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flowerandblood · 2 years ago

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The Cherry Orchard (Oneshot)

[ students • modern!Aemond x fem!oc]

[warnings: just pure fluff my guys, safe space]

[description: She and Aemond are graphic design students, taking part in a competition for the best poster for a big festival in their city. When Aemond wins it, she begins to pay more attention to him, wanting to get to know him and befriend him. He remains completely indifferent, until he finds out that she can help him with a very important matter. Pure fluff.]

* English is not my first language. Please, do not repost. Enjoy! *

My other works: Masterlist

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A competition was announced at the graphics department of the Academy of Fine Art. The task was to create a poster for the symphony orchestra festival in their city. The festival itself was called Musical Architecture and received a large amount of funding, so the first three places were to receive a cash prize. The winning design was to be hung around the city and represent the entire festival. Bell decided that it was the perfect time to show off her skills.

She created a poster design in which a simple, minimalist house was composed of only musical notes. She added typography in the background and was pleased that it was a really cool, fresh idea. The whole thing looked simple and struck with a strong, legible sign, which was immediately associated with the name of the festival. She took the printout of her poster to her professor in whose design studio she was studying, and waited.

A council composed of professors of graphics and representatives of the festival gathered to choose the best works. After a few days the results were posted, which were available to everyone along with the classification. Bell, along with other classmates, ran up curiously to see who had won. She looked at the list and sighed heavily.

First Prize: Aemond Targaryen Second Prize: Emmet Colren Third Prize: Anna Bernard 1st Honorable Mention: Bell Stark Second Honorable Mention: Emma Arryn

"For fuck's sake!" She groaned, rubbing her face in fury.

She thought that fourth place was the worst place that could be because you are so close to the podium and you can only look at it. She would have taken this loss better if the overall winner, Aemond, hadn't been a year below her and the others on the list.

Aemond immediately caught her attention. Although she saw him only during woodcut classes, because the workshops were common for all years, she practically did not exchange a word with him. He only had three friends to hang out with, but otherwise he didn't talk to anyone.

She was embarrassed to pay attention to him because she thought that he was handsome. Unlike her other colleagues who favored a light, casual style of clothing, Aemond was always smartly dressed, almost as if he were a student of law rather than an arts.

Bell often looked over his shoulder, watching him laboriously cut out his stencils. All his works more or less referred to the works of the old masters. He created them with such finesse and processed them in such a way that he added his own, original, ironic commentary to them. His prints were always perfect and clean, unlike hers.

Her work was wild and chaotic, and while she also loved Renaissance and Baroque art, she didn't have the flair for capturing detail that he did. She was too expressive, her gestures were more emotional and ill-considered, which in the end added lightness to the whole work.

She liked to listen to him from the side. When he was talking to one of his friends, Isabel, he told various interesting anecdotes about religion, culture, art history. Bell felt like he knew everything, and thought that he must have read a lot.

She mentally agreed with everything that he said and could barely stop herself from approaching him and asking him about the various things that he was talking about.

She didn't dare.

Looking at him, she thought that she could make him happy. That if he wanted to, he would find in her a friend, listener and companion of his scientific quest. Embarrassed and ashamed at the thought, she gave up trying to get his attention.

The professors of the design studio decided that from this year, the semester reviews of all works from all years will be held jointly, and not, as before, in separate studios. Bell was going to see Aemond's work for the first time as his design that won the entire competition.

When he hung up his works and stood next to them, while the professor began to talk about what his student did all year and how many competitions he won, she thought that she would burn with shame. She felt that he deserved to win this and all the other competitions.

On his poster, their town hall building was partly depicted as a violin. He invented the whole form, so that it looked perfect and at first you didn't notice the difference between the building in reality, and what his poster depicted. Everything was simplified and enhanced with a strong, decisive red color, with the addition of white and black. The poster was fresh and brilliant.

His other works, performed as tasks assigned by his professor also impressed her. He referred in them to his roots, the folklore of the region he came from, using the technique of cut-outs, woodcuts and simple gesture illustrations to achieve the effect he needed. Bell thought that he was an outstanding student and was embarrassed to have her work shown.

During midterm break, Bell thought about a topic for her thesis, which she was due to start the following year. For years she has been doing genealogical research of her family, sending letters to the State Archives and parishes, looking for birth, marriage and death records of her ancestors.

She already had a whole catalog of these documents, and she also drew her great family tree. She thought that she would like to create a book, illustrated by herself, dedicated to her great-great-grandmother, Rosalia.

One day, sitting in a woodcut class, cutting out her stencil, she was talking to Isabel, whom she had liked since she met her for the first time. Aemond listened to their exchange without speaking, bent over his work.

Isabel finally asked Bell how her thesis preparation was going and why she had chosen her great-great-grandmother. Bell had told her about it eagerly.

“In the parish records of my great-grandfather, son of Rosalia, Joseph was listed as his father, but I was surprised that my great-great-grand mother's maiden name is the same as her husband's. So I started digging through the archives and found out that Rosalia had died unmarried, and her husband's name was made up. It turned out that she gave birth to six children in her lifetime as an unwed mother." She said excitedly as she made herself a cup of tea in the shared, electric kettle. Isabel looked at her in surprise.

"So who was their father?" She asked, surprised. Bell shrugged.

"I have no idea. My grandmother told me that she heard as a child that they were probably the children of some rich aristocrat, that Rosalia worked for. I have not been able to confirm this theory." She said as she poured her tea with hot water that had just boiled. She heard Aemond shift in his seat and clear his throat softly.

It wasn't until she glanced at him over her shoulder that she saw him staring at her. He stroked his chin as if debating whether to say something.

“My great-grandmother was locked up in a psychiatric hospital by her first husband and my great-grandfather during World War II, because he wanted to marry another woman. I later learned that experiments were carried out on patients in this hospital, and she disappeared after 1944. Her hospital was bombed, but I don't know if she was still there at the time." He said low, indifferent, calm. Bell stared at him in total shock at this sudden words, and Isabel was also impressed by the story.

"This is terrible!" She said, terrified. Bell thought hard.

"Have you tried writing to the National Archives in this area? You can even call them and ask if they have documents from this hospital. They will provide information to the family free of charge, some scans are also sent by e-mail for a small fee. If you want I can help you find out more." She said softly. He pursed his lips as he stared at his work, deep in thought.

"Yes, I would be very grateful." He spoke softly.

She felt a surge of great joy at his words and the fact that she might have a chance to get to know him better.

They agreed that Aemond would bring his laptop the next day and they try to work something out together. They managed to find several articles from those years and a historian who dealt with the case of this hospital. Bell called him, but put it on speakerphone, so Aemond could hear what he was saying.

“When the area was about to be liberated, the patients were forcibly transferred to a train with cattle cars and taken to the interior of the country. The train never reached its final destination – which was another hospital. When the hospital you are talking about was bombed, it was already a field hospital. Whatever happened to your friend's great-grandmother, we probably won't know, all the documents have been destroyed. Sorry, unfortunately I don't know anything else." The man said, genuinely concerned that he couldn't give them more specific information. Bell pursed her lips at his words.

“Thank you very much. Have a nice day." She said and hung up.

Aemond stared at his hands in silence, shocked. For a moment she didn't know what to say and looked away.

"I'm sorry." She said finally. He nodded and looked at her, his eye sad, tired, but also grateful.

"Thank you."

They had exchanged a few words once in a while since then, but Bell had the feeling that there was a wall between them. She decided, however, that she would not impose herself on him and would accept that he apparently had no need to become more familiar with her.

Isabel invited her to her vernissage, which was to take place in a few days at one of the famous local restaurants and pubs in one. Bell didn't want to go there, she was tired and completely immersed in her thesis. She decided to grant her a bit of rest, and finally she arrived at the agreed time.

She walked inside and immediately saw Isabel standing at the counter with Aemond, both of them holding beers. Isabel hugged her, happy that she had come.

Bell saw Aemond look at her as if he was scared of her. He turned his head quickly, taking another gulp of beer from the bottle. They greeted each other, and after a while the owner of the premises began the vernissage with a few words of introduction. Then Isabel spoke, and people dispersed to admire her works.

Bell was delighted when she noticed her classmates in the crowd of people - Emma and Peter, lovely, cheerful, talented people.

They sat together at one of the tables, ordering drinks, talking lightly on various topics. Bell saw Isabel and Aemond join several tables and sit down in a large group with their entire year.

For some reason, Bell felt sad at the thought that she probably wouldn't say a word to him for all evening. As she got up to go to the restroom and passed them, she saw Aemond glance at her from afar, but he turned quickly back to talking to his classmate. Bell thought that she would be heading home soon, heartbroken.

However, Isabel approached them and suggested, seeing that many people had already left, that the three of them join them and spend the evening with them. They gladly accepted this offer, took their chairs and sat down.

Bell decided that she wanted to get drunk to mask her sadness and desperation. She began to tell Isabel about her childhood stories, how she was a mafia boss in kindergarten and no one could take any toy from the shelf without her knowledge.

Isabel laughed loudly, and with her several people who listened with amusement. She saw that Aemond was looking at her. He stared at her with an unreadable expression on his face, and she thought with shame that he probably thought that she was a stupid idiot.

People slowly went home and said goodbye to everyone, but she didn't want to leave as long as he was there. Eventually the six of them stayed together and sat closer to each other, Aemond ordering another beer.

She could see that he was already slightly drunk, but he tried his best to show it as little as possible. After an hour, Isabel and her friend said that they were hungry and were going home to eat something. Emma and Peter also said that they had to go back.

In the end, they were alone.

"Was this city your first choice when you applied to Academy?" She asked curiously, wanting to strike up any kind of neutrally safe conversation. He looked at her in surprise, toying with his beer bottle.

“No.” He said finally. “I wanted to get to the capital, but they did not accept me. I failed my exams and ended up here, because only here was there still recruitment. It was probably my biggest failure in life.” He said casually, looking at his bottle absently. Bell rolled over in place and smiled warmly.

"I'm glad you didn't get in there." She said, before she could think what it sounded like. Aemond looked at her in shock, swallowed softly, and looked down, embarrassed. He did not answer.

She wanted to add something and deepen her thought, so that he wouldn't feel so awkward, but a waiter approached them, informing them that he was about to close the place. They had to quickly drink what they had and leave.

They settled outside the restaurant, looking at themselves uncertainly, not knowing, what to do.

"Which way are you going?" He asked, without looking at her. She pointed to the main, lit street on the right. He nodded and said that he was going there too.

They walked together, and for a moment there was a long, awkward silence between them which he broke.

"Simon is imposing on you?" He asked, looking at her out of the corner of his eye, and she, surprised, giggled at his question.

Simon was an odd character in their year, who sought constant attention. He made himself an infinite artist, having a great opinion of himself. He also constantly tried to establish new artistic relationships, create a kind of bohemianism, be the leader of an artistic group that he would create himself.

“He offered to take pictures of me, using the 19th-century technique. I don't have any pictures of my great-great-grandmother, so I agreed to pose in period attire. I had to pose for him in his rented room and I have to admit, it was incredibly weird. He wanted me to come over later that evening to see him develop the photos, but I figured that he probably wanted me to see something else." She said amused, the alcohol buzzing in her head, making everything seem laughable to her. Aemond smirked at her words.

"You did right. He also texts me all the time, praising my works. He's attention seeking whore and he annoys me so much." He hummed low and she looked at him, happy and beaming that they were finally talking lightly.

She felt a pleasant shiver as their shoulders rubbed against each other once in a while. Even though they didn't have to, they walked very close to each other.

Bell looked at him, seeing the street that he should turn on. She knew roughly where he rented a room, because Isabel lived nearby and had told her once.

"Isn't your street over there?" She sputtered softly, pointing diagonally, her seeing blury. She saw him purse his lips at her words, repeat the mechanical movement of stroking his chin with his hand again. She thought that he did it when he was stressed.

"No. I'll feel better if I walk you home." He said after a moment. Bell felt a heat in her belly at his words, and it wasn't the alcohol.

They set off together, talking about light, non-committal topics. Aemond looked around her neighborhood, surprised as if he suddenly recognized where he was.

"Isn't there a church not far from here?" He asked low, evidently the alcohol had begun to imprint on him as strongly as it had on her. Bell nodded.

"Yes, right behind that house." She said, pointing her finger at the tower that was barely visible in the night sky. Aemond muttered under his breath, agreeing with her.

"I go there every Sunday." He said lightly, and her heart skipped a beat at the thought that he came so close to her home every week and she didn't know it.

He took her to the building itself. They stared at each other for a moment.

She couldn't help herself and just hugged him. He returned the hug stiffly and turned away, wishing her a good night. Bell returned to the apartment delighted.

Since then, she and Aemond had exchanged messages from time to time, often simply complaining about Simon and how he tormented them.

[Bell]: I feel like his mistress that he is cheating on you with.

[Aemond]: I feel the same, he fucks us as he wants. Should I be jealous?

[Bell]: About me or about him?

[Aemond]: Good question.

She pursed her lips as she read his words, her cheeks blushed. They used to say such sentences to each other from time to time, and she felt subconsciously, that even though they both pretended that they weren't, there was something going on between them.

They started going out together with his other friends to the city. Isabel always invited her, but now that she knew more of their year, she felt more at ease with all of them.

They sat down in one of the pubs, on a large, arched couch, in front of which was a big, round table. Even though there was plenty of room on the other side, Aemond sat down next to her. She took a sip of her drink, trying to hide the smile that appeared on their faces.

They sat there for several hours, talking about their professors, their classes and difficult assignments, unfinished projects and exams that were still ahead of them. The bartender finally told them that they were about to close, so they got up to leave. Aemond, Isabel, and Bell were walking in the same direction.

Bell instantly regretted her decision not to go to the restroom. She considered running into some bushes before her bladder gave out. She pursed her lips, feeling like she really wasn't going to last any longer.

"I need to go to the restroom." She mumbled softly, looking at them. Aemond looked at her in surprise and swallowed.

"You can come over, but I warn you, my roommates have turned this apartment into a pigsty." He said low and hesitant, embarrassed by his proposal.

Bell felt a heat in her lower abdomen at his proposal. The thought of being alone with him, at night, in his apartment.

"Stupidity, I live closer! Come to me Bell, I live around the corner already!” Isabel said cheerfully, not understanding that she had just ruined her entire plan.

Neither she nor Aemond could explain why Bell should go to him when she did live closer so Bell, disappointed, went to Isabel and returned home.

As she was going to bed, she saw that Aemond had shared with her via the app a link to a Facebook event about a lecture at the museum about Renaissance art, which they both found to be interested in. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw that he had written another message underneath it.

"Do you want to come with me?"

Bell wondered for a long time if this was actually a date or not. She decided not, so she dressed the way she would dress for class - dungarees, a white turtleneck, and cherry-printed socks. She let her long, dark hair down.

When she got there, she was pleased to see that Aemond was already waiting for her at the entrance. She had heard him say once that he hated being late. They both showed up ahead of time.

They greeted each other and entered without a word, taking their seats next to each other. The lecture began, and she tried to focus as much as possible on what the woman was saying, not on the fact that he was sitting next to her.

After a few minutes, she decided that she could at least glance at him once in a while. She looked at him and saw that his eye was fixed on her socks. She blinked questioningly. He looked up at her eyes, a smirk on his face.

"Nice socks, cherry." He grunted and she blushed as she turned her head away. She felt her heart pounding hard, her fingers quivering slightly in her lap.

She tried to convince herself that she hadn't been falling in love with him in recent months, but she knew that wasn't true.

After the lecture, Aemond offered to walk her back again which she greadily agreed to. As they walked, she felt him slip something into her jacket pocket and she jumped in surprise, a smile lighting up her face.

"What's that?" She asked, sticking her fingers in her pocket, feeling the little ball with the stick on it. She took it out.

It turned out to be a strawberry lollipop.

“You once told Isabel that you didn't like cut flowers. That you'd rather men bring you lollipops, because you might eat them at least." He said, feigning indifference, looking at her expectantly as if to see if her reaction would be what he expected.

She pursed her lips, looking at him happily. She thought that she could kiss him now.

"Yes, thank you, it's a wonderful gift." She said, unwrapping the lollipop and immediately popping it into her mouth.

She could see him trying hard not to watch as she slipped it in and out of her mouth once in a while with a loud click of her saliva.

When they were in front of her building, she decided that she wanted to try. That she really likes him, really values him, really wants him. She thought it might work.

Christmas break was approaching and she knew that he would be leaving in a few days. She decided that it was the perfect time to ask him for what she had wanted to do for a long time.

"I'd like to write you letters when you're gone. Will you give me the address of your family home?" She asked uncertainly, her voice trembling slightly as she popped the lollipop into her mouth again.

She saw him tense all over, his gaze rising from her lips to her bright eyes. He swallowed softly, then forced out one sentence with difficulty.

"I'll give you my address only if you give me yours."

_____

My dears, those who know my private stories from my blog may have guessed, but - beware - this story is an exact reflection of how I met my husband-Aemond. Tomorrow we celebrate our second wedding anniversary. Everything I wrote in this fanfic really happened! Of course I condensed it and left out some important events to make it make sense as a plot, but that's how we fell in love.

Aemond Taglist:

(bold means I couldn't tag you)

@its-actually-minicika @notnormalthings-blog @nikstrange @zenka69 @bellaisasleep @k-y-r-a-1 @g-cf2020 @melsunshine @opheliaas-stuff @chainsawsangel @iiamthehybrid @tinykryptonitewerewolf @namoreno @malfoytargaryen @qyburnsghost @aemondsdelight @persephonerinyes @fan-goddess @sweethoneyblossom1 @watercolorskyy @astral-blossoms @randomdragonfires @amirawritespoorly @apollonshootafar @padfooteyes @darylandbethfanforever9 @fudge13 @snh96

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what-even-is-thiss · 2 years ago

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Hey do you have any literature recommendations for people who want to broaden their knowledge on the classics and Greek/Roman myths without taking university courses?

So like for people (such as myself) who have read Bullfinch's Myths of Greece and Rome and Edith Hamilton's Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes but want to deepen their knowledge and maybe go to intermediate level type stuff. Or whatever the level above the mentioned literature is.

Well those two books are quite old and skip over quite a few things. Both are very important to our culture, historically, but I'd recommend reading through some more modern popular retellings like Stephen Fry's Mythos series if you're looking for pure entertainment and a dummy's guide to Greek myths.

The Penguin Dictionary of Classical Mythology is a useful reference book if you have difficulty keeping track of all these names and whatnot. It's just a reference book but you know. Having a reference book handy is quite useful. I personally prefer reference books when it comes to checking stuff when I'm doing mythology things anyways. They're generally more organized than the internet.

If you're looking for entertaining retellings of less popular myths, I'd actually recommend going to videos and podcasts for that. YouTubers like MonarchsFactory, Overly Sarcastic Productions, Jake Doubleyoo, and Mythology & Fiction Explained are all people who do a lot of research themselves on the myths they retell and I would recommend all of them to basically anybody. As far as podcasts go, Mythology & Fiction Explained has a podcast version and Let's Talk About Myths, Baby! is a very informative podcast that talks about sources for the myths and has interviews with experts on the subjects. It's also a podcast that is specifically Greco-Roman based.

As far as doing slightly more in-depth research, I cannot recommend theoi.com enough. I really can't. It has overviews of the most common myths, it has pages about god and hero cults, it cites it's sources and has an online library of translated texts. It's just really good. Go clicking around it for a while. It's a lot of fun if you're into that sort of thing.

As far as primary sources for myths go, there's a few places you could start. The Iliad, perhaps. The most recent English translation is by Caroline Alexander but I personally prefer Stanley Lombardo's translation. The Odyssey is a more accessible read in my opinion if you're not used to reading epic poetry. Emily Wilson's translation is especially accessible, written in iambic pentameter and generally replicating Homer's simple conversational language.

The third traditional entrance into the epic cycle of the surviving literature is the Aeneid. The newest translation of that is by Shadi Bartsch, which is pretty good, but it reads more like prose than poetry. Would still highly recommend it though. Robert Fitzgerald's translation is also good.

If you wanna get fancy you can read the Post-Homerica which attempts to bridge the gap between the Iliad and the Odyssey. It's not often read but it's one of the latest pagan sources we have from people who still practiced ancient Greek religion.

If you want a collection of short stories from ancient times, Ovid's your guy. Metamorphosis is specifically Roman and specifically Ovid's fanfiction, but it's also a valid primary resource and Ovid generally views women as people. What a concept!

Though I think the absolute best overview from ancient times itself is The Library aka Biblioteca by pseudo-apollodorus. Doesn't matter what translation you get. The prose is simple to the point where it's difficult to screw it up. Not artistic at all. It is, quite simply, a guy from ancient times trying to write down the mythological history of the world as he knew it. It has a bunch of summaries of myths in it, and most modern printings also have a table of contents so you can essentially use it as a reference book or a cheat sheet. I love it.

The Homeric Hymns weren't actually written by Homer but that's what they're called anyways. They're a lovely bit of poetry because, well, they were originally hymns. They've got some of the earliest full tellings of the Hades and Persephone story and the birth of Hermes in them. They also provide an insight into how ancient people who were most devoted to these gods viewed them. Go read the Homeric Hymns. They're lovely. You can buy the Michael Crudden translation or you can read a public domain translation online. I don't care. Just read them.

If you're into tedious lists, the next place I'd recommend you go after you read all the fun stuff is Hesiod's Theogony. Hesiod, the red pill douchebag of the ancient world, decided he was gonna write down the genealogy of all the Greek gods. That means lists. I'm not exaggerating. Be prepared for a lot of lists. But this work also has the earliest and one of the most complete versions of the story of Pandora, the creation of humans, and the most popular version of the Greek creation myth. So, it's very useful. If you can take all the lists.

The Argonautica aka the voyage of the argo by Apollonius of Rhodes, is also here. That is also a thing you can read. About the golden fleece and whatnot. And Jason. You know Jason. We all hate Jason.

Greek theatre also provides a good overview of specific myths. The three theben plays, Medea, the Bacche, etc. We've only got thirty-something surviving plays in their entirety so like... look up the list. Find one that looks interesting. Read it. Find a performance of it online, maybe. They're good.

If you want to dive into the mythology as a religion that was practiced, Greek Religion by Walter Burkurt and Ancient Greek Cults: A Guide by Jennifer Larson are pretty good books on the topic and often used as textbooks in college courses.

If you wanna get meta and get a feel for what the general public today thinks about Greek myths and what the average person that's sort of knowledgeable about Greek myths knows, the books you already mentioned are good. That's what people usually read. In addition to those, most people's intro to Greek myths generally involves The Complete World of Greek Mythology by Richard Buxton, D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths by Ingri and Edgar Parin d’Aulaire, or The Percy Jackson series.

I've been flipping through the big stacks of mythology books I keep on my table trying to remember if I've forgotten anything but I don't think I have so, yeah. Hope this helps. There's no correct starting point here. Once you get started there's a nearly endless void of complications and scholarship you can fall down that you'll never reach the bottom of. This post is basically just a guide to the tip of the iceberg.

#mythology #greek mythology #roman mythology #reference #roman said a thing #classical mythology #classics #classics reference #mythology for beginners #mythology reference #greco-roman

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justlarkin · 6 months ago

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Look, no offense whatsoever, but please don't use this game as a reference of Christians, Catholics, Jewishs, and all those who believe in God.

There's not such a thing, as a good Christian or a bad Christian, you are either devoted to God and his teachings or you are not.

Two, Satan, he is not this savior of all freedom for mankind, be careful. He seeks to kill and destroy. Sure, if you listen to him, you can do whatever you want and not feel guilty about it... but the reality is, that there's a big price to pay. This game twisted the truth to make a "teaching of freedom and not be tied down to any faith." When in reality, people do need boundaries.

Thats why the Lord knows best. He doesn't want to subjugate us, He wants us to be free of sin. God forbids many things, because He knows that those things we find pleasure will destroy us eventually.

You don't need to post this if you don't want to. You can even ignore it. But please, don't misunderstand the truth of our faith because of some game. Because its just that.

No offense taken. I think I should clarify your main concern: yeah, of course the real Satan is bad. I'm just talking about a game here. I was raised Christian, I already get what his whole thing is.

I really don't think anyone here, myself included, genuinely believes that the real Satan is the good guy because a game said so. I'm talking strictly talking about the game's adaptation when I say anything praiseworthy of him because that's how he's portrayed to the reader. Even then, I've already made older posts talking about he's probably not that good in the game itself too with the inclusion of Mephistopheles, traits from Iblis, and the themes from Paradise Lost, showing this most likely isn't a total rewrite of him.

And I absolutely agree! I didn't elaborate, but that's what I meant when I said Shaytan was flawed in the original post. His game version seems like he'd be "perfect" to worship in comparison to the other WRs since he's portrayed as "caring" for everyone and due to the freedom he gives, but there's obviously flaws in his ideology since, like you said, people do need boundaries.

Of course, there isn't a real good Christian or bad Christian when it comes to the religion itself since devotion to the Lord is what matters, but there is still undeniably debate around it, which is why I clarified it as such. It's not about how God would view people, but how non participants and Christians view other Christians. Conversations like "why is that gay guy who worships the Lord and is on the straight and narrow considered a sinner while that other guy who cheats on his wife constantly and steals isn't?" or "Why do Christians treat those who believe different faiths poorly or judge others who worship the same God, but a little differently than they do when they're supposed to love thy neighbor?" or "That person doesn't follow the Bible word for word and go to church every Sunday, so they're not a true believer". It's just about how humanity views each other.

Maybe it's more accurate to say "Christians who give a good reputation and Christians who give a bad reputation to Christianity" because regardless of how God views it, outsiders of the faith are more likely to like a Christian who uses the Lord's teachings to spread positivity than the ones who use it spread negativity and hate ://

Nobody is misunderstanding anything. It's just discussion about a game that has rewritten history, multiple religions, stories, and mythologies to give them a little spin. I'm on here every week talking about how all these figures are actually making out sloppy style or something else as equally silly because the game portrays those ideas, not because I genuinely believe their real counterparts are doing so. Don't take what I'm saying seriously lol. It's not that deep.

#ask #i lied actually. i DO BELIEVE that Genghis Khan the rampant homophobe was fucking NASTY style with his blood brother

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saffronapplemanga · 2 years ago

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Tenmaku no Jadoogar: A Witch’s Life in Mongol - 天幕のジャードゥーガル

HISTORICAL, DRAMA

Tenmaku no Jadoogar: A Witch's Life in Mongol by Tomato Soup

(1 volume, ongoing)

JP only. Hopefully, it gets licensed! Please hire me to translate this, publishing companies. The first 5 chapters are up for free in JP here.

Links to my other manga posts here

An Irani girl named Fatima who’s a captive of the Mongol Empire and uses her education to her advantage???

Hello, my name is Fatimah, I’m half Irani, and it’s finally my time >:)

I hope you guys are ready for history and cultural lessons! I worked really hard on this post and she’s a long one... I literally just came back from an Iran trip and got some books, took pictures, and consulted people who know more than me for this post (the trip wasn't for the post, that was a coincidence lolllll).

This series won first place in the オンナ編 (Female Category) for the このマンガがすごい！2023 / Kono Manga ga Sugoi 2023 / “This Manga is Amazing! 2023″. I’ve talked about the Male Category’s 1st, 2nd, 3rd place winners. Check the links if you’re interested :)

This post will be broken up into the following sections - What's It About? - Some Background - Representation - My Localization Choices - Story - Art - Culture Time! - Let's Talk Religion - The First Word From God, "Read".

Enjoy!

What's It About?

I usually don't like to go into plot details too much so you can discover the story for yourself. But since it isn't currently accessible in English at all, I figured I’d summarize the first chapter so you at least know what it’s about. Then I’ll summarize the rest of the chapters in a spoiler section for those who are interested. That way, we can all be informed enough to discuss it. I might touch on themes or other things outside the first chapter in the discussion, but I’ll try to do it in a way that doesn’t spoil for those of you who want to wait and read it for yourselves.

Chapter 1

We kick off with a rather poetic reference to scholars using geometry to measure the earth and the idea of trying to quantify fate. In 13th-century Iran/Persia, in the city of Tous, we meet a family looking for a domestic worker. The family is a woman, Fatima, who is newly widowed, her son, Mohamed, and her brother. A slave trader offers her some options, but they are rather pricey. So he suggests she take a little girl, Sitara, for a heavily discounted price. The slave trader asks Fatima to educate Sitara since they are a scholarly family, so she does.

However, Sitara plays dumb to ensure her value as a slave stays low. That way, no one would bother taking her to faraway lands to sell her for higher prices as she wants to stay close to her home to try and go back. Sitara tries to sneak out and runs into Mohamed, who talks to her about why he thinks learning is so great. He inspires her to pursue an education so she can have the tools to handle whatever life throws at her. Mohamed wants to travel and learn from others to find the "truth" for himself. He promises Sitara that he'll write letters to her and his mother, which further inspires her to learn to read.

The chapter ends with Mohamed leaving Tous, and the narrator tells us it was the last time Mohamed and Sitara ever saw each other.

Chapters 2-5

I'm going to speed through the rest now that we got the setup out of the way.

***SPOILERS FOR CHAPTERS 2-5***

8 years have passed since Mohamed left and Sitara has been pursuing an education under the direction of Fatima and her brother. While the Tous army is investigating strange activity near their borders, Fatima shows Sitara some things her late husband left behind such as books and astrology tools.

As the Mongols are closing in on Tous, Fatima and Sitara hunker down in a cellar to wait the threat out. Unfortunately, they're found, and one of the Mongol princes takes a book that belonged to Fatima's late husband. Sitara tries to stand up to him, causing her to be attacked. Fatima takes the blow, saying, "Don't touch my daughter," before passing away.

Tous is razed to the ground, and its citizens killed or driven out and forced to march to the Mongol camp. Sitara finds out that the city of Neyshabur, the city Mohamed is studying at, was also attacked. His whereabouts are unknown.

Interestingly, the Mongol prince was specifically looking for the book he took since his fiance had asked him for it. However, the book is in Persian and they are unable to read it. Sitara meets a boy who is interpreting for the Mongols in an effort to make himself more useful to avoid becoming a meat shield in battles for them. While he can speak Mongolian and Persian, he can't read. But, Sitara can. He asks her to team up with him to help each other become more valuable to their capturers. Sitara will read the stolen book, and the boy will translate. He suggests she come up with a more "elegant" or "majestic" name before presenting herself to the Mongol princes. She steps into their tent and introduces herself as "Fatima".

***END OF SPOILERS FOR CHAPTERS 2-5***

Some Background

Quick disclaimer, I'm by no means an expert. A lot of this is what I know and what I've experienced. I might have to make some generalizations or else we're gonna be here all day.

I feel like I’m about to overshare but I want to offer my perspective on this series. I don’t get to do this often so indulge me please. This background is so you have an idea of some things that influenced my perspective on this story.

For those of you new around here, I'm a Kuwaiti/Irani, Japanese-to-English translator (I speak English, Arabic, and Japanese).

My parents know Farsi to varying degrees of fluency as a second language. I never learned it since their first language is Arabic and that was the language they focused on teaching me when I was little. They usually spoke Farsi if they wanted to keep me and my brother out of a conversation between adults, rude. But I can sometimes pick up on some things being said. One of my best friends is Irani-American (Her name is also Fatimah! It's a ridiculously popular name) and our experiences are quite different, but there's overlap as well!

For those of you who don't know where Kuwait is. It's a tiny little country in the northern end of the Persian Gulf in Western Asia. FYI "Mina" in "Mina Al Ahmadi," which you can see on the map, means "port".

Most of our Kuwaiti relatives have Irani roots and some Turkish. There are a lot of ethnic groups in Kuwait because it started out as a port city that was a part of the Silk Road network. (I actually wanna study the Silk Road more!) So lots of people from all over gathered there. There are afro-Kuwaitis, those with blonde hair and blue eyes (my mom's relatives are like this), those with more East Asian features (my cousins), those with darker features (my dad's side), etc.

The Silk Road in the 1st century, courtesy of Wikipedia. You can see the route going through Kuwait. It was specifically part of the Maritime Silk Road route.

Because of all the trade, you can see the influences of many other regions in the food, clothes, language, culture, and so on.

But, yeah! History is cool.

Representation

I am indeed one of those people who is annoyingly passionate about representation. Like, I could write a whole Master’s dissertation on why it’s so important, but I’ll spare you… for now. More eloquent people have already done so anyways.

As you can imagine, I’m not used to seeing myself represented in media. And any representation I did get, was… well, how do I put this… not great? Bad™ actually. Beyond racist tbh. So can you blame me for being excited? I’m still mad about that one episode of Grey’s Anatomy when that girl whipped off her scarf/hijab to save a patient IN A FULLY STOCKED HOSPITAL!!! That would NEVER happen ;_; like imagine if you pulled your pants off to put pressure on a wound when the gauze is literally right there. I CAN’T, where do I even begin??? But I digress.

And even if I wasn’t a person from this culture, it’s just cool to see rep we don’t usually get! For example, Requiem of the Rose King is fresh in my mind right now, but having an intersex main character is not something I recall seeing. While not intersex myself, nor a noble from ye olde times, I related to Richard a lot and appreciate what the story did. I can see people from other cultures relating to Tenmaku no Jadoogar, or simply just learning new things about a culture we don’t get to see a lot of rep about.

My Localization Choices

There are no official spellings for this manga, so some explanations as to why I wrote things the way I did. Thankfully, these are all real-world names with context, so I'm not pulling nonsense out of thin air. Localizing uncommon/made-up names is... hard... traumatic flashbacks to when I had to look up official spellings for Gundam and Kamen Rider and the client didn't give me glossaries... Literally did research about Sypha Belnandes' name localization being all over the place for this blog post. Spoiler, I don’t think it was supposed to be Belnandes.

It really be like that...

Sitara - シタラ "Shitara". This isn't a name I was familiar with, so I asked my mom and Irani-American friend if it sounded like a name they knew. I wanted to say "Sitra" sounds like something that has a more "West Asian pronunciation" than the Japanese pronunciation in the manga. I was wrong and it's "Sitara" which means "star" just like what they said in the story.

Fatima - ファーティマ "Fātima". Same as my name! It's a super popular name. I katakana-fied my name as ファティーマ, which is the same, I just put the dash that elongates the sound in a different place. Why? Fatima is an Arabic name فَاطِمَة. In classical Arabic, it's pronounced like Fā-dtee-ma or Fadt-ma in Kuwaiti Arabic (the letter طِ doesn't exist in EN/JP and the best way I can describe it is it's like D+T sound.) An Irani pronunciation is more like Fā-teh-meh, which is what my grandma and Irani-American friends call me. In English, I personally pronounce my name like Fuh-tee-ma, but people have various preferences. So basically, I took the Arabic and English pronunciations and katakana-fied it how I thought it would sound best in Japanese. And no one has ever pronounced my name wrong in Japan since katakana is phonetic and is actually pronounced how it's spelled. Wild I know. Meanwhile in the U.S. ... *cries* I have a half-Irani-half-Japanese acquaintance who doesn't put any elongated sound in her name like ファティマ, and it's all just preference tbh. There are also different ways you can spell it in English, but "Fatima" is the most common way.

Mohamed - モハン��ド "Mohanmado". This one is pretty straightforward. I think most people are familiar with this name. Also super popular. There are various English spellings as well, so I just went with a common, shorter spelling (manga bubble space is limited after all, haha).

The title, 天幕のジャードゥーガル Tenmaku no Jadougal (this is how it's romanized on anilist), also doesn't have an official translation. It basically translates to Witch of the Marquee. Tenmaku="tent/marquee" in Japanese. ジャードゥーガル comes from جادوگر "jadoogar" meaning "witch" in Farsi. The romanization of the title should actually be Tenmaku no Jadoogar. There is no "L" in Japanese, so it often becomes "R". In Japanese, ジャードゥーガル is "Jādoogaru". Without context, it's often hard to tell if it's supposed to be "L" or "R" so I don't blame them for the mistake. But yeah, that's why I wrote it as Tenmaku no Jadoogar for the title at the top of the post. How do I contact the anilist admins about correcting that? The way my brain is short-circuiting trying to combine Japanese, English, my nonexistent Arabic reading skills since Farsi uses basically the same alphabet, and consulting my Farsi "sources"... my brain can only handle two of the three languages I speak at the same time...

Shout out to Fatimah #2 for putting up with all my questions <3 Farsi has some extra letters that aren't in Arabic and I didn't know about that one...

Story

I’m starting to realize that I really dig historical fiction. Things like Requiem of the Rose King (current read, I'm obsessed), Vinland Saga, Bride’s Story (a priority TBR of mine), and Ertugrul (this one is a Turkish drama, highly recommend!) are so fascinating because we get to take a peek at what life used to be like, especially if the author did their homework. This story reminds me of Ertugrul at times since they both take place in West Asia during the 13th century, and the characters in both had run-ins with the Mongols.

This baddie took out three Mongolian soldiers on her own!!! Well, her horse helped. Horses are great. I'm a horse girl, literally took riding lessons for ~4 years.

I found out while researching for this post that this story is in fact based on a real person in history! Here's the Wikipedia page, more info here by Dr. Jack Weatherford who wrote a book that I'm totally going to read once I can get my hands on it. I think this manga is going in a similar vein as Vinland Saga where the events are real historical events, and some characters were actual people in history, but the author is going to take creative liberties. (Check out Merphy Napier and Philip Chase's Vinland Saga discussions. They're great and Philip has a lot of historical knowledge relevant to that series that's super informative!)

The characters are lovable and interesting. I like Sitara's spunk, Mohamed's thoughtfulness, and Fatima's gentle nature, just to name a few. The relationship Sitara has with Mohamed and Fatima was very sweet. I'm interested to see how the relationship that I mentioned at the end of chapter 5 goes. Also intrigued by the bits of relationship dynamics with the Mongolian characters we have so far.

I got super excited when the theme of "learning/education" came up. Seeing how that looked back in 13th-century Persia which was a hotspot for advances in many fields is so cool! This story led me to do some research and asking around on topics I was familiar with, but not an expert on, and I learned things about my own culture/religion. More on learning and education later. But overall, a strong start and I can't wait to read more!

Art

My twitter reading thread for this series

The art is very stylized, like a chibi-esque style with Persian art influences. I like the contrast between the simplified shapes and the detailed bits. I’m a big fan of inky blacks and white whites. I know all manga is black and white but this one feels like it has more contrast due to the simplified shapes. It's got tons of charm!

The shoujo-esque flowery background, but make it Irani-flavored✨ It looks like the rug we got in Iran!

Some pictures I took at historical sites in Tehran with more examples of flowery imagery. Sorry if the image quality sucks, I didn't have my good camera :(

Culture Time!

As soon as I saw this cover, I felt a sense of familiarity. Particularly, the style of henna on her hands made me go, “Hey! That’s similar to how we do our henna!” While we also do the mehndi style henna (Is that the right term? Help) in Kuwait because of Indian influences due to longtime trade, we have another kind as well. You take the paste and hold it in your hands while curling your fingertips into it.

I had such a hard time finding pics that weren’t the intricate mehndi design ones. I would’ve just put henna on my own hands and taken a pic to show what I’m talking about, but it’s winter and it’s not good to use henna in winter because it has a cooling effect. I put henna on in winter once, and it made me so much colder. But makes you feel nice and cool in the summer! That’s why it’s traditionally applied to the head, hands, and feet, which are places you have a lot of heat dissipate from and it saps the heat away. I remember my mom doing that for me and my brother all the time when we were little during summer.

But! With the help of my mom, she helped me narrow it down. I didn't know the actual name of this style of henna. I just called it Kuwaiti-style henna lol. Apparently, it's حنه قصعة henna gasa'a, and bingo!

It doesn't show super well here, but the tops of the fingertips are also dyed like on the cover of the manga. Love that nazar ring though, so cute! 🧿

This is the mehndi style henna that people are most familiar with.

When I was little, I assumed that henna was made from soil because there are soils that can dye things a reddish color. But it's actually from a plant! The leaves are ground into a powder and then made into a paste when you want to use it.

Health, cleanliness, and hygiene are big deals in Islam. Other than being used for beauty and it’s cooling effect, henna is also used to keep oneself clean and smelling nice. It’s said that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) utilized henna as well.

I actually didn't know much about Iran's henna culture. When I asked my Irani-American friend whose family is from Tehran (northern Iran), she said she wasn't familiar with any. But like Kuwait, Iran has a lot of ethnic groups. It's also a large region (it used to be a whole empire and all that, too), so there are definitely people who do use it!

Turkmen Iranis, dying their fingertips with henna, exactly like in the manga! My family are Turk, too! (From a book I picked up a few days ago in Iran, "Nomads: Migrating with Swallows". What a pretty title...)

The clothing of the characters also felt very familiar. The cover of volume one reminded me of this picture:

Maku Kurd girl ("Nomads: Migrating with Swallows")

Iran grows tons of fruit, herbs, and flowers, famously roses! Rose water is a staple we pretty much always had at home.

Rose water is used for medicinal purposes and has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory qualities. People often wash up with it since it has a lovely fragrance and makes you smell nice. It's also used in foods and desserts or added to drinking water for flavor and health benefits.

Sitara bringing Fatima rose water. It looks just like this 12th-century rose water container. We still have containers like this nowadays and I actually used one to wash my hands recently.

Faloodeh (Persian Lime and Rose Water Granita With Rice Noodles), Bastani Sonati (Saffron and Rose Water Ice Cream), in Kuwait we say Sharbat Nimil but apparently, it's Tokhm-e Sharbatie in Iran (Rose Water and Basil Seed Drink) Fun fact: Sharbat Nimil means "ant drink" because the seeds look like... ants... and the thought freaked me out as a kid, I never wanted to drink it. I thought my aunt was messing with me but my parents said, "Yeah, no, that's actually what it's called."

Dates! Another staple. Always have some in the house.

These are ripe dates. We call them "tamar". Sweet, delicious, amazing.

These are fresh dates! We call them "khalal". Sweet, crunchy, amazing.

The architecture was also, you guessed it, familiar as well. Particularly the courtyards! It really took me back.

Courtyards! My Irani grandma (also Fatima, I told you it was a popular name...) had a courtyard home in Kuwait too, but less fancy, and she had a huge date tree instead of a fountain. We would play there all the time when we visited. Also reminds me of the houses in some of the Irani movies I've seen.

Let's Talk Religion

I know religion is historically always a fun and totally not divisive topic, but we're all going to be civil and discuss stuff like adults. I'm not trying to convert anyone, I swear. Chasing after people and forcing religion down their throats is actually frowned upon in Islam believe it or not. I’m also not saying it’s a better religion than others or anything of the sort so don’t come for me. It's just relevant to the story and I'm hoping we can interact in good faith, so let's talk.

I am NOT a scholar, this is just what I know and my understanding so please don't quote me. I probably have to gloss over and simplify a lot because there's... too much.

There are various interpretations of Islam. The Quran, to my understanding, is meant to have its interpretations evolve over time to address the issues of people no matter the time or place. Issues faced centuries ago might not be as pressing now, or we might have new issues today that weren't a thing back in the day. Iranians mainly practice Shia Islam, which is also the sect I know most about so that's what we're focusing on.

Islam is the fastest-growing religion. It's also quite misunderstood due to hate/misinformation, AND — I'm gonna just say it — there are Muslims who have skewed interpretations of Islam's teachings. Am I the perfect Muslim and my interpretations are law? I didn't say that, obviously not. But I'm going to call it how I see it. I don't take sides and I'm not going to defend someone just because they identify as Muslim if they're doing stuff that doesn't make sense (that would be un-Islamic and just... dumb imo). But anyway, there are a few points I’d like to touch on so we all have a base understanding.

Many people think that Allah (SWT) is “the Muslim god” but actually, he’s the same god that brought down the Bible and Torah. He's just... God. This is why you’ll see a lot of crossover between these religions. And Christian Arabs, for example, say Allah because that’s just God in Arabic.

Why did God come up with different religions? It’s my understanding each religion was what the people needed at the time. (Also because of the next point.)

Muslims DO believe in the original Bible and Torah, but historically there's evidence that these books have been altered by people over the years. (Again, I'm not saying your religion is wrong if you're Christian or Jewish. You do you.) Then what about the Quran? I’ll actually address that later.

Muslims DO believe in Jesus. We just think he's a prophet instead of the son of God or God.

Cool? Cool.

Now to address some religion-related things that came up in the story.

The part where there is the selling of slaves made me raise an eyebrow since slavery is not allowed in Islam, because, duh.

I did some research and asked around. I was able to talk to my Irani-American friend's aunt when I visited them during my Iran trip last week since she's studied this kind of stuff. She joked that I should save myself the trouble and not touch the slavery topic, especially with Americans since it's... like... a super touchy topic. But this is an important topic and we should talk about important topics instead of shying away from them. Respectfully, of course. And maybe we can all learn something. It was a perspective on slavery that was very different from what I'm used to hearing about from the U.S. She essentially confirmed what I was thinking.

The Quran envisions the ideal society as one in which slavery no longer exists. Since slavery was such a widespread issue around the whole world back in the olden days, (it still is an issue today, but I'm assuming it was worse back then) it was unfortunately unrealistic to try and abolish it in one fell swoop. Again, this isn’t just abolishing in one country or region, but tackling the issue worldwide. So, in Islam, the idea is that there are steps in place to phase it out. For example:

No free people can be enslaved, duh.

People cannot be enslaved due to debt or crime.

You are encouraged to help slaves buy their way to freedom by giving them money to do so or buying them to free them.

If you are in possession of a slave, you should free them.

If you house a slave, you must treat them well.

This last one is just an interesting thing I didn’t know about that I saw in my research and it came up in the story — Slaves get half the punishment for a sin than if the same sin was committed by a free person.

I wondered why then, did Fatima's family not free Sitara and the other slaves? It didn’t look like they had anything stopping them from running away either. Sure, Sitara got scolded by another slave for trying to leave, but she could have tried again and run away. The other slaves in the story seemed like they wanted to/were okay with staying, even though they did wish they could go home and felt homesick. So what’s up?

It's my understanding that back then, it was common for people to take slaves into their families, sometimes even presenting the option of marriage into the family if they were interested, and offering shelter and and education. It was a way to take them off the streets, away from the slave traders, and keep them safe.

Why not just take everyone back to their homes? Various reasons. They might be in danger if they try to go back. They might not have anywhere to go back to. Also, this was the 13th century. It's not like they could just hop on a plane and go home. There's also no law enforcement the way we have today. Hell, even with all the local and international law enforcement of today, slavery is still a major issue.

Sitara wants to go home but has no home to go back to.

Is this ideal? As I mentioned, ideally slavery wouldn't even be a thing. I’m pretty sure we can all agree slavery=bad. I'm not here to argue that. But I also think it's important to try and understand what things were like back then and why people did what they did. A lot of times I see people measure things with their standards that were developed in modern day, with their own life experience. You need to be careful when doing that. I'm sure in the future, people will look back at us like, "Damn, y'all lived like that???"

Perhaps, this was the best the average person could do. Try to protect them and offer them shelter and an education. As long as we don’t live in an ideal world, we need to consider various solutions to issues. So this was an interesting way to try and tackle the issue given the time and circumstances. It’s rather different from what I think most Americans know about this subject.

Did everyone do this? I'm going to say probably not. Terrible people always exist. Plus there are plenty of people who say they practice a religion, but cherry-pick what they want to follow, do the opposite, have distorted understandings of its teachings, or just downright weaponize religion to suit them. That's a whole other discussion though, so I'll leave it there.

I would like to read more about this topic though, so if anyone knows any sources, let me know!

The First Word From God - "Read"

"Slave or not, it is a Muslim's duty to seek knowledge, as stated in the hadiths."

What's a hadith? Here you go. Also, this is the OG Fatima, Lady Fatima (PBUH).

When God first sent the angel Gabriel down to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), his first word to him was, "read". Education and seeking knowledge are SUPER important in Islam, and should not be kept from anyone regardless of race, gender, social standing, etc. Seeking knowledge will make you a more rational, well-rounded person. Knowledge in this context is broad and all-encompassing. It doesn't only mean religion, math, and science, but philosophy, art, and so on. Literally anything. I hope I don't really need to convince anyone that education is a human right and empowering and all that stuff, so let's keep it moving.

"Isn't that what learning is all about?"

To address this earlier point:

Muslims DO believe in the original Bible and Torah, but historically there's evidence that these books have been altered by people over the years. Then what about the Quran?

Tbh, I hesitated to include this part because people might misinterpret or take offense. To reiterate for the umpteenth time, I'm not saying your religion is wrong if you're Christian or Jewish. You do you. We’re actually told to respect believers of these religions. I swear!

So, yeah. Moving on.

Another reason seeking knowledge is an obligation in Islam is so that you are able to read the Quran for yourself. When loads of people read it, memorize it, and are familiar with it, any changes will not go unnoticed. This is to stop people from weaponizing and distorting the Quran's teachings. And this is why there is only ONE Quran, and not multiple versions (I’m not talking about translated Qurans). Modern-day Qurans match the oldest Qurans. They haven't changed.

In general, having knowledge about things makes you less susceptible to being lied to or misled, regardless of the topic. Unfortunately, I'm in the camp where I believe not enough people do their own research and reading. And again, I don't just mean religion, but everything. That kind of thing takes effort, and effort is hard.

Go read!

You're Still Here?

Like the first-place winner for the Male Category, The Summer Hikaru Died, which I’ve been pushing on anyone who will listen since volume one hit bookstores in Japan, Tenmaku no Jadoogar: A Witch's Life in Mongol deserves to win the Female Category. From what I can see so far, it’s well researched and written with love. I'm looking forward to seeing how this story unfolds and I may add more thoughts as we go.

Volume 2 is due to come out February 16th, so I’ll be tweeting my thoughts on my reading thread. The link to this post is on Twitter here if you want to share it there. EDIT: Volume 2 post is up!

If there's anything else you'd like to see me discuss or expand on, let me know and I'll see what I can do. I'd love to hear what others think!

I await your email publishers, my resume is ready... [email protected]

🧿🪬🧿🪬🧿🪬🧿🪬🧿🪬🧿🪬🧿🪬🧿🪬🧿

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If there’s any Japanese-only manga you want me to check out, let me know! No promises, I’ll only read what I’m interested in, but I’ll take suggestions into consideration. Preferably, shorter manga or newer manga with a few volumes out since I like to take breaks from longer series I’m reading :)

#天幕のジャードゥーガル #Tenmaku no Jadougal #A Witch’s Life in Mongol #manga recs #manga #漫画 #おすすめ #Tenmaku no Jadoogar #manga recommendation #kono manga ga sugoi #このマンガがすごい #manga discussion #shoujosei #josei #josei manga

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the-sky-queen · 1 year ago

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Y'know what? I'm just gonna do it. I'm gonna lore dump everything I have so far for my Darkling lore!

First of all, yes. I decided that the Darklings are a separate species from the Black Arms. Eclipse always seemed so different from any of the Black Arms we've seen to me. I just couldn't see him as 100% Black Arms when the rest of the race looks almost nothing like him.

This means that Eclipse is a hybrid, just like Shadow. (Though he's 50% Black Arms and 50% Darkling instead of Hedgehog.) Though I haven't quite figured out . . . why Black Doom would want his next offspring to be half Darkling instead of full Black Arms. I'm working on it. Darklings must have some kind of biological advantage, but I haven't figured out out yet.

Full lore under the cut!

History

The Darklings used to live on their own planet. They were free and were split up into different tribes. They were pretty civil towards each other, but the did occasionally have conflict. Then, a couple hundred years ago, the Black Arms invaded. The Darklings were massacred, but a few managed to bargain for their lives. In exchange for being left alive, the remaining Darklings would become slaves to whoever the current Black Arms leader was. So, they were taken from their home world and placed on the Black Comet, never again to be free. They were destroyed with the rest of the Black Comet at the end of Shadow the Hedgehog.

Beliefs/Religion

The Darklings didn't believe in gods, rather they believed that the spirits of their ancestors controlled the many aspects of nature and their lives. Several important ancestors had their own holidays and festivals, but most were worshipped privately among those who were directly related to them. Deceased family members were given little shrines to honor them, kinda like an ofrenda. During the Black Arms captivity, many began to lose faith, angry that their ancestors allowed this to happen.

Appearance

Since Eclipse is a hybrid, I had to decide what traits he has belong to the Darklings, and which he got from the Black Arms. I can explain my thought process more in depth later if you guys want, but for now, I'm just gonna list the traits:

five fingers

long, snake-like tail

coloring is dominated by more earthy/natural colors, for better camouflage during hunting

black sclera, eye color varies

Y'know that weird head structure Eclipse has? Yeah, they have that

scaley, but not as reinforced as Black Arms

I'll really have to draw one of these guys for you to get the full picture

Biology

Cold-blooded and lizard coded

They lay eggs

Naturally very skilled hunters

Heightened senses (smell, night vision, etc.)

Very agile (not that strong, but can out-maneuver almost anything)

Prehensile tails

*insert whatever advantage they have that made Black Doom decide his next offspring should be a hybrid*

On Eclipse

Eclipse's mother was a Darkling, and she was allowed to raise him for the first few months of his life. She taught him a lot about the dying Darkling culture and what it meant to be a Darkling in the first place. Eclipse loved his mother and always tried to make her happy. Eventually, Black Doom took him to begin his training, and Eclipse wasn't happy about it. He hardly got to see his mother or any of the other Darklings after that.

Eclipse has struggled with his identity for a long time. He was always told by Black Doom that he was the Ultimate Black Arm, but after a while, Eclipse decided he wanted to honor his mother and her culture and began referring to himself as a Darkling instead. This confuses a lot of people who don't know him very well. Eclipse doesn't usually like to talk about it, even to Shadow.

To this day, Eclipse tries to uphold the traditions of the Darklings. He puts on little celebrations for the important ancestors and honors his mother with a little shrine for her in his room. Eclipse has spent the last several years trying to draw an accurate picture of his mother for his shrine, with varying degrees of success. Shadow doesn't understand a lot of Eclipse's traditions, especially since he doesn't talk about why he's doing what he's doing a whole lot, but Shadow still tries to join in when he can and support his little brother.

Note: I just realized I've been referring to Eclipse as Black Doom's offspring when he was created by Black Death in the comics. Just to clarify, in my personal Sonic-verse, Eclipse is Black Doom's son, making him Shadow's actual half-brother. He was raised and trained by Black Doom until he was sent away to help Black Death with a conquest right before the Shadow the Hedgehog game. He and Black Death then later showed up for Shadow Fall.

#Sky Queen #Sky's Sonic-verse #Darkling Lore #Sonic the Hedgehog #Eclipse the Darkling #Black Doom #Shadow the Hedgehog

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ginkgo-guild-v · 9 months ago

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Hello, Hello!

Greetings to all! I suppose an introduction is due. You can call me Vee. I'm nothing more than a humble traveler and merchant, though it seems my wares aren't in very high demand, nowadays!

I do have a few Pokémon of my own, though my Partner would be my dear Togekiss, Precor. She's been with me for a long time.

There isn't much to be said of me. I'm quite knowledgeable when it comes to myths and history, however! If you should have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.

Yello. Yeah it's Lane again. Explosion noises. Main is @the-drayster. Apologies for the long OOC section, but since I genuinely have a bit of a plot planned here, there's a bit of important stuff I need to get out of the way.

This is a blog for Volo from Legends: Arceus! But, with a bit of a twist! He's in modern times >:) I won't be talking much about the specifics of why or how, but I do want to say that Volo, or "Vee", is in modern Sinnoh.

Disclaimer! This blog will feature themes of Religion and Religious trauma. If that makes you uncomfortable, this will probably not be the blog for you. I find it difficult to judge what is deserving of being tagged and what isn't, so for the most part, unless I think something is reasonably extreme, it will go untagged. Feel free to ask me to tag something in particular, though.

Volo is not a necessarily "good" person. I am not trying to make him a good person. What he is, however, is someone who's trying to do a good thing. His plan to recreate the world is founded in a sense of care and duty. In his mind, whatever horrible actions he takes to reach that goal are worth it. The end result outweighs the atrocities. He is still working towards this goal, and he will continue to do so.

Volo will frequently be subjected to the horrors. Feel free to bully him of your own accord as well!

Volo is somewhere between agender and non-binary. The gender is there, but it is VERY vague. He goes by all pronouns, though he will most often refer to himself with he, they, and it. (Small note, like I said above, bullying him is perfectly acceptable, and you can try to get in his head about gender and whatnot, but that. Really won't work well. He simply does not care enough to be affected.)

Now for little rules and whatnot:

Please please please don't have your character recognize Volo right away, unless they have a reasonable excuse to do so, such as having known him in Hisui times. An Akari blog can go "Hey don't I know you" but some random other character can't. You can say he looks familiar, or like that one guy in the history books or whatever, but don't go straight out with "Aha! You are Volo from Hisui who tried to end the world!!" No. That isn't any fun. If you try to do that I'll ignore you. That being said you can absolutely say he looks like Cynthia.

No NSFW. Explicit things, specifically of the sexual nature, are not allowed. Use your brain on this. Making a penis joke is fine. A graphic description of a penis is not.

Magic anons are not allowed unless I make a specific exception. If you really want to try something, message me! Communication is ALWAYS appreciated.

Sapient pokemon, including Legendaries, are absolutely allowed to interact! Please keep in mind, though, that Volo might get Weird about it. Especially when it comes to Legendaries.

Pelipper mail is allowed!

#pokemon irl #pokeblog rp #pokeblogging #pokeblr

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the-girl-who-didnt-smile · 9 months ago

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THE LOA

These guys are my Hazbin Hotel OCs.

They are just the voodoo pantheon, and this is how I would implement them into the Hazbin Hotel universe.

PREFACE

In my humble opinion, Voodoo is one of the most misrepresented religions in all of popular media. Imagine if I described Christianity to you like so:

Religious figures like Jesus Christ, Saint Peter, and Mother Mary are just a bunch of nameless evil ghosts that the Christians worship.

The Christians worship a wicked, evil deity who flooded the entire planet and brought death everywhere.

Christians practice cannibalism. Every week, they eat the flesh of their god and drink his blood too.

This is, without exaggeration, how poorly voodoo has been portrayed in popular media. This goes back to the dark history of slavery in America. Voodoo is literally how the slaves preserved their African traditions, which is why it has been so thoroughly demonized, even to this day. It’s actually crazy how much they were able to preserve, when they were so aggressively persecuted.

Voodoo has one of the coolest pantheons of gods ever. If you like world religions, this is up there with Norse, Greek, and Hindu mythologies. This is like the coolest pantheon of gods that nobody has ever heard of.

I just think it would be incredibly fucking lit if these guys were in Hazbin Hotel. They’re just a jazz band from New Orleans, and they are powerful beyond your wildest dreams. I don’t know if you could get away with putting these guys in the Amazon Prime TV Show, so I’m just going to insert them into my deranged fanfiction and make them extremely important characters.

This is my fanfiction, and I can do whatever the fuck I want with it.

MY TAKE ON THE LOA IN HAZBIN HOTEL

The Loa are just the lower-case “gods” of Hazbin Hotel. The only thing more powerful than them is upper-case “God”. They’re all really fucking strong.

They were created by the God of the Hazbin Hotel universe, whom they all refer to as “Bondye”. They all look like humans because they were created to serve as intermediaries between upper case “God” and humanity. Even though they are super powerful, you don’t see a whole lot of them because they mostly interact with living humans on Earth. They are free to travel between Heaven, Hell, and Earth. They are neither angel nor demon. They cannot be categorized as Good or Evil.

These guys are just absurdly powerful. I designed them to be as strong as I think gods would actually be.

The whole design premise here is, “What if the Voodoo pantheon was in Hazbin Hotel, and they were just jazz musicians with insane, bullshit anime superpowers?” I took several creative liberties with translating these real-life deities into completely overpowered anime characters because I just really want these guys to be completely fucking bullshit in a fight. They are so much more powerful than anything else that has been introduced in the canon of Hazbin Hotel.

My favorite one is the man center stage. I cannot wait to talk about him.

#hazbin hotel ocs #this sketch fucking sucks. i did them all so dirty but i cannot wait any longer #if i was writing for hazbin all these dudes would be in the show and this would explain why alastor is a cut above the rest #because he wields voodoo magic and voodoo magic is just the magic of the gods #these guys are really important in my deranged fanfiction. if you are at all invested you kind of have to read this shit #big papa legba #the loa (hazbin hotel)

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inkbee · 1 year ago

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Summary of 1st half of The Paradigm of Catharism; of, the Historians Illusion by Mark Gregory Pegg

So not counting the introduction this is the first essay in Cathars in Question, a collection of essays between scholars debating the existence of Cathars. If you've been following me for a while or know me irl you've probably heard me reference this as 'cathargate.' I'm making it a little project to write out summaries to the essays and post them both for the sake of my own comprehension on the topic and also because a few ppl I've talked to about it have expressed interest in it. If anything in this post interests you I highly recommend reading the essays themselves, both because I'm not an expert and because Pegg's zingers are kind of funny ngl.

Pegg’s opening postulates that Catharism was exclusively an invention of “late 19th century scholars of religion and history.” It’s important to note that he isn’t claiming that Cathars were invented by medieval inquisition. He specifies that it is not “a construct of the persecuting society” (shouting out bestie R.I Moore) but rather a distinctly modern invention. Because, as Pegg understands it, Catharism is a modern invention, it makes sense that he would therefore first go into where he believes this invention originated. Pegg repeatedly calls back to this idea of a paradigm of Catharism, that is supported by two methodologies he identifies as both distinct and incompatible. In this first post we will discuss the first he identifies, that being the Intellectualist approach.

What is the Intellectualist approach, as Pegg defines it?

“It views the study of religion and heresy as an exercise in intellectual history…presumes that heresies have coherent theologies and doctrines combined and disseminated in canonical texts by heretical leaders”

Pegg says this approach was codified after 1870 via who else but the Germans doing “Religionsgeschichte”, a religious historical school that approaches the study of religion by comparing seemingly similar systems of belief. They have this idea called “world religions” or “universal religions”

WHAT ARE THE FEATURES OF A WORLD RELIGION?

elaborate clerical hierarchy

evangelical missionaries

fixed rituals

foundational sacred texts

clear distinction between secular and religious

World religions are intended to resemble Christianity, Pegg says. World religions include Hinduism, Confucianism, Buddhism, antique paganism, Gnosticism and Manichaeism.

The most important exponent of the ‘religious-historical school’ for medieval heresy was Herbert Grundmann, who wrote Religiose Bewegungen im Mittelalter (1935) He compares the beliefs of individual heretics, wandering preachers, early mendicants and specific religious women in the 12th and 13th centuries. He argues that the religious motivations (such as adopting an apostolic life) were similar, and that there was one general religious movement before 1200 that then fractured into heterodox and orthodox movements during the papacy of Innocent III (Papacy 1198-1216) Apparently this was barely noticed until after 1960. But here in the late 19th century, we have a different problem, and it's called Objektivität.

WHAT IS OBJEKTIVITAT? (according to Pegg)

Approaching history as a science

Approaches religion as a natural process rather than a historical one, meaning you can make scientific generalizations like in taxonomy (lumper problems are forever!)

Desire to study religion objectively without POV from particular religion of historian

This method is seen as distinct from the previous attempt at objectivity, namely, ‘pure historicism’, associated with Leopold von Ranke. Pegg says another characteristic tactic of the religious historical school was to figure out the origin of a particular belief was “finding the first person to think a thought or the first text to expound a belief.’

This is my own input but. You may be thinking “yeah, to find an origin of a belief you go to the first guy who said it” HOWEVER this is under the assumption that the origin of a given belief has a textual tradition, as opposed to an oral tradition. I get the sense Pegg is worried about lumpers again. It seems ‘logical’ to go back to the beginning of a belief in order to figure out the origin, but that is under the assumption that you have indeed found the beginning to a particular tradition, as opposed to a disparate belief/tradition that just so happens to resemble what you’re researching. It also means you’re assuming the religion/belief you’re studying is part of an intellectual history.

What’s next relevant; You’ve got this idea that Cathars are an eastern import. Grundmann argues that the Cathars shared some similarities with western apostolic groups when they initially entered Europe, but ultimately remained outsiders, even if their philosophy sometimes supported the ideas of 12th century heretics, even if it was sometimes shaped by Latin Christianity. According to Pegg this desire to find eastern influences within western religious trends is symptomatic of a particularly German form of Orientalism (Orientalistik) that is a hallmark of Religionsgeschichte, and he claims this Orientalism has been both ignored and carried over by “adherents of the paradigm” (meaning scholars who believe in Cathars as Christian dualists with eastern influences, the conventional narrative.)

Grundmann also says that Waldensianism was a lay Catholic reaction to Catharism, and that Waldensians were provoked more by Cathar heresiarchs than they were by concerns about the Catholic hierarchy. Pegg includes Peter Biller as an example of a contemporary scholar who shares this notion; “Peter Biller, for example, follows Grundmann in arguing that Catharism as an established eastern philosophy…must have existed before Waldensianism, otherwise the latter could not have dome into existence as a coherent western religious movement.” Pegg concludes this section, stating that for both Grundmann and any scholars who believe in the existence of the Cathar heresy, Catharism functions as a ‘world religion.’ Incidentally we’re going to be hearing from Peter Biller himself later in this book. I wonder if he will have any response to the religionsgeschichte allegations.

#next up is Pegg's thoughts on social history as applied to Cathars #and then we leave historiography and get into his analysis on the sources themselves which is exciting #and then John Arnold is on deck #cathargate

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1800duckhotline · 2 years ago

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dont expect this to be a well-put together analysis/interpretation/etc because im extremely bad at putting my thoughts together but i HAVE to write this down before i completely forget.

sister amalie brainworms ahead. skip over if youre not a #pentimenthead (or dont idk up to you)

so while i dread talking to my parents abt religion theyre regrettably more knowledgeable about a lot of its aspects than i am (never did cathechism and never did communion as a child and idgaf about doing it now aged 23) but i asked them a bit about Why does sister amalie have Purple in her habit. Because purple is a color that REALLY stands out not only against her basic vestments which are white, but also because literally nobody except maybe priests during certain festivities/periods of the year for mass/ceremonies wears colors that vibrant as a like, religious uniform.

from basic history i'd gathered that purple is a regal color. this was completely unrelated from Why amalie has purple in her habit. (lol) But anyways from what i understood long story short is that purple in religion represents grief, penance and wait (for the coming of Christ iirc). This is like, the baseline for what purple represents in ALL usage of it in paraments.

We know Amalie is a mystic and an anchoress; specifically an ascetic who lives a mostly reclused lifestyle and has possibly been a regular nun before turning to this specific kind of lifestyle (which is surprisingly free of rules, anchorites aren't constricted by vows such as chastity for example, nor do they have obligations to the public or the church: their life is reserved exclusively to study and prayer) - I'm referring to times before she was at her old convent with Father thomas (according to the game, 10 years prior the story).

Mystics can either recount of their visions, reserve themselves to prayer or even become exorcists. We know pentiment isn't fully founded in like 200% realism but we know well Amalie is a mix of the first two; her 'visions' are even well explained by her probable chronic pains which, for the time, weren't treatable much if at all - pain that strong (arthritis and scoliosis are no joke) is assured to give you Visions and this is still very true to this day. It does seem however that she decides to give in to this pain, as part of her asceticism, as part of her prayer and devotion. More or less it is a deliberate choice, and being the times they were a lot of these folk had a belief that the pain was a trial given to them by God for them to endure so to speak. It wouldn't be silly to claim Amalie falls under this specific type of asceticism.

If you remember what I mentioned about purple representing penance, among other things, pentiment (ha) for one's sin and past faults, it correlates also perfectly with the concept of Contrition which is central to christianity in particular and later is more or less heavier or lighter depending on the different doctrine. Contrition is essentially 'to feel crushed by guilt for a previous sin committed'. Amalie's habit is more and more decorated by purple as years go by; I can't say if this is a deliberate choice on the devs' part, though I think it'd be cool if it was both a like, literal and 'symbolic' choice. Both because more purple in habit = more years spent in 'waiting', a milestone mark of sorts - and because more purple in habit = more years spent in guilt, consciously or not, for the part she played in the terrible murders that took place in tassing (Lorenz deserved it though, fuck that guy).

Idk it was puzzling me for a WHILE because purple is SUCH a strong color to use for a design. And this makes so so sooo much sense to me. If you're still reading this I'm sorry i'm so mentally unwell about this woman

also talking to a friend apparently it was part of the anchorite rule, specifically for anchoresses, to shave their hair or otherwise keep it short (according to an old english book which, well, y'know, doesn't probably apply to all places universally, but we can nitpick information for fun here). so basically sister Amalie should be shaven. she is to ME. she is BALD AND BEAUTIFUL

#rambles #idk how to fucking tag this...#well IF YOU DONT CARE ABT PENTIMENT FEEL FREE TO SKIP THIS im a hashtag amalielover

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nightguide · 2 months ago

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this is like a 9-way hell agreement issue with Tilda Swinton (like ya fckin made it now)

like following a 9 day cycle (like are you normal?) is not as good as understanding the world (quiet for too long that nobody understood you to 'you're not dying energy kicks in) is actually applicable to you understanding who gets to hear your god soundly content that you made up to make up along the way.

heres the understanding of what it's like to live in maths too easily

the book i heavily reference is called 'New Age, a guide by Daren Kemp' and its like the fckin reason i cannot access any other book i know i knew to being 'that bitch' upgraded infinity if i understood the book outside of being an upgrade but like, you know your conspiracy theory factory too damn much that you're like 'Mommy!' and suddenly you're looking at Angelina Jolie for help like she is that bitch who tells you everything on every single movie she been in and says 'i know a girl who tells you sh*t for free' and theres me saying 'conspiracy theories is the secret' an this is it

go make your own theory

actors hell:

Oversoul: that is how you are (like your superhuman superhero self lives there)

7th density = why you make your superhero self so good (resilience)

Metaphysics: makes you believe in your power is a path that no man made you but you are that badass to live on this Earth with a superhuman power you think of that carries on throughout your childhood

Epistemology: you're scary for a reason

Ethics: you're that good at making your dreams come true

Nature of humans: you don't make other people (superheroes) feel inferior

Human problems: you're like unfucknbreakable that way

Answer to human problems: not even true evil can touch you, like you're baby-like pure til 'the baby dies' storyline hits you at the core in real life situations that changes the world

History: you're predicted on TV

Death: you're forgotten by 'that one event you'll never forget' and it's like the reason why you got a superhuman arc to kill but you never do and thats why you're like the most heartbreaking person to exist in all of time (they got like a collection of that people existing but you energy there)

View of religion: you're meant to be with 'the girl in your head' (guy) or you're in a TV show that is yet to be there cuz 'the girl in everybody's minds' is trapped inside waiting for her man to come to her but you're like the most a) forgotten person in the universe (her best friend) or b) you got cash to make her happy (her lover)

harbingers

Individual soul: your world on the inside that makes you who you are (best case scenario)

6th density = thats where you're at always in every single universe is the number 6 being you, so thats like the most feared number now if someone lived it for you (your definately the reason why a baby went to hell energy created by a God-like creature that does not give a shit, so you pissed babies off energy is you killing a good mans daughter)

Metaphysics: you're allowed to live, nothing means bad to you in her world (mother) Epistemology: do what you want (your world)

Ethics: you're married always, quit whining (babies born married which is why they act old)

Nature of humans: ... stop asking me for help (DIY, fuck off)

Human problems: *gets slapped* (thats how you learn)

Answer to human problem: *your mum questioning you* (thats why you don't do it again)

History: be yourself (again)

Death: i know it hurts to talk, but hate yourself for not doing it the first time (subtraction of timelines makes you dumber than dumber)

View of religion: you don't wanna talk about women, don't you? (your then wife told you that thing a long time ago but you're now sorry for yourself because 'the girl of your dreams' marries a sexy equivalent who you now have an obsessive crush over)

maestro become

5th density = shut the fuck up and do it (first time or get pwned by a djinn (otherworldly whisper teasing your c*ck in a TV show)

Higher mind: literally the guns of your metal being that badass gives you personally, man or woman a bar sequence that tells you how you would have talked to your future partner if that bar was like limbo for questioned souls without you being that subjective (therapy sequence for lost souls)

Metaphysics: okay, you never been to a bar as a Muslim is not how you would say 'they don't drink but i like their food' to you saying 'theydontdrinkcuzthey are food' and you feel like 'them' for the first time is how you imagine a Muslim bestie in a stripper go free version that is so fckin intimidating that you would not rather care but you're the opposite (they stood you up for standing you up with no purpose)

Epistemology: you hate being in the bar for one reason, your Muslim bestie is now someday your future wife (just the men cuz the women are hanging out with the same bestie who now you see the opposite by culture relation, like the Muslim of 'her' does not exist, but you knew how brown her naked open vintage thrift store besties are that you did not care, and that was the vibe of your in-laws but you hate them for not giving you a chance (your vibe rn stinks of shit) you hate being 'here' for so much pressure that even Angelina Jolie hates you being there but so what, she is that vintage thrift store white girl that got accepted that even her 'daughter in-law' hates you for questioning her paradise

Ethics: you are the loser in the club which is why you make jokes to make the 'queer-mos' laugh

Nature of humans: did you remember

Human problems: did i just stutter

Answer to human problems: now you are the loser immediately and not even a glass full you think more appropriately that now a bar is a masjid for satanic loser-ville dickheads living in silicon valley

History: she hates you and you knew who but thats how Angie Jolie is questioning your psyche

Death: did you just stutter?

View of religion: i hated myself for making the world leader bad in a band of my own loserdom

dante's paradox

4th density: just you talking to yourself creates a massive earthquake in someone else's lifetime, like you may not know it but when you talk to yourself, another person in an alternate timeline 85 years before you catches that idea because words are like missiles to a theory that creates a backfire (nazar) of that thought inflicted to them that will create you because you are there (you take from them (you as word in their timeline) what is needed to pursue you that is already there because of that 'theory in the middle of your persuasion' (time stops you from living your truest life: talking to yourself is called 'theory' and you in 'theory' slows you down from mortality in motion (like smoking, you add more seconds to your life by how many seconds stopped in 'thought process' (theory), and that in turn creates a gratitude complex in meeting the 'idea of' ('idea of' means relay of sanity becoming makes you known to their work in the thought of your life now in comparison, like you forget age by 'theory')

Template reality: *saying the full bismillah* and thats why you cannot be touched (in Allah) and then realising late that Allah is bullying you to bully yourself right back (you actually 'obeying' the Qur'an getting you nowhere an so you are the one to be the smartest badass ever lived to have so much 'prone to denial behaviour' that you cause controversy by 'existing' and u know so that the 'energy is is energy is' comes from, but you hate being around shitty people like you lived like eons away from Earth to know who's who and now you're not 'even like the other girls in your neighbourhood' and you wanna make shit happen an ur like 'fucking fuck that' and is staring at the one 'dajjal' in the room for help cuz u think Allah got so mediocre that he the one writing fan fiction of you in another universe or that he became you by going agnostic to now theist but the Muslim part is how you got 'thrown to hell' by actually being yourself, so you're fan fiction to your role-model now baby version of your parent in that dimension 'to understand you' since being you 'costs money' like you're expensive at no cost, but you're one man wonders 'dajjal' the next day.... you found out you're adopted and your cringe mountain is real (you found out you're gay in no dimension, just purely Muslim)

Metaphysics: you hate time, just live in for at least... yeh. i get you... just do what you want..

Epistemology: Allah is on the same plane as you... that bizarre to think your planes of 'hate' is that one guy now saying 'believe me, i been there' and now you're hypothesising a blunt connection with air

Ethics: you're okay on your own, like the holy switch part is now in your hands since Allah is like 'bro, just play' an thats ur life so, manifest stuff by asking and it will be, like thats the holy play button released

Nature of humans: just be okay with asking what you want and you got

Human problems: literally be yourself and you are

Answer to human problems: Allah will like, do it for you now, you got the missing link and just be and your upgrades now have a realisation becoming aware (you're in your own world and was like 'im there' and you have made your delulu too real that it is an u won the wish granting factory for free)

History: be that beautiful that you don't even care

Death: nobody dies

View of religion: you're back if you send a message to your future self and it's here

Judgement day

higher 3rd density: anybody is you, now you're okay to walk your own world unhurt, you're free from what was called 'Bohemian Grove', and that is not actually your fault, so they usually would make pregnant fat women do their worst to attack 'the beast' in their own home by making them disordered from fate that their interests does not rely on them anymore for 'taking on' the worlds end by a pregnancy scare made on TV and by laws of what fiction can actually do to a man inside a womans clitoris by mistake when not even being entered (TV situation of 'the worlds end' carried on by now the winner of the 'hunger games'

collective automatic mind: you're in your own dream world fantasy become you, so you're literally you in your own music video world that you are and normally the people who read these posts dont reply to it because i am myself, a music video fantasy become you, so you know well about the stuff i talk about and the things you played along with and you knew very well that you're one of those people who plays along with the idea of that i am and you are

Metaphysics: you're able to get your algorithm being you, so what you think is what you have and you have it by now a new world order by youtube, so watch a healthy amount of real estate videos in your dream location (like mine being Dubai) that actually helps you finalise your hearts location being you

Epistemology: your body is relative to you by heart to your true parents, so if you're reading this, i'm sorry for what you have went through, you must have had a fracture with a parent association through Bohemian Grove, so that also relied on manifestation energy being taken upfront to that you're not even a human anymore but a commodity for other peoples expression, so you were as they are but not in truth but they would spread a rumour about you made for you and exclusively to you about your own world, so they're the ones who are maladaptive daydreaming, not you

Ethics: you're actually fond of being yourself fully in the wind from thought theory (don't worry, you're not going to get in trouble)

Nature of humans: you're able to think of anything and it will be because other people (your friends) do that for you and because you're reading it (neuro-divergent), you can't do the same and it makes you realise that thoughts are not meant to touch you but made for you so whatever you thought is meant for you now than you are for 'thoughts and prayers' being made for you now and it is true for now the 'Loviatar' (norwegian beast made in heaven and hell in their fables of mystical lore) is now gone from the body as everybody would say 'end times' is not there anymore

Human problems: you're able to find love more easier than never than being with your loved ones by psyche than you being in eros in ache (his myth is actually you now)

Answer to human problems: people remember you by name and it is true that TV theory ends here rn

History: just be yourself like you were never allowed to be and you are, you're able to kill that succubus inside your soul in being than they are blind of you existing (JW accords are gone completely)

Death: you're now in the hands of your true family in now Hollywood, you're okay with that as long as you know you are there also, watch a lot of you in everything you're into as now you're always in comic-con forever

View of religion: you're Muslim by the time you're reading this (truthfully)

Gaiman's equinox

higher 3rd density: this time, there is no telling off but you're always in your own mind as you become (paradise) so you're good to be in the best case scenario plane than you're safe than never

individual automatic mind: you're actually capable of existing in every situation to be done for, like you know your reality really well and you know to the point that your conversations is going smoothly because you're now annoying to be taken away in your own paradox (your best friends wedding case scenario)

Metaphysics: believe and it will be and you're there. you know that special needs kid is okay with you, just make her feel seen and for the special needs kid, you got what you wanted so the rest of the write ups down is for the minds and not the hearts

Epistemology: you're the devil in your own universe, you care to hate and it will be, okay now a special needs kid (not you, the reader who has it but someone who has not found this acc) is in hate rn and is going to die, now what. this is your doing

Ethics: everything is your fault because now the special needs bestie says it, 'you fucked up everything by remaining a celebrity, you did this to yourselves now them because they don't have money to feel attained a life worth living for' and everything you thought you heard was that special needs bestie, now take that into acc

Nature of humans: this is a UN crisis now

Human problems: celebrities are going to be affected by nazar

Answer to human problems: that special needs bestie is gonna have a long holiday period to be for and not for for, like this is you going to 'work' but as long as your special needs bestie is having a great time (see what happens ; ) you're now in the world of controversy and danger (your specialty) now do what you want, but that SN bestie is you, do what they do and make yourself happen (their advice)

History: whatever karma you got, you earned ('i feel bad for what i did not do' energy)

Death: your special needs bestie is daydreaming, make that reality a you problem, not theirs

View of religion: you're the one who has a shitty relationship with your family of natural relative of your own dimension, go back and tell them everything

Babylon unbroken

lower 3rd density: now this is your world (like the SN bestie did it their way) prove them wrong, and now this is your chance to forget whatever Stan Lee told you cuz he made you to forget you (shit, you ain't even in his creations)

physical mind unconscious: whatever you lose is made for the best of you to 'be yourself' so congratulations for primordially fucking up *applause*

Metaphysics: you made yourself, now show that to the world

Epistemology: this is you

Ethics: ....

Nature of humans: go.... tell your mom you... have a ... dream.. : )

Human problems: .... why did you do it?

Answer to human problems: now, go say that to the SN bestie who knew worlds before a sanctimonious situation happened in front of their family in real time that you hate them and now bye bye in the sky exists to you as a 'jovie's witness' now,

History: look at yourself in the mirror, do you like what you see?

Death: obedience is natural after a world ending situationship happened in Doctor Who after you logged off to see whatever i'm writing here (your friend)

View of religion: be her friend, she likes that

Kingdom come

lower 3rd density: you believe shit is real now in the good ol' (*insert the same TV show now with an apocalyptic storyline now*)

physical mind subconscious: now what *viewer is the fat man back in his big ol' seat at the theatres watching you*

Metaphysics: ...

Epistemology: *godly glare that feels like a short circuit in a school play energy just seconds away from you pissing yourself in an embarrassing core memory yet to come*

Ethics: everything is your doing, where will the scene take you next

Nature of humans: A' UZOUU BILAAEHH

Human problems: are you remembering anything you did last night that may be of anything useful for you to carry on with

Answer to human problems: now, Harper St. James is not even your lecturer, she has an account and now she has not even found yours yet, tell me why?

History: i don't give a shit has a whole new trajectory on your sequences now as a paper plane now

Death: why did you hate me for what?

View of religion: .... Allah is not even.. there in person to tell you that *insert X here* is there forever and you knew who what when where socially everywhere now

Pythagorean theorem

lower 3rd density: efhuag\u'odbhdsv;\jdbv'liaDHnehf;oiwiue oweypoOFWEOI YWOYWYWO4YR4U4R24YT385UT ]09U4H RE WH'Oei jpo# o k#l\j i rtprut iport40tpotu9u0í€

physical mind conscious: you .. get it.. don't you?

Metaphysics: that is an insult

Epistemology: this ain't true

Ethics: you did it, didn't you?

Nature of humans: have sex in your way but don't put me in the equation tho like 2+2 theory is you, now answer ur ma on the phone

Human problems: your wedding or bust, she leavin u

Answer to human problems: do that, one more time

History: dead

Death: always welcome

View of religion: Israel vs Palestine is not there, ur the one who's crazy now *laughs in Wilem Dafoe Joker*

#piston cup #he did what in his cup?

0 notes

drgamenstein · 1 year ago

Text

If I may have a weird rant about something weighing on me, with no tags, and just to get it out of my system, with no intention of offending anyone. As a white man, with north/eastern European heritage, from a non-christian denominational background, and who's family came to america either as indentured servants to the Mob, or were war refugees from WWII, I feel as though the discussion of race, racism and Racial politics in America is being severely oversimplified in our country on all sides, and that's why it brings up so much tension.

I feel like there are a good portion of people who saw "race" in my prompt and "white man" in my self description, and thought "this guy should really not be talking," and to you I say, you're who I'm referring to when I say the problem is being oversimplified.

The thing that nobody on either side wants to admit, is that racism isn't about bone structure or levels of melanin, but it's something deep rooted in our core instincts, and that's something we all share. The reason why the concentration of racial crime and tension in America is so high is because we are the most diverse country in the world, not just in terms of continental races, but also in terms of racial Ethnicities.

Humans by nature are a tribal species, and we crave community, but in for all of us throughout history, war and violence was common between different tribes, and due to cultural differences that makes it nearly impossible to fully track your lineage if you're from a ethnic group who used oral and artistic traditions to pass down your lineage instead of written. The reason why we have a black history month instead of several individual days like with Irish or Italian heritage is sadly because of those inter-tribal wars, more so than the slave trade, which is hard to say and probably really hard to hear, but is sadly how it is, because the African slave trade started when warlords would conquer other nations, and sell the people they didn't want to take care of to Europeans in exchange for weapons to win more wars, sadly meaning most African American heritage begins in America, after their African nation was rendered extinct.

This isn't exclusively an African issue, though, and that's why I started this by saying it's a more complex issue than we give it credit for. Because African Americans are not the only race in this country to have their culture rendered completely extinct, leaving any remaining descendants to guess and try to rebuild their culture. Asia has too many of these to count honestly and is incredibly hard to map out, considering how China in the modern day treats its own history. North Korea has Propaganda mimicking Nazi and other Eugenicist Propaganda to try and illustrate their superiority to South Korean Citizens, the Middle East is the Cradle of humanity and has been in constant war since the dawn of our species on this planet. Like with the many ancient nations of Asia, American peoples both north and south had many different extinctions to the point that it became a part of their codified religion in South America, and now, almost nobody refers to themselves as "American" and only a few call themselves "Native," a term which I don't think I've ever heard used to refer to South Americans outside of the untouched peoples. As for the Europeans, most of their extinct ethnic groups are either also still being discriminated against to this day, get crowned on as "weirdos" and memes, or nobody even knows what they are or what happened to them. Nords, Vikings, Celts, Armenian, Romani, Wicca, all terms we can recognize, but all either no longer exist, or if they do, are such a vague terms that most don't know what they actually are. There are a lot of people who recognize the term Gypsy, but most don't recognize it in america as a slur, and it's almost been romanticized to refer to "world-wise traveler," instead of a nomadic people that were almost completely exterminated in the holocaust.

I need to cut myself off, or else this will become a very long lesson of world history, like I said Asia had too many extinct cultures to count, I glossed over the Middle East, and I barely touched on Europe, but I literally have sat here typing for 2 hours, and had to edit this down to cut long long diatribes about the waring states, Egypt, Persia, India, Rome and Greek Kings. Like Sparta was an actual country, with a king, independent from Greece but sharing a common religion, and this sentence is why I needed to stop myself.

Look, race is a highly complex issue, but continuing the conflict by shutting down the conversation with phrases like "you don't understand, you can't understand, etc" only serves to prolong the conflict more than resolve. Racial and ethnic tension, violence, and the pursuit of superiority is something common among all modern cultures, so while you may be correct in saying "you don't understand," you should also recognize that same statement can be applied directly to you. None of us can or will ever truly understand each other's history or the feelings that come with them outside of our own communities, but accepting that gap and listening is the only step toward build a new community rather than shutting others down.

The hard truth is that because America was the final continent to be inhabited, even by natives, for 99% of us in this country, if you take any of our family trees back far enough, we're only here because we weren't wanted where we came from, so we need to be welcomed here.

0 notes

lordofwaffless · 1 year ago

Text

15. Fiona

“C’mon, Stu, hurry your tiny little goat legs up!” Fiona called. They were walking down

the sidewalk downtown, passing small clothing boutiques and bookstores. The town of Basilton

was known for being full of folks with a literary bent; the library where Ezra worked was even

larger than the main library in Everin City, where Stu was from. (Ezra worked in the magic

history section; Marlowe had often commented that she thought she only worked there because

she was such an important part of magical history. Ezra had always shrugged her older sister off

and declined to respond.)

“Fiona, I’m walking as quickly as I can!” Stu actually was walking extremely quickly

(certainly faster than Wesley), but Fiona had all the advantages of being an air witch: all she had

to do to go quickly was step lightly and let the wind carry her along.

“Goddess fuck, can both of you slow down, please?”

Fiona chuckled. “There is no Goddess Fuck in our religion, Wesley, Our Lady’s name is

Endalyn!”

“My aunt’s name is Endalyn,” Stu chimed in. Fiona had slowed down somewhat at

Wesley’s request, and Stu had finally caught up to her. “They’re named after the Goddess, but I

don’t know why.”

Fiona stopped walking altogether. “Why do you refer to your nonbinary guardian as your

aunt? Do they prefer that, or-?”

“Mmm-hmm. I don’t know why that is, either,” Stu replied. “Just is.”

Wesley finally caught up to him. He doubled over, completely out of breath. “I- ha-

hate-,” he panted, before taking a deeper, shuddering breath. “I hate you both.”

Fiona kicked him lightly in the shin. “Noted. You’re such a little bitch, you know that?”

He lifted a hand off of his knee, gesturing, as he declared, “I am not a little bitch, you’re

just mean. And you use the wind to walk, which is bloody cheating, anyway, so-”

“Biiiiiiiitch. Bitch. Whiny little bitch baby.”

Stu tried to intervene. “Fiona-”

“Shut up, Stu. Wesley, you are a whiny little bitch baby.”

He straightened, having finally caught his breath. “If you weren’t so pretty I’d punch you

in the nose,” he said.

Stu decided he really ought to interrupt. “If you two are done abusing each other, can we

go?” He glanced between the two of them, bemused and concerned; both feelings which grew

when the two of them burst out laughing.

“It’s fine, Stu, neither of us means it,” Wesley explained. “If either of us were actually in

the mood to punch the other, we definitely wouldn’t be saying so; and she definitely would not

be calling me a bitch.”

Fiona was laughing too, a softer sound than the cackle Stu had grown to expect. “Mum

always gets so freaked out when we have an argument, she’s like, ‘You guys get so scarily polite

and I’m like what the hell happened? I haven’t had to tell them not to curse indoors in over an

hour!’ and it really freaks out Da, he refuses to leave the greenhouse when we’re in the middle of

an argument, he says he can’t get over the ‘please pass the butter knife, Wesley,’ and the ‘I hope

you have a lovely day, Fiona,’ he says it’s too ominous to bear,” she chuckled. She seemed

lighter, and softer, almost, outside of St. Baz’s; more like an ordinary mortal and less like a

terrifying whirlwind of destructive power.

“You live with both of your parents?” Stu asked, his eyes widening. “And they like each

other?”

“Yep. Well, generally. Mum and Da both live at home, though Da got a job offer back in

Verity and refused to go, which caused quite the row. Said the money wasn’t worth leaving us,

though Mother knows we could’ve used it.”

Wesley shook his head. “Honestly, Fi, Mother’s worse than Goddess fuck. You’d get

beaten in the temple for that one.”

“I think you should both stop cursing,” Stu whispered. Neither of the pair noticed.

“Who cares? Maybe I wasn’t cursing. Maybe I was simply pointing out that the Mother

Goddess is well aware my parents have more kids than means to provide.”

Wesley scoffed. “The fact that you used the Goddess as your excuse instead of trying to

claim you were talking about your mum says enough.”

“Oh, come off it, Wesley. You have no right to be on a high fucking horse and you know

it,” she responded. She started walking again. “C’mon, guys! Don’t be whiny little bitch babies,”

she called, already ten feet ahead. The two boys groaned, but more or less managed to keep up.

After another twenty minutes of walking, they were out on a path just entering the woods

by the fields that surrounded Basilton. Stu had never been around the farms in this direction; the

Veritable Forest was situated at the halfway point between Basilton and Verity, and it lay in the

opposite direction of the farms.

“So, your family lives on a farm?” Stu asked Fiona. He was skipping along in the chilly

country air. Although it was bright and sunny, it was still quite cold, and he found that skipping

warmed him up better than regular walking.

“Not really. It’s more of a fairytale cottage kind of place. There’s a garden, a babbling

Brooke-”

“Oh, you’ll love Brooke, Stewart. She’s the least ill-tempered water nymph I’ve ever

met,” Wesley chuckled.

“-And of course, the house itself. It’s kind of large by normal standards, four big

bedrooms with walk-in closets and actually nearly six bathrooms, but since there are ten of us-”

“There are ten of you?!”

“Including my parents, yes.”

“Are the twins still sleeping in your closet?” Wesley asked. The last time he’d visited the

cottage, the Witch twins, Fair and Starlight (they’d chosen their own names at the age of seven)

had been sleeping in loft beds in Fiona’s closet.

“Yep. Mum made me move my clothes into a wardrobe so they’d have space for all of

their shit.”

“Lovely. Just lovely. I’m sure that sucks balls, Fi.”

“I’m sure you suck balls, Wesley. I’m sure you suck an entire bag of-”

“Fiona Witch! That language is not appropriate, well, ever, but certainly not in front of,”

here Fiona’s mother, a seer who’d come round the bend at that moment, paused and gestured to

Stu, before leaning in and stage-whispering, “children!”

“Ma! It’s his balls Wesley’s sucking, I don’t see the point of-”

“Fiona!”

Wesley, trying not to burst out laughing, glared at her and chimed in with, “Yes, Fiona!”

“Oh shut up, Wesley-”

“-Hello, Wesley, dear, how have you been, I-”

“-Mum, he’s been a twat, is how he’s been-”

“I’ve been fine, actually-”

“No you haven’t, you liar-”

“Fiona, the kid-”

“He’s just a goat, not a child, he-”

“-he isn’t a kid, he’s-”

“Yes, alright, ok. Wesley, you and your friend must be freezing, let’s-”

“Why are you even-”

“Do you know what she-”

“Wesley, don’t you dare-”

“Fiona, be polite-”

“She said-”

“No, I-”

“Can everybody please just SHUT UP?!”

The three who’d been arguing in the woods turned to look at each other, shocked, before

turning their attention to the satyr sitting on the ground. Stu was rocking back and forth, his

hands firmly clamped around his ears, tears streaming down his face as he glared at his

boyfriend, his friend, and her mother.

Something, unfortunately, clicked in Fiona’s tactless and easily confused head. “Oh, wait, Stu, are you neurodivergent?” she asked, with all her usual lack of tact. Wesley elbowed her. “Ow, Wes, why-”

He glared. “That’s not the sort of question you ask when someone’s losing it,” he stage-whispered, “and besides that, it’s not like that actually matters right now.”

“How does that not- ow,” she held her side and grimaced.

Wesley sat across from Stu. “What’s wrong, love?”

Stu shook his head.

Wesley tried again. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Stu shook his head again. He was sobbing much harder than he’d been that morning.

Wesley had seen Stu cry plenty (more than plenty), but never quite this much. Goddess, I think

we triggered something, he thought, his invocation less a curse than an observation to an unseen

force.

“Wesley, we’re going to go,” Fiona whispered to him after a while. “Don’t get eaten.”

(There were no monsters in that part of the woods.) She and her mother walked the short distance

away to their home, which was just around the bend from where they’d paused.

The two boys sat across from each other for about half an hour in the cold. Stu had cried

himself out fairly quickly once the argument had ended, but he didn’t move from where he sat

curled up on the ground for quite some time.

“Wesley?” He asked, peeking over his knees at his boyfriend, who’d been watching two

robins fight over a bug.

Wesley turned to him. “Hmm?’

“Sit closer.”

Wesley was more than happy to oblige. He scooted over across the cold dirt, settling next

to Stu. Stu leaned into him, glad for the extra warmth. “My parents used to fight like that,” Stu

whispered. “Layers and layers of words, with the housekeeper butting in every few minutes to

remind them that I was there, but they wouldn’t listen and would keep shouting as if I were

invisible.”

Wesley rubbed Stu’s back with the hand that wasn’t wrapped around his own knees. He

pressed a kiss to his forehead. “That’s awful. I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

“Mmm-hmm. It was not fun.”

“I can imagine.”

They sat in silence for a while. Though it was still fairly early in the evening, the sun was

beginning to go down, and dusk was starting to fall around them.

“Wes?”

“Hmm?”

“Are your parents like that?”

Wesley sighed. “My parents don’t argue much; really, my parents don’t say much of

anything to each other at all. Or to me, for that matter.” He stared off into the distance,

exhaustion seeping from every bit of him. “At least, my dad doesn’t. My mother’s around a bit

more, but she’s not very focused.” He chuckled bitterly. “People always assume she’s the faery,

since she’s so graceful and detached and flighty. No one assumes it’s the balding middle school

teacher with glasses and a vintage bike obsession.”

They both turned at the sound of leaves crunching behind them, and found themselves

looking up at a shivering Fiona. She was wrapped in a cosy-looking pea coat, in a soft pink that

bordered on twee and clashed alarmingly with both her hair and the bright red scarf wrapped

around her neck. She looks like a valentine, Stu noted.

“You two ought to come inside. Mum’s promised to play nice, and Da’s in the

greenhouse, though he might come in in a bit,” she murmured. Her ears were turning red in the

chilly evening breeze. “The kids are working on their homework in the family room, so we’ll

have the big kitchen to ourselves.”

Wesley looked at Stu. “Do you want to go in, love?”

Stu nodded. He stood up, wobbling for a second, before steadying himself against a

suddenly upright Wesley. “Fiona has snacks, right?”

His friends chuckled. “Fiona has so many snacks,” she laughed, taking Stu’s free hand.

The three of them walked round the bend into the clearing where Fiona’s house was located.

Stu’s jaw dropped. While Myrtle’s garage had been full of faery lights, the clearing where

the Fallonson-Witch family lived was full of actual faeries. Pixies and wood sprites hovered

about the clearing, darting from tree to tree and landing on folks’s shoulders. The aforementioned

babbling Brooke was chattering merrily in her stream to a dryad who was hanging laundry from

his branches; in the flower garden, flower fae were tending to their blooms, and in the orchard,

wood nymphs and satyrs danced as they collected fruit that had fallen to the ground.

The entire scene glittered in various shades of pink and blue and gold. It looked homey,

like some strange, family-owned farm, but it also had the dream-like (or perhaps nightmarish,

Stu couldn't help but think) quality that one associated with dissociating. It all seemed too perfect

to be real.

“Where are we?” Stu asked, nearly certain that they’d somehow been transported into the

wild Fae lands at the heart of Everin.

Fiona didn’t bother with much of a reply. She gripped his hand more firmly and dragged

him towards the house, where, if nothing else, she could make sure he didn’t accidentally sell his

soul to one of the vampires who lived in the orchard or get eaten by wood sprites.

“Doesn’t matter. C’mon, Stewart, I can’t let you die in the woods, your aunts would

literally kill me.”

“Fiona-,” Wesley butt in, although her resulting glare shut him up immediately. It was

about a three minute walk at a brisk pace across the edge of the clearing to the house, and Fiona

dragged them along with her wind at the fastest pace she could manage. When they reached the

door, she opened it without even touching the handle and yanked the boys inside, slamming the

door shut behind her with the wind.

“Alright, boys, we’re indoors now. It’s safe enough here to ask whatever questions

you’ve got, Stu, but I would suggest we get to the kitchen first,” Fiona said, chucking off her

coat and shaking her hair. She unwound her scarf from her neck and draped it around Stu, who

was shivering.

“Well damn, Fi, I thought you were going to wrap your scarf around me,” Wesley said.

She whacked him lightly atop his head with her hat. “No, you absolute fucking twat.

Goddess, Wesley, let’s go sit by the fire if you’re cold.”

She grabbed both of the boys’ hands and dragged them away in the direction of the

kitchen, stopping to hurl an insult at Starlight in the hall before finally pausing in front of the

hearth in the family’s big kitchen. Fiona’s house, like Wesley’s, had multiple kitchens; the one

they were in currently was the family kitchen. (There was also the summer kitchen in the

courtyard, and the potion and spell kitchen was in the basement; because the house was

technically set into a hill, the basement was built a lot like Wesley’s front kitchen, with large

windows and a sliding glass door.)

She thrust Stu down in front of the fire, nearly throwing him in. (Just like Ezra, he

thought. Hmph.) “Sit down and get warm, Stu, while I take your stupid boyfriend to grab more

Firewood.”

Wesley poked her in the head. “You said let’s sit in front of the fire if I’m cold! I’m cold,

Fi, go get the wood yourself.”

“Wesley,” Fiona hissed at him, gesturing discreetly in an “I need to talk to you, you

moron” sort of way. “We should gather more firewood.”

Wesley cottoned on, not being as half as thick as he acted, but he shook his head.

“I want Wesley to sit down,” Stu said, not bothering to look up at them; he was staring

into the fire, watching the logs slowly turn to ash.

“Fine! Have it your way, you two, then! I will go get more firewood-,” they really were

running low in the kitchen, “-and you two can sit nice and cosy by the fire, and then when I get

back, we can eat and I can spring my news on the both of you without any proper warning and

you can choke on your food, since apparently that’s what you want! Lovely. Just bloody lovely,

you two,” and she stormed out of the house through the back door.

“She’s going to end up selling her soul to a vampire one of these days,” Wesley muttered.

“On purpose?”

“No.” Wes considered it for a moment. “Well, maybe. If the vampire were really cute,

she’d probably consider it.”

“Why do you think she’ll end up accidentally selling her soul to a vampire?” Stu asked.

He scratched the tip of his nose; it was itchy and warm from the heat of the fire.

Wesley turned to him. He reached over and pushed one of Stu’s long-ish brown curls

behind his gently pointed ears. “She’s too impulsive. She throws herself headlong into stupid

situations without much of a thought for the consequences, simply because she’s so damn

powerful that most of the consequences barely affect her at all. One of these days, though, she’s

going to tangle herself up in something she can’t cut or curse her way out of, and then where will

I be?” He turned back to the fire, his head resting on Stu’s shoulder. “She’s my oldest friend; I’ve

known her nearly since birth. I’m pretty sure her parents love me more than mine do. We fight a

lot, joking mostly, but she’s-”

He sighed. “She’s like a sister to me. More than a sister to me, she’s like my bloody

platonic soulmate or something. I’d be devastated if anything were to happen to her.”

Stu looked down at the head on his shoulder. “Have you told her that?” he asked, running

his hand through Wesley’s hair.

“I tell her every time she does something stupid! I used to just text it to her every

morning- ‘Good morning, Fiona, I love you, so please don’t accidentally kill yourself trying to

fight your English teacher,’ or whatever mess she had going on at the moment. I think she

thought I was joking. Honestly, I think she still thinks I’m joking.”

“Well, at any rate, she clearly cares about you,” Stu said. “I do think she would have

given you her scarf if I wasn’t so much smaller and cuter.”

Wesley pulled back. “Stewart! Are you seriously saying that I am not small and cute?”

Stu giggled. “You’re like, six foot five, Wes.”

He scoffed. “Ok, so I’m maybe not small, but I’m definitely pretty cute! I might not be

tiny little bunny rabbit cute like you,” he poked him in the nose, “but I’ve at least got to be

Flemish Giant rabbit cute, right?”

“Yes, Wesley, you are every bit as cute as a ginormous rabbit that could literally kill

someone. You are murder rabbit cute.”

“Ok, that is not what I meant.”

It was too late, though: the concept had stuck. Stu had stood up and was doing what

would probably be classified as an interpretive dance to the chant of “Murder rabbit, murder

rabbit!”

“Holy fuck. What have I just walked into?” questioned Fiona, standing in the doorway

with snow sitting stark against the red of her hair, holding a bundle of firewood. “I leave for

eight minutes and I come back to- What, exactly? What in the name of all that’s good and holy

and made of cheese is going on here?”

“It is called,” said Stu, standing upside down now. He tumbled to the ground and pointed

at her with one long, slender finger. “-interpretive dance.”

“You have caster’s fingers, Stewart.”

“You know, I’ve told him that, actually,” interrupted Wesley. “I told him so in class once

and he threw a pencil at me. He says it’s from piano.”

“Do you play piano, Stu?” asked Fiona.

Stu nodded. “Mmm-hmm. I’ve been playing since I was four. And that,” he turned to Wesley, “-is why my fingers are so long.”

Wesley scooped him into his lap and nuzzled his neck. “Sure. Definitely not because of a

shocking level of magical ability that you’re keeping from us.

Stu held up a finger, giggling. “I know one spell, Wesley. Would you like to see my one

spell, Wesley?”

`Fiona cackled. “I think we’d all like to see your ‘one spell’, Stu. C’mon, let’s have it.”

Stu pointed a finger at his shoe and stared at it very intently for a few moments. After a

second or two, the bright red rubber of his wellingtons turned green, and then faded back to red.

Fiona’s jaw dropped. “Really, Stewart? Your ‘one spell’ is a colour changing spell tested

in the practical exam of eleventh-year saint candidates, performed without an incantation or a

wand?” she scoffed. “You’ve just damned yourself irrevocably, Stewart, as A, you’ve clearly got

loads of innate magical ability, and B, I will never believe a word you say since your worldview

is clearly skewed if you think that that is going to convince me that you don’t have loads of

magical ability.”

Stu peered up at her in bemusement. Though he’d sat back down after his dance and was

now sitting on Wesley, Fiona had remained standing the entire time. “What’s the big deal?”

Fiona gaped at him. Wesley simply shook his head. “Colour spells alter the way the

human eye perceives light. You’re not actually changing the colour the way you would if you

were, say, dying a coat; depending on the spell, you’re either changing the entire wavelength of

the light, which is the simpler option, or you're modifying the eye itself to be able to perceive

the new colour. You’re forcing your brain to accept a reality that is not, in fact, real.”

“-hence why it’s so bloody difficult,” Fiona said, grateful for the explanation she hadn’t

been wholly sure how to give (she’d always excelled at the practical side of magic; Wesley was

the one who competed and won awards in the theoretics categories in Sport). She flopped down

on the hearth rug next to the boys. “Wesley. Go get snacks.”

“No.”

“Do it for your husband, Wesley. Be a good little housewife and get your husband some

snacks,” she grinned, knowing that Wesley’s want to please Stu would get her some snacks, even

if the precise wording of her supplication might get her hit in the head with hard fruit. “I cannot

believe you just threw an apple at me.”

“You should feel honoured that I didn’t throw a pineapple at your head, Fi. There’s one

right here, it’s not too late,” he pointed out, smirking.

“Guys, no fruit throwing,” Stu commanded, pouting at them from the cosiest spot at the

hearth. Wesley sat back down next to him with a plate of sandwiches from the basket Fiona’s

mum always kept full and a tin of biscuits. Stu turned to him. “Wes, are you going to eat?”

Wesley nodded. “I’ll have a sandwich or two.”

Fiona waggled her finger at him. “Have two, Wesley,” she mumbled through a mouthful

of jam and homemade bread.

“Fiona, that’s disgusting.”

She swallowed. “Whatever. Have two sandwiches. And some of those biscuits- my aunt

made them, and I know you like the lemon ones.”

Stu stared at her. “The mayor made these biscuits?”

Fiona nodded. “It’s the only thing she’s actually good at. She comes over every Sunday to

bake for us; brings Rafe, of course, who’s a fucking prat, but otherwise it’s fine, and we get

biscuits out of it, so-,” she trailed off, searching through the tin for something particularly sweet.

Wesley chuckled. “It gets pretty confusing since both Rafe and Fi’s brother Eric are the

‘son of Fallon’, and Fi’s dad refuses to call Rafe anything other than Fallonson.”

“Why grandma Fallon decided to name both of her children Fallon too, I will never

understand,” Fiona said as she crunched down on a raspberry chocolate walnut biscuit decisively.

“Ok, but anyway, Stu-”

“Fiona, be polite,” Wesley warned.

“I am always polite! Stu, what happened in the woods?”

Wesley shook his head. “That’s not polite.”

Stu laughed. “It’s fine, I’d rather she just ask me then try to manoeuvre around in search

of answers.” He turned to Fiona. “I have PTSD (weeeell the doctor said it might be C-PTSD,

actually), which was triggered by the yelling. As for your earlier question, I do have ADHD, so

yes, I am neurodivergent.” He crunched down on the apple Wesley had thrown thoughtfully.

Wesley chucked a tomato slice at Fiona. “See? I told you it wasn’t relevant.”

Stu poked him. “I mean, it wasn’t really not relevant, Wes.”

“Actually, you said it didn’t matter at the moment, which was true,” she nibbled on her

third biscuit. (She’d decided to make him pay for the tomato later; at the moment, she needed

things from him.)

Wesley hummed. “Why are we here again?”

“To enjoy my delightful company? Because you always eat after long walks? To protect

whatever’s left of your little faerie boyfriend’s innocence?”

“Nothing. Literally, absolutely nothing,” Stu muttered.

“...that’s a very bitter take, Stewart.”

“Well, maybe he’s a bitter little person, Fiona, under the rosy cheeks and giggles. Why

are we really here?”

She sighed and ran a hand through her now-messy red hair. In moments like that, her

similarities to her best friend were unmistakable. “So, I was reading last night,” she began.

“As you tend to do,” Wesley said.

“-Right. I was flipping through a book my aunt gave me on blood rituals (kind of

concerning, actually), cross-referencing certain important bits with a book on historic incidents

of dumb fucks trying to intimidate casters with cadavers, cursed objects, whatever. You know,

dark magic shit that most of us would never touch.”

Stu’s eyes widened. “You think someone was trying to intimidate Aunty Ezra with the

remains of a blood ritual?”

“Pretty much. And not one of the fun ones where you try to summon a demon or

Whatever-”

“Fiona!” Wesley glared at her.

“-or one of the normal ones that even saints use, to tie specific doors to your bloodline or

whatever. One of the proper bad ones, where you cut the Magick out of someone or something

else to make yourself more powerful or ‘balance the universe’ or whatever bigoted crap you

believe in.”

Stu blinked. “Summoning demons isn’t one of the ‘bad ones?!’”

She grinned her feral grin at him. “Depends on who you’re summoning.”

Wesley chucked another tomato at her. “Goddess, Wesley, fucking quit it-”

“Fiona. No. We’re not summoning demons again.”

“Again?!” Stu gaped at them. “When- why- who even- what? What?!”

“You know- It’s- oh, whatever. So, anyway, I need you guys to help me summon a

demon,” she declared, pulling tomato seeds out of her hair.

“Fiona, I literally just said-”

Stu fainted.

Wesley stared at him before turning to his friend. “Oh my Goddess, Fiona, you just killed

my boyfriend.”

She poked Wesley in the head. “Wh- Hey!”

“Good. Go ahead and draw some of his blood,” she grinned.

“No, Fiona!” He glared at her. “You’re not stealing my boyfriend’s blood. How would we

have even done this during lunch?!”

“Eh, you know, we would have- Nevermind. Your blood is too weak, elfling, I need his,”

she explained, in a tone that suggested Wesley was a complete moron.

“Why would his be any stronger?” he questioned, half-ready to throw that pineapple at

her.

“Were you not paying attention just now? Your little Faerie boyfriend has more magic in

his pinkie than you have in both of your pinkies!”

“...that’s not saying much, Fiona. And anyway, he’s not a Faerie.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Right.” She glared at him. “You know precisely what I mean,

Wesley. Yes, you’re strong, but not strong enough, I’m sorry, Wesley, it’s just how it is!”

Wesley opened his mouth, and then shut it again. His face turned as silvery as the bowl

that sat on the counter. Finally, after a few frustrated moments of opening and closing his mouth

like a carp and running his hands through his hair, he spoke. “Alright, we can’t argue like this.

Not because we shouldn’t argue about this, because we definitely should, but because Stu is right

there and he’s been staring at us nervously for the past few minutes,” he murmured, his voice

low and cold.

Fiona rolled her eyes and turned to the satyr, who’d sat up and was now biting his nails as

he watched them. “Stewart, my mother’s a seer. Your aunt isn’t going to come back on her own.

You can believe me or not, but if you intend to ever do so, I would suggest believing me now

that we have something closer to the upper hand, rather than when it’s been several months, and

you’re living with Myrtle, and Edie and Ezra have disappeared entirely.”

Stu stared into the fire, his chin tucked into his knees. After a moment, he turned to her.

“So, summoning demons. How do we do that?”

She grinned. “You know, Stewart, I’m glad you asked."

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