#So you get first come first serve!

[funnierasafictive]

We were thinking of making a small mascot for FAAFictive (this blog) at one point, but I have no idea what that would even be! How would you make a mascot for a blog that reblogs (mostly) jokes that can be fictive related? The idea just came up some time ago so that our icon wasn’t just the flag- but also something else to make this blog visually identifiable.

[hinamie]

post-graduation trip airport looks

[mrmeepsmadmind]

his horns (finials) (idk)(ears)(whatever) shaking... the jumping ??? the struggling 😭 the off center twitching ..he is PISSED. AWF !!!!!!

[senseearly]

For a moment, imagine yourself in Mithrun's brother shoes.

Your brother - stronger, prettier, more charismatic, but also distrustful and disdainful of everyone especially you - is to be sent to the Canaries. It is the rule, it is the duty of all noble houses. But you know what goes on there, Mithrun knows what happens there. Yet you see him off, bidding a temporary farewell as you do, because someone from the House has to go and it won't be definitely you. Mithrun knows this, you know this. And you wonder, very briefly, if Mithrun hates you now more than he does already.

Your brother - powerful, agile, a good soldier just as he is as an heir, if he could only be an heir - suddenly disappears. The unit he belonged to suddenly disappeared. And you're speechless because - how? why? No one wants to answer you; they will instead try to bring back a body, they promise to you. But that is not what you want. You grieve for your brother. but your own family doesn't grieve with you. Wasn't Mithrun family too?

Then you found out: MIthrun is alive.

Your brother - now weak, despondent, his eyes always looking for something that is not here nor there - is to be sent home where people can take care of him. It is not your first choice, you want him home. But he is - sick. Not quite there. He needs someone who can look after him and you look at yourself - your gait, your constitution - and you know it can't be you. So, you follow the advice of your family and pour out all your resources to find him the best of healers and caretakers. You ask yourself, almost daily, if Mithrun would ever return to who he once was.

Your brother - strong, pretty, uninterested of anything and anyone else aside from what he calls 'the demon' - is now better. He can walk on his own now, eats without throwing up on himself. The color on his skin is back and the scars of his injuries have faded into thick bumps and discolored skin. But he still isn't quite there; still needs help and probably will for the rest of his life. And you can live with that. You can provide that. Just as long as he comes home.

But doesn't. Your brother - now a husk of his former self, and you hate thinking of him that way, but you can't help yourself, the Mithrun you knew is gone - runs straight back to the Canaries. His mission is not over, he says. He doesn't care how long it takes, he says. And you see him off, again, because someone from the House has to go and it still can't be you. Mithrun knows this, you know this, and you can't help but wish, very briefly, if things would've been different if you went instead of him.

[withthewindinherfootsteps]

Wei Wuxian and Narrative Agency – Part Two

For Xiantober Day Three: Conviction (of a sort)... in which the author temporarily forgets to focus on narrative agency or on Wei Wuxian, in favour of analysing relevant themes and characters that relate to Wei Wuxian. But he does get focus, and again, contextualising him is why i’m exploring these other things, so no harm done.

(Part One | Part Three | Full version on AO3)

It’s Not Just Optimism: Resentment and Self-Definition 

Before we discuss the narrative again, let’s take a break to discuss one of my other favourite aspects of Wei Wuxian. We’ve seen how the narrative treats tragedy, and we’ll soon explore how it reflects Wei Wuxian’s views on tragedy. But what actually are these views? 

Because the thing is – the narrative and plot can emphasise agency and choice all it likes, but focusing solely on that leaves out the character. And it’s Wei Wuxian’s character that deserves the credit for how he defines himself (…in-universe). If someone had gone through everything he had, who could blame them for being unable to keep going, unable to let go of resentment, unable to see anything that was still worth living for, to see any value in altruism?

(Also, I do have to emphasise this: you can have perfectly healthy coping mechanisms, but still get extremely traumatised. Everyone has a limit to what they can take, that limit differs, and that isn’t your fault. It just so happens that Wei Wuxian’s limit is extremely high (and even he reaches it when everything falls apart in such quick succession near the end of his first life!))

This isn’t something that’s ignored in MDZS. We see multiple characters who have gone through similar levels of suffering as Wei Wuxian, or even less suffering than him*, who do react in some of the ways mentioned above. Whether or not the narrative condemns them depends on if they hold onto resentment from their tragedies and use it to harm others – Xiao Xingchen and Qin Su, for example, aren’t condemned for their suicides (nor should they be, suicide/suicidal ideation isn’t anything anyone should be blamed for), because nobody was intentionally hurt as a result. But people like Xue Yang, who was treated cruelly and senselessly lost his finger, but went on to murder an entire clan as a result; or Jin Guangyao, who remembered the slights against him and his mother down to the exact wording of Jin Guangshan’s dismissal of her freedom, which may have justly hurt him but also unjustly lead him to both burn down a brothel and (separately) kill or imprison multiple innocent prostitutes; or Jiang Cheng, whose resentment for Wei Wuxian due to the latter’s actions lead him to harm many others after his death simply because they were similar**, are condemned.

Why mention this? Well, these different reactions show it isn’t just a quirk of the universe that people are more tolerant to pain – Wei Wuxian’s reactions are a deliberate choice on the part of MXTX, not a writing flaw stemming from misunderstanding the severity of trauma***. But more importantly, many of these characters deliberately foil Wei Wuxian, and so they can give us a good insight into what sets him apart from them (or rather, from the characters who aren’t completely broken by their pain, because that way we know it isn’t simply a difference in tolerance but rather one in attitude). And as I’ve discussed, this has to do with accepting events and letting them go, rather than holding onto resentment.

Part of this may come from differences in personality (though that’s never an excuse for hurting others) – but, though Jiang Yanli may claim Wei Wuxian was someone “born with a smiling look” (Chapter 24, EXR), there are two philosophies Wei Wuxian consciously holds onto that have to do with this attitude:

“Let the self judge the right and wrongs, let others decide whether to praise or blame, let gains and losses remain uncommented on.” Chapter 75, EXR translation

“Remember the things others do for you, not the things you do for others. Only when people don't hold so much in their hearts would they finally feel free.” Chapter 113, EXR translation 

And crucially, these ideas directly contrast the actions and mindsets of the antagonists above. All three focus on their ‘gains and losses’, with their suffering at the hands of others being a major motive to harm those others/those affiliated with those others (Xue Yang’s finger; the slights against Jin Guangyao and his mother due to the latter’s job; Wei Wuxian’s ‘betrayal’ and his role in Jiang Yanli’s death, as well as false blame on him for the deaths of Jiang Cheng’s parents, and Jiang Cheng’s inferiority complex). Jin Guangyao and Jiang Cheng are also very focused on their reputation, or in other words, on whether ‘others decide (…) to praise or blame’ them (according to Chapter 10 of the EXR translation, in what seems to be omniscient POV heading into Jiang Cheng’s, the latter ‘cared about maintaining his reputation above anything else’. Meanwhile, much of Jin Guangyao’s actions were taken to protect his reputation, including the brothel burning, as a part of the aim was to conceal which brothel he grew up in (Chapter 104)). 

Additionally, much of Jin Guangyao’s resentment stems from how others treat (‘blam[ing]’ him, insulting him), compared to how they treat others (‘prais[ing]’ them):

“But do you know what it was that made me lose hope completely? I’ll answer your first question now. It wasn’t that I’d never be worth a single hair on Jin ZiXuan or one of the holes in Jin ZiXun, it wasn’t that he took back Mo XuanYu, it wasn’t that he tried every possible way to make me a mere figurehead either. It was the truth he once told the maid beside me when he was out indulging himself again.” Chapter 105, EXR

Though the other points didn’t make him lose hope completely, the implication is that they did affect him too (as shown by how he speaks about them), with Jin Guangshan’s words about Meng Shi being the final straw. ‘Los[ing] hope’ here of course relates to holding onto resentment, as Jin Guangyao’s loss of hope is what led him to murder out of his hatred.

Finally, both Jin Guangyao and Jiang Cheng also hold resentment due to holding onto what they’ve done for others, or even onto who they themselves are, without being treated accordingly – and though it makes sense to be hurt by all these things and these reactions are valid, the pain from holding that in your heart and the danger from holding onto it is precisely why MDZS condemns it:

“Why is it that even if I face everyone with a smile, I might not even receive the lowest form of respect, while even though your father was extremely arrogant, people flocked to him? Could you tell me why we were born from the same person but your father could relax at home with the love of his life playing with his child, while I never even dared be alone for long with my wife, shivering out of fright at first glance of my son? And I was ordered to do such a thing by my father as if it was natural—to kill an extremely dangerous figure who could flip out and conjure up a bloody massacre with his corpses anytime! “Why is it that even though we were born on the same day, Jin GuangShan could host a grand banquet for one son, and watch with his own eyes how his subordinate kicked his other son down Koi Tower, from the first stair to the last!” Chapter 105, EXR

(He brings up his role in Wei Wuxian’s downfall due to this as well, in addition to creating any excuse he can to absolve himself of others’ blame – he’s being treated unjustly and hated for something he’s done, even though he was ordered to do that thing by his father and it made sense!)

Jiang Cheng, “Are you stupid? You only counted the time to return and not the time to go there? Let alone the fact that after I got there I had to lead people and search through the entire mountain for the old banyan tree, then dig open the hole that got blocked up by Wen Chao and his people, and rescue you within seven days. Where’s your gratitude?!” (…) He raised his voice, “You killed the Xuanwu of Slaughter together with Lan WangJi, bathing in blood! How great is that?! But what about me?!” He punched his fist into a pillar in the hall, clenching his teeth, “… I have also been running around for days, completely exhausted, with not one second of rest!” Chapter 56, EXR

(And, a bonus to show this being a part of Jiang Cheng’s mindset without stemming from being hurt by a specific event, even when he’s being encouraging:)

“So it seems that both of you killed it together. What’s yours is yours. Why would you give him all the credit?” Chapter 56, EXR

(This moment is a nice display of the contrast between Wei Wuxian’s and Jiang Cheng’s mindsets as well, with the former focusing on what Lan Wangji (‘others’) did for him instead of seeking credit for his role!)

To repeat – of course these feelings are understandable, and I’m not blaming them for feeling this way. What I am placing blame on is letting those feelings drive you to murder many innocent prostitutes, or to let this sense of a debt you’re owed (which is what the philosophy is actually warning away from, because if you hold onto what you do for others, the natural expectation is that they’re indebted to you and should do something for you as a result) turn into resentment towards someone for not acting the way you think they should, leading you to help murder them, even if your sister sacrificed herself specifically to save their life.

This is the danger of holding onto resentment. And are these actions not a choice? Would you, independent of MDZS, absolve someone of a crime because their ‘personality just leads them that way’?

The same is true for acting on these two philosophies, and letting resentment go. And it’s all the more impressive when someone has as much potential resentment to hold onto as Wei Wuxian does.

Of course, Wei Wuxian himself isn’t completely infallible – which further supports the idea that this isn’t just a natural, unalterable quirk, since we see him act contradictory to his usual self as well. But the narrative’s view of resentment in these moments doesn’t change. Importantly, the times he does let resentment drive what he’s doing, during the Sunshot Campaign and Nightless City (as well as him being quick to anger at Phoenix Mountain, etc), it isn’t presented as in the right**** — and though he still lets go of it quickly enough to protect a group related to the one that hurt him (people of the Wen sect, the cultivators who participated in the Siege), it doesn’t prevent the harm done during these times. Additionally, the times he metaphorically can’t control and reign in his resentment in the form of guidao – at Qiongqi Path and, again, at Nightless City – pain is caused to innocents (Jin Zixuan and Jiang Yanli). This is what his internal thoughts have to say when he comes across cultivators gossiping about him, shortly after Wen Qing and Wen Ning have sacrificed themselves:

No matter what he did, not a single good word would come out of these people’s mouths. When he won, others feared; when he lost, others rejoiced. Chapter 77, EXR

He’s hurt by other people praising and blaming him! Holding onto this philosophy isn’t automatic, that decision isn’t simply encoded within him somehow.

But that brings us to another relevant theme: that these characters aren’t infallible, because they’re not mythical creatures or concepts brought to life. Everyone is human.

However, although he thought that his heart was like a stone, in the end, he was still human, not some emotionless grass or plant. Chapter 8, EXR

OuYang ZiZhen, “HanGuang-Jun, why did Senior Wei collapse?” Lan WangJi, “Fatigue.” Lan JingYi was amazed, “I thought that Senior Wei would never get tired!” The other boys felt somewhat astonished as well. That the legendary YiLing Patriarch could collapse from fatigue from dealing with walking corpses—they all thought that the YiLing Patriarch should be able to settle them with just a snap of his fingers. However, Lan WangJi shook his head. He only said four words, “We are all human.” They were all human. How could a human be tireless? How could they stand forever? Chapter 84, EXR

Even with Wei Wuxian’s temperament, even with his attitude, he’s still human! Just as he’s not immune from being affected by harsh words to do with his past, just as he’s not immune from being affected by exhaustion, he’s not immune to being hurt by or angry at his circumstances. As we see in the Sunshot Campaign and at Nightless City, he’s not immune to dwelling on his misfortunes, to being driven by his hurt and anger and by resentment he holds onto (consciously! At Nightless City, Wei Wuxian deliberately accepts the curses thrown at him, because ‘anger was the only thing that could suppress the other feelings within his heart’ (Chapter 78)). 

But nearly always, he chooses not to. The Wen remnants he saved were innocent, yes, and Wen Ning and Wen Qing helped him previously – but in his second life, he could’ve easily kept holding onto his resentment and left the cultivators who besieged him, who killed him and those under his protection, to die at the Second Siege. But he didn’t! He held true to his own philosophy, to judge the right and wrongs yourself independent of what others do, and saved them.

Because this is what’s important to him, because this is how he wishes to act in the present, and because he doesn’t let himself be defined by the tragedies he went through.

The donkey seemed as if it knew that he wasn’t in a great mood [due to others bringing up what happened in his past], and for once, it wasn’t being loud out of impatience. A moment of silence passed, and it turned around to leave. Wei WuXian sat by the stream, not responding at all. It turned around to look, throwing its hooves onto the ground, but Wei WuXian still paid no attention to it. The donkey had to come back sulkily, biting and tugging on the corner of Wei WuXian’s collar. He could choose to go, and he could choose to not go. Seeing that the donkey had [gone] as far as to use his mouth, Wei WuXian decided to follow him.  Chapter 8, EXR*****

Immediately after this, he’ll continue investigating the puzzle of Dafan Mountain’s night hunt; he’ll come across a ghost, ask where it’s hurt and offer to take a look at it; he’ll rush off to save Jin Ling and the Lan juniors, figuring out the truth behind the dancing goddess and being the only one to do so. Just as it’s more important to the narrative, this – quick thinking, problem solving, compassion, doing the right thing, even seeking out excitement – is what Wei Wuxian finds more important about his own self, and what he chooses to focus on.

Some final questions to end things.

If you saw Wei Wuxian, without any knowledge of what happened in MDZS, without any work done by the narrative structure or by knowledge of tropes – would you have expected the backstory he had? Would you expect his parents to have died when he was at an age where he could barely remember them? Would you expect him to have lived on the streets until he was nine years old, or to have been taken into an unjust and extremely volatile household, or to have (chosen to) lose the source of powers he was very proud of – shortly before he was thrown, now powerless, into the equivalent of hell for three months? Would you expect his first life to have ended because protecting innocents (knowingly) led to the entire world crusading against him, because their siege resulted in him being torn apart? Or would you not think of tragedy when it comes to this person who gleefully jokes and teases, who’s so smart and competent and knows it, who doesn’t focus on the negatives, who acts so confidently on his morals, who revels in life so much?

If you only saw Wei Wuxian’s backstory with no context of his character, would you expect him to remain this way?

And, if you saw Wei Wuxian’s actions in the present day, without knowing what tragedies happened in his past, would he feel like an incomplete character?

It’s impossible to answer, of course – even in the present day, you get information about his past.

But I’m inclined to say no.

(Part One | Part Three | Full version on AO3)

—

*But again, let me emphasise – especially in real life, doing the trauma olympics is never good! As I said, everyone has limits, everyone’s limits differ, and just because one person can cope with something doesn’t mean another person can, even with the same mechanisms. And that shouldn’t lead to any judgement!

I say ‘especially in real life’ because in fiction, some characters’ experiences are often made similar or different to others’ in order to parallel or foil them  – in which case comparison is often the point. But trauma olympics (‘this person suffered x amount so the other person should be able to take it!!’) is still bad, guys (especially since, as with MDZS, those parallels or foils are often there to explore the harm they do to others as a result, not simply how much trauma they can take).

**My thoughts on rumours here. Tl;dr, if Jin Ling (someone who’d want to defend him!) is saying he did (and that he “never let anyone go” – Chapter 24), if sources like Lan Wangji and Lan Sizhui act as if this is the case (Chapter 10 – to defend, you could say personal feelings play a role, but Lan Wangji especially is someone who knows not to, and explicitly doesn’t, make judgements without conclusive evidence. Again, see my thoughts on rumours) – and if Jiang Cheng backs up this behaviour (eg by telling Jin Ling to kill every demonic cultivator he sees and feed them to his dogs in his introduction – Chapter 7), it’s probably not a simple unbased rumour. There’s enough evidence to support its veracity.

***However, do note that Wei Wuxian isn’t an outlier, either – Lan Wangji, Wen Ning and Lan Sizhui (once he learns of his heritage) are all examples of other characters who aren’t overcome or twisted by their pain, instead still aiming to make the world a better place. And this is Jin Ling’s whole arc, too!

****I delve a lot more deeply into this here!

*****The role this moment plays isn’t actually something I caught myself – it came from a post about a reread of MDZS’ earlier chapters. I can’t find it myself, but if anybody has the link, that would be great (so I can cite it)!

—

Also, a shoutout to this incredible meta by @righteousinadversity – it’s what made me want to delve into this aspect two years ago! It’s still one of my favourite metas, and you enjoyed this, you’ll definitely enjoy that, too.

[kings-highway]

Trick or treat!

hello hello hello thank you for arriving at my door! for you, my lovely giant gay robot, i have curated a never-before-seen Ushiten drabble, written while I wait for my landlord to finish repairing the towel rack. Its about birthdays, its about autism, its about friendship, enjoy~

---

Ushijima has never really celebrated his birthday anyway. After his father had left, that kind of childish, big celebration had been pushed aside. His mother would give him a gift, something quiet and practical, new shoes, new sweater, books or something he needed for school. She'd make him his favourite meal, and then the day would be over. Ushijima wasn't really even sure if any of the other kids at school had known it was his birthday, but if they did, they didn't mention it. He was used to the affair being quiet and unassuming - unimportant.

So he's not particularly bothered by spending the day on his own. Shiratorizawa was a boarding school, even at the middle school grades, so he'd been celebrating his birthdays like this for some time now. He doesn't even think its worth mentioning to the new team - its his first year at the high school, first year with the team, first year with this roommate, none of it feels... relevant. Why should he make a big deal about something he doesnt care about?

He got a text from his mother that morning - nothing so far has come in from his father, but technically it's still yesterday for him, so he thinks maybe he just didnt consider the time change.

He unlocks the door to his dorm, but gets halfway through the process before finding out the door was already unlocked. With a frown, he pushes open the door, calling out a greeting and inciting the intruder - one fellow first year Tendou Satori - to shriek in surprise, trip himself backwards off the chair he was standing on, and flail all the way to the ground. Ushijima starts moving reflexively to try and catch him, but pretty much everything about this is flawed from the start. Although it's technically successful, it's clumsy and impractical and Tendou's gangly limbs have already started thrashing and twisting around, and apparently likes being held or supported about as much as a feral cat would.

So Ushijima lets him go, looking up at what he's been hanging on the wall and-

"Happy Birthday?" he reads off the banner.

Tendou, trying to catch his breath and recover from his scare, looks up at him with a red face.

"Yeah. It's your B-day, ain't it?"

"Uhh..."

"Sorry it's... a little lackluster. There would have been more, I promise, but I only figured out tmit was today like an hour ago. And I thought you'd be out longer."

Ushijima turns to face him. "What's happening?"

Tendou stares back, before straightening up and saying: "Well I was trying to throw you a surprise birthday party, but clearly there's a solar flare or something interrupting my guesswork because you came back really quick."

"I always go in the morning," Ushijima agrees.

"Its summer vaycay? Why are you at the gym on your birthday?"

"...I like it?"

"Weirdo," Tendou sings, before clearing his voice and opening his arms, as if becoming a different character entirely. "Either way, bienvenue à la birthday, Leon is picking up a cake right about now, and Semi is on his way over from his mum's."

"...Why?"

"Because it's your birthday," Tendou repeats, more firmly. "Are you dense or something? What about this is hard to understand?"

"I didnt ask anyone to come over," Ushijima says, a spark of panic glowing in his chest.

"I know, I know," Tendou says. "But you can't celebrate your birthday alone, that-" he cuts himself off, perhaps finally switching that intuition of his back on as he gets a look at Ushijima again, who has started flexing his hands, turning slowly to look over the room.

"I wasn't planning on celebrating like this," he says.

"Oh," Tendou says. "You really don't like surprises, do you?"

"I didn't ask people to come over," Ushijima replies. "I don't need them to bring me things, it is not that important to me, I don't... want to spend the evening in a group of people."

"Its not... just people, we're you're friends-"

"But you're still people," Ushijima says. "Who in short order will be in my room for an indeterminate amount of time and I will not be able to control when they leave nor will I be able to leave myself because I will already be home and-"

"Okay," Tendou says, putting his hands up and approaching slowly. "No worries at all. I can text the other guys, and they will stay away. We can just call it off."

Ushijima takes a slow breath.

He is beginning to think that maybe his lack of birthday celebrations was not, actually, lack of investment on his mother's part.

"Everyone will be annoyed, or mad, that they put the effort in, we should-"

"Hey, Ushi," Tendou says. "That's not your problem. Let me take care of it. Its your birthday, so you get to celebrate however you want. Thems the rules."

Ushijima nods slightly, looking back at him and trying to take in the sincerity in his expression. He's only known Tendou for a few months, but he's an odd little fellow, all spikey features and curled lips and exaggerated expressions. Ushijims thinks this is a new one, though, this kindness. He'd always just seemed... well, for lack of a kinder term, self-serving.

"You really won't be upset? That I'm refusing your party?"

Tendou smiles, shrugs, and says: "Hey, life's a lot more fun when you indulge everyone's weird little quirks. I'll plan something you like next year."

Ushijima frowns. "That sounded-"

"Like a threat? You betcha."

And this makes Ushijims smile. Almost. He thinks he would smile, but he doesnt feel his face do it. Maybe, he thinks, its because that althought Tendou joked about being a threat, it was more of a promise. And a promise meant that Tendou wanted to stick around at least that long.

"Thank you," Ushijima says, and Tendou gives him a mock salute, then turns and waltzes off to the door.

"Oh!" he says, turning around as he opens the door, pointing at him. "But you will have to put up with the gift. Its there on your desk-" Ushijims glances over to see the neat, cleanly wrapped narrow box. "Spoiler alert, its chocolate, but I... uh... did it wrong, so maybe dont eat it. But it's the thought that counts, right?"

Even from here, Ushijima can see the little gift tag hanging from the bow, and the messy, scratchy writing, where Tendou has tagged the gift not from himself or a group, but under the title of 'your bff.'

It is interesting, Ushijima thinks, that he would not have needed to know who it was from to understand the vague gift tag. He would have known. He's only known him a few months, but he would have known.

"Yes," Ushijima agrees, looking back to where Tendou was. "It is the thought that counts."

[shalpilot]

official yesui lore dump. I guess

[ragnarokhound]

trick or treat!

(that intricate rituals snippet👀👀HOO)

Happy Halloween, anon, I'm glad you enjoyed!

(And hee hee... in that case: )

“Did you think I didn’t notice?” Tim says, threaded with teasing hunger as Jason stares, caught. “I could smell it coming, baby. You have all of my attention. Now that I know it’s for me—” Tim’s chest still hitches when he talks about them like this. When he bites down on the instinct to shy away, to hide; when he acknowledges directly that Jason is for him. It never fails to satisfy something snarling and animal inside of Jason, it— “—you should never doubt for a second that I’m for you.” Fuck.

(For the trick or treat ask game! Send me a trick or treat ask and I'll share jaytim WIP snippets, or new 3-sentence -paragraph fics, etc :^) through the 31st!)

[puppyeared]

bestieesssss /platonic

(Xīn Yá belongs to me, Sailor belongs to @crow-cap)

[skitskatdacat63]

I drew all of my historical AU Sebs!!!!

In order they are(with relevant links to lore info if you are curious!!): Napoleonic Hussar Seb(x), Renaissance Muse Seb(x) and Boy King/Emperor Seb(x)

Let me know which you like best!!!

[ameliafuckinjones]

Interesting tidbit from Magnalia Christi Americana by Cotton Mather, which showcases what the early colonists of New England thought about old England:

They pretty much saw themselves and their settlement as an extension of the old country even as they were thousands of miles from it. And didn't want to separate from it so much as they wanted to become an ideal version of it. I imagine this sentiment stayed with the colonies even as they were in the throes of Revolution and especially during the setup of the US government. Good info to understanding the foundational relationship between America and England pre-revolution and pre-Enlightenment (though this book was published in 1702, around the age of Enlightment, it is in spirit an in depth analysis and recollection of early American religious history from the viewpoint of a late 17th/early 18th century puritan minister). The language, though, is what really interests me, "the little daughter of New England in America," "Mother England," "local secession, yet not a separation." and "Undesired local distance from her dear England". Family, though not separated emotionally, are distant physically against their will, and the child is still loyal to the mother country, at least from the pov of the English settlers. There is no true resentment for the mother country yet. I highlight this because it has become a sort of myth - especially in real life - that there was incredibly bad blood from the start when it's far more nuanced than that. The resentment that was built was gradual, it didn't happen all at once, and when things finally did "explode" emotionally speaking, it wasn't nearly as violent as it could have been. Of course, relations between America and England were strained after the Revolution (and 1812), but not so much that they wouldn't do trade deals immediately after the fact or make efforts to mend old wounds or even form a military alliance. I think the "bad blood" between them is often overstated, which turns England into a spiteful, mean creature, and America into some strange pitiful caricature of himself (or vice versa). The former is far to level-headed for that and the latter to sentimental, and for that reason I always try to approach their relationship with a bit more nuance (and realism?) in lieu of letting my fandom brain, hungry for dramatic angst, take over.

The main point is that yes things were rough between them, especially circa 1812, but not as rough as any of the complicated relationships England has with his other kin or neighbors with whom he shares centuries' worth of animosity. I think it's probably why he was comfortable and confident enough to make such a concerted effort with America (via Rapprochement and Dollar Princessess marrying into his aristocracy among other things) even after the Revolution and War of 1812 (and after it was determined that America would not be collapsing anytime soon and crawling back to him on begging hands and knees), because he knew that things could always be much worse and he was smart enough probably to understand that many of America's motivations and ideologies were inspired by him, even if he was perplexed by such childish rebellion.

I believe l've already made a post about why he didn't respond to the Revolution in the fashion America might have wanted him to and the conclusion was that he obviously did care but was under the assumption that America would fail and so he dedicated his energy to what he saw as the bigger threat in Europe. With the analysis above, I'm simply bringing forth the argument (again) that America as a child and a teen idolized England enough to emulate him and become a better version or at least his definition of a better version, and the seed to do so was there from the very beginning. And that for this reason, the relationship isn't as venomous as most make it seem. Both parties very much wanted to connect with each other for a myriad of reasons and did just that even with minor hiccups. It took centuries for France and England to reach such a point (though I'm sure they're both glad that they eventually did). It took America and England a few decades even after the war of 1812. That two stubborn and prideful nations would quickly let bygones be bygones after war, and separation is a miracle and evidence that even with minor and major contention, there is an innate desire to be closer despite everything.

I can go on and on about this, but I think I'll stop here.

[dollwrites]

┊ ˚༄ 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐬 ｡˚

it is time to pull myself out of a writing rut !!

below are three ( 3 ) nsfw videos found on twt that i would like to base these drabbles on. this is a concept i’ve wanted to try for a few months now, and was planning to use it for my birthday event but i didn’t do one this year so this will be the trial run of using videos for prompts.

please request a video # + a character. since there’s only 3 videos this time, only one request per person and also please no jjk characters. all others will be considered !!

one + remy lebeau

two + hal jordan

three + kaeya alberich

[parf-fan]

And that's a wrap for the 2024 season! For my part, I enjoyed the hell out of the season and did not end it with closure (through no fault of my own, for once). The only reason I'm not in a rotten headspace about the lack of closure is reflected in my choice of phrasing for the opening of this post: the sheer amount of footage I captured this year and the anticipation of finally getting to sink my teeth into it, putting together that cinematic edit I've been dreaming about since 2017.

Final count: One-hundred and nineteen (119) shows. Three-hundred and twenty-three (323) gigabytes. Seventy-one hours, twenty-five minutes, and thirty-nine seconds (71:25:39) of footage.

As part of reviewing all this footage to begin work on those cinematic edits, I'll get started right away on posting the raw footage to the PARF-fan Facebook. This will not, I fear, be a swift process. It took me twenty-one days to get through the twenty-six videos from 2022, which I cared about significantly less than these.

As a compromise, I've begun posting individual one-off numbers from Finales in Song to the PARF-fan Highlights youtube channel. If there are any particular moments you would like access to sooner, message me and I'll toss 'em up there. I recorded every single Finale from the Saturday of Viking Weekend through the end of the season, with the exception of both days of Wizarding Weekend (as I was ill at the time, no I will not stop being salty about that). I also have the Saturday Finale of Pyrates' Invasion; as well as Off The Cuff on 9/21, 9/29, 10/6, 10/12, 10/19, 10/20, and 10/27; and Whose Jest from 9/21 and 10/13. (For that matter, I have the 2023 Finales from 9/30, 10/1, 10/14, and 10/22; and 2023 Off The Cuff from 10/1 and 10/22; and 2023 Boarshead Brawl with its multiple endings from 9/16, 9/24, 10/1, 10/8, 10/14, 10/15, 10/21, 10/22, 10/28, and 10/29; and I'd have more if I'd realized sooner that the ending changed daily rather than weekly, and also if it hadn't rained so blessed much.)

[fisherrprince]

hoho ok I finally refined the audio/timing on the rough draft. interest call… tomorrow maybe…

hey by sheer coincidence there are 13 open parts ain’t that. isn’t that

[imaginarianisms]

🖤 (from desmond!!)

attractiveness:

repulsive / hideous / ugly / not attractive / unappealing / not unattractive / meh / no preference / ok / mildly attractive / nice looking / cute / adorable / attractive / pleasant on the eyes / good looking / hot / sexy / beautiful / gorgeous / hot damn / would tap that / perfect / godlike / holy fuck there are no words.

personality:

grating / irritating / frustrating / boring / confusing at best / awkward / unreasonable / psychotic / disturbing / interesting / engaging / affectionate / aggressive (when necessary in order to protect her as her sworn sword) / ambitious / anxious / artistic / bad tempered / bossy / charismatic / appealing / unappealing / creative / courageous / dependable / unreliable / unpredictable / predictable / devious / dim / extroverted / introverted / egotistical / gregarious / fabulous / impulsive / intelligent / sympathetic / talkative / up beat / peaceful / calming / badass / flexible.

how likely they would have sex with them:

not if they were the last person on earth and the world was ending / fuck no! / never / no way / not likely / not sure / indifferent / I’m asexual / maybe / probably / it depends / fairly likely / likely / yeah sure / yes / would tap that / hell yes / fuck yes! / wishing that could happen right now (the Pain of being married & being a queen & wanting to be a good role model for your children & ur sworn sword is a kingsguard) / as many times as possible / we are already having sex.

level of friendship:

never in a million years / worst of enemies / enemies / rivals / indifferent / neutral / acquaintance / friendly toward each other / casual friends / friends / good friends / best friends / fuck buddies / bosom buddies / practically the same person / would die for them / true friends / my only friend.

first impression of them:

i hate them so much / i don’t like them / i don’t trust them / they annoy me / they’re weird / I’m indifferent / meh / they seem alright / they’re growing on me / truce / I think I like them / I like them / I’m not sure if I trust them / I trust them / they’re cool / they’re genuine / I think we’re going to get along / I really like them / I think I’m in love / oh fuck they’re hot / I love them.

current impression of them:

i hate them so much / i don’t like them / i don’t trust them / they annoy me / they’re weird / I’m indifferent / meh / they seem alright / they’re growing on me / truce / I think I like them / I like them / I’m not sure if I trust them / I trust them / they’re cool / they’re genuine / I think we’re going to get along / I really like them / I think I’m in love / oh fuck they’re hot / I love them.

send 🖤 and my character will answer about yours; specify. || ALWAYS ACCEPTING.

[hauntingblue]

The combo of York and the seraphim is too cute... they are getting their asses handed to them by cutie pies