up your mom and dad like that?” Dean asked with a huff. 

“I’ll explain later…”

The pair of us walked out of the police station and got back in the impala. “So what next?” I asked, slumping into the leather seat. Letting out a groan. “We head to the gallery to see what we can find there.” Dean replied. 

We arrived at the gallery shortly after 2PM walking up the steps, seeing the mess from the robbery still being cleaned up by the members of staff at the gallery. “Hello, this part of the gallery is closed I’m afraid.” A staff member said. 

“I’m Agent Perry, this is my partner. We were wondering if we could have a look around, ask a few questions?” Dean asked, showing his badge following suit. I showed my badge as well. 

“Of course.”

While Dean focused on asking some questions I made my way over to where the painting was kept before the robbery. I took a deep breath in and I could still smell the trace of sulphur - So it was a demon after all. There wasn’t much else noticeable so I made my way back to Dean.

Walking into the diner we took a booth near the back of the building. “Did you find anything?” Dean asked, looking at the plastic menu.

I nodded. “There were still some traces of sulphur so that confirms the demon theory, might be worth getting in touch with Crowley to find out what was so important with that scroll.” I replied with a suggestion. 

A waitress came over to the table with a chirpy face and a chirpy voice to match. “Hey folks what can I get ya?” 

“Bacon double cheeseburger, fries and a soda.” Dean says with a grin. The waitress turns to look at me. “Make that two.” I said with a warm smile.

“Coming right up.” And with that the waitress walks away. 

“How was I so lucky in finding a girl like you?” Dean jokes.

“Don’t get me wrong, a salad won’t do you any harm but who can resist a good burger in a greasy diner?” I replied with a chuckle resting my head in my hand. 

“I’m going to head back to the police station after we’re done here, why don’t you head back to the motel relax a bit? You didn’t get any sleep last night”

“Are you going to speak with Nia again?”

I nodded.

“But what the hell was that? Her blowing up the way she did.” Dean asked me.

“You know that I was stuck in a foster home for a few years?”

“Yeah but never knew why.”

I felt that I couldn’t tell Dean the real reason, I felt like nothing would be the same. Even though I’ve known him and Sam since I was eighteen. Even now I was ashamed of my upbringing and to this day I would try and evade certain questions about my past. Part of me felt it was wrong, I knew pretty much everything about the Winchesters but if they knew the real me I feared that I would go back to being alone. 

“She should have cooled down by the time we’re done here, she might talk to me but I’m not holding much hope though.”

“She knows that deep down you care for her Nik. It’s kinda like how me and Sam are.” 

“Thanks Dean.” 

“Anything for you sweetheart.”

Anytime Dean called me sweetheart it made my heart swell, I loved this man to bits and who knew that all those years ago of being friends would lead to something a whole lot more. As much as Dean hated it he knew that I would sacrifice my life for his. 

Dean dropped me off at the police station and headed back to the motel, he told me to call him if I needed anything. I made my way to the holding cell that Nia was being held in. She looked up and scoffed. “You back here to gloat? Where’s that idiot boyfriend of yours?” 

I shook my head. “I’ll tell you again and again Ni I’m here to help you, please just talk to me.” 

We shared a sullen silence and then she let out a sigh.

“You mean it? Don’t you?” She replied finally looking at me, her jade coloured eyes started to tremble in fear. 

“Of course I do, we may not be family by blood but you welcomed me when I needed that support system. What happened the other night?” 

“I was only going to the Monroe Art Gallery to score some watches and the odd bit of jewellery I could swipe without getting caught. But...but then I saw this smoke and at first I thought something was on fire but then I felt like I was stuck in my own head.” She admitted.

Looking at my surroundings making sure that we still could continue talking. “Was it a thick black smoke?” I asked her softly.

She nodded. “Will it come back?” 

“I’ll be honest with you, there is the possibility it could…”

My sister looked petrified with my words...

“But there are ways to protect yourself so it won’t happen again. Once I get you out of here we can put a plan into action.” I finished and after that she seemed to be more at ease. “You really know your stuff don’t you?” 

“Well it's what I was trained to do…” 

After a long debate with the detective that was leading the investigation I persuaded him to release Nia, with the help of Sam who pretended to be my superior, helping her collect her things as we finally walked out of the station. She had a perk in her step. “I can’t thank you enough Coley.” She says as she turns to me.  

“I’m always here for you Nia. I promise.” I replied.

“Have you got time for a coffee?” She asked. 

I checked my phone and seeing as I had no texts or missed calls I thought why not. 

“Sure.”

Me and Nia were sitting in the same diner as Dean and I were in earlier in the day. Two cups of coffee were on the table as Nia added sugar in hers stirring it with a spoon. I always preferred mine black. “So…What do we do now?” Nia asked me.

“First thing is to get you protected for the future, how do you feel about tattoos?” I asked her.

“You should know I was never a fan of needles Coley. But I’m guessing I’m going to need one?” 

I let out a soft chuckle taking a sip of coffee, setting it back onto the table lightly. “Most hunters we know have an anti-possession tattoo. Dean, Sam and myself all have one. And with that we are protected, we can’t be possessed.”

“What was it like?” She asked.

“The tattoo? I’ve been shot multi…”

“No…Not your tattoo...Your training.” 

“I love you so much Nia but I can’t bring up my past…” I said softly looking out the window.

“You never really spoke about it, I just wanted to know…” 

I sighed. “There’s a reason why I didn’t like speaking about it. What I went through…It was cruel and nobody should have gone through it. I was lucky to get out when I did.”

“Do you miss your home?” Nia asked innocently.

“No.” 

After the diner I took Nia to the local 24 hour tattoo shop. It was a small little studio and well decorated. Nia was flicking through some of the designs that the artist had. 

“Looking at adding to your collection?” I teased.

“Well if I can stand the pain from this I might just do that.” She replied laughing.

I turned back to the counter, pulling out a piece of paper from my trouser pocket. “We’re looking for something like this.” 

“Sure not a problem.” The tattooist said. 

Forty Five minutes later, Nia had the anti-possession tattoo on the right side of her ribs, and I felt at ease knowing that she was slightly safer against the supernatural. I just now wanted to find the demon that possessed Nia and send the bastard back to hell. 

“I’ve changed my mind, this is going to be the only tattoo I have.” Nia said as we walked out of the shop.

“Well it was one of the worst places to get a tattoo so I’m not surprised that you would change your mind.” 

We carried on walking down the street, the plan was to walk Nia back to her hotel and then I was going to walk back to Dean and try get a few hours shut eye before we got back to work. Saying my goodbyes to my sister I left the lobby. It was dark night and the streets were illuminated by the street and building lights. A mix of neon and the stars filled the sky. It was a pleasant night, not too cold but not too warm either. I walked a few blocks down to the nearby street crossing, waiting for it to be safe to cross. I heard the clearing of the throat.

“Hello Fawn.”

“Well it saves the effort of summoning you.”

“Squirrel already beat you to it, not often the pair of you are separated. So tell me Fawn.”

“If you already got the low-down from Dean I don’t need to explain myself to you, but I do want the name of the demon that possessed my sister.” I said sternly, raising an eyebrow.

The crossing light had turned green but yet me and the demon stayed put.

“That would have been Actaeon, he’s gone off the rails as of late. Hell bent on making up for his past mistakes.” Crowley said, shoving his hands in his woolen coat pockets. 

“Where can I find him?” I asked.

“You don’t find Actaeon. Actaeon finds you.” 

“Crowley I don’t have time to play games, what was so important in that painting he stole?” I asked him.

“The Souls of Gabriel has a scroll inside. The angels wanted it which means I WANT IT. Makes sense don't you think? But if you happen to find Actaeon deal with him won’t you darling? Bad boys get punished.” Crowley replied and he snapped his fingers and he disappeared. 

Shaking my head trying to make sense of the conversation I continued my journey back to the motel, putting the key into the door opening it and I saw Dean laid out on the bed watching TV. He lifted his head up from the pillow. “Was starting to think you were going to be out all night.” 

“Sorry, I should have called. Good news though. Nia is out of jail and tattooed up. Also spoke to Crowley.” I said sitting on the edge of the bed.

After explaining to Dean what Crowley had said. We both got geared up ready to try and find Actaeon. Although we really had no idea where to start but if Crowley was right Actaeon would find us. Which means we had the opportunity to set up a trap. I always still remembered my training and still to this day I always had two thigh holsters which held my handguns and a small silver knife in my boot. Wanting to make sure my hair was tied up properly I headed to the bathroom, I heard my phone ring from the other room. 

“I’ll get it.” Dean said, picking up the phone accepting the call and putting it on speaker.

“Nikki? Can you come over to that bar around the corner from the hotel, something isn’t right.”

“Sure…Me and Dean will head over now.” I said walking to Dean. 

“Everything ok Nia?” Dean asked.

“I’m just paranoid I guess.” 

“We’re leaving now.”

“Thanks Nik.”

The call dropped and Dean handed me back my phone. “Something isn’t right.”

“Even I could sense something wasn’t right there… Nia never calls you Nikki or Nik.” Dean replied as we made a bee line for the door running out to the parking lot. 

“The bar is about five blocks from the motel.” I said quickly sliding into the passenger seat.

Dean started up the impala, Baby roared into life and her tires squealed against the tarmac.

We arrived at the bar, it was a run down building. As we entered the door expecting to see it with patrons but it was empty and Nia was nowhere to be seen. 

“Nia?” I called.

“Nia?” Dean said again.

Neither of us heard a response.

While Dean checked the perimeter of the bar, I headed to the back checking the stock room. And when I cautiously opened the door. My heart just shattered into pieces. 

Nia was dead...

[babbushka]

You're kinda my biggest writing inspiration ever. I love the way you run your blog and everything . I've been trying to interact with my followers lately (I have abt 200 which I feel like is a lot of individuals y'know) and I'm a writing blog. I really want to interact with my followers but no one sends asks even when I try to start conversations... Do you have any advice on opening up communication with followers? I want to get to know mine bc it seems like it'll be more fun that way

Hello my dear anon! Thank you very much for your kindness, I’m honored to be held in such high regard. 200 people is absolutely a wonderful accomplishment! That’s like, a full synagogue during Friday night serves! 

But no matter how many people you have on the blog with you, I think it’s important for them to know that you’re a person too. 

Having a writing blog sets you up for so many wonderful conversations about the writing, but if you happen to reblog posts with comments or things in the tags, or put up personal posts in addition to the writing (little tidbits about your day, or funny things that happen or ideas and thoughts you have about characters etc.)  I find that it makes a world of difference to show your personality. People gravitate towards that, you know? Knowing that there’s someone behind the screen that they might have things in common with -- a similar sense of humor, or interests, or opinions. 

I know you mentioned that you try and start conversations but I suggest trying to host weekly little events like sleepovers! Reblog some interesting ask-lists or emoji games where the folks following you can pick from pre-made suggested questions. I find that helps a lot, when people want to interact but maybe don’t know exactly where to start or what to ask, it gives them that nudge to send something in and start a conversation that way! 

That being said, sometimes people don’t want to interact with content creators, especially ones that they may be intimidated because they admire their work. Other times, people are just too shy, or they’re too unsure whether it’s alright to send in questions. And honestly, sometimes people are new to tumblr and just aren’t aware that you can send in asks at all! 

At the end of the day, you can’t force people to want to interact if they don’t want to interact, you know? But out of 200 people, there’s bound to be folks there who want to reach out but are just as unsure as you are. It’s just a matter of setting aside time on your blog to share more of who you are as an individual, which will in turn make people more interested in you and want to get to know the author behind the fics they love :) 

[maddiviner]

Hi, you reblogged some stuff about soulbonding and I was wondering what you think about it and why. Personally I think it can go too far, like the Sarah girl and the Final Fantasy house.

You’re asking for my opinion, right? Well, this is it, but obviously I can prove none of it. It is, by definition, only an opinion.

I’ve been aware of soulbonding since the very early-2000s when the term was popularized on LiveJournal and other sites. I first ran across it through the overlap with the otherkin community. 

At the time, I was still sorting out my own therianthropy and relationship to my therioside, so I lurked a lot of related communities. When someone’s wishkinning selkies as hard as I was… well, I encountered a lot of different perspectives.

I remember reading about how the term “soulbond” was coined by Amanda Flowers in the late 1990s to describe her relationship with her characters, and the concept expanded from there. 

I also found a (now-defunct) site called Soulbonding.net that documented the phenomenon (paradigm?) in some detail. I kind of wish that site were still around, but it seems to have vanished.

The site was pretty broad in its application of the term. It just defined soulbonding as the practice of interacting with mental constructs of (mostly self-created) fictional characters for the sake of better writing. I can’t remember if the site talked about soulbonds as spirits or just mental constructs, but a lot of people were agnostic about that, anyways.

What do I see with soulbonding? I’ve already made it clear on this blog that I see magic (and with it, spiritwork), as the birthright of humanity and all other conscious beings. 

Magic and spirit contact are veritable constants in human culture. Even in instances where the dominant culture strongly disbelieves or disapproves of those things, you still see them. 

For example, even in Puritan New England, young girls and other folk sought out occult practices, which ultimately led to the Salem witch hysteria. In other historical contexts we see a similar “return” to the occult; a skim of the works of Claude Lecouteux on Medieval peasant society proves that, and we see it with the legacy of Isobel Gowdie.

There’s just a certain percentage of folks who (for whatever mysterious reason) are always going to gravitate towards the spirit world. This happens regardless of what the dominant society indoctrinates in them.

With soulbonding, you have a lot of people who grew up in a culture where spirits were seen as either evil or nonexistent. This includes some folks who likely didn’t have the opportunity to investigate paths like Wicca or others which accept spirit contact. 

Yet, still, spirit contact happens, and it ended up being called “soulbonding.”

It is clear to me that some spirits want contact with humans, and humans reciprocate this intuitively. This is true regardless of what spirits you’re talking about. Pop culture egregores? Spirit guides? Self-constructed thoughtforms of happenstance? 

Hard to say, but at least some percentage of all of the above seeks human contact, just as some folks are naturally predisposed to magic and spiritwork in their own right. Different spirits tend to seek out different sorts of people, I think, but still, a sizeable minority of people gravitate towards the occult no matter the age they live in.

You’ll notice that I never tag posts with any “tulpa” related tags, and never write about the “tulpamancy” systems or “tulpamancers.” This is because I largely feel the word “tulpa” to be inappropriate in this context. 

That word has a distinct meaning in Tibetan Buddhism, and I don’t want to remove it from that context for the sake of describing a (barely-related) phenomenon. Therefore, I tend to use the terms “soulbond” and “soulbonding” to describe those experiences.

Soulbonding had major influences on my trajectory through various occult studies. In late 2009, my own experiences with a soulbond propelled me to seek greater context for the phenomenon. 

I realize a lot of people firmly believe soulbonds cannot be consciously forged, but I put a lot of effort into doing just that. I ended up with Katy G. for a few months, who fuelled a cyberpunk novella of mine (it was awful, but good practice writing).

Even when that was over, I still found it enticing and sought more context for the experience.This ultimately lead to my time studying chaos magic and the works of Peter Carroll, Andrei Vitimus, and Phil Hine. 

I mean, yeah, chaos mages can get mighty annoying on  Facebook these days, but the chaos movement has produced some real luminaries and sound techniques. I’m not saying all chaos mages are serious practitioners, but chaos magic in general has contributed a lot to magical gnosis as a whole.

I think the same is true of soulbonding as a paradigm for spiritwork, though it’s still pretty nascent. 

What I’m getting at is this: it’s a spiritwork context much more accessible than most such frameworks, and that’s a good thing.

I wouldn’t currently consider myself a soulbonder. While I do work with spirits, including self-constructed thoughtforms, none really reek of soulbond these days. It can be hard to quantify spirits, but that’s just my impression of my current contacts. 

My most recent experience with soulbonding was in 2014. I was (trying to finish) writing a short story about cyborgs, and ended up with vivid dreams in which I saw things from the perspective of one of the characters. It just so happened to be a particular well-meaning yet antagonistic antihero. 

It happened without effort on my part. Suffice to say, I was surprised to find myself in touch with my character (a corrupt corporate executive with many strong opinions about how he ought to be portrayed in my short story…)

Over a period of a few months, I worked quite a bit with that particular soulbond (thoughtform, etc), but the experiences faded once I finished writing the story. I can’t say whether or not I’ll forge another soulbond in the future, but I still fondly remember my earlier soulbonding endeavors, and where they ultimately led.

With regards to “soulbonding taken too far,” I think it’s a valid criticism in some cases. Any spiritwork, and actually, any magical technique can be misapplied or “taken too far.” But, with soulbonding, a lot of the risks were vastly over-emphasized online. 

You mention the “Final Fantasy VII house,” a particularly infamous online account of a summer spent with self-described soulbonders. As far as I know, the events described in that did actually happen.

Still, was it much worse/different than some of the cultish behavior that festers in other parts of the magical community? 

Hardly, and I believe it doesn’t taint soulbonding as a whole.

Of course, after that, we saw a massive surge of salacious accounts of “crazy” soulbonders posted online. At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist (again), I believe a lot of these were hoaxes hoping to ride on the wave of the FFVII House story for the sake of internet fame and attention. 

On that note, the “Sarah Saga” in particular was a hoax. You can’t prove a negative without doubt, but so many things about the story are impossible or unlikely ($500 a month for a sparkly house in the Bay Area?!). 

There’s a ton of evidence that “Sarah” was based on a real person (maybe a soulbonder?) though, but it seems like whoever wrote the stories purposefully fabricated them around her. This was likely done both for the sake of verisimilitude, and for the purpose of launching an attack on her.

In other words, “Sarah” was real, but she never lived in that (nonexistent, probably) house, nor did she act in the ridiculous manner portrayed. 

Before you ask, though, I’m not going to link to any of the real-life “Sarah’s” sites, nor namedrop her. Let things rest, for heck’s sake. The girl’s been through a lot already over this. 

Suffice to say there’s zero evidence she started a “soulbonding religion” or lived off the donations of other soulbonders. It simply didn’t happen.

In the early 2010s, when Tumblr started getting popular, the soulbonding crowd had even more trolls to deal with. Most of this happened simply because Tumblr became a volatile space very quickly. 

Some of the trolls no doubt influenced actual soulbonders into some really misguided things, but that doesn’t mean all or even most soulbonding had negative effects.

So, essentially, I’m just saying that while soulbonding isn’t any safer than other forms of spiritwork, much of the hysteria surrounding it was just that - nonsensical hysteria fuelled by attention-seeking trolls and their misled followers.

In case you couldn’t tell from the rest of this response, I do see soulbonding from a spiritual/occult perspective. Some folks don’t. There are plenty of soulbonders who just see it as an interesting mental exercise. I can’t prove them wrong, but my beliefs are different. It’s not exactly something to be sure of, either way, I guess? Yeah.

So there you have it; my thoughts on soulbonding. I hope this response was interesting and maybe even informative. If anyone has any comments, let me know in an ask or reblog/reply! 

I may make a separate post just about my own experience of soulbonding, because the 2014 events were pretty interesting! It was quite an unusual treat and definitely stands out amongst my spirit interactions! If I write about it, I’ll tag it #soulbonding for easy finding.