#ancestry is such an interesting website

[thefearandnow]

was looking at census documents last night and felt the need to screenshot this. the columns in the middle are birthplace and parents’ birthplaces and the highlighted ones are my great grandmother’s family

[astroismypassion]

Astrology observations 🍁🏠🍂

Credit goes to @astroismypassion

🏠Aries Moons I noticed are the ones who are most often able to be friends with an ex or be friendly with new partner of an ex. They are the ones most often to be found in a throuple since they are emotionally independent.

🍁Sometimes I noticed you can go for a romantic partner that has the same or opposite Sun sign of your sidereal Moon. To give an example: sometimes someone who has Aries Moon in the Natal chart, this is sidereal Pisces Moon would go for a Pisces Sun or Virgo Sun romantic partner. Here it could also be another Mercurial Sun sign, such as Gemini Sun.

🍂 I noticed sometimes women go for partner with the same Sun sign as their father's Moon sign. To give an example: if her father had Capricorn Moon, she might go for a Capricorn Sun (even Aquarius Sun) or Sun in the 10th house. Similarly, if the father had Pisces Moon in the 12th house, she might go for a partner with Pisces Sun or Sun in the 12th house.

🏠Cancer over the 9th house people is most of the type out of all signs to go on an ancestry trip. They also might seriously reconsider dating their partner, if their family (especially the mother) doesn't approve of their partner.

🍁Considering all the recent drama and rivalry between sisters Kim and Kourtney Kardashian. It was actually bound to happen. More prominent and more so with age since Kourtney has Capricorn Moon, she is slowly realizing new things about her own family members, Kim included. I honestly think Synastry wise there is a lot of misunderstandings and misinterpretations on both ends. But considering that Kim has Pisces Moon and Kourtney Pisces Venus, there is certainly some jealousy going on that is being played subconsciously. They are also bound to copy one another due to seeing each other as role models. No, it's not just Kim that sees Kourtney as a role model, it goes both ways here.

🍂 People really remember the face and body of a Scorpio Rising very carefully, like their image is imprinted in other people’s minds. So often times when Scorpio Rising person changes their image, loses weight, people are quick to notice that first! And it’s honest the face that gives it away, having more narrow, sharp features, such as chin.

🏠I also observed that sometimes you attract the Sun sign of planets in the 2nd house and sign that you have over the 2nd house. For example: you have Capricorn over the 2nd house with Uranus and Neptune in the 2nd as well, so you might attract quite a few Cancer Suns, Virgo Sun and Leo Suns.

🍁Neptune in the 2nd house people love buying sleepwear. They like to have a variety of pyjamas, a robe, slippers, nightgowns etc.

🍂A lot of celebrities with a lifestyle brand or a blog tend to have Virgo North Node or at a Virgo degree (6, 18). Such as Jessica Alba (North Node at 6 (Virgo) degree and the Honest Company. Kourtney Kardashian (Virgo North Node) and her Poosh brand.

🏠 I noticed Neptune in the 1st house and Uranus in the 1st house people enjoy changing their hair colour as well as any Leo Ascendant would.

🍁 I noticed sometimes people that express interest in you tend to have some placements of your Juno Persona chart, they quite literally see you as their ideal person. So for example if you are a Cancer Sun and don’t understand why so many Aquarius Suns or Aries Venuses are attracted to you, could sometimes mean you might have Aquarius Sun or Aries Venus in your Juno Persona chart.

🍂People that have North Node in the 12th house or at a Pisces degree (12, 24) or in the 9th house or at a Sagittarius degree (9, 21), to a lesser extent North Node in the 11th house and North Node in the 10th house, could have a passive cash flow, such as through an online store, online website where they sell products. Famous celebrities with e-commerce store are Rihanna (Pisces North Node in the 12t house at a Pisces (24) degree) and her Fenty Beauty. Kylie Jenner (North Node at Sagittarius (21) degree) and her Kylie Cosmetics. The Row by Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen, they have North Node in the 9th house. And online store Honest by Jessica Alba, she has North Node in the 12th house.

🏠 The person with Neptune in the 12th house really loves to talk about conspiracy theories. 😂 Not necessarily always that they would believe in them, they just find it entertaining to talk about them!

Credit goes to @astroismypassion

[writingwithcolor]

Judaism, Angels, and Monstrosity

@neapolitangirl asked:

I'm writing a story about the angel Muriel traveling through a world inspired by American folklore (Ex. The Bell Witch, Fearsome Critters, etc) while hunting demons. I wanted to draw inspiration from the legend that says Muriel and Abaddon are one and the same because I thought it was interesting. However, I also know that Abaddon is important to Jewish cosmology and wanted to avoid any unfortunate implications. Muriel is very skittish and kind of a coward, but turns into the more violent and vengeful Abaddon in the presence of demons. Appearance-wise both Muriel and Abaddon are tall and skinny, but Muriel is more like an owly-human while Abaddon is a spiky skeletal being. Would this be connecting Judaism to monstrosity? Also, is there anything else I should try to avoid?

So…angelology, the whole idea of angels with names and personalities and individual jobs, is just…not something the average Jewish person thinks or cares about, even the ones who know a little about it. Not that it’s bad, it’s just not something that is prominent enough that it would have tropes attached that we might be able to warn you against.

That said, we’re posting on the Niche Scholarship and Special Interest website, so if there’s a reader who happens to have a lot of knowledge and feelings about Jewish angelology we would welcome the contribution and specialized expertise.

As it stands, my instinct is to give these more general considerations:

Balancing Jewish and Christian Elements

To what degree are you trying to tell a Jewish story, a Christian story that does not harm Jewish readers, or a story strongly influenced by Christian ideas about the heavens in a way that does not harm Jewish readers? How does deciding where you fall among those distinctions affect how you construct your story, and how you portray your angels?

Jewish Concept of God and Angelic Appearances

To Jews, God Godself does not have a physical body or visible appearance. If you’re describing the appearance of God as you’re navigating your angel-centering narrative, you’re squarely outside the territory of inclusivity toward Jewish readers. That’s okay, if you’re clear with readers that you’re not telling a Jewish story. It’s not okay if you’re trying to conflate Jewish and Christian ideas into a single narrative when they are often incompatible.

Angelic Appearances and Jewish Scripture

Angels might have appearances, and some descriptions of some types of angels in some Jewish scriptures have body parts of various animals. I haven’t the foggiest clue if it matters to anyone what appearances belong to which angels, so if it matters to someone reading this I hope they will speak up.

Are angels Jewish? This is a subject that could make for a fun discussion among Jewish people as a way of exploring the nature of Jewishness, but in your narrative you will have to think this through in your own way. If your angels engage in Jewish practices, then what does that look like and why, and if they don’t, why don’t they? The answer to that may of course be “Because I’m not actually telling a Jewish story.”

Christian Themes and Sensitivity to Jewish Culture

It’s okay to not be telling a Jewish story. But in that case keep in mind what demonstrations of Jewishness you include in a Christian story.

Especially, if you’re depicting a divine Jesus, or a Jesus character with any type of more-than-human powers or ancestry, or you are including any reference to the idea that Christianity might be in any way objectively correct, then you must tread EXTREMELY CAREFULLY with including any depiction of Jewish practice in your work, as the line where depiction turns to appropriation is in that case extremely near.

In all things, try and avoid depicting Jewish humans and any character who might be Jewish or be seen as Jewish in ways that are otherwise harmful: we’ve often talked about tropes around greed, sneakiness, power-grabbing, gender and sexual dynamics, and other tropes that apply to portrayals of Jewish characters. If your angels are Jewish, or Jew-ish in flavor, that goes for them as well.

Again, I know absolutely zero about Muriel and Abbadon and am not very interested in learning more as their lore has zero bearing on my Jewish practice in any way, and that’s a somewhat important point to me to be making because…2J3O. Two Jews, three opinions. So again, if a reader does in fact have knowledge and opinions about the specific angels themselves, please speak up.

–Meir

[candicornart]

Gloxie!

New ancestry art for our TTRPG system Anyventure D12!

Creatures from a frozen, glacial moon. They are the product of a magical experiment gone wrong, and mostly work as arcane assistants. They are also very vulnerable to compliments!

If you're interested in module based character creation, check out our website! : https://anyventured12.com/

[copperbadge]

Hi, please ignore if this is too personal, but as someone with Jewish ancestors who is considering conversion, I'd love to know your reasons for converting? For me it's more about community and reconnecting with that part of my family (there's a complicated family history there) than about religious belief, but I'm worried that might not be enough of a reason, if you know what I mean?

I don't know, I think conversion to Judaism is hard enough that if you don't have "enough" of a reason, you'll find out -- but I also think that one doesn't have to have a "sufficient" reason to convert to any faith which allows it, just determination and respect. If you want a connection to your ancestors and community, that's a very powerful motivation. And if it's not enough to sustain you through conversion, that's still a huge self-discovery for you, and while some practice should remain closed, you can still connect through things like traditionally Jewish foods and appreciation for Jewish art and culture.

For me, it's not that it's too personal, but it's difficult to vocalize; often when I'm asked about converting there's an assumption that I'm marrying a Jewish person, and when I say no, I usually add, "I just hear a call." Which admittedly is much more often said by Christians joining a ministry, but it's the most truthful I know how to be in short. Something in Judaism speaks to something in me. I have very little Jewish ancestry (although every time the DNA websites reevaluate their calculations it ticks up a percentage point, which is hilarious to me; I'm up from 2% to 6% currently) but the attitude towards the divine, the strength of tradition, the respect for learning, they all speak to my soul.

Even the hard stuff -- content in Torah or Talmud that I find difficult to reconcile with modern sensibility -- is at least something to challenge me, and Judaism is a faith that encourages argument, so I'm allowed to have a critical opinion of it. I think a lot about a quote I read from someone (possibly a reader, if so I am so sorry I can't find your name in my memory) who said, "I keep kosher, but sometimes I eat bacon when I'm mad at G-d." I think a lot about my Methodist confirmation class, where I was almost kicked out because I thought the Parable of the Wedding Feast was stupid and continued to argue against it after, realistically, I should have stopped; if it had been a class for a Bar Mitzvah, we might have been allowed to really examine it instead of glancing across it awkwardly and moving on. (As I found out years later, it was basically about how anyone can be a Christian but Jews should be punished for refusing to convert, so you know. Even as a kid I was very Jewish in my approach to theology and knew anti-Semitic propaganda when I heard it.)

I like that so many of the traditions involve things that I find compelling: bread, fire, water, the written word, the cycle of the harvest. I like that there's a search for truth and precision in Jewish scholarship, and that scholarship often seems to reward a neurodiverse approach to faith and study. As someone committed to philanthropy and versed in radical compassion, the exhortation to care for others baked into every foundational Jewish text is also very attractive. Some of the prayers I find viscerally satisfying (particularly the Traveler's Prayer, for some reason).

I find faith in a single divine entity extremely difficult, but one of the first things that got me to seriously consider Judaism (something I'd already been interested in) was being told that you can be an atheist Jew. To be able to commit to a faith community while still struggling with faith itself feels special to me. Whether a divine entity caused the miracle of the oil we celebrate this time of year is immaterial to me; the beauty of the narrative, the righteous rebellion rewarded with eight nights of light, is enough for me.

I might never finish conversion; realistically while I've done a lot of studying I still haven't worked extensively with a rabbi on a conversion path, and I do not call myself a Jew and won't until I complete conversion (I do observe a lot of the holidays and prayers, but mainly because that's generally advice to converts, so they can understand the demands of the faith and the myriad issues with being Publicly Jewish). But that's fine too; Judaism has been around for thousands of years, it'll wait for me, and if I never convert I'm still enjoying the journey.

[iamwinklebottom]

THEME: “What You Don’t Know?”

Choices:

1. If this resonates with you, consider getting a personal reading here @ https://www.iamwinklebottom.com/shop/advice-psychic-mediumship-divination/32

• I’m hearing the song “Say My Name” (the Calvin Harris version) by Florence and The Machine: https://youtu.be/SZhLrOghfTI?si=8gsXqoepo5M4Tqba

You are misunderstanding your ancestry and your soul’s origins. Genuine ancestor connectivity is needed. I offer personal ancestor connectivity conjure and ancestor readings.

Yes, it is possible to be many things at one time. Yes, it is possible to have a blood quantum of something that is “stereotypically” unrelated to your phenotype (how you look physically).

It’s time to wake up and find out who your ancestors really were/are. Stop guessing and following random narratives people online put out.

It’s okay to be wrong; what’s not okay is sitting back and blindly absorbing who other’s are and posing as things you’re not. It’s time to find out what you’re really made of. The truth may set you free and show you lots of wisdom, but only if you allow it.

2. If this resonates with you, consider getting a personal reading here @ https://www.iamwinklebottom.com/shop/advice-psychic-mediumship-divination/32

• I keep hearing “Olokun;” check out this video here: https://youtu.be/PrnJrCrFfHo?si=2auEL_c7CYIX9-07

This message is not for all of you.

You have to understand that you are indeed easily influenced. Be careful. Do not turn into a copy cat. It’s okay to be inspired, but do not steal from others.

There is negative energetic karma that comes from doing that.

Some of you have been stolen from.

Energetically protect what’s yours with spiritual work and affirmations. I do offer conjure services. I’m hearing “evil eye removal and protection conjure will assist you.”

If you’re interested in having someone with years of experience do these services for you, hello - check out my website: https://www.iamwinklebottom.com/shop/conjure-services/30

There’s a lot of things that you cannot see. Seek for what’s below the surface in private, secretly. Build yourself up on the inside then let it ooze outside of you, high vibrationally.

3. If this resonates with you, consider getting a personal reading here @ https://www.iamwinklebottom.com/shop/advice-psychic-mediumship-divination/32

• I’m hearing “The Big Pay Back” by James Brown: https: https://youtu.be/HFNZOk00D74?si=TzSJXXsD3HMw3CLo

Your spirit team is heavy. This is not a drill. This is not a joke or a game. They’re very, very powerful.

Some of you honor Santa Muerte, Anubis, Santa Marta, or even Olokun. All of them, maybe. Again, take what resonates; do not claim these beings without knowing for sure who walks with you.

When people do wrong to you, it hurts these people in multiple areas of life all at once. Stop looking for the “pay back” to show up in their lives. Often times it’s not going to show publicly until “the pimple finally pops.”

You may even hear “meant to be” gossip about your enemies getting what they deserve later on when you’ve forgotten about the mistreatment and betrayal they took part in.

It’s almost like your enemies are being exploited just so the news can get back to you… not because you wanted that, but because that’s what’s meant to happen.

You’re supposed to collect the memories or “bones” from your enemies’ “sentencing;” don’t let this go to your head.

Know that you’re tough shit. Cleansing and protection work is still needed for you. I offer those kinds of services, if you’re interested: https://www.iamwinklebottom.com/shop/conjure-services/30

[a-d-nox]

i bought a DNA test - here is my assessment of the DNA (asteroid 55555) persona chart

23 & me + health is very comprehensive, so i am just going to touch on some of the topics i already predicted based on their test breakdown from their website. for privacy reasons i won't be talking about how much of any given ethnicity i have. the only "evidence based" screenshots i will be providing are from the traits section of the test.

ancestry

i know for sure that i am polish and slovakian so tesinsko (38674) 10h and sextile saturn makes sense. těšínsko is basically the dividing line czechoslovakia and poland. so to have that in my dna 10h status makes me believe it will be pretty prevalent in the test breakdown - 50% +. plus i have polonia (1112) conjunct moon and that is very true - i got it from my mom's side lol.

danmark (2117) in the 2h rx makes me feel like i am not as danish as my father told me i was nor... i am correct because i am not danish nor am i a descendant of the danes.

am i as german as he made it seem. 7h germania (241) is not as convincing plus the lack of aspects just makes it all the less convincing... also true because my descendants were from southwestern germany not so much the core of german territory.

italia (477), hispania (804), and copenhagen (13586) in the 4h. perhaps i will revoke my statement above about the danish ancestry, but we will see. i do believe italian and hispanic descent might be probable based on these placements. try sardinia.

i know i am welsh but i can't find an asteroid related to wales :(... fun story 23 & me couldn't detect welsh ancestry in me, BUT nearly all the locations for the "british & irish" section regarding where my ancestors were from were in wales so lol yes i am welsh though i don't feel that snowdonia in my 4h is a very solid indicator.

i did discover that i have irish ancestry - i have ireland (5029) square moon, it is my mother's side that has irish descent! my grandmother found paper work confirming that.

i also discovered russian ancestry - my grandmother told me a very interesting story about my ancestor alex who used to be alexei but escaped via moscow... i have moskva (787) trine moon. the shoe fits.

a majority of my lineage and the asteroids associated with aspect the moon and/or saturn in my dna persona chart. 23/41 asteroids do at least; that's about 50% which is pretty good considering that 23&me ALSO isn't 100% accurate - they don't nail down where your ancestors are from they give possible regions from which your ancestors were likely from.

that being said, i am not sure that dna persona should be used alone - i feel like it was helpful to confirm and nail down which regions from the options in the dna results are even more likely for ancestry.

i do think that the 4h, moon aspects, and/or saturn aspects to country/city asteroids in a dna persona chart tend to be most accurate for determining ancestry.

trait report

ability to match musical pitch: air venus at 17° - i am gonna say this comes back positive.

asparagus odor detection: mercury at 1° conjunct chiron; i definitely will have a heightened sense of smell.

bitter taste: capricorn mercury... get it? its a saturn ruled mercury? saturn can be bitterness? i don't know i thought it was funny...

earwax type: on the other hand... a saturn ruled mercury - soft wax (i'm of the mindset there are only two options hard or soft wax).

health

type 2 diabetes: it kind of looks like i can beat the odds... like venus square saturn - that's just genetic. BUT venus sextiles moon and pluto AND conjuncts uranus - these are all planets of change, so i feel like i can/will prevent diabetes. true because i have the typical likelihood for developing diabetes per the test.

brca: it's not looking too hot and i know my father's mother passed from breast cancer at a rather young age i think she passed at 40... my moon conjuncts pluto and is opposite jupiter. fortunately, it conjuncts chiron, so i might beat it or catch it early thanks to the test. a grey area in my eyes... of the 4000 variants of brca they only test 44 of them. they found 0 of the 44 though. so we will see 44 is like nothing though to be honest.

thrombophilia: it's a given... uranus square saturn - the blood flow is just not that good. i kind of knew this before going in - i have factor 5 leiden; they found 1 of 2 thrombophilia variants that they test for and it was that variant/mutation.

alzheimer's: mercury conjunct sun and chiron AND sextile mars makes me believe it's fine and i'm good - i will get the negative here. i tested positive for late onset alzheimer's... i mean i feel like it can sort of be challenged - i know i am fighting something out of denial of the possible, but i really don't like that they don't test particularly for the early onset variant. if i have one, why wouldn't i have the other? i think we all could understand why that developing early would be horrible...

like what you read? leave a tip and state what post it is for! please use my "suggest a post topic" button if you want to see a specific post or mythical asteroid next!

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© a-d-nox 2023 all rights reserved

[jupernaturalweek]

we're so fucking back

So, the world sucks right now. And the internet is not much better. In the interest of spreading some Jewish Joy on this website, the team behind Jupernatural Week have reunited to bring you...

Jupernatural Week 2023, starting November 5th!

If you've never participated before, hi, welcome! This event was created in 2021 as a way for the Jewish Supernatural fandom to celebrate what makes the show so uniquely ours. We have a calendar for prompts, but you're welcome to take it in whatever direction speaks to you. And you don't have to be Jewish to participate, we just ask that you take a look at our FAQ and Guide/Resources pages first.

Without further ado... the prompt calendar!

November 5th: Life

It's Destiel Day! We're looking at the Jewish Life Cycle today, the Rites of Passage, Love, and Death. Think big and small, even the tiniest moment can be made monumental.

November 6th: Community

Family doesn't end in blood, and neither does community. Think Interfaith, Intercultural, and Intersectional.

November 7th: Sustenance

What keeps us going? What fills us up? Think Food, Warmth, and Understanding.

November 8th: Home

Whether its the Impala or the cabin by the lake, the relationship Supernatural has with the concept of Home is pretty... complicated. Think Reconnection, Ancestry, and L'dor V'dor (from generation to generation).

November 9th: Character Spotlight!

During our time off, one of our mods created the @nicejewishcharactershowdown, which defines a Nice Jewish Character (NJC) as such. So, with those guidelines in mind, it's time to give some love to some of the many NJCs in Supernatural. From the canonical (Rufus and Aaron) to the implied (Moishe, Becky) to the transitive (Eileen, Jo, and Bela), it's their time to shine.

November 10th: Judaica

The things that remind us who we are, where we're going, where we've been, and of our continued existence. Think Physical Reminders, Inheritance (metaphoric and literal), and Stories.

November 11th: Shabbos

No need for elaboration, you guys got this one down.

November 12th: Free Space!

As always, if you want us to see a post, @ us or use the Jupernatural Week hashtags, we're tracking with and without the space. We look forward to seeing what you create!

[zaobitouguang]

Chinese Ethnic Minority Literature

I just finished taking an incredibly eye-opening class about Chinese ethnic minority literature. China has a thriving minority literature scene, and it's absolutely fascinating and full of interesting works, so I wanted to share some of the authors that I learned about this semester! This is, obviously, an incomplete list-- it's pretty heavily biased towards what we read about in class, and there's probably a lot I've missed!

For any authors with full works that have been translated into English, I've listed it under their names. Some other authors may also have poems or short stories published in translation online or in anthologies.

Hani 哈尼

Mo Du 莫獨 (b. 1963) - poems

Hui 回族

Huo Da 霍達 (b. 1945) - novels

The Jade King: History of a Chinese Muslim Family (1992)

Zhang Chengzhi 張承志 (b. 1948) -novels, short stories

The Black Steed (1990)

Korean 朝鮮族

Jin Renshun 金仁順 (b. 1970) - novels, short stories

Jin Wenxue 金文學 (b. 1962) - novels

Manchu 滿族

Duanmu Hongliang 端木蕻良 (1912-1996)

Lao She 老舍 (1899-1966) - novels, short stories, plays

Rickshaw Boy (1945, 2010)

Miao (Hmong) 苗族

He Xiaozhu 何小竹 (b. 1963) - poems, novels

Shen Congwen* 沈從文 (1902-1988) - novels, short stories

Imperfect Paradise (1995)

Border Town (2009)

Mongolian 蒙古族

Altai 阿爾泰 (b. 1949) - poems

Bao Liying 包麗英 (b. 1968) - novels

Baoyinhexige 寶音賀希格 - poems

Chen Ganglong 陳崗龍 (b. 1970) - poems

Guo Xuebo 郭雪波 (b. 1948) - novels, short stories

The Desert Wolf (1996)

Malaqinfu 瑪拉沁夫 (b. 1930)- novels

Naxi 納西族

Sha Li 沙蠡 (1953-2008) - novels

Yang Zhengwen 楊正文 (b. 1943) - novels

Qiang 羌族

Qiang Renliu 羌人六 (b. 1987) - poems

Yangzi/Yang Guoqing 羊子/楊國慶 - poems

Tibetan 藏族

Alai 阿來 (b. 1959) - novels, short stories

Red Poppies (2003)

The Song of King Gesar (2013)

Tashi Dawa 扎西達娃 (b. 1959) - novels, short stories

A Soul in Bondage: Stories from Tibet (1992)

Yangdron 央珍 (b. 1963) - novels

Uyghur 維吾爾族

Alat Asem 阿拉提·阿斯木 (b. 1958) - novels, short stories

Confessions of a Jade Lord (2019)

Wa/Va 佤族

Burao Yilu 布饒依露 - poems

Yi 彝族

Aku Wuwu 阿庫烏霧 (b. 1964) - poems, essays

Tiger Traces: Selected Nuosu and Chinese Poetry of Aku Wuwu (2006)

Coyote Traces: Aku Wuwu's Poetic Sojourn in America (2015)

Bamo Qubumo 巴莫曲佈嫫 (b. 1964) - poems, academic articles

Eni Mushasijia 俄尼·牧莎斯加 (b. 1970) - poems

Jidi Majia 吉狄馬加 (b. 1961) - poems

I, Snow Leopard (2016)

Words from the Fire: Poems by Jidi Majia (2018)

Jimu Langge 吉木狼格 (b. 1963) - poems

Lu Juan 魯娟 (b. 1982) - poems

Ma Deqing 馬德清 (1952-2013) - poems, novels

Na Zhangyuan 納張元 (b. 1966) - essays

*Shen has both Miao and Tujia ancestry, as well as Han. However, I see him listed most frequently as Miao.

More Resources on Ethnic Minority Literature:

Altaic Storytelling: The blog of translator Bruce Humes (translator of Confessions of a Jade Lord, among other works). Has a fairly broad focus, but he's written a lot about ethnic minorities.

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Institute of Ethnic Literature: China has a thriving infrastructure to support the writing of and research into ethnic minority literature, and this is one of the larger institutions. I believe their research focuses more on oral traditions, but they have some information about contemporary writers as well.

Chinese Women Writers on the Environment: An anthology of eco-fiction by female ethnic minority writers.

Golden Horse Award 駿馬獎: This is an annual award for ethnic minority literature. The wikipedia link lists all the previous winners.

The Leeds Center for New Chinese Writing: Again not specific to ethnic minorities, but features several ethnic minority authors.

Paper Republic: This organization is devoted to translated Chinese writing and isn't specific to ethnic minority literature but has information about and translations of some of the writers on this list.

Poetry International: This website isn't specific to ethnic minorities or even to China, but many of the poets on this list have pages there with a few poems translated into English.

[apollosgiftofprophecy]

Your Apollo & Aphrodite response is making me excited and I'm kinda rambling now, but Aphrodite does have the domain of war 👀

HOWEVER, only Sparta, Kytheria, and some other cities acknowledged it while the rest of Greece erased and ignored it so maybe Rome's impression of Venus makes a huge impact on the slight differences between Venus and Aphrodite because this is the first time an entire civilization acknowledges her military aspect? 👀👀

It's very convenient that in my library book about Rome I came across a lil' something interesting about Venus.

Venus was originally an Italian goddess, and the book actually introduces her as "The Great Goddess Venus".

She was the goddess of substantial homely virtues, and was invoked regularly as Venus Cloacina - "Venus the Purifier"

And, well, Cloacina was the goddess of the Roman sewage system so her and Venus were kinda one in the same until younger people began associating her with Aphrodite in Greece.

Until that happened though, she wasn't a large presence in Rome.

This website talks in the Venus section about how her popularity went up during Rome's war with Carthage, and her (Venus Eurcina) cult was given approval via the infamous Sibylline Books.

She also had lots of different incarnations in Rome

Venus Eurcina

Venus Verticordia (change of the human heart)

Venus Genetrix ("the Mother"; mother of Aeneus; lover of Mars)

Her Genetrix aspect was highly venerated, especially by Julius Caesar and Augustus due to the whole "we're descended from Aeneus" thing (although, I'm raising my eyebrow at Julius because also in my book, I found out he was actually an atheist??? And used the religious system to fool the populace??? so I'm going "hmmm" on that if we're talking in-universe ToA canon)

Anyway. Genetrix aspect was even brought into the Imperial Cult because of that and she had many, many many temples in Rome.

(sidenote: that website also talking about the other gods and their Greek/Roman aspects!!! Take a look because I certainly am!)

So here's how I'm seeing it:

Venus and Aphrodite were separate entities up until Rome took over Greece and people began mixing Venus and Aphrodite together.

Venus was made primarily the goddess of love and beauty, while Cloacina took the sewage area, and Venus Genetrix shot up the popularity charts.

According to this website, Venus also actually became a symbol of imperial power, so that is probably where her war influences and domains got a bit of attention.

And the previous website has a bit more to say on it too! Temples were erected to her to gain her aid in battles, and both Julius Caesar and Augustus claimed her ancestry through Aeneus.

(going ToA canon, that mean Augustus has the blood of Venus and Apollo in him. Damn. Man's got a lot going for him)

The website also has a picture of a statue of Venus, and it used to have her bearing a shield - all in all, she was a symbol of military success and civic peace.

Also she took on more of a matronly persona, which led to empresses being regularly identified with her in carvings, busts, and etchings on coins.

Damn. Aphrodite/Venus has quite the resume.

PJO, HoO, and ToA fans give this woman the proper respect and love she deserves we stan a queen.

I found this thing to it's basically an entire essay on Venus's military importance in Rome. I've only read the first paragraph but damn.

I mean, just read it;

"The Roman goddess Venus is conventionally associated with love, sex, and beauty. However, these were only some of her areas of influence. In reality, her role within the Roman religious system was far more complex and multi-faceted, and was not confined to these associations. Venus, in the Roman mind, bore associations with warfare and military success that were just as prominent. On one hand, this is hardly surprising due to her divine status, especially as one of the Dii Consentes. All Roman deities could be thought of as ‘militaristic’ in some sense. However, even the Romans themselves made a sharp distinction between her role as the goddess of love, and her martial qualities. This indicates both her importance as a martial deity, and the surprising nature of her multi-faceted role in Roman religion."

DAMN

[unusual-raccoon]

Because it’s Mother’s Day, I’m using this holiday as an excuse to gift you a prompt 🌚 So stay with me…but what about a modern switched at birth jaceluke au?

Jace always imagined he’d be a fantastic older brother, he read stories about the legendary sibling relationships in his family’s history, but somehow he’s never clicked with his younger brother Vaegon. He thought it so strange considering Jace’s first memory ever was holding his brother in his arms and thinking everything right with the world. But it would seem their relationship would not blossom further than that moment. At first he thought the problem was with him but Joffrey’s birth erased those insecurities. It was cruel to think the fault of a nonexistent relationship rested solely with Vaegon, but Jace accepted that. And besides, it seemed that Vaegon preferred it that way, never having an interest in their younger brothers or Daemon’s daughters. But it would seem that everything would change when his younger brother was assigned a school project pertaining to DNA history.

In another part of the world, Luke always felt that something was missing from his life. His family was nice, but they were just that. He always burned too brightly for them, felt too deeply. Luke was like a different species next to their normality. He was haunted by the feeling that the space beside him should be occupied. Again, everything would change when hospital staff and lawyers started calling the house.

If you are up to it, maybe write the first JaceLuke interaction when Luke meets the fam?? Or maybe some sexxy angst once they actually get to know each other? Also, In this au Rhaenyra took one look at the switched baby and decided Lucerys was too pretty, so I chose to use the name of the lamest Targ in history (other than Aemond oc). Luke lucked out namewise in this one, but once the truth comes out he can’t help but start to use Lucerys. This au is so tasty because can you imagine both of them not trying to go feral and scare the other off? Jace not knowing how Luke will react to the history of their family while Luke doesn’t know the family secret and feels like a freak because his attraction? Also bc I can’t help myself: Corlys never made Vaegon heir cuz he’s a total loser; besides he’s been too busy to choose one ever since he’s been teaching a certain new intern the ropes. Even if you can’t write anything for this, you’re a gem 🌚

My darling 🌚 anon, you have no clue how with you I am. I’m so sorry for not being able to address all of your amazing asks with the consideration they deserve, my masters thesis is kicking my ass right now.

A treat for you, and for me (ficlet under the cut):

It had started with an assignment, a history project. It had seemed an innocent enough task. Typing the name Targaryen into one any run of the mill search engine would lead to results in the millions, chock full of tabloid articles and nonsense all bound up in the family name. If Vaegon really wanted to pull out the stops, he’d submit a sample to one of those ancestry sites, BOOM, goldmine.

Of course, Vaegon hadn’t seemed particularly thrilled by the prospect. Admittedly, Jace was a little more excited by the prospect of seeing their family’s historical tree span back generations.

So, when his brother waved the notion aside, claiming he’d just ask their mother for anything important enough to warrant including in his report, as if the whole of Targaryen history wasn’t worth it. Jace took matters into his own hands.

It had changed with results…and a little fork in their family tree. A pruned branch, as it were. In the place where Vaegon belonged, beside Jace, was something else. Someone else.

Name: Luke R.

Suggested relationship: full siblings

Known Relationship: Brother

Ancestral Surnames: Targaryen, Velaryon (Freehold, Valyria)

And there it was…his missing piece.

Jace stared at the website’s message function, at it’s washed out green interface. This was insane.

His cursor blinked in the empty text box. Mocking.

There was no photo attached to the profile. It could be a fluke. It could be nothing.

Jace pressed his thumb to the name on his phone screen, watched as his brother’s name was automatically highlighted. Copied it, and pasted it into Google. He scrolled mindlessly, possessed for what felt like hours.

Stumbled on a dating profile on a hookup app that Bells had downloaded for him. His mouth was dry.

The profile wasn’t under the name Luke, but Lucy.

He tapped on a profile picture, saw delicate features, dark hair, dark eyes, pale skin. He’d seen enough photos of his mom when she was younger to know the young man in the phots was her carbon copy.

Fuck.

His thumb slipped without meaning to. He liked the profile. Jace hissed, flooded with horror, mortification, panic-

It’s a Match!

Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit.

Luke, or Lucy, rather messaged first.

L: Heyy

Jace stared at the message and felt longing pull in his gut, worse than anything he’d ever known.

His reply is quick, hungry for more. His brain wired on a feedback loop at the chime of a notification.

J: Hi

The reply is quick.

L: chatty huh

J: sorry, lol. Wasn’t expecting to match w you.

L: really? Why’s that

J: you’re hot

L: LOL that’s pretty forward. And unless ur using someone else’s photo in ur profile pic, so are you.

His cock twitched.

J: just stating facts. And Thx lol.

J: are the tats in your gallery yours?

L: yea. r the abs in your gallery yours?

J: yeah.

L: 🥵

J: you’re funny.

L: and ur strangely humble for a guy that’s as good looking as ur pictures make you seem.

J: that a bad thing?

L: no, just trying to figure out where you came from lol

J: same place as you probably

L: I doubt it, lol.

J: I could be

L: ??

J: in the same place as you

J : if you wanted that

Jace wanted that, he wanted this his entire life.

L: oh yea? What would we do in the same place together?

J: whatever you want, Lucy

L: what if I wanted to do boring stuff? Like talk about history or sumthing?

J: joke’s on you, I love history. Kinda into the idea of you talking about history.

L: yea?

J: yeah

L: Hot and ur into history, def made in a lab.

J: LOL. Maybe I was made for you?

Maybe we were made for each other, he thinks. He thinks back to the results of his test - full siblings. Jace had always felt like oil and water with Vaegon, like they’d been cut from a different cloth.

Lucy had gone silent for a few minutes. Jace felt panic dig it’s roots into him. Desperate for a scrap of attention, affection, anything.

The chime of the next message hits like a narcotic.

L: I can multitask btw. We could talk about History AND do other stuff.

Jace’s hands are shaking as he replies.

J: anything in particular?

L: yea, in about six diff positions.

Jace ducked his head with a smile, cheeks throbbing with a blush.

J: is that so? Well, please educate me.

A stock photo of two men at a cafe rolled in, coffee cups that looked suspiciously empty situated before each of them. Jace couldn’t quite hide his smitten giggle.

L: it’s not the Kama sutra but I think we could pull it off

J: I might need to stretch first, but yeah, I’m down.

L: 🥰

J: lick a spot and we can try it for ourselves

J: *pick

L: didn’t mind the 1st one, LOL

L: but, yea, I’d like that.

He masturbates like a madman that night, frantic to the sight of tattooed, lily-white thighs in Lucy’s gallery. Imagines those pretty legs locked around his waist.

His guilt the following day isn’t enough to quash the quick flush of excitement that surges to his fingers (and cock) at the unique chime of a message on the app.

L: morning 😊

J: Good morning

L: it’s definitely better now

J: ☺️

J: rough night?

L: I had a dream about u…

J: I think I like where this is going

L: it was pretty morbid actually 😓. There was a fire, I don’t remember much, but I remember that. And u were there.

L: not like in the house btw. U were just there, next to me.

Jace sucked in a sharp breath. Harrenhal…Harwin’s lake house had burned down when they were young. Blood frothed hot in his veins.

L: … i’m sorry that was like the most unsexy dream to have abt a hot guy 😩.

L: omg wait I didn’t mean to make a pun 😨

L: …Jace?

J: do I have to burn something to be next to you now?

L: OMG, no!

L: I mean, did you still wanna be next to me after I had some weird ass dream with u in it?

J: YES

L: I’m free this weekend. Saturday. There’s a coffee shop near by, I’ve never been to it. No burning required.

J: it’ll be a first time for both of us then.

L: 🫣

L: it’s insane how bad I wanna kiss you

J: 😚😚

Fifteen minutes later, he’s sent an address.

They exchange flirty messages throughout the week leading up to the day they’re supposed to meet.

He gets to the coffee shop early. It’s cozy, warm, the air is fragrant. There’s a gentle buzz of conversation and hiss of coffee machines and milk frothers.

His phone pings and he nearly spills piping hot decaf all over his hand.

L: are u here yet?

J: yeah

L: lift up ur shirt so I know it’s u

J: lol! Sitting by the bookshelf

His heart stops when he sees him round the corner, like something out of a dream. Lily-white legs in microscopic cut-off shorts. Delicate fingers with chipped polish wrapped around a phone.

His eyes are dark, darker in person. Brown with a touch of amethyst. His eyes are Jace’s eyes. His heart is pounding fast.

“Lucy?” Jace calls, voice shaking. A timid smile parts on pink lips as he draws nearer. He’s stood before the intimate little corner booth Jace had picked out.

He’s tiny.

“Luke,” he corrects, “Lucy is…an online thing. Most people call me Luke.”

“Luke,” Jace repeats, and there it was. Easier than breathing. His missing piece.

[stalwart-spirit]

So with the Media Tour out and getting a closer look at class abilities AND the Dawntrail website giving us handy blurbs on the new classes, I have my brain churning on possible character lore to why Saeed becomes a Viper. Of course expected to change once Dawntrail drops and I can go through the job story BUT here are my concepts!

Viper job description has a part here I'm interested in:

"Once a foe is weakened, they empower themselves with the strength of their ancestors to deliver a powerful and decisive finishing blow."

Which definately ties into the Reawaken skill tied to the blue gauge and it's linked skills, all being First through Fourth Generation (4 skills, 5th is Oroboros) and these in turn activating First though Fourth Legacy attacks. It's got me thinking, it's all linked to history, to ancestry...

What's stopping me from having this tie in to Ivalician lore for Saeed 👀

With how ancient Rabanastre itself is, and how it was eventually built atop the old Ivalician city of Lesalia, nothing is stopping me for being cheeky and potentially having his bloodline tied to some ancient Ivalican lore of my own making!! RUMBLES EXCITEDLY

[thechanelmuse]

California Reparations

The conversation on the centuries overdue debt of US lineage-based reparations owed to Black Americans is still going strong from state bills and conferences to articles and panels. Federal reparations is the top goal, but the state ones are being sought as well. The unfinished business of Special Field Order No. 15 plus interest. “Wouldn’t that cause the US to go bankrupt?” Nope. 

I was gonna wait until the final Cali report is released on July 1, 2023. (If you haven’t read the full 400+ page interim report, it’s here. I’ll plug the audio version when it’s finished.) But since there’s a definite number for one aspect, here ya go:

The California Reparations Task Force for AB 3121 — who are leading in the first, pure reparative bill to redress the state-sanctioned terror, genocide, discriminatory laws (Black Codes/Code Noir, Jim Crow), stolen wealth and land theft — are recommending each person to receive $223,200 for housing discrimination ($559 billion - the nation's biggest restitution effort ever…so far). This is only for Cali. 

Shit like this is just...

Reaping the benefits in your house and the bricks your ancestors laid... 

When you get into the liquid assets...  

There’ll be protective policies in place and more because after all... 

There’s 5 steps to reparations under international law: 

Cessation/Assurance of Non-Repetition - like structural and institutional policies

Restitution - like the account for stolen land, property and labor (real or intellectual)

Compensation - like cash

Satisfaction - like a formal apology

Rehabilitation - like free medical care, free education, free legal and trauma services 

Kamailah Moore, Esq., who is the Chairwoman of the AB 3121 California Task Force, breaks it down in this 1 minute 37 second clip from a Revolt Summit panel on held Sept 2022.

Whether you live in Cali or not, if you’re the descendant of free people or enslaved people who were subjected to US chattel enslavement of building this country from scratch and (re)classified under the US caste system as Black or Mulatto, later reclassified as Negro to Colored to Black again to Afro American to African American to Black/African American to “Black or African American” currently, do your genealogy. Prepare. This is not that damn spit test. Get your documents together. 

There are a lot genealogical websites. I use Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org. The latter is thorough than a mf and great for cross verifying what pops up or you trace on Ancestry.com. Also, the Card Catalog option on Ancestry is key. Both headquarters are in Utah. You can physically go to the FamilySearch Center, if you choose. 

Many of us have family members who don’t fuck with the US census or haven’t done it in decades, so the birth certificate and death certificate paper trail will be the route to go leading back to the census record docs. Dig into the National Archive Catalog. Touch those microfilms if you can. We are well documented. The United States governmental corporation is obsessed with us. They keep them receipts like a serial killer keeps mementos. It’s there. The farther back you go, be patient and take breaks. Also, check that old bible. Make note of everyone from safe kept obituaries. Talk to your fam, especially the elders.

SN: I have more research to do, but one day I’m want to break down the Negro and Mulatto part of caste system because that shit is nothing but a bag of trickery and confusion the farther you go back in records. The complexity of paper genocide in classification that you wouldn’t be privy to unless you crack that 1870 wall and keep going back. (I haven’t just traced mine; I’ve been assisting others.) 

Certain words don’t have the same meaning as what we would consider them today. Mulatto, for one, meant more than someone who was half and half. The answers sit in plain sight within centuries back state laws. When I get around to writing it, I’m starting from the most recent one with ol’ Jesse “Cherokee Indian card” Jackson head ass loudly calling for a reclassified people to be yet again reclassified by a misnomer — African American — that we didn’t ask for and looks like an immigrant status. The problem is more than obvious today. Everyone who has differing homelands being classified under the same label as if we’re a monolith...one big nigga 🙃. This is being straightened out.

[thelatvianblog]

Liv (Livonian) Traditional Culture

In modern-day Latvia, a handful of descendants of a dying ethnic group ­– the Livs – are a small, yet tenacious group of enthusiasts of their cultural heritage. They take pride in their ancestry and over the past decades have, in various ways, sought to promote public awareness of their culture, language and lifestyle. This has been done through popular folkloric music, also the dissemination of information about their culture and history via festivals and camps, literary publications, websites and focused research of the past. Their efforts have met with some success – there has been a renewed interest in the Livs and public and state interest in the fate of this ethnic group has been piqued and acted on.

The Livs (or Livonians), are one of two indigenous ethnic groups of the territory of present-day Latvia and Estonia. The language of the Livs comes from a different language group to the Baltic language that the Latvians (and Lithuanians) speak. Livonian is from the Finno-Ugric language group (related to Estonian, Finnish and Hungarian) and sadly it is now deemed extinct, as the last native speaker of this language passed away in 2013. The Livs have almost entirely assimilated into the larger ethnic groups in this region. Yet the blood-line of the Livonians continues in many Latvians (and Estonians) and the language is still spoken as a second language by a handful of Liv descendants, linguists and enthusiasts. One of the most active Liv linguists, Valts Ernštreits, now a researcher at Tartu University, Estonia, has for decades been promoting Liv culture and language.

Today, around 200 people still identify themselves as Livs and are proud to cultivate their cultural heritage. Annual summer language camps are organised for children to learn their ancestral language, Livonian culture has received significant support from the state and a Livonian festival is held in summer in the northern village of Mazirbe in Latvia. Livonian language courses are available to university students studying Finno-Ugric linguistic studies in Rīga and Tartu, Estonia. Livonian music and culture has become more accessible to the public with the active and focused activities of the Stalti family and Estonian-Livonian band Tuļļi Lum who have recorded folk music in Livonian.

The Liv language, although no longer spoken as a native language, has, over the centuries, left its mark on the Latvian language. It is most certainly closely related to modern Estonian and Finnish, but there are a number of words in Latvian which are of Livonian origin. The stress on the first syllable in Latvian, is a language feature that comes from Livonian. The popular Latvian song “Pūt, vējiņi” stems from a medieval Liv wedding song.

The 12 Liv fishing villages that are located on the northern Kurzeme coast, though now rarely inhabited by descendents of Livs, are now popular spots for holiday homes, and some of the old, still unrenovated homes are a legacy to what once was. This area is called the Liv cultural space and one of the villages, Mazirbe, has a House of Liv Culture which is worth a visit to learn more about the heritage of this ethnic group. It is part of the heritage of Latvia and its preservation is just as important.

[forthedancingandthethriving]

Random HCs I thought of while on Advil

- CPU, because of his name, is very analytical and observant. That, and he's very good at simplifying things in case he needs to (often for the kids when he visits).

- Crash, whenever he gets too emotional or angry, sometimes.. well, crashes. His body legit blue screens, and another Admin has to come and reset him.

- Buffer, Lag, and Ping sometimes have their bodies or voices not match what they're doing in the present moment. Aka buffering/lagging/pinging.

- To rectify the above, CPU often lends some of his power to the three so it doesn't happen as often. Though he does sometimes yank it away from Buffer whenever she annoys him.

- If Abyssal or Umbra aren't careful, when they get too angry, they can start to suck the visible light out of a room.

- Crash and CPU are making an effort to be friends with Antivirus.

- Domain and Forum can what's on the entirety of a website by just a glance. The number of times they've had to stop the gang from interacting with bad websites..

- You know that old lady who you know is always judging you for your choices? That's Cursor.

- Buffer sorta knows that Lag and CPU have a thing going on, but she doesn't speak on it or point it out. When they're ready to tell everyone, she'll be there for them.

- Lil Coding has gotten stuck in the ceiling before. No one knows how.

- Lil Coding, Lily, Bowser Jr. and Sage play 'Kidnap the Princess' once a week or so.

- SMG4 had a heart attack when he heard the music X used to use for WOTFI back in the day. Why? Because Mario used it for WOTFI Jr. between Lily and Lil Coding.

- Mario sometimes has nightmares about the Reset and 4&3 never reverting back to normal.

- Lil Coding enjoys having conversations with Antivirus whenever the Admin is around. The Code considers him a good friend.

- Lily is capable of holding her breath for much longer due to her ancestry, but not too much longer.

- Bob is the uncle you least expect to have, but when he watches over you, you have a hell of a fun time.

- The gang have so many inside jokes about what's happened to them that it baffles anyone who hasn't been included.

- Never get Antivirus, CPU, and Crash mad at you all at once. Remember they are part of the Division that handles punishments. They will team up to make a horrible punishment or something of the sort.

- 3&4 sometimes stiffen or jolt whenever they hear the word 'efficient' or 'efficiency'. A much better reaction than whenever they first exited their Resets, where their first and initial reactions to hearing hose words was to lock up and begin to have a panic attack.

- Domain and Melony sometimes have little coding sessions together so that he can help the demigodess hone her hacking skills for good.

- It's suuuper easy for Forum to fluster Domain. Way too easy. Everyone else struggles with it, but Forum can just say or whisper something and Domain is a blushing mess.

- Everyone kinda forgot that the Hologram Trio are, well, holograms! Because their holograms are solid and they can interact with them. They remembered this when they first met Umbra and Abyssal after the events of The Toxic Ringmaster.

- The amount of money a therapist could make from having sessions with any of them is insane (SMG3 doesn't count because of conflict of interest).

- Buffer and Juliano are aroace buddies.

- Juliano is in friendly contact with most of the Admins, excluding the nastier ones. He's also a sort of mentor/big brother figure to the other Avatars whenever they visit the SM64 universe, but that role is mostly reserved towards Mario.

- CPU does still smoke cigars, but he is cutting back since he's around the kids more often.

- Forum and Domain are the youngest Admins so far and the first and so far only former Guardians to ascend to Admins. All the other Guardians have had preexisting Admins be assigned as their Admins.

- 4&3 have absolutely pulled the "my dad was one of the prototype SMGs!" on some more of the nastier Admins whenever they rear their heads. They aren't ashamed of it.

- God help you if the Guardian System thinks you're doing something you shouldn't be around it. It's such a little shit.

- Abyssal has accidentally walked in on Ping and Umbra a grand total of 5 times. Each time they have gotten progressively more done.

- Lily sometimes goes to the Internet Graveyard with SMG3. The dead memes love her and many of the animal based ones like to follow her around.

- Domain&Forum are very much ship Emulator and Manifest. They aren't really worried about Manifest hurting Emulator in any way because they know she loves their little sister a lot and that Emmy can handle herself if something does end up happening.

[leonemian]

Werewolf: 21st Century Edition

Okay, been working on this for a while, and I figure here's a good a place to post, and a good a time as any to start.

I love Werewolf: The Apocalypse in spite of itself.

A lot of really great writing, worldbuilding, character work, and RPG design went into the system, but while the 20th Anniversary Edition took the most steps forwards, every edition has seen at least one step backwards. Changing Breeds put the nail in the coffin for me, when it comes to official content, and I just sadly put it on my shelf as a work of art I was once entranced by.

Then my fiance says I talk about it so much, I might as well write my thoughts down. I can't be the only person who feels this way about it.

Plus I've worked out some deep-seated emotional issues through the game, and that aint nothing.

TW: violence, by the way.

Here goes nothing, I guess.

RAGE

A lot of people on this website talk about anger, and how emotions stereotyped as 'negative' are not antithetical to love. How you deal with anger, rather than just labeling it as broadly negative and shoving it down within you or 'rising above', is an important lesson to learn.

The world is filled with terrible things, terrible actions, and terrible people. Being filled with rage is a completely reasonable and understandable reaction.

Werewolf: The Apocalypse makes, as its first theme, Rage. It's right in the tagline, "When Will You Rage?", essentially the entire game is asking this question. I love that the game has a question as its tagline, which is as good a time as any to talk about Judaism.

I'm not that close with my Jewish ancestry, on account of how my entire observant family were killed during the Shoah. Even in early 20th century, the American side of my family, lead by my grandfather, were pulling away from the faith. My grandfather was a strict rationalist, a man of science for whom faith held little interest.

That said, we still celebrated the holidays and didn't exactly Christianize, so I've always felt aloof from both worlds. I distinctly remember having to ask my father about our family history with the Holocaust, and, after a quintessentially Jewish moment wherein my father repeatedly asked me if I was certain I wanted to know, I received some photocopied documents. A list of names and numbers, and my family name written down among them.

I've dealt with a lot of rage in my life, as a Jew, as a queer man, as a progressive, as a leftist, it all boils up at times. Beyond that, I also am an angry person on a fundamental level, and that anger feels complicated. I'm soft-spoken normally, but I've been told when I'm angry, I bellow with a voice that legitimately frightens people. I don't mean this as a boast, it *terrifies* me.

To get back to Werewolf, part of what resonated so strongly with me was the idea of everyone having Rage. Some have it stronger, like the Ahroun, some have it weaker, like the Ragabash, but everyone has it. When you play Werewolf, you are playing a fighter, a barbarian, a druid, a sorcerer, a rogue, and a bard all at once.

To isolate the barbarian side of things, you ever wonder what it'd be like to live with a Barbarian, like a classic D&D Barbarian? Because, sure you as a player can turn Rage on and off at-will, and the lack of spellcasting or 'concentration' is a common limiter meant to signify their lack of restraint.

But, what if it wasn't something you could fully control?

I should clarify for those who don't play Werewolf that Rage is fucking AWESOME. Spending Rage points lets you take multiple actions per round, instantly shapeshift between forms, and ignore wound penalties. It's an invaluable resource in combat that means the difference between life and death, and makes a Werewolf pack unstoppable whirlwinds of violence, capable of punching way above their metaphysical weight class in-universe.

The problem is, you don't just get to have it when you want, and ignore it when you don't.

In Werewolf, anything can provoke Rage in you. Sufficiently agitating or infuriating situations can have the Storyteller call for a Rage roll, making this precious resource debilitating at a time when you want to be calm. Roll too many successes and the game mechanics make you Frenzy, attacking anything in sight. Frenzy can be useful in combat, you instantly shift into the war-form, Crinos, and ignore wound penalties for the duration, but outside of combat? Things get *dire*.

You can spend a second in-game resource, Willpower, to resist a Frenzy, but Willpower is a resource that takes much longer to regenerate, a 'good night's rest' usually only restoring 1, for comparison.

Are you a bad person if you flip out and destroy something? I've argued with my storyteller, asking for higher difficulty to the Rage roll (higher numbers required to gain a 'success' which in this instance is NOT something you want), if my character just directed their anger at an inanimate object. It worked in-game, but it also scared my character's brother and sister, and broke the sink in their kitchen.

I have a brother who I love so deeply and dearly, but who terrorized me as a child. Physically, mentally, and emotionally. I still fear the sound of floorboards creaking outside of my room, I still shrink from people who touch me from behind, even gently, when I don't expect it. It left a sense of impotent rage at my inability to protect myself, an anger towards my family for not protecting me, and a deep-seated desire for payback at him.

Thing is, he's apologized to me so many times. He loves me, I love him, and he was a kid with severe addiction problems whose brain was on fire 24/7. My parents were making the best of a terrible situation, and simply couldn't be in two places at once.

He's talked about feeling like a monster. Feeling like he couldn't control the waves of emotions, at that and many other moments. He took responsibility, but in the decades since, I've been on that side of the fence myself a few times.

I love him. Justice is in our reconciliation, for me at least. His acknowledgement of my pain, and my sense of him as a full person rather than as a demon who hounded my childhood has given me my brother back.

I've yelled at him a bunch, I've gotten my chance to voice my pain, but I realized at a certain point that it wasn't making me feel better. The problem was, I love him, and thus, even if he was the one who hurt me, it didn't help to see him in pain, whether through my 'punishment' or his own guilt and self-torment.

That said, I did a lot of the smiling mask, burying my emotions down, for a long time, and that wasn't useful either. The rage needed to be let out, and you know what? It was well deserved.

To get back on topic, that is a complicated web of pain, but it arises really easily in Werewolf: The Apocalypse. We often think we're rational, logical beings, in full control of ourselves, but by periodically taking the choice out of our hands via the dice, Werewolf lets us deal with that complicated, painful moment where we are responsible for injury, but may not have been entirely conscious at the time.

Treating it like a disease is also bad, though, because...

The world SUCKS. Things are TERRIBLE. Violence, murder, bigotry, corruption, capitalism, ecological devastation, man's inhumanity to man just keeps rolling onwards, and it makes us ANGRY. That anger is earned, that anger is justified, and we don't always need to sublimate or deny it, because if anger is the only thing getting you up in the morning, then anger, in that instance, is a good and holy thing.

I'll end each of these sections with a bit from my personal favorite Werewolf character of mine, Maeve Ceallach, Homid Fianna Ahroun.

Oh, spoiler warning, I'm going to try and do more posts, more sections on Werewolf concepts, how the game handles them, and how I would change them. Rage was the one I started with because it's both the primary theme of Werewolf, and also the one that needs the least change in my opinion.

Maeve Ceallach

"I don't remember at what point I realized my father was missing his right arm. It must have happened when I was really young, I remember him having his arm, there's pictures of him holding me, but grade school onwards, it was just a fact of our home life. Daddy did things differently, that's just how it was.

My mother didn't speak to me about it. Well, shit, she didn't talk to me about much of anything, until my first change. Then I got a lot of attention, I was the golden child from then on. Tried to live up to her expectations, and that didn't include dredging up painful family memories, so I stayed off it.

By the time I finally got her to talk to me about it, I was in college. I had a lot of... interest, let's call it, from a lot of people. It was fun at first, then it was irritating because I had to keep up my studies and my duties to the Nation. Then it got weird, and finally, scary.

Look, I get it, redhead, big muscles, funky scars, the piercings, the tattoos, the boots, I'm aware of my presentation. Lotta people want me to step on them, and that's fun from time to time, but it gets old. Remind me to tell you the story about the ink at the base of my neck, that'll clue you in.

It's fun... until it isn't. I had this one girlfriend in Junior year, and she just kept... pushing. She wanted the 'lioness', she wanted the 'wolfmother', she wanted, you know, the beast in me. I didn't want that, I get enough of that in my job, but she just kept pushing.

It was a bad night, and I should've just walked away, taken a breath, counted to 100, all the stuff I've learned. I didn't, and she wasn't taking the hint that I needed to be alone... Honestly, maybe I should've been firmer about it? I've always had trouble with that, I like to please.

She grabs me from behind, and I just snapped. I left claw marks in the washing machine, and grabbed her. I wasn't going full Crinos, but I definitely drew blood. The look on her face... I still see it in my nightmares. Not just her, but the reflection in her eyes.

My ma came and picked me up. Guess she had to, Sept leader and all that, clean up the mess, keep everything hush-hush, but she stayed behind with me.

'Never bring the fight in here.' She said. 'We fight, we bleed, we kill, but you don't bring it in the house. You wash up at the gym, you sleep in the car or on the rocks if you've got to. You don't bring the fight in here.'

My dad pulled up, and as I watched him fiddle with his keys to get into my apartment, I asked the question I'd been waiting 24 years to ask.

'Did you ever let the fight come home?'

She looked out the window to him, and he waved at her, smiling.

'Once.' She said. 'Only once.'"