#er count

[sonoda-oomers]

things have been going objectively shit i'm shadowbanned on tumblr (my only platform, noobie mistake but i am not going back to twitter) and turns out vgen is not the best if you don't got that shiny verification, i'm trying to schedule posts to instagram and hating every part of the process.

but. sometimes i still remember the first art course i went to. the first time i was making art to receive construction feedback with industry professionals. one of those guys said i have a lot of potential to do amazing in the future. and it's just like. it's fine. even if i'm objectively doing shit with so little networking you could contain it in a sauce bowl. i will always believe that. that i have potential to do amazing. no matter how much time and how much effort it takes.

[asterronomical]

ALL I WANTED WAS YOUUUU

[kingofreddragons]

Mother to the distant stars

[royaltea000]

I love Bai Long Ma he truly don’t gaf

[crazydaymycrazyway]

Cale: I'm trash

Alberu: As someone who cares deeply about the environment, I am obligated to pick you up. Is seven okay?

Cale: ...

Rosalyn: You smooth motherf**ker

[d-c-k-y]

This was all thanks to Chinese dub Mac saying 'haiya' once and this shit popped into my mind, you're welcome-

Here's the clip of it if ya'll didn't know-

Oh- and a drawing of the bitches, swaggers

[sporeclan]

SporeClan Family Tree(s)

Last updated: Moon 25

This only contains SporeClan cats with familial relationships. For full allegiances, [click here!]

[quitealotofsodapop]

Do you know if there's any initiation process for people to become sworn siblings?

Or do they just say, "You're my sworn sibling now." to each other?

I think it is comparable to the historical practice of "blood brothers" in which close companions would symbolically "mix blood" by pressing opened wounds against one another or drinking one another's blood. In some cultures with a more "eww. blood" attitude, a sacrifice was made in each other's honour to seal the deal instead.

In folklore; the only reason the gods in the Norse pantheon don't get rid of Loki despite their mischief, is because Loki and Odin are blood brothers.

Noted examples in East Asia mainly come from Mongolian and tribal Chinese accounts - in which it was common practice amongst dear friends and their children. One famous example is Temüjin aka Genghis Khan and his childhood friend Jamukha - the latter's betrayal and attempted usurping considered one of the Khan's greatest emotional losses.

For particularly Chinese sources I found this article about traditional Chinese Kinship, though most of the sources come from Taiwan.

The standard ritual was for each sworn sibling to add their names and dates to a contract and ritualistically burn it - as to add it to the infernal and celestial archives. "Can't return me without the receipt" - at it's finest.

Another familiar practice was for each sibling in the pact to add their blood to wine, and pass it around to drink.

It's a bit flexible depending on the individuals. Whether for personal or political reasons. But the "ideal" scenario is people who are so close, that they feel that they might as well by legally recognised as siblings. Sworn brethren could, for example, contribute to the dowry of a sworn sibling's daughter, preform mourning rituals for the others bio family, or becoming legal guardians of your sworn-sibling's kid in case of their death.

Or in the case of Confucian-era China outlawing homosexuality, it was a clever way to facilitate a same-sex marriage. Can't fault two guys for living together and raising their kids when it's a legally recognised practice! A bunch of friends could come together and make a brotherhood pact as a way to cheekily help others in the group be married in spirit when the state wouldn't recognise it.

Some folks even did it so that members in their bio family who were interested in eachother could have "a reason" to be interacting. Imperial gender norms be wildin' so hard that you can't talk to your crush without your dads being legally best bros.

This is why in chinese slang; "sworn brothers" is used as slang for "gay relationship". Aka "oh my god, they were roommates."-vine.

In JTTW: Sun Wukong and the Brotherhood/Seven Sages declare themselves sworn kin at the same time Wukong elects his Marshals and Generals. In this case, they are all close friends who officiate their sworn kinship through partying hard, and making sacrifices to both Heaven and Hell. They even have separate days out together.

(Source: Anthony C Yu translation)

Who knows, maybe a wedding was thrown in the mix? With all the drinking I wouldn't be shocked if there was some confusion with the ritual contract! XD

Wukong, re-reading the contract years later: "HA! Flood Dragon and Tamarin put themselves down as the other kind of sworn brother! Wonder if they even noticed that?" Bull King, there to check: "I doubt it. I'm just glad I'm not legally married to anyone. Don't want any loose ends before me and Iron Fan get hitched."

Erlang and the Six Lads of Plum Hill/Meishan Brothers are all sworn brothers too - in a more frat-boy/brothers-in-arms sense. They've all likely know each other for decades, and legit see each other equal to siblings. Notably, Erlang shares the bounty he received from capturing Sun Wukong fairly across his brothers (and presumably the remaining odd bit for the dog). Four of the brothers are Marshals while Two are Generals, giving more credence to the headcanon of Wukong's Stalwarts being his sworn family as well. In an odd bit of hilarity amongst the tense fight of Flower Fruit Mountain, the bros even rib Erlang for thinking too hard about Wukong.

Erlang, trying to be cool and edgy: "What a foul being to dare call himself equal to heaven. I ought to-" Plum Hill Lad: "Aww! Elder Bro has a crush!" Erlang, flustered: "I DO NOT!!" Plum Hill Lads, all cracking up and making kissy faces: "Then why are you thinking about him so much?" "Major sus bro!" "If you wanna fight him so much why don't you just marry him?" (*Invasion is paused as all six Plum Hill lads start rough-housing with their elder bro. Many head-noogies are inflicted.*) Wukong, on the ground: "You know what those guys are talking about Macaque?" Macaque, teasing: "Why, are you interested in him or something?" Wukong, blushing like a schoolgirl: "Oh my gawds! Stahp!"

Curiously, Wukong describes himself and Erlang as "sworn brothers" later in the book; suggesting that they had a close relationship at some point. One of my fave pieces of art (can't find it rn) is Erlang asking Wukong to be his "sworn brother", and Wukong assumes he means "spouse" and gets confused when Erlang mentions having six more. XD

A "lesser" case would be; The Tang Emperor declaring Xuanzang/Tripitaka his oath/sworn brother because the monk is doing him a solid. The Emperor shows his immense gratitude, and Tripitaka gains some political clout that he can throw around if he needs to (the Empress of the Kingdom of Women even sees this as a marriage bonus). Tripitaka def doesn't do the "blood" or sacrificial part of what these rituals imply, as per his Buddhist upbringing, but it's still seen as a binding oath. Rather, they bow to one another and declare their status are sworn bros before an image of the Buddha in the monastery.

In Tripitaka's case, it's more of Emperor Taizong being like; "Look, this pilgrimage is so important to me that I'm gonna legally and spirtually count you as my little brother so that you understand how much I trust you." Meanwhile the monk is like; "What?Thats a bit much don't you think?"

Later on, the promise of becoming one's sworn brother is passed between characters akin to "If you pull this off for me, I would straight up be your best bro."

And ofc the Pilgrims consider eachother sworn kin/brothers at the end of the story, even if they didn't do a ritual to seal it.

So yeah in summary:

Rituals can be performed but are not 100% required. Even a mutual declaration before an idol/holy image is enough. Whilst the Brotherhood of Sages celebrate their new pact through booze and partying and blood sacrifices - Tripitaka and the Tang Emperor just declared it while in a monastery.

People did it for money and political reasons too.

They also did it cus "It ain't gay if it's brotherhood."

Sworn kinship can be forged overtime.

The celestial and infernal archives have the reciepts.

Btw you can do a "sworn divorce" if you and your bro have a falling out.

Whilst the practice isn't really a thing in modern China, I imagine it's still common amongst yaoguai and/or celestials.

[hiimtheproblem87times]

even pinterest knows about the "Dark lord & Red" theory /j

[paskariu]

Gender neutral pronouns in a language that doesn't have them (German edition)

So, the post about how anglicised queer discussions are possessed me to look up the most "common" gender neutral neopronoun that has been invented in German: Xier

Common is in quotation marks because outside of queer circles, you'll be hard pressed finding anyone who even knows about it.

German is a gendered language; being gender neutral is next to impossible. Either you move to the generic masculine version, or a more new-ish female version. Either way you're either assigning yourself a male or female grammatical gender which when talking about people is also a gender signifier.

So you, a queer person, would like to NOT be referred to as either male or female. So your options are:

a) suck it up

b) put xier in bio

Ok, queer person. You selected option b). Now you're faced with the newest issue: People don't know how to use your pronoun. "Ah, just put 'xier/xies'! Just like the English speakers." A quiet part of your mind screams.

You put "xier/xies" down. Personal and Possessive Pronouns. Easy.

Ah, wait we're still missing the relative pronoun. Something which is also gendered in German.

You add "dier". Easy. Relative pronoun acquired.

Xier/Dier/Xies

"Why are there three?" A confused anglophone might ask.

"Where is the rest?" Another German asks. Where is the rest of the grammar. You can't use only the first case in a sentence....

We're still missing the other 3 grammatical cases.

Xier/Dier/Xies Xieser/Dies/Xiese Xiem/Diem/Xiesem Xien/Dien/Xieses There we go. All cases and all pronoun types. But possessive pronouns are dependent on the gender of the thing being possessed. Great. 3 more grammar forms per case for possessive pronouns. And we need another one. What if we're talking about another gender neutral person? Neuter (usually) isn't used to refer to people...

In the end, if you want to include everything, you end up with this

Just tell them your pronouns.

[py-dreamer]

ALRIGHT YOU CRAZY HOOLIGANS! TAKE YOUR MACACA AND GO!!!

See? I like Maca-doodles at least he's fun to draw

Ok, still tired rn. So I'll keep it brief and just mention details I like:

Blue chains hanging from rock candy moon (courtesy of LBD as well as the skeleton key)

3 plum slices: 3 ears on each side of his head

smoke monster was very fun to draw :)

paint roller and wanted poster from his street name/street artist gig

rumble/savage mask on floor and a shadow clone on top of the moon

aight y'all I'm tired gn

[respectthepetty]

Friend of Dorothy?

If I'm the Most Beautiful Count doesn't play up those red heels like homeboy is Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, then what is the meaning of life?!

Because Prince is thrown into a different world and meets three characters on his adventure.

And the king is fake as fuck and useless!

So homeboy better tap his red heels three times so he can get his ass outta there!

But will there be a dog? That's the real question.

[asterronomical]

a quick thing i drew for our art class ^-^ i wonder what the hero and the warrior were like! maybe this handsome mortal man can help me find ou

[braisedhoney]

never lets me have any fun. this is exactly why i mess with him all the time, spoilsport… lol

[larapaulussen]

[moonchild-in-blue]

Random thought I had last night. Genuinely think they're both equally outlandish - which is just ridiculous in itself if you think about it.