#do we not deserve our own heritage

[throwing-roses-into-the-abyss]

also ngl but I HATE the suggestion that if an historical object is not just of local importance but of national importance, it therefore by definition has to go to a big museum like the rijksmuseum in amsterdam. like why shouldn't local museums hold important objects if they can. it belongs to the local people, it's their stuff, let them keep it. rural people already have to travel across the country for everything deemed Cultural, why do the big cities get to hog everything, are city people more important than rural people?

[headspace-hotel]

I hope I can express this properly and sensitively, but I think oftentimes people need to have Categories and Identities and to be healthily exploratory and playful and elastic about them, else they can get vulnerable to some negative things, sometimes really awful things

I wish I could remember where I read it, but there was something that wrote about whiteness in America as an abyss.

Whiteness is something that sheltered white Americans' ancestors, and at the same time devoured them. They used to have a distinct medley of heritages: Irish, German, Scottish, Italian. "Whiteness" ate it up, the languages, the cultures. There were privileges if you destroyed it, and punishments if you held onto anything that was "Other." In a white supremacist society, white people wanted to be "white" first before any other possible identity or connection they could have.

Yay! You're white. You're on top. You win...what? Turns out the prize for "winning" is just that you get to perpetrate the violence of the game instead of being on the receiving end of it.

And that's the nasty twist—there is no prize. The deeply embedded vice of "Southern pride" is not just what the Confederate flag stands for, but also why they've got to cling so hard to that symbol of traitors and losers: they need to be on top of something so bad that even a pile of shit will do. My ancestors were ultimately dirt poor, loads of them ending up in prison or breaking their bodies down doing hard labor, but they were white. Their reward, and their pride, was being stepped on by the violence of poverty only, instead of also by the violence of white supremacy.

"White pride" is all about hate because white supremacy didn't give these folks anything to be proud of. It stripped away the culture and heritage their ancestors had in favor of "whiteness." All those jokes about how white people have no culture, well, it's true isn't it? This shit is how we ended up a primarily monolingual nation. And what looks like happened is that white Americans wound up just...scavenging most of their culture from those they oppressed. Food, music, all of that stuff. Our white ancestors didn't GIVE us anything that was their own to start with.

And this is something that really strikes me about the white supremacist and fascist movements nowadays: the starvation and hollowness behind them. These folks are empty inside. They were given nothing by white supremacy except a very vague sense that they deserve something, and they see people of all different cultures celebrating and flourishing in their unique heritages and identities, and they feel like...they've been cheated.

Equality is so threatening when you're in this situation because it feels like you've got less than everyone else at the end of the day. Not just because of comparison to previous privileges, but because your whole identity was "person that gets to step on everybody else" and your whole inheritance was "shit stolen from everybody else" and in a world where all is set right, you have no identity and nothing. You are nothing.

Anyway I was looking just now at a blog that seemed really white-supremacist-leaning and it was 99% about like, Norse and Proto-Indo-European paganism and "traditionalism" and that's what got me thinking about this again.

This person had apparently done DNA tests on themselves or something, and were really fixated on figuring out their Norse and Germanic ancestors and separating out their genetic and racial identity at a level of precision that seems really pointless that far back in time. And honestly all the paganism stuff seemed like totally arbitrary speculation as well.

And how to become satisfied as a person like this? I am just as much Germanic or Norse as they are, but I don't believe that distant ancestors determine who you are to such an extent that I have some sort of innate cultural tie to Vikings or Visigoths or what have you. I know what percentage Celtic or Anglo Saxon or Norse I am—zero. I learned about those things in books the exact same way I learned about all the cultures and past kingdoms of the world that I presumably don't have ancestors from.

I feel like the experience of being a baby ally and obsessing about apologizing for being white is the same kind of thing in another direction, or another outcome of the same process. Some people seem to get really twisted up for a time over how to stop being guilty about being white.

It's part of the same thing as this guy who is trying to genetically identify his ancestors from like 3,000 years ago. It's the emptiness and meaninglessness of "white" identity apart from white supremacy.

I talk about deradicalization sometimes and I've had the notion a few times that fascism appeals to people who are hollow and starving in terms of identity, and if it wasn't for the sense of emptiness and hunger, they would be less easily radicalized. But it's also a little bit awkward to talk about the deeply unsatisfying nature of white supremacy, because...well, that is pretty low on the list of things bad about white supremacy.

I think this concept is worth talking about in general, though: People want to feel like they come from or are part of something meaningful. They are drawn toward Identities and Categories and Belonging to groups. This is something I think is commonly true about humans, I think it is normal and not a bad thing, and I think we could stand to be a little more upfront about its reality.

I think this means that wanting, and seeking, a sense of cultural identity as a white person (particularly an American) needs to have some kind of non-horrible outlet for it. Because right now, it's nothing but a way to get radicalized, and the dominant other option people take (becoming the Guilty White Person) is liked by no one and helps nothing.

And maybe it doesn't need to have anything to do with race or culture or your ancestors or any of these things that can lead a person down such terrible paths. Maybe more of us should be furries!

As just another thing to consider, I'm reading the book Ecology of a Cracker Childhood and the author of the book uses the word "cracker" not like, with the gravity of reclaiming a "slur" or something like that, but seemingly because that is just the word she most strongly identifies with, the word that best articulates who "her people" are. This feels very solid and levelheaded to me, something that comes from someone with a good sense of themselves.

Personally I've thought a long time that more people should reclaim "redneck." Not in the sense of reclaiming a slur exactly, but in the sense of putting it in neutral usage among the folks it always referred to, instead of letting it increasingly be associated with any Southerner (regardless of working class background) that is the sort to wave a Confederate flag around. The very idea of gatekeeping "redneck" away from racists is just absolutely hilarious to me, I won't lie.

[thequeenofneverland1]

Kol Mikaelson////Bound by Love

Anonymous request: Can I a request a story Kol Mikaelson falling in love with Davina’s little sister and Davina and Marcel not approving of the relationship when they find out that Y/n and Kol ore dating both Davina and Marcel warns Kol and his family to stay away from Y/n but obviously he doesn’t so something leads that Marcel kicks out Y/n you can choose how to end it and thank you :)

Warnings: Betrayal and manipulation by family members, Banishment and exile from a community, Emotional distress and sadness, Family conflict and confrontation,Jealousy and tension between siblings, Betrayal and consequences of actions, Loss of trust and break of relationships, Emotional manipulation and pleading for help, Family members being escorted out of a community, Consequences of betrayal and actions, Tension and conflict between family members, Abandonment and rejection by loved ones

the Mystical town of New Orleans, Kol Mikaelson found himself falling head over the younger sister of Davina Claire. You were kind-hearted and spirited, causing him to fall in love with your infectious laughter and unwavering loyalty.

But when Davina and Marcel Gerard discovered the budding relationship between Kol and you, they were less than pleased. They believed Kol to be a troublemaker, prone to chaos and destruction, and they did not want you to be caught up in his web.

"You know Kol's history, Davina," Marcel warned, his voice filled with concern. "He may claim to love your sister now, but how long before he shows his true colors?"

Davina nodded solemnly, her face clouded with worry. "I don't want her to get hurt, Marcel. We have to do something before it's too late."

Kol entered the room as he waited for you, only to hear Marcel and Davina talking about him. "We need to put a stop to this. Kol can't be trusted."

"You're right. Y/n deserves better than to get involved with a Mikaelson." She tells him.

With a solemn attitude, Kol emerged from behind the door. "I was unable to resist listening in on your talk. I know you're worried, but I'm not going to avoid Y/n. I'm not going to allow anyone to stop me from loving her."

Marcel exchanged a look of surprise with Davina. “You have no idea what you're getting yourself into.”

"Maybe not, but I'm willing to take that risk for Y/n and for our love." Kol states

"How can we be certain that you're not merely taking advantage of her?” He asked, “ We all know how highly your family values power, and she is a powerful witch."

"I can promise you that my feelings for Y/n are sincere, but I do understand your concern. However Her power doesn't pique my attention. I love her just the way she is." Kol states again.

Not believing him, Davina shakes her head. “Additionally, who's to say you won't turn on her when the time is right? Betrayal is ingrained in the Mikaelson family's heritage."

"I know my family has done some terrible things, but I'm not my family. I'm my own person, and I've changed. I want to be someone that Y/n can rely on." Saying this, Kol hopes that they will believe him.

"Words are cheap." Marcel says and Davina nods in agreement

You entered the room, a confused look on your face, you noticed that they got quiet "What's going on? Why does it feel like I walked in on something?"

Marcel and Davina exchanged a glance, unsure of what to say. “Well?”

Kol approaches you while wearing an unhappy face "They were just telling me to stay away from you, Y/n. They think I'm using you for your power."

Your expression turned to anger as you turned to your sister and Marcel. "How dare you? Kol loves me, and I love him. And you have no right to interfere in our relationship."

“Y/n, we’re just trying to protect you.” She tells you.

"I'm not in need of your defense.” You respond, "I need you guys to trust me to make my own decisions and to respect my choices."

You turned over to Kol, "I'm sorry that they're putting you through this. I believe you, Kol. And I trust that your feelings for me are genuine."

"Thank you, darling," Kol grinned. “For me, that is very important. They won't be able to separate us, but I swear to do everything in my power to earn their trust."

“Y/n, we're only thinking about what's best for you. Is it really that wrong that we were cautious about a Mikaelson?" Without attempting to enrage you, Marcel tells you

"No, I can't blame you. But I can ask you to give Kol a chance. He's not his family, and he deserves to be judged on his own merits." You let him know that you understood that his only concern was for your protection

“Okay, all right. However, he will be held accountable to us if he harms you." Your sister gives you a warm smile.

You gave her a smile in return, "fair enough. However, I feel that's not a concern for us."

Kol grinned at you and took your hand, giving it a comforting squeeze before you both left.

"I still don't trust him, Davina," Marcel tells her as they watch Kol and you leave. “He is a Mikaelson, and they are infamous for their deception."

She folded her arms. "Yes, Marcel, I am aware. However, Y/n seems to sincerely love him, and we are powerless to stop her from loving him.”

"I know that but I just don't want her to get hurt. And if Kol does anything to hurt her, I swear I'll make him regret it." He declares

"I feel the same way, Marcel. But for now, we need to give them some space. My sister is a smart woman, and I'm sure she'll make the right decision." She informs him.

"I hope you're right, Davina.” he adds, trying to hide his worries about you. “Because if Kol crosses us, he'll have hell to pay."

“I believe he is aware of it. If he's intelligent, he'll go above and beyond to convince us of his worth." She chuckles as she shakes her head at how theatrical he is being.

Klaus entered the room with a smirk on his face as Marcel and Davina were wrapping up their talk. "Ah, Davina, Marcel. You two were talking about my brother and your beloved sister, and I couldn't help but listen."

"Klaus, what do you want?" Marcel expresses his obvious displeasure that Klaus entered the home without authorization.

Klaus smirks. “Oh stop, I'm just stopping over to say congrats. It appears that my brother has gained Y/n's affection. And he's really in love with her, I have to admit."

"Klaus, you and your siblings don't have our trust." Your sister gives him a furious stare.

He rolls his eyes. “Yes, I'm well aware. But you might be surprised by what Kol is capable of when he puts his mind to it. He may be a Mikaelson, but he's also his own person. But Rather than that, you guys can trust us."

"Klaus, all your family has done is bring suffering and devastation. What makes any of you worthy of our trust?” Marcel declared he didn't give a damn whether he enraged Klaus or not

Klaus narrows his eyes as he walks over to him. "Careful, Marcel. You may be powerful, but don't forget who holds the cards here."

Refusing to back down, He tells Klaus, "I'm not afraid of you, Klaus, You'll have to deal with all of us if your brother harms Y/n”

"Ah, such loyalty.” Klaus began laughing. “But be warned, Marcel. I won't hesitate to protect my family, even from you. And if Kol loves Y/n as much as you claim, I'm sure he won't hesitate either."

“We'll do whatever it takes to protect Y/n, Klaus. Even from you and your brother."

"Very well, then. Let the games begin." He declares.

"We mean it, Klaus. Keep your family away from Y/n. We won't tolerate any interference from the Mikaelsons." Your sister warns him.

"Davina, you really need to get better at picking your battles. You're in no position to make demands of me or my family." He tries to go in front of your sister while telling your sister, but Marcel moves in front of her. “We're not afraid of you, Klaus. And we'll do whatever it takes to protect Y/n."

"Very well, Marcel. But don't forget, I have eyes and ears everywhere. And if I catch wind of any harm coming to my brother or Y/n, there will be consequences."

She shook her head. "We're not the ones you need to worry about, Klaus. It's your family's reputation that precedes you."

"And besides, I doubt Y/n would appreciate you speaking for her, Marcel. She's a strong, independent young woman who can make her own choices. And if she's chosen to be with my brother, it's because she sees something in him that you clearly cannot."

Marcel lashes out, saying, "Klaus, you think you know everything. But take note. you will suffer consequences if your family hurts Y/n."

Klaus chuckles once more. "Oh, Marcel, I've made my share of payments. And if it means defending my loved ones and myself, I'll be happy to repay them. I have to take care of some more pressing affairs, so please excuse me."

“Naturally, by arranging with your brother to take advantage of her and make her go insane.” Your sister yells at him.

"Become insane? Oh, please. Given Y/n's strength as a witch, why would we ever wish to hurt her? She's significant to me and the rest of my siblings because she's important to my brother." He informs both of them.

Marcel chuckles, obviously not buying it. "Klaus, you've hurt a lot of people who were significant to other people in the past. What makes us think you would treat Y/n any differently?”

She gives Marcel a nod of approval "We won't take any chances when it comes to Y/n's safety. She must not be around you and your family, or else there will be consequences .”

His eyebrows shot up. "Davina, is that a threat? If that's the case, I advise you to carefully consider what you say next. You don't want my family and I to become your enemies. Or maybe my brother and my family aren't the source of your issue at all. Maybe you're simply jealous that Kol chose Y/n instead of you. Seeing your younger sister with the man you desire for yourself must be difficult."

"How dare you!" she yells at him, furious. “You have no idea who I am or what I'm into."

He grinned, "I guess I know more than you think. You're not as adept at controlling your emotions as you believe you are. Additionally, if I were you, I would exercise caution when making enemies of people who are able to see right through you."

"Enough, Klaus. You've made your point. Now leave us alone." Marcel leads him to the door

"Davina, there's one more thing. It's fortunate that my brother picked Y/n over you. You're not worthy of him or any member of my family. On the other hand, let's simply say that your sister is everything and you're not." He conveys to her

"Leave!" she fiercely gestures toward the door.

He laughs. "As you wish. But keep in mind that I'll stop at nothing to keep Y/n and my brother safe. My brother loves Y/n. Therefore, don't cross my family or me. The outcomes won't be to your liking."Before leaving, he issues the warning.

“That arrogant, self-righteous, son of a..."she furiously tries to say but she gets stopped by Marce placing a hand on her shoulder. "Davina, calm down. He's not worth it."

"How can I calm down after everything he just said?" she asks, staring at him foolishly.” He essentially threatened me and called me worthless."

"I know, but getting worked up about it won't help. We need to focus on protecting Y/n, not on getting revenge on Klaus."

"But he can't just get away with saying those things!"

"I promise you, Davina. He'll have his desserts. However, let's keep Y/n secure from him and his family for the time being." He smiles and comforts her, "But for now, I'm going to go talk to Rebekah, and hopefully she can help us."

Rebekah nods in agreement with Klaus's statement. “I regret to inform you that my brother is correct in two particular regards. Even though Davina won't acknowledge it, she does feel something for Kol. Marcel, let's be honest. Y/n is more attractive and intelligent than Davina could ever be. It makes sense that Kol choose her over her sister."

Marcel is furious that his beloved agrees with her brother, "Rebekah, that's not fair.Davina has gone through a lot."

She shrugs her shoulders."everyone has. she’s not the only one. But whose fault is that? Davina made her own choices, just like Y/n has. And if she's jealous of her sister, well, that's her problem, not mine."

He sighs. "I don't know what to do, Rebekah. I want to protect Y/n, but I don't want to drive her away."

She rolls her eyes. "Then maybe you should stop listening to Davina and start listening to your heart. Sometimes the best way to protect someone is to give them the space they need to make their own mistakes."

Rebekah knocks on Klaus's door "Hey, big brother. Mind if I come in?"

Klaus smiles "Ah, sister. To what do I owe this honor?"

She sat down on the bed. “Marcel was here and we were talking. And you were right. Davina is jealous of Y/n."

He nods "Of course she is. Davina's always been a bit of a wild card. And Y/n... well, let's just say she's a rare gem, even by Mikaelson standards."

She smiles at the thought of you. "I know. She's smart, beautiful, and completely fearless. It's no wonder Kol fell for her."

"Indeed. And if Marcel and Davina aren't careful, they're going to push her right into our brother’s arms. Not that I'm complaining, of course."

"I know.”

He expresses concern to his sister "Maybe we ought to monitor Y/n more closely. I wouldn't rule out Davina making a stupid attempt."

"You're right," she nods. “It's not like Davina is known for her self control. However, caution will be required. We want Y/n to not feel as though we are suffocating her.”

“I concur. We'll need to keep our distance. However, not even Davina will be allowed to jeopardize my brother's happiness." He informs his sister of the consequences.

She smiles at her brother, "You really have taken a shine to Y/n, haven't you, brother?"

He shrugs his shoulders with a smile."What can I say? She's a remarkable young woman. And she makes Kol happy. That's enough for me."

"What? Davina is envious of Y/n? That's unbelievable.” Kol says, quite unexpectedly.

"Brother, believe it. And we must exercise caution. I refuse to allow Davina or anybody else to jeopardize Y/n's security." He informs him.

Kol declares emphatically, "Brother, neither will I. I'll stop at nothing to keep Y/n safe, even if it means putting my life in danger."

"It's so sweet to see you so smitten, Kol," Rebekah says with a smile. “But maintain your vigilance. Davina is erratic, and we never know what she will do.”

Kol gave a nod. "Sister, I won't. I swear. I'm completely devoted to Y/n, and I won't allow anything or anyone stand in our way."

You were initially skeptical of Kol's claims, but eventually started to see the possibility of your sister's jealousy. “Davina is jealous of me? No way. She's my sister, she wouldn't do something like that."

“I know it's difficult to accept, darling. Klaus and Rebekah are sure And I'm concerned about her potential actions." Kol informs you

"I... I don't know," you scowl. “Although Davina might be erratic, I never imagined that she would feel jealous of me. particularly with a man."

He took your hand. "Listen, darling. No matter what happens, you have to know that I love you. And only you. Your sister doesn't factor into this at all."

You gave a sorrowful smile. "Regards, Kol. You do, I'm sure. I simply never imagined my own sister could be that self-centered, and I love you too."

You decided to confront your sister about her alleged "Davina, is it true? That you are jealous about me and Koi?"

"What? No, of course not! How could you even think that?" Davina asked shocked

You shrugged your shoulders "I don't know what to think, sister. But Klaus and Rebekah seem to think you are."

Your sister angrily tells you. “They're lying to you, Y/n! They're trying to turn you against me because they're afraid of how powerful we are together."

"I don't know, Davina. I just want to know the truth." You said confused

Davina pleaded to you. “The truth is that I love you, sister . And I would never do anything to hurt you. Please, don't believe what Klaus and Rebekah are saying. They're just trying to manipulate you.”

As you recalled Davina's previous attempts to make Kol jealous, you realizes that your sister's behavior aligns with Klaus and Rebekah's claims were true

Davina gazed into your eyes with tears in them. "Y/n, no. You must have faith in me. I'm not envious. You're my sister, please. Nobody knows me as you do."

You shook your head “I don't know, Davina. I want to believe you, but... (you pauses, remembering Davina's previous behavior) …”that's why you asked if I had a guy friend for you to date. You were trying to make Kol jealous, weren't you?"

She was stuttering. "No... no... I….I just wanted to get his attention.It was not intended to be meaningful.”

You cast a somber glance at her. “I adore you, sister, but Klaus and Rebekah are correct. You're envious of Kol and me. And that's unacceptable.”

"Enough, all of you! Can't you see that this is tearing Y/n and her sister apart?" Marcel tells the three of you and he turns to look at you, his face full of anger. "You know what, Y/n? I thought you were better than this. You're not family, and you never will be. Get out."

"Marcel, what are you saying?" you questioned in shock. “I can't just be kicked out!"

He angrily tells you. "I can, and I will. Davina's my family, and I won't have you causing her pain."

Kol intervenes to protect you. "Marcel, stop up! Y/n isn't to blame for this. It was Davina who started this whole thing.”

He ignores Kol and he points to the door. “I don't care, Kol. Y/n's no longer welcome here. Now leave, before I make you."

"Fine, Marcel. I'll go. But you're making a big mistake." You said leaving as Kol comforted you. “Shh darling I’m here.”

Upon arriving at the Mikaelson mansion, Kol and you are warmly welcomed by the Mikaelson family, who make it clear that you are now one of them.

Elijah greets you with a smile. "Welcome, Y/n. We're so glad you're here. Please, make yourself at home."

Klaus smiles at you as well. “Indeed, Y/n. You're family now, and we protect our own."

Rebekah hugs you. "Marcel's a fool for kicking you out. But don't worry, we'll take good care of you here Sweetie."

Kol holding your hand. “I told you, darling. You belong here with us. You're a Mikaelson now, always and forever."

You were overwhelmed. "Thank you all so much. I don't know what I would have done without you."

One year later, Kol and your love for each other has only grown stronger, and the two of you decide to tie the knot. While the absence of your sister and Marcel brings you sadness, your new family is here to support you on your special day.

The wedding ceremony is beautiful, with you looking radiant in your dress and Kol beaming with pride as he watches you walk down the aisle with his two brothers. However, as the ceremony progresses, you can't help but feel a pang of sadness as you notices the empty seats where Davina and Marcel should be

Kol noticed your sadness. “Darling, what's wrong? This is our big day. You should be happy."

You carefully wipe off your tears trying to not ruin your makeup. "I know, Kol. I'm just sad that my sister and Marcel couldn't be here. I miss them."

Klaus stepped in since he overheard you. "Don't worry, Y/n. We're your family now, and we'll always be here for you. Today is about you and Kol, and no one else."

Rebekah pulled you into a warm hug. "Don't let them ruin this day for you, sister. You deserve to be happy, and we're here to make sure you are."

Elijah smiles as he nods. "Indeed, Y/n. Today is a celebration of your love for Kol, and our love for you. Let's make it a day to remember."

You smiled back. "Thank you all so much. I'm so lucky to have you as my family."

Kol takes your hand. “darling like I told you. You're a Mikaelson. And that means you're never alone."

As the ceremony continues, your sadness gradually fades, replaced by the joy and love of your family. Together, they celebrate the union of Kol and you, and the beginning of a new chapter in their lives.

Months later, you and your family are out in the city when you guys witness a surprising turn of events. Davina and Marcel, who had been absent from your life for some time, are being banished from the city. Despite the tension between them, you feel compelled to confront your ister and former friend.

You guys watched as Davina and Marcel are escorted out of the city, their belongings scattered behind them. Davina catches sight of you and tries to approach you, but the Kol and his siblings step in to protect you

Kol defensively tells her. "Stay back, Davina. You've done enough damage."

"Please, Y/n. I just want to talk to you."Davina pleaded

"It's alright, guys. I can handle this." You told them.

Klaus looks at you unsure. "Are you sure, Y/n? We don't want you to get hurt."

You nodded . "I'm sure. Davina's my sister, after all. I need to face her."

Davina reveals the reason behind their banishment, which involves Marcel's wrongdoing. "It's all Marcel's fault, Y/n. He made a deal with the enemy behind our backs, betraying our coven and putting everyone at risk. When the elders found out, they banished us both from the city."

you looked at him, shocked “Marcel, is this true?"

He defensively puts his hands up in the air. "I did what I had to do, Y/n. They were threatening to expose us to the humans. I had no choice."

You angrily yelled at him." So you sold out your own people? How could you do that, Marcel?"

Your sister pleaded to you as she got on her knees “Please, Y/n. You have to help us. We have nowhere else to go."

You let out a sigh. “I don't know, Davina. You both betrayed me. Why should I help you now?"

Davina and Marcel beg you for help, hoping that your connections with powerful people could offer them a lifeline. However, your loyalty now lies with your family, who have stood by your side when Davina and Marcel didn't.

She starts to cry, “please, Y/n. We need you. You know powerful people. You can convince them to help us."

You shook your head. "I'm sorry, sister. But I'm not going to betray them like you betrayed me. They're my family, and I won't turn my back on them."

Marcel angrily tells you. “So that's it? You're just going to leave us out here to fend for ourselves?"

You firmly back at him. "You made your choices, Marcel. And you have to live with the consequences. Good luck to both of you."

As you walk away from your sister and Marcel, Klaus can't resist a final parting shot, emphasizing the consequences of their actions. "I did warn you, didn't I? But you chose to ignore me. Now look where it's gotten you. You should have listened to me, and maybe things would have turned out differently."

Davina scowling. "Shut up, Klaus. This is all your fault."

Klaus laughs. “Oh, please. You're the ones who dug your own graves. Don't blame me for your own stupidity."

Rebekah turned over to Kol. "Come on, get Y/n out of here. She doesn't need to see any more of this."

Kol nods at his sister."You're right.” And he takes your hand. “Let's go, darling.”

As Kol and you walk away from the confrontation with Davina and Marcel, Kol decides to lighten the mood by revealing a surprise for you.

He grinned at you. "Hey, darling . I know that was a tough situation, but I've got something that might cheer you up.”

You asked curiously. "Oh? And what might that be?"

He teases. you. “Well, you'll just have to wait and see. But I promise it'll be worth it."

You smiled. “You're such a tease, Kol Mikaelson. But I'm intrigued. What's this surprise?"

He laughs. "Patience, Y/n Mikaelson. All will be revealed in due time."

As Kol and you continued walking, you can't help but smile at Kol's playfulness, grateful for his ability to lift your pirits even in difficult times.

Kol leads you to your surprise, keeping your yes covered until the two of you arrive at the destination. When he finally reveals the surprise, it's a beautiful house that he has acquired for him and you. Kol explains his reasoning behind the gesture, which elicits a laugh from you.

You laughed at him. “Oh, Kol. You really think the interruptions will stop just because we have our own house?"

He nods with a smile. "A man can dream, can't he? But seriously, I want us to have our own space, where we can be alone together whenever we want."

You smiled. "That sounds wonderful, Kol. Thank you."

Kol and you shared a kiss. "Anything for you, my darling. Now, shall we go inside and explore our new home?"

Together, Kol and you enter the house, excited to begin this new chapter of yours and his lives together

As Kol and you are about to enjoy the new home alone, Klaus, Elijah and Rebekah unexpectedly show up, much to Kol's chagrin. They continue their playful teasing, indicating that the interruptions might not be over just yet.

Klaus walks in with a smirk on his face. "Hey guys, we brought pizza!"

With Rebekah and Elijah following Klaus. "And wine, of course. Can't forget the wine."

Kol groans. "Really, guys? You're gonna do this here, too?"

Rebekah laughs with Klaus and Elijah. "Yup!"

You smiled. "Well, as long as there's pizza and wine, I'm not complaining."

The five of you all settle in to enjoy the meal together, relishing in the family bond and the lighthearted moments that you and your family share

[ashdreams2023]

Hi, I love your posts a lot and i was wondering if i could make a request. I checked your master list just incase someone asked it already and i didn’t see it.

Could you do a loki x reader, where loki is nervous to reveal that he is a frost giant to the reader and when he does reveal it the reader finds him like cute and pretty. Just lots of fluff and cuteness :)

(You can do a gn or fem reader i don’t really mind).

Have a good day/night! :)

My good looking boy

Loki x fem reader

Loki walks back and forth in his bedroom, he has been thinking about this sensitive for ages now.

He looked down at his blue frosted hands, his veins looked so pale and greenish, disgusting in his own eye.

You wouldn’t want to look at this everyday, right?

But he couldn’t hide this forever and he promise to share every detail about himself with you, regardless of how mad and twisted it may come off as.

You deserved to know and whatever happened afterwards…well he didn’t want to think of anymore outcomes because all of them ended the same in his head.

Alone.

"Loki? Am I early? I saw the door open and let myself in" you walked in and phased at the darkness of the room "Why are the lights off?"

Loki swallowed and leaned his back on the wall "Darling before you turn the light on I want you to know something"

You tilted your head confused "Is something wrong? You sound stressed about something"

"No i…actually there has been a secret that I feel you should know before we go any further in our relationship, it is a sensitive topic that no one here knows about but Thor"

"Oh my god are you sick?! What’s happening" you walked towards his figure who’s standing in the dark but he lifted his hand up stopping you from getting closer.

"No, listen to me you need to understand how important this is to me"

"Ok…tell me then"

"I am, Loki oddinson but I am also Loki laufeyson and with that comes a great burden, and I don’t to cheat my way to your heart, I want you to see the other side of me, my ugliest secret"

You blinked as the lights turned on and your eyes landed on him, his skin blue as the sky, his eyes red as Ruby’s and you could see the Smokey cold air surrounding the area he stood.

"I know it looks and I know you deserve much more better than this but I just couldn’t hide this from you anymore and you have all the right to leave me if you wish" he let out a breath and waited for your response, he expected the worst of the worst.

"Does it hurt you? I mean not being in your natural form all the time?"

Loki opened his mouth then closed it "No, not really, the only downfall is getting bothered by the sun easily"

"That’s it?"

"Yes?"

You sighed then approached him slowly, you looked up at his face, his features looked different but not unfamiliar, he was still your Loki, your same old god of mischief.

"Will I get hurt if I touch you?"

"You’ll probably get frost bites dove"

That didn’t seem to stop you from hugging his middle though, he was cold but nothing you couldn’t handle "I don’t care what form you have, I’ve seen you literally turn into ancient creatures, you think I’ll be phased by blue skin and red eyes? Don’t be ridiculous now! I would never leave you!"

"But…but I’m ugly"

You pulled away and crossed your arms "You’re still my hood looking boy, whatever you look like because at the end of the day I love you more than you could ever imagine and I’m happy you’re telling such an important detail about your life, it’s your heritage and not something to feel ashamed about"

Your words stuck him like an arrow in his heart, he felt choked but held himself together "Are you sure, you still want to stay with me"

"One hundred million percent, I don’t care if you look like a lollipop because jokes on you my standards now are YOU"

"….don’t let stark hear you he will be disappointed" he snorted.

You smiled shaking your head "you so nervous, honey you can trust I’ll love you regardless and no matter what, I promise so stop sulking in the corner and come spend some time with me pretty thing"

"Oh you and your flattery" he rolled his eyes walk up to you, the skin color coming back to his face the look you knew first came back into view.

"Smoothies?" You asked.

"Deal" he grinned at you.

[allsadnshit]

I think one of the clearest signs to look for in yourself and others for not being emotionally grounded in a healthy way is just how effected by other peoples opinions you are! Not to say other peoples words don't have any power, of course they do, but to what degree we feel like we need to be understood and in alignment with other people specifically in instances where their opinions doesn't carry power over us besides our own impressions of ourselves.

Like when I see comments on social media about how all mixed kids are damaged and confused from have parents of different cultures - it's not nice to see blatant racism but also they literally cannot take away my heritage just by saying they don't want people to be in interracial relationships and although it's upsetting, I used to genuinely let it ruin my day and make me question myself when I was in a less stable place with taking care of my like basic needs for my brain to function (stressed all the time, not sleeping or eating well)

Or like when I'd see people saying baristas don't deserve tips and I'd feel like my very worth as a person was up for debate because a stranger I literally didn't know thought I shouldn't be paid well because I didn't go to college or something. Like that is so far removed from having the ability to directly effect me but when I'm doing bad it feels so real like someone can reach into my life and hurt me simply by having different beliefs - which when I feel centered sounds so crazy to me

Seeing myself go from "why would you say that? That's so unfair?! You wouldn't even know? How dare you?" when someone would make me feel small or stupid for how I live and feels vs me when I'm well fed and happy and feel close to myself and can just be like "ok?....didn't ask....plus no one needs you" is so refreshing to feel the difference in

And it's not something you can fake it till you make it, you really gotta be there with it slowly over time through like getting to the core of what makes you feel so scared

[alatismeni-theitsa]

I love your blog! I think this will be a safe space to talk and i will start this discussion in english but i can’t stand international groups mainly english speakers who occupy the ancient greek space whether it is online or academically. We greeks are taunted and patronised about everything, i don’t see people acting the same way to germans or norwegians when they know barely of their pre christian religions or why they arent vikings like the old times, even countries like india who they aren’t anymore like their great past yet get a pass. And in the end of the day they don’t even know anything else aside from the big three as i call them aka Athens,Sparta and Macedon occasionally Thebes but then again ignore many other smaller city states,kingdoms and islands that existed at the same time and had their own unique cultures. I mean even our name “Hellas” came from a funky epirotan tribe that foreigners would deem as un-greek because greekness to them is antiquity period.

True, for the colonizing nations and the empires who wanted to claim ancient Greece as theirs, Greeks can never win. It's been like this for centuries at this point, because arguments like "Greeks are uneducated therefore they don't deserve this heritage" or "they don't look the same is their ancient super idealized statues, so they are not ACTUALLY Greeks by blood, therefore not having a right to Greek heritage although they're culturally Greek" have been already used since the 19th century at least. Another "argument" that servers the same purpose is "Greek culture belongs to everyone", meanwhile they never say this about Norwegian, Egyptian, Indian, Afghani, Chinese, and other cultures 🙄

I think the same argument of the locals lacking some knowledge has also been used used for India and Egypt at some point, when Western Europeans were doing excavations and research there and considered themselves better than the locals who "dared" not having a perfect knowledge of what those buried things in their country were.

Locals don't have an obligation to have perfect knowledge of their heritage in order to have a right to it.

Those who you can expect an almost perfect knowledge from are scholars, who are specifically getting paid to devote most of their time in the subject. And, of course there were always Greek scholars who studied their antiquity. Not to mention, even scholars can't know everything and have to devote their attention to certain periods.

[multiplicity-positivity]

Here’s some positivity for spiritual systems!

Hey you, the spiritual system reading this! Your plurality is real, you are valid, and you absolutely belong in our spaces just the way you are. Regardless of how religious or spiritual you are, how you became plural, or how involved spirituality is in your life, you make the plural community a better place! And we have some shout outs for you!

🔹 Shoutout to those who practice a spirituality or religion in which spiritual plurality is a common and well understood practice!

🌊 Shoutout to systems with spiritualities that are strongly tied to their cultural heritage, traditions, and ways of life!

🌀 Shoutout to those whose plurality is influenced by polytheism in some way!

🦋 Shoutout to Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Umbandista, Shinto, Druid, Celtic, Hellenic, Wiccan, and other religious systems whose spirituality informs their plurality!

💙 Shoutout to mixed origins systems whose plurality is partly spiritual in some way!

🐬 Shoutout to spiritual systems who are mediums, psychics, or have the ability to be possessed or mounted by spirits!

🔹 Shoutout to systems with members who regularly astral project or access the astral plane or some other plane of existence!

🌊 Shoutout to spiritual systems who are not religious and don’t practice, follow, or believe in other religions!

🌀 Shoutout to spiritual systems and headmates who identify with metaphysical or supernatural origins!

🦋 Shoutout to systems with members who are spiritual introjects!

💙 Shoutout to systems who are struggling to understand or come to terms with their own spirituality and/or spiritual system!

🐬 Shoutout to systems who have found a home and belonging in their spirituality, and love how their spirituality and plurality are weaved together!

All systems are wonderful and valid, and of course this includes all spiritual systems of all sorts! Your system is real, and you deserve to be shown respect, compassion, and kindness. We hope that your plurality brings you immense joy, comfort, and spiritual fulfillment. We want to support and uplift you however we can, and we are so happy that you are a part of the plural community!

Please do your best to treat yourself and the rest of your system with kindness today. Know that there is nothing wrong with being a spiritual system - you know yourself and your plurality more than anyone else! We know you have a very bright future ahead of you, and we’re rooting for you in all that you do! Thanks so much for reading, and take care!

[dontlookforme00]

💚ninjaa4a4afan192288 Follow

Ok but is it actually too soon about the whole Stiix thing. Like whenever I make a joke about it there's always people who look at me weird.

My brother in FSM, that happened like 5 years ago. Get over it. For all our sakes. Pls

☄️theplantenjoyer Follow

What the fuck.is wrong with yuo. My uncle died in that little green pricks shitshow. Shwo some respedt for the dead

🚨spiderronmyphon Follow

which green prick. there's a few, be more specific

💚ninjaa4a4afan192288 Follow

I am showing respect for the dead. Massive respect to Morro. What a fucking plan.

Imagine you get banished to hell and the MOMENT that the nations saviour sacrifices his dad, you escape. Attack ur teacher, the students ur teacher was cheating on u with, (academically) and then immediately graverob god.

Why have none of us talked about this. This is insane.

He graverobbed God, normal-robbed whatever place had the SOS, normal-robbed some ginger in Stiix. And then beat up the students like three times.

AND FUCKING DIED AGAIN

I can't get my head around this. This topic has always fascinated me and I really need us as a society to normalise it so I can fucking talk about this.

Also your spelling is shit and idc about your uncle

🤝theuhhbrobrogoogoo Follow

He was,,,a terrorist?? Why are we glamourising this. Morro killed people and ruined lives. Stop throwing an Internet tantrum and divert your attention to the REAL one deserving of it. And that is Nadakhan

💚ninjaa4a4afan192288 Follow

Fucking who

☄️theplantenjoyer Follow

Fucking who

🚨spiderronmyphon Follow

What. Who??

🕓whi7g-8919-9 Follow

I KNOW THIS IS A BAD TIME BUT WE HAVENT ACTUALLY COME TO A CONCLUSION ON WHETGER OR NOT NINDROIDS ARE HUMAN?? GUYS.

GUYS THIS IS IMPORTANT. WHERE DO NINDROIDS ACTUALLY COME UNDER OUR LAWS

💚ninjaa4a4afan192288 Follow

Nows not the FUCKING TIME GERALD

🚨spiderronmyphon Follow

Ok, this is interesting. Article 3.4 C of the "Humanity" Section of the Ninjago City Department of Law Archive of 2017 states that, "Nindroids are legally recognised as on the same status as all other biological humans by the following criteria: " and then its fucking blank??? This city is a joke. The audacity. What was the point. How the fuck did this pass

And the implications of this, if it wasn't just some stupid error? Neither Zane nor Pixal can face legal justice for being discriminated against in workplace, or anywhere else. They can't buy things under their name, because they aren't recognised as citizens. Only as advanced AI (pretty fucked up but uh). They can't get married, own intellectual property, or . Anything. That's wild.

🐭technosharpieesz Follow

I mean yah. They're bots. They'd hack the economy or sm idk . I'm not going to explain to you why we shouldn't be integrating literal AI into our society??

🚨spiderronmyphon Follow

MOTHERFUCKER LISTEN HERE-

💚ninjaa4a4afan192288 Follow

GUYS CAN WE PLEASE STOP DERAILING MY POST!! PAY ATTENTION TO ME PLEASE!! I SUPPORTED A TERRORIST LOOK AT ME

🕓whi7g-8919-9 Follow

Shut up apologist wer talking abt Pixane now

✨️ninja-heritageposts Follow

Ninja heritage post

💔realsestreal-ninjafanacc Follow

Everybody on this post is a fucking lunatic.

[talonsandtails]

talk about fierceteeth's worthiness for queen; praise the catholic little bugger

Have some fierceteeth art made for the occasion

Oh boy, you asked for this!

First off, I’d like to start with why I don’t think Glory should continue to be the nightwing queen.

In the wof universe, the tribe a dragon belongs to seems to be a core part of every dragons identity. We constantly see dragons boasting about their tribes. The series likes to act like it’s just nightwings who are stuck up, and while the nightwings took it further, really every tribe thinks they’re superior. We can see it countless times in both written dialogue and unspoken thoughts.

Culture and heritage is something very important to most every dragon. So going off that context, it’s not fair for the nightwings to be stripped of that. That’s not to say that the arrangement they have with Glory is bad. They quite literally had no other option. The nightwing tribe certainly needs rehabilitation, and to pair them with a tribe like the rainwings is exactly what they need. It benefits both tribes, with the nightwings teaching them to be tougher(so I like to imagine) and the rainwings teaching them to be better dragons in general. But the series is acting as though the nightwings are gonna be ruled by the rainwings forever, which just isn’t fair to them. After they get themselves sorted out, the nightwings deserve their freedom.

So, onto why I think Fierceteeth is the best candidate.

First and foremost, her fierce, selfless loyalty. Besides how much of a jerk she is, her most prominent character trait has always been her loyalty to those she loves. Fierceteeth would do any and everything to protect what she holds dear. Now recognition and fame is definitely her MAIN motivation for wanting to be queen, no doubt about that. But it’s not her ONLY motivation. She states herself, her reasoning for what she did; “Everything I did, all my so-called “crimes,” were for the good of my fellow nightwings. I was trying to find us an ally who would restore our power. I was trying to save us from being controlled by another tribe. I was trying to make sure we had a real home of our own!”

Fierceteeth feels as though the nightwings are held captive by the rainwings, and that because of this they won’t be able to be restored to the great powerful tribe they once were. And considering the way nightwings were raised on the island, this reasoning is understandable. There’s also an interesting point that’s brought up by the nightwings a couple times. Again, as stated by fierceteeth, “They deserve a queen who cares about them and understands what they’ve suffered.” A sentiment shared by seemingly many nightwings at first was that Glory didn’t and would never care for their tribe. And yeah, she hated them at first. I think it goes without saying that you don’t want a ruler who hates you. The nightwings also seem to be bonded by the terrible experience they all shared living on the volcano. Imagine your country has been an uninhabitable hellscape for longer than anyone around you can remember, every person in a leadership position is wiped out, and then some random US politician or something with no knowledge of your culture or what you’ve been through swoops in to take advantage of the situation and claim ownership of you. That’s what it was like for the nightwings at first. They didn’t see themselves as refugees, they saw themselves as prisoners. It’s reasonable that they would want a ruler who understands everything they went through, so that they would be properly represented. The nightwings need a queen who will fight tooth and nail for them, just like fierceteeth would. We already know she cares greatly for her tribe.

She’s not selfish, either. We can see this when she and strongwings were caught sneaking out. Strongwings offered to take full responsibility for the incident. Fierceteeth could have easily gotten away scot-free and nothing would have changed, strongwings would still have loved her. But she insisted she be punished along with strongwings to prove a point about her devotion. When it comes to the people she loves, Fierceteeth genuinely wants what’s best for the nightwings, not herself. She’s an odd blend of selfish and selfless, in that she’s a brat about empathy and all that, but she simultaneously always puts herself at risk to defend her loved ones. She would be the type of queen who puts her tribe before herself.

So what of her leadership qualities? Based on the new info in the guide, I think we can actually conclude that she is a very good leader. Fierceteeth says she’s “pretty much the boss” of the new nightwing settlement. Granted, this is likely just how Fierceteeth sees herself and not wholly accurate. But based on the fact that she seems heavily involved in everything that’s going on there, and the fact that she’s the one managing trade with Glory, I’m inclined to believe that this statement is accurate. She, at the very least, serves as figurehead. And based on some of the context, I think we can conclude that the nightwings in renewal are beginning to thrive. Fierceteeth herself, for one, is healthy enough to produce at least three eggs, as far as we know, while on the volcano it was rare for any dragon to even produce one. The dragons are healthy enough that they’re able to indulge in art. They have enough resources and free time to devote to trying to put together a play. They’ve been researching the old libraries in the night kingdom. They’re not exactly rolling in food and riches, as fierceteeth herself says life there Is tough. But they’re happy, their healing, and their living. So fierceteeth evidently isn’t a terrible leader. Now yes she obviously probably isn’t managing everything, but I don’t imagine that’s how it works for queens either. If Fierceteeth were to be crowned queen now, with how ramshackle renewal is, nothing much would change in their arrangement. And by the time they’d gotten themselves together enough for fierceteeth to resemble more of a queen and take on more responsibility, she would have already had some experience, and I imagine the other queens would probably have helped teach her how to run a kingdom.

And in general, fierceteeth has the qualities of a good leader. She cares for her people, she puts their needs first, she’s smart, strong, brave, and doesn’t take crap from anyone. I’d also like to mention that I can’t imagine fierceteeth would be cruel, either. She is absolutely a jerk, no question there. But fierceteeth isn’t putting down the other nightwings for their newfound interest in art. She seems to be actively helping with the play, even though she’s stated she thinks art and history is stupid. She’s aiding her fellow nightwings in something that’s important to them, even when she herself doesn’t see any point to it.

There is still a risk to consider; with a nightwing queen who still stubbornly hangs on to that “nightwings are superior” complex, wouldn’t that run the risk of the nightwings remaining a terrible tribe? I think I can safely say that no, they wouldn’t. First off, a lot of the other nightwings are changing this sentiment. For another, attacking the other tribes is gonna be the very last thing on the nightwings minds. Every dragon in pyrrhia collectively agrees that they want peace, which includes the nightwings. Heck, the reason they hid for so long was because they were terrified of being attacked by the icewings. I’m sure a war is the last thing they want. I also can’t imagine they’d put “brainwashing our tribe” in high priority, when they have so many other things going on. Rome wasn’t built in a day, which leads into my third point: The social climate in Pyrrhia is changing drastically. Everyone is working towards a more accepting society. The nightwings aren’t so isolated that this is gonna fly right past them. So by the time that they’d actually get around to worrying about the brainwashing, that mindset would have mostly disappeared. I just can’t see fierceteeth caring about it very much when there’s so many other things for her to worry about.

This is basically a roundabout way of saying that no matter what that mindset is gonna fade out over the years.

Would Fierceteeth be the IDEAL queen? No. But I thinks she’d be an excellent queen to start with when it comes to rebuilding the nightwing tribe. A solid foundation, is how I like to think of it. Fierceteeth is rude, selfish in many other areas, bratty, and overall not a pleasant person to be around. But she’s selfless in providing for her loved ones, she’s brave, she’s smart, strong, and shown to be capable of leadership. I don’t think someone needs to necessarily be likable to be a good leader.

Man I’ll be surprised if anyone reads this far lol, but thanks taking interest in my useless ramblings.

[nicklloydnow]

““Dorothy reminds me in so many ways of Toni Morrison,” West said. “You know Toni Morrison is Catholic. Many people do not realize that she is one of the great Catholic writers. Like Flannery O’Connor, she has an incarnational conception of human existence. We Protestants are too individualistic. I think we need to learn from Catholics who are always centered on community.”

(…)

She viewed belief in God as “an intellectual experience that intensifies our perceptions and distances us from an egocentric and predatory life, from ignorance and from the limits of personal satisfactions”—and affirmed her Catholic identity. “I had a moment of crisis on the occasion of Vatican II,” she said. “At the time I had the impression that it was a superficial change, and I suffered greatly from the abolition of Latin, which I saw as the unifying and universal language of the Church.”

Morrison saw a problematic absence of authentic religion in modern art: “It’s not serious—it’s supermarket religion, a spiritual Disneyland of false fear and pleasure.” She lamented that religion is often parodied or simplified, as in “those pretentious bad films in which angels appear as dei ex machina, or of figurative artists who use religious iconography with the sole purpose of creating a scandal.” She admired the work of James Joyce, especially his earlier works, and had a particular affinity for Flannery O’Connor, “a great artist who hasn’t received the attention she deserves.”

What emerges from Morrison’s public discussions of faith is paradoxical Catholicism. Her conception of God is malleable, progressive, and esoteric. She retained a distinct nostalgia for Catholic ritual, and feels the “greatest respect” for those who practice the faith, even if she herself wavered. In a 2015 interview with NPR, Morrison said there was not a “structured” sense of religion in her life at the moment, but “I might be easily seduced to go back to church because I like the controversy as well as the beauty of this particular Pope Francis. He’s very interesting to me.”

Morrison’s Catholic faith—individual and communal, traditional and idiosyncratic—offers a theological structure for her worldview. Her Catholicism illuminates her fiction; in particular, her views of bodies, and the narrative power of stories. An artist, Morrison affirmed, “bears witness.” Her father’s ghost stories, her mother’s spiritual musicality, and her own youthful sense of attraction to Christianity’s “scriptures and its vagueness” led her to conclude it is “a theatrical religion. It says something particularly interesting to black people, and I think it’s part of why they were so available to it. It was the love things that were psychically very important. Nobody could have endured that life in constant rage.” Morrison said it is a sense of “transcending love” that makes “the New Testament . . . so pertinent to black literature—the lamb, the victim, the vulnerable one who does die but nevertheless lives.”

(…)

Morrison is describing a Catholic style of storytelling here, reflected in the various emotional notes of Mass. The religion calls for extremes: solemnity, joy, silence, and exhortation. Such a literary approach is audacious, confident, and necessary, considering Morrison’s broader goals. She rejected the term experimental, clarifying “I am simply trying to recreate something out of an old art form in my books—the something that defines what makes a book ‘black.’”

(…)

Morrison was both storyteller and archivist. Her commitment to history and tradition itself feels Catholic in orientation. She sought to “merge vernacular with the lyric, with the standard, and with the biblical, because it was part of the linguistic heritage of my family, moving up and down the scale, across it, in between it.” When a serious subject came up in family conversation, “it was highly sermonic, highly formalized, biblical in a sense, and easily so. They could move easily into the language of the King James Bible and then back to standard English, and then segue into language that we would call street.”

Language was play and performance; the pivots and turns were “an enhancement for me, not a restriction,” and showed her that “there was an enormous power” in such shifts. Morrison’s attention toward language is inherently religious; by talking about the change from Latin to English Mass as a regrettable shift, she invokes the sense that faith is both content and language; both story and medium.

From her first novel on forward, Morrison appeared intent on forcing us to look at embodied black pain with the full power of language. As a Catholic writer, she wanted us to see the body on the cross; to see its blood, its cuts, its sweat. That corporal sense defines her novel Beloved (1988), perhaps Morrison’s most ambitious, stirring work. “Black people never annihilate evil,” Morrison has said. “They don’t run it out of their neighborhoods, chop it up, or burn it up. They don’t have witch hangings. They accept it. It’s almost like a fourth dimension in their lives.”

(…)

Morrison has said that all of her writing is “about love or its absence.” There must always be one or the other—her characters do not live without ebullience or suffering. “Black women,” Morrison explained, “have held, have been given, you know, the cross. They don’t walk near it. They’re often on it. And they’ve borne that, I think, extremely well.” No character in Morrison’s canon lives the cross as much as Sethe, who even “got a tree on my back” from whipping. Scarred inside and out, she is the living embodiment of bearing witness.

(…)

Morrison’s Catholicism was one of the Passion: of scarred bodies, public execution, and private penance. When Morrison thought of “the infiniteness of time, I get lost in a mixture of dismay and excitement. I sense the order and harmony that suggest an intelligence, and I discover, with a slight shiver, that my own language becomes evangelical.” The more Morrison contemplates the grandness and complexity of life, the more her writing reverts to the Catholic storytelling methods that enthralled her as a child and cultivated her faith. This creates a powerful juxtaposition: a skilled novelist compelled to both abstraction and physicality in her stories. Catholicism, for Morrison, offers a language to connect these differences.

For Morrison, the traits of black language include the “rhythm of a familiar, hand-me-down dignity [that] is pulled along by an accretion of detail displayed in a meandering unremarkableness.” Syntax that is “highly aural” and “parabolic.” The language of Latin Mass—its grandeur, silences, communal participation, coupled with the congregation’s performative resurrection of an ancient tongue—offers a foundation for Morrison’s meticulous appreciation of language.

Her representations of faith—believers, doubters, preachers, heretics, and miracles—are powerful because of her evocative language, and also because she presents them without irony. She took religion seriously. She tended to be self-effacing when describing her own belief, and it feels like an action of humility. In a 2014 interview, she affirmed “I am a Catholic” while explaining her willingness to write with a certain, frank moral clarity in her fiction. Morrison was not being contradictory; she was speaking with nuance. She might have been lapsed in practice, but she was culturally—and therefore socially, morally—Catholic.

The same aesthetics that originally attracted Morrison to Catholicism are revealed in her fiction, despite her wavering of institutional adherence. Her radical approach to the body also makes her the greatest American Catholic writer about race. That one of the finest, most heralded American writers is Catholic—and yet not spoken about as such—demonstrates why the status of lapsed Catholic writers is so essential to understanding American fiction.

A faith charged with sensory detail, performance, and story, Catholicism seeps into these writers’ lives—making it impossible to gauge their moral senses without appreciating how they refract their Catholic pasts. The fiction of lapsed Catholic writers suggests a longing for spiritual meaning and a continued fascination with the language and feeling of faith, absent God or not: a profound struggle that illuminates their stories, and that speaks to their readers.”

[sunderedazem]

I know i already have a dawntrail reaction post here with a genuine take but i am going to bitch again because i saw some condescending shit and got annoyed. So yeah. This is a vent. If it's not about you then it's not about you, you know? I'm not naming anyone b/c it's an aggregate annoying not a That Person Is Annoying.

Anyway.

Have a certain segment of the people who liked all or most of DT considered that perhaps, some people who disliked parts of dawntrail (especially the latter half) dislike it because they understood and actually just *disagree* with the themes and portrayal of the themes of that portion of the game? I don't dislike it because I didn't get it or because i didn't interpret it correctly (because this shit is subjective too!), I dislike it because it feels like it's spitting on the themes of the previous two expansions to me. Maybe the patch quests will resolve that dislike, i don't know. The Arcadion raids are helping a little, admittedly. If it keeps going like that I might start appreciating things I didn't before.

(Spoilers below here)

BUT- I will never be okay with the fact that all of Living Memory gets deleted, and the people of Alexandria do not have their memories of their lost loved ones restored. To me, that is not moving on, or moving forward, and our characters, the Scions, and the Tuliyollali (?) do not actually have the capability or right to remember these people on behalf of Alexandria when Alexandria's people *still exist*.

The past two expansions have involved uncovering and remembering, or at least acknowledging, a forgotten people, while also protecting the people of today. The Ascians are not an existing society deliberately divesting themselves from their past, they are a nearly-dead people who want the past back. And we choose to remember them, as Emet-selch asks, because we are his last chance of Amaurot not being utterly lost to time. We are literally his last resort. Our win means his people stay dead. He asks us to remember because we're the only people left who even know a little bit about Amaurot.

But Alexandria is a society that is still present! It still has its own culture, its own history, it's own right to keep and change and preserve all of that! But it's people don't appear to know when people die (or if they're killed for their souls, as is implied with Ambrose) or about psychonekrosis. They literally don't remember death. And they all deserve an actual chance to be able to preserve their own culture and history and to remember their own dead! Shutting down Living Memory with NO provisions made for them to be able to preserve the memory of their past *if they so choose to* is nothing like the previous themes of FFXIV and I don't like that. At all.

I am very tired of people acting like a dislike for Dawntrail indicates incomprehension or worse, malice somehow. Or acting like this point of view is completely incomprehensible and means "you're just mad it's not SHB and that's unfair to the devs" or etc. (or the worst- somehow assuming I'm a reddit dudebro who hates Wuk Lamat because I can't handle a leading woman if I ever mention that I thought her character was misused in the latter half of DT.)

I'm really, genuinely happy for you if you loved the latter half of DT. It was visually stunning. The music all slaps. Heritage Found is fucking eerie as shit and the intro to this part of the game with Namikka gave me good heebiejeebies. I can see why people enjoyed it. But to me, the end felt like a series of just...shock value emotional moments. It felt pointless and worse, kind of careless and callous (at least from a Watsonian viewpoint). And I would like that to NOT be called a "red flag lol" thank you. I'm perfectly sure I can hold a normal fucking discussion with people who loved the shit outta Dawntrail about things we mutually enjoyed.

Idk man. This is a vent post, obviously. And I do get that Twitter and Reddit are being Twitter and Reddit. I'm not on them for a few reasons but that nastiness is the main one. But it's also really fucking annoying to keep seeing shit that amounts to "If you dislike or criticize DT at all you're a nasty foul person/stupid idiot who is objectively wrong and you're not worth speaking to ever again." Like dude- can we NOT reactively slide to the polar opposite of the reddit dudebros. Can we just acknowledge that they have viewpoints that are shit *outside* the game that are causing them to have shitty other opinions.

Sighs. Anyway.

[dragonfly-murmurs]

I've been watching ER and I've been confronting a heritage of pain that I inherited the moment I realized I am queer.

For most of Season 1, the AIDS patients were not visibly queer. They contracted AIDS in practically every other conceivable way--until the season finale.

My mother and I have been predicting the diagnoses when we first see a patient.

I saw a pink triangle on a T-shirt that read "Silence = Death" and I said "AIDS."

"How do you know?" my mother asked.

How do I know? When did I come to instantly recognize symbols of my own kind, born out of suffering and death? Is this knowing innate?

For me, learning to understand who I am walks hand-in-hand with learning of the shared legacy of oppression and uprising and sickness and death and sorrow and joy.

I know what AZT is.

I know the symptoms. I know the signs.

I know why the quilt was made.

I know that, in a hospital drama TV show from the 90s, a pink triangle on a T-shirt is a mark of hopelessness and certain death.

I know that the one wearing the triangle will not have a happy ending. His death is not shown on-screen, but it is known and understood what has happened to him. It doesn't need to be spoken. It is certain.

When his implied partner said he doesn't have power of attorney, "his mother does," I winced, because I know stories from before marriage was an option in this country.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a mother who still loved her son and who wanted what was best for everyone involved.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a queer partnership be understood, accepted, unquestioned.

I was pleasantly surprised to see his implied death be treated with dignity.

I was pleasantly surprised to watch the bare minimum of respect.

This episode was clearly created to help conservative people confront their prejudices, and yet I was made to confront my assumptions that anyone visibly queer would be treated terribly by even a fictionalized society. Assumptions built upon years of seeing those stories play out, of watching people humiliated and dying and in pain.

We need to understand our heritage. In knowing we are queer, we have inherited so many lifetimes of suffering.

But there can still be hope. joy. love. understanding. quiet moments of dignity.

We deserve that.

[thepublishingpress]

you're holding the heart of mine

Poseidon knew.

He knew that one day, Sally would move on.

That he would leave her, and she would cry over it, but then someone new would sweep her off her feet, and she would be happy.

But as he looked at her, her bright blue eyes, her big smile, he found he didn’t want that to happen.

So he let himself succumb to temptation, and did not pull away.

~*~

That was a mistake. 

A child came from the union, and when Sally tells him she is pregnant, he panics. 

This was not supposed to happen.

When he tells her, she is furious. “What do you mean, this was not supposed to happen?” She demands. “I tell you we will have a child, and this is your reaction?”

“Sally,” He says pleadingly, “You must understand, I am a god!”

“I know!” She said sharply, “But what does this have to do with our child?”

He lowered his voice. “My brother has forbidden us from having children. Do you know what lengths he will go to rid any Forbidden Child that poses a threat to Olympus?”

She pales, but places one hand firmly on her stomach. “I cannot let him go, Poseidon.” She says, scared but determined.

“It will be hard,” He warns her, “You will have to face much suffering.”

“I will do anything for my baby.” She raises her head high, and Poseidon knew there would be nothing he could do to sway her.

Poseidon drew in a breath. “Very well.” 

~*~

Their child is born, and Poseidon cannot help but visit him. 

He approaches her bed, and she smiles weakly at him.

He stares at the little boy, his black hair so much like his own.

“What is his name?” He asks.

“Perseus. Perseus Jackson.”

He tilts his head. “But that is the name of my brother’s son.”

She shakes her head. “I did not name him for his heritage. I named him Perseus for a happy ending to my son’s tale.”

Oh. Poseidon’s smile became a little forced. He didn’t have the heart to tell Sally that happy endings did not come often. Even Heracles did not receive rest even after he was bestowed godhood. He stroked the babe’s head. “He will be a great hero,” He said instead.

Sally smiles. “I know.”

~*~

The next time he visits, their is another man’s ring on her finger.

He does not let the jealousy loose, he does not tear the house down with waves to remove the competition. Instead, he asks, “Who?”

Sally sighs. It was not a lovesick sigh, thank the gods. “His name is Gabe Ugliano.”

That man is not worthy of you, Poseidon thinks. But then again, he would never think any mortal would be worthy of Sally Jackson, queen among women.

“Why?” He asks her.

She twists the ring on her finger. Poseidon desperately wanted to take it off and throw it away. “H-his scent,” She says carefully, “It will mask Percy.”

A brilliant idea, but… “Is he a good man? Does he treat you well?”

She inhales, and Poseidon knows the answer before she says it. “No. The answer is no.”

Poseidon grimaces, the rage bubbling up inside him, begging to be freed. Sally takes his hand. “It’s the best option to protect him,” She says.

Poseidon swallows and nods. “Of course.”

~*~

The man is gone at last, killed by Medusa’s head. Poseidon made sure Hades knew that Gabe deserved the worst of punishments.

He came to visit, one final time. 

Sally opens the door, surprised. 

“Poseidon?” She asks softly.

He clears his throat. “How– how are you? How is,” He waves his hand, “Everything?”

She smiles. “Good,” She says. “I have a daughter, now.”

There was a small sinking feeling in his stomach. “That’s– that’s wonderful.” He croaks. “What’s her name?”

“Estelle. Estelle Blofis.”

Poseidon looks at Sally. She’s no longer Jackson. She’s a Blofis, with a young, curious daughter, a brave, bold son, and a husband who will not leave her like he did.

A queen among women deserved a family like that.

She did not deserve having to settle for Poseidon.

“I’m happy for you,” He tells her, and he means it.

He leaves, for the final time.

&*&*&*&*&

soo... hi. considering the atla streak ive been on, i thought id shower my pjo fans some love :) will be posting a tv-show based one later!!

[stardustprompts]

the empire of gold   (  the daevabad trilogy book 3 )  part 2  -   s. a. chakraborty change tenses/pronouns as needed !!  some lines have been edited for clarity / length / ease of roleplaying  /  part one found  here. tw ;  death , war ,  violence

‘you are an exceedingly frustrating person to talk to.’

‘she scared me, and I am not a woman who frightens easily.’

‘it’s supposed to be the mark of a wise leader, right? the willingness to make sacrifices for a greater good? but nobody ever asks those ‘sacrifices’ if they’re willing— they get no say in whether or not their kids die for some supposed greater good.’

‘we die, and we bleed, and it’s a debt that the powerful never repay. I don’t want to be part of that.’

‘I have made my loyalty clear.’

‘I find I can get a more accurate measure of a man when he’s not aware he’s being appraised.’

‘you have a very long way to go to earn my trust.’

‘i’m not tossing away (name’s) legacy. i’m completing it.’

‘it feels like you’re keeping all these secrets, like you still don’t trust me.’

‘oh, (name). what have you done?’

‘you court death with far too much persistence.’

‘I do not wish to leave. I am very content here with you.’

‘I want you dead and I want your city destroyed.’

‘the ___ do not deserve your loyalty. no one in the world does.’

‘they are poisoned. they are infected. and you are the disease.’

‘I need to go. there is no other way.’

‘I won’t lose you. not again.’

‘you and I are not the worst of our ancestors. they don’t own us. they don’t own our heritage.’

‘it’s a shame you hate politics. you’d be a very good queen.’

‘do you want me to stop?’

‘it’s like you’re in a competition with yourself over picking the worst time to say something.’

‘look me in the eye and tell me the truth. you promised no more lies.’

‘if saving ___ had meant likely killing me, would you have done it?’

‘so you plan to mock me as I bleed to death? that sounds like terrible bedside manner.’

‘don’t be stupid or reckless or proud. give her what she wants and come back to me.’

‘promise me. promise me you’ll come back.’

‘i’m not here to stop you. everything in my blood screams at me to, but I know I can’t.’

‘there is nothing I wouldn’t give for you.’

‘I am so sorry for the words I spoke before, but I won’t burden you with my regrets or my grief.’

‘I was starting to believe in you, in all these things you’ve been saying about a new ___ and equality for my people.’

‘you made me think it might be possible. that if I ever went home, it’d be as some kind of hero, and maybe all the other things I’ve done wouldn’t matter.’

‘i’m helping you. the right fucking thing to do and all that.’

‘there’s no helping me. i’m not getting out of this. all you’ll do is get yourself killed.’

‘I didn’t ask your permission. and I’m not doing this for you.’

‘(name) said you were coming in peace. the face you are making does not indicate peace.’

‘do you not understand? you have lost. save yourself and what is left of your people before their blood is on your hands.’

‘you’ve gone too far, and I’m trying to bring you back!’

‘you keep doing that. making that face like I’m an enemy you have to guard yourself against. i’m not.’

‘you’re not the only one whose had to pretend to be different. whose had to smile politely when people with power insult the parts of you that you never get to wear openly.’

‘I wish you had trusted me. but more than that, I wish I had behaved in a way that would have encouraged you to trust me.’

‘do you have to do that? sound all reasonable and kind?’

‘I have a lot of experience in loving frustrating people.’

‘if you make me cry, I’m going to stab you.’

‘we need to be able to trust each other if we’re going to fight back.’

‘it was the worst thing I’ve ever done in my life, and I didn’t blink an eye.’

‘I know how hard it is to think clearly when someone you love is in danger.’

‘I feared even thinking about the things that would make me happy would destroy them. and it does.’

‘we do not interfere. we seek to avert the greatest harm, to listen to the warnings of the heavens when it’s laws are about to be broken.’

‘you said your people had a proposal for me. so why don’t you state it? clearly, if that’s even possible for you.’

‘let’s not pretend you care about justice when it comes to the internecine squabbles of my people.’

‘please understand. i’ve lost everyone I’ve dared to love. I can’t lose you. not you.’

‘you’re not alone anymore. you don’t have to do this all by yourself!’

‘we can do this together. I don’t need you to save me!’

‘I am not a good man. I am a weapon.’

‘was any of it ever real between us?’

‘I hate you. I hate that I ever had feelings for you.’

‘I offered you mercy once, and you threw it in my face. don’t make that mistake again.’

‘i’m not looking for your mercy. i’m here to save our people.’

‘do you hear yourself? do you have any idea how naïve you sound?’

‘you think I had a choice? I had no one and nothing!’

‘I did not want this violence. it will haunt me to the end of my days, but I will be damned if it was for nothing.’

‘surrender. you cannot defeat her. it will be easier.’

‘oh, (name). you always did underestimate me.’

‘i’m sorry you and I didn’t grow up in a time of peace, where we could have lived happily together.’

‘I mourn, truly, the kind of relationship we could have had.’

(name) didn’t break me. you won’t either.’

(name) didn’t break me. you won’t either. I will never surrender to you.’

‘you have your mother’s/father’s spirit. it got her/him killed too.’

‘i’m not going to hurt you. I would never hurt you.’

‘you have hurt me. you left me.’

‘my entire life is a lie.’

‘you were all I wanted. I dreamed of seeing you again every night.’

‘I do not believe you. because I know you. and you are a liar. a thief.’

‘talk to me. tell me how to fix you.’

‘if you are looking for absolution, you won’t find it from me.’

‘I genuinely believe she wanted better for her people and her city. she just got very, very lost.’

‘I wish I had more time with her. I had so much I wanted to say.’

‘you may have to battle with words and with your very beliefs. but it it worth it. your life is worth it.’

‘your life is worth it. don’t let it be made into fodder for those who will never be in the trenches.’

‘you rip me apart. I was ready to kill you. and then you had to go and do the right thing.’

‘if I could go back … it breaks my heart to think of the different path we might have taken.’

‘you have earned your happy ending. let me do the same.’

‘you don’t get to make me laugh while you’re breaking my heart.’

‘find your happiness. steal it and do not ever let it go.’

‘I am sorry to be such a disappointment.’

‘you say you trust me. so trust me.’

[violetlunette]

Runaway Chapter 8: Before the Grave

Summary: Malleus continues to sort through his emotions while Lilia finally receives news…

Previous Chapter

Master List

Ao3

Notes: *Twst spoilers for Chapter/Book 7

*Major Character death

They buried Silver in April.

Lilia wasn’t sure what happened during the time before. 

After hearing of his son’s death, Lilia’s heart and mind shut down. The world passed in a blur.

His body must have been on automatic, as somehow a funeral was arranged. (That may have been due to Kalim and Jamil, then later the Zigvolt family, whom Lilia vaguely recalled being around.)

It was held in Briar Valley, near the cottage where Silver spent nearly his whole life. He didn’t have much of a chance to spend it elsewhere.

The service had more attendees than he thought. Apparently, despite his stoic nature, Silver had made several friends. Lilia wondered if Silver knew that before he…

The crowds eventually dispersed throughout the day. Soon, the grieving father was left alone, more so than he had ever been.

Lilia stood like a statue before the grave marker, reading the words beneath the date as white rose petals from flowers left by mourners floated by, carried by the wind.

“Here lies Silver. Beloved child, lay to his eternal slumber."

The old fae vaguely wondered who chose those words. Then he decided it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered anymore. 

The world around him had lost its color, leaving only shades of gray and black.

There had been a lot of tears and other emotions of brokenheartedness, even from the forest creatures and spites Silver played with as a child. All except Lilia, whose despair surpassed grief and sorrow so far, his heart couldn’t comprehend the new and unwanted emotion. So, it shut down completely, leaving a hollow husk of a man behind.

His face was vacant, and Lilia was barely able to give even one-word responses. His mind was static, and his body ached in a way he hadn’t felt in ages. An ache that he knew wouldn’t be leaving him for the rest of his life.

His consciousness only came to life when he realized that Malleus and Sebek weren’t there.

He wasn’t surprised. With Malleus’ current emotional state, it was understandable that Malleus wouldn’t want to come, and Sebek would never abandon his prince. 

Even so, anger bloomed inside Lilia.

How dare they not be there? How dare they not come say their final goodbye to his boy?

Regardless of his heritage, Silver had always been loyal to both of them. He loved them.

So much that love destroyed him.

For them not to be here was a horrid insult to years of pure, unwavering devotion.

‘I suppose we get to see how much he meant to them. Eh, Silver?’ Bitterness twisted his features, and he began to inwardly seethe. The anger festered inside of him until all he wanted to do was rampage. Destroy everything and everyone. After all, how dare this world continue to exist when Silver was no longer a part of it? How dare people continue to live their lives when his son could not?

Bile built up in his throat. His teeth seemed to become sharper, like an animal's. He wanted to use them to tear this word asunder--

Then his eyes fell upon Silver’s birth date.

May 15th.

The day Lilia decided to visit Thorn Castle after 400 years of absence. The day he discovered Silver alone among the bramble, screaming at the top of his lungs for affection. The day he took the child as his own.

“I wish you never found him. I wish you never brought him into our lives.” Those were the last words Malleus had said to him concerning Silver. Lilia wished the same.

Lilia’s body trembled. He shoved his face into his open palms, where his fingers dug into his skin, as if ready to tear his face off.

If Lilia never found him, Silver could have been found by someone who could have loved him better than Lilia ever could. Silver could have had a better life—a life he deserved, filled with joy and more.

He certainly wouldn’t be six feet underground without even reaching adulthood.

Drip…

Tears fell from eyes as hot as fire as an invisible noose wrapped around his throat.

“Silver… I’m sorry… I—AUGH!” He choked on the last word as a sob was torn from him instead, forcing the man to his knees.

Silver deserved better.

He deserved better from Malleus, whom he loved as family and was willing to devote his life to.

He deserved better from Sebek, with whom he shared a dream to be brothers in arms.

He deserved to have a better lineage than the selfish humans he had.

Most of all, he deserved a better father than Lilia.

‘Silver, Silver, Silver…’ His mind chanted the name, hoping to call his precious child to him. However, all he got was a ghost of the teen in his head, carrying the same broken expression he had when he last saw his son.

Silver was a sweet, kind person who would never imagine harming another. He loved all around him and worked harder than anyone to become strong enough to protect others. And not many noticed this effort because of the sleep spell that plagued him.

Silver gave all he could to the world and more. The only thing he ever asked for in return was to remain by Lilia and Malleus’ side.

And yet, he was rejected by both.

First by his father, who was going to abandon him and leave the boy behind forever. Then Silver was tossed away by Malleus just for being born to the wrong people.

In the end, all Silver had was the final embrace of the sea.

Lilia fell forward in a defeated slump, sobbing over his son’s grave. He never meant to abandon him. Lilia never thought of it that way. He—he was just running away. He told himself he was doing it for his family, but in truth, he did it for himself. For pride and his own fears.

And Silver was the cost of it.

With an anguished sob, Lilia gripped the tombstone—the only thing he could take hold of—and called out to his son once more.

“Silver...Silver, please come back! I—I love you. I love you! I—I’m sorry! Please, please come back!” He didn’t care if Silver was a ghost, a zombie, or some other unspeakable form of the undead!

As long as he had his son back. As long as he could hold him in his arms again. As long as--

But alas, souls like Silver did not return to the world. Why would heaven ever release such a beautiful thing once it was in its grasp?

Lilia sobbed, sinking further down until it seemed he would sink into the soil. His hands clenched around the white roses that had been placed on Silver’s grave, scrambling the petals around him in his fit as pain burned through him, his heart tearing itself to bits as it screamed at him, “It’s your fault, your fault! ”

"Ahhh...!! Augh! Fuck, fuck, FUCK!"

What should he do now? What should he do? What could he do without his boy--

Scrch! Scrch!

Lilia turned his gaze up at the sound.

‘What the…’ He had to blink away his tears, not having the strength to move his hands.

The words on the grave were fading away, making a grinding sound as they did so.

Once the stone was blank, new words appeared.

A...P...I…

Letter by letter, new words came to be until a message was formed:

“April’s Fools! The real chapter will be posted next week.”

Lilia blinked. He blinked again, lifting his head to re-read the message, his lips voicelessly repeating the words.

. ..

. . .

.. .

. ..

. . .

… !

“WHAT THE FUCK?!”

[sshbpodcast]

Character Spotlight: Lwaxana Troi

By Ames

Lwaxana haters, see yourselves out (or stick around and see how wrong you are!), because A Star to Steer Her By loves our black-eyed Betazoid mama. She’s the daughter of the Fifth House, holder of the Sacred Chalice of Rixx, heir to the Holy Rings of Betazed, and also one of our favorite characters from The Next Generation!

Like Katharine Pulaski (whom we also stan with the best of them!), Lwaxana Troi is a character who gets way more hate than she deserves, who grew substantially every time she appeared on the show, and who has way more nuance than even some of the main characters we’ve discussed from the show so far! And that fashion sense? Holy cow. So pack your absurdly huge luggage, don your fluffiest wig, and meet up with us and Mr. Homn as we celebrate (and occasionally criticize) all things Lwaxana below and this week on the podcast (sashay over to 55:22 for the convo). We’re going on a manhunt!

[Images © CBS/Paramount]

Best moments

Murderers! Assassins! While her first couple of appearances in TNG were fairly annoying, as you’ll see in our next section, the one thing Lwaxana gets emphatically right in “Manhunt” is figuring out the two Antedians the Enterprise was carrying are actually assassins. And she drops this information in the most nonchalant way possible, cementing her status as a major boss.

Release them and I will stay with you willingly Oh boy is “Ménage à Troi,” a tough episode to gauge. While it certainly has its lows (Lwaxana constantly crashing Deanna’s day, Ferengi shenanigans at their worst, and some sexual assault and implied rape swept under the rug), Mrs. Troi does put her daughter first and insists to Daimon Tog that Deanna and Will be released if she sacrifices herself like any mother would.

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? The other great scene that Lwaxana inspires in “Ménage à Troi,” is one we mentioned in our Picard Spotlight post, when she and JL work together to trick the Ferengi into releasing her. Even from across viewscreens, she compels the beautiful diatribe of Shakespearean poetry from Jean-Luc that ends up saving the summer’s day!

What does that little one do, Mister Woof? I don’t know why, but it always tickles me the couple of times on the show that Lwaxana calls our Klingon security head “Mr. Woof” as she does in “Half a Life” and others. Is she doing it just to evoke a reaction from him? Does she actually know his name at all? Regardless of the answer, it’s a cute joke that the writers play.

It is the custom for your loved ones to join you at this Resolution, is it not? Our fuller opinion of the character really started getting formed once the show reached “Half a Life” – one of our TNG faves – and we got a different look at this man-hungry helicopter parent. Suddenly, Lwaxana has nuance. She fights for people other than herself or her immediate family. She becomes vulnerable with Timicin, something we didn’t think possible from her character. And when she decides to go with him to his Resolution, it feels personal, complex, and complete.

A child who is trusted becomes worthy of that trust We gave Deanna some rightful criticism for thinking that writing up a contract between Worf and Alexander would be a good idea in “Cost of Living,” and Lwaxana waltzes in like a fairy godmother and throws that terrible idea in their faces! Immediately, she knows how to better parent Alexander than anyone else on the show ever had, low bar that that is.

You’re telling me you’re not going to be naked at your own wedding? It feels like such a triumph for Lwaxana to so brazenly show up naked to her wedding in “Cost of Living,” fully embracing her Betazoid heritage and throwing her strong will and individuality in Campio’s and his little toady’s faces. Now why she was engaged to that uptight twat in the first place is another story, but good for her anyway!

Whatever it is, we can face it together Here’s an actually good moment she shares with her daughter: That tear-jerking moment in “Dark Page.” It’s another instance in which we see Lwaxana as having more personality traits than we were led to believe she had as she comes to acknowledge the death of her daughter Kestra, and also we see Majel Barrett nailing some acting we’d never seen from her before.

Nobody’s ever seen me like this By the time we reach Deep Space Nine, the writers have figured out what to do with Lwaxana Troi to make her an impactful character. Sure, she’s still a great comic device, especially against rigid characters like Picard and Odo, but it’s in the way that she is humanized (or Betazoidized?) in scenes like the truly remarkable turbolift scene in “The Forsaken” that she really shines.

Then sway with me, Odo. Sway with me. While Lwaxana’s constant pestering of Picard gets tiring really quickly, her relationship with Odo proves something more interesting. In one of those Odd Couple kind of pairings, she’s able to get Odo to come out of his shell, even if it’s just a little bit, so when she gets him to dance with her in “Fascination,” it’s delightful and shows more layers to their respective characters.

Before I met her, my world was a much smaller place Okay, so the weird inspiration vampire side of the plot of “The Muse” may be idiotic, but the Lwaxana-Odo scenes are pure gold. Lwaxana and Odo, again, find each other to be the only people they can be vulnerable with, and Odo agrees to marry a very pregnant Lwaxana to get her out of an existing marriage, delivering the purest, most intimate and beautiful speech we’ve heard from him (until Kira, at least).

Strut your stuff on the catwalk Finally, we just have to give massive points to her remarkable fashion sense. One of our favorites is this blue number from “Fascination,” with the perfect wig to complement it and accessories like whoa. Make sure you check out our full screenshot assemblage that we put together previously to give fair credit to the excellent costuming of this iconic woman.

—

Worst moments

Momzillas gone wild Mrs. Troi is not without her faults, however, and most are man-related. How much pressure she puts on her daughter to get married is more than uncomfortable, it can get downright offensive. When the arranged marriage she initiated between Deanna and Wyatt comes due in “Haven,” it’s clear that this momzilla doesn’t always have her daughter’s best interests in mind; just her own.

Use your mind, not your mouth We also found it just plain rude how much Lwaxana insisted on communicating with Deanna telepathically in “Haven” and other episodes. a) Deanna has made it clear she’d rather speak out loud, and b) Picard and other crewmembers can’t hear what’s being said and that’s impolite, especially coming from someone of such standing in the Federation.

Oh, Jean-Luc, what naughty thoughts It becomes a running gag for the first couple appearances of Lwaxana how much she makes sexual advances on Captain Picard, who is just trying to do his job most of the time. But “Manhunt” really takes the cake for just going overboard with presumptuous behavior unbecoming for a woman of her stature. Leave the poor guy alone!

Until death us do part Later in “Manhunt,” it’s even grosser for Mrs. Troi to declare that she and Riker are to be wed. Whatever physiological state she was in is no excuse for how she goes out of her way to mortify her daughter, to put the moves on Deanna’s imzadi without consent, and to make scene after scene all for romantic attention. Why Gene Roddenberry would make his wife act like this is beyond us.

No man has ever been such a mystery to me Lucky for the flesh-and-blood men that Lwaxana spends most of “Manhunt” sexually accosting, apparently she has no idea what a hologram is. I don’t know how, but she’s so horny that when she meets Rex the bartender, she’s so intrigued by her inability to read his mind that she doesn’t even realize it’s because he’s not a real person. We can just imagine how far it went before it dawned on her.

Oo-mox is only the beginning It’s only fitting that someone like Lwaxana Troi should be there for the introduction of oo-mox on the show, and one time was already too much. During “Ménage à Troi,” Lwaxana unknowingly performs what’s essentially a sex act on her captor, which is gross enough as it is, but we learn later in an episode of Deep Space Nine that she also slept with Daimon Tog, and I vomit in my mouth.

Swipe right! We learn in “Cost of Living” that Lwaxana has gotten engaged to Campio, whom she effectively met on a dating app and whom she has absolutely no chemistry with. It strikes us as entirely out of character that she’d accept marriage to someone who wouldn’t allow her to be who she intrinsically is just because he’s rich. Thank the Four Deities she found a way out of it!

My name is Mud While we gave Lwaxana credit for spending more time with Alexander and treating him better than Worf ever does, we have to admit that the jacuzzi scene in “Cost of Living” is off-putting. Sure, it’s the future and we know that in Betazoid culture, nudity is entirely normal, but we’re still not sure it’s something Alexander is accustomed to or had any ability to consent to and that’s weird.

The worst thing that can happen to any parent This is a complicated one because it’s so triggering. I’m not sure it would be fair to blame Lwaxana or anyone for the accident that befell Kestra as we learn in “Dark Page,” but it’s very clear that Lwaxana blames herself. This is truly the lowest her character had ever been, and it explains a few things about how she so tightly latches on to Deanna, but it is a bad, bad time for her.

Bad thoughts, they hurt her What’s more accurate to say about the events from “Dark Page” is that Lwaxana had handled her trauma in an ultimately poor way. By blocking those memories as evidently Betazoids do with triggering events, she never was able to mourn or accept the loss of Kestra, instead avoiding the memories entirely in a way that turned out to be harmful to her and not fair to her late daughter’s memory.

Does no one understand quarantine procedures? I’ll nitpick about it every time some disease breaks out in an episode and no one seems to understand you shouldn’t go around touching everyone around them. So when Lwaxana has Zanthi Fever in “Fascination” and suddenly her horniness becomes contagious, I’m doubly pissed off because it resulted in a really, really stupid premise for an episode.

What I’d mistaken for love was nothing more than a prison After we mentioned just now when Lwaxana leapt at the chance to marry Campio in “Cost of Living,” we see she’s made the same mistake with Jeyal in “The Muse,” except now there’s a baby involved. The most irritating facet of Lwaxana’s personality is how man-hungry she always seems to be. It always clouds her perception, making her make bad decision after bad decision, and worse: making her compromise who she is.

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Give it up for Majel Barrett Roddenberry, who could really do it all. Stick around next week for more kickass recurring characters on the Enterprise-D, and for our continued ride through the series Enterprise over on SoundCloud or wherever you podcast. You can also send us love notes over on Facebook and Twitter, but stop marrying every eligible dude you meet!