#i feel connected to my ancestors in a way I'm not used to

[paradoxesofgalaxies]

There's something about tending a fireplace and feeding the fire to keep out the bitter chill that just feels so human.

[carlottastudios]

Every day I get closer to making an unhinged behemoth of a post listing all of the things about Kaeya and his possible connections to mythology & stuff that I notice but NOBODY ELSE SEEMS TO BRING UP IN THEIR THEORIES

(edit: OMG I reached the tag limit I'm so sorry)

[uwmspeccoll]

The author, Angela Hovak Johnston.

Johnston and Marjorie Tungwenuk Tahbone, traditional tattoo artist.

Catherine Niptanatiak: "I designed my own, something that represents me and who I am, something that I would be proud to wear and show off, and something that would make me feel confident and beautiful. . . . I have daughters and I would like to teach them what I know. I would like for them to want to practice our traditions and keep our culture alive."

Cecile Nelvana Lyall: "On my hand tattoos, from the top down, the triangles represent the mountains. . . . The Ys are the tools used in seal hunting. . . . The dots are my ancestors. . . . I am so excited to be able to truly call myself and Inuk woman."

Colleen Nivingalok: "The tattoos on my face represent my family and me. The lines on my chin are my four children -- my two older boys on the outside protecting my daughters. The lines on my cheeks represent the two boys and the two girls on either side. The one on my forehead represents their father and me. Together, we live for our children."

Doreen Ayalikyoak Evyagotailak: "I have thought about getting traditional tattoos since I was a teenager. . . . When I asked the elders if I could have my own meaning for my tattoos, they said it wouldn't matter. My tattoos symbolize my kids."

Mary Angele Takletok: "I always wanted traditional tattoos like the women in the old days. I wanted them on my wrists and my fingers so I could show I'm Inuk."

Melissa MacDonald Hinanik: "As a part of celebrating my heritage and revitalizing important traditional customs that form my identity, I believe I have earned my tattoos. I am a beautiful, strong young woman. I am a mother, a wife, a daughter, a friend, and an active community member. I reclaim the traditional customs as mine, I re-own them as a part of who I am."

Star Westwood: "We still have some of our culture, but some things are slowly dying. Having tattoos helps us keep our culture alive. . . . . My tattoos represent my dad and my dad's dad. The ones closest to my wrists represent my sisters."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

National Tattoo Day

July 17 is National Tattoo Day. To celebrate, we present some images from Reawakening Our Ancestors' Lines: Revitalizing Inuit Traditional Tattooing, compiled by Angela Hovak Johnston, co-founder with Marjorie Tahbone of the Inuit Tattoo Revitalization Project, with photographs by Inuit photographer Cora DeVos, and published in Iqaluit, Nunavut by Inhabit Media Inc. in 2017.

For thousands of years, Inuit have practiced the traditional art of tattooing. Created the ancient way, with bone needles and caribou sinew soaked in seal oil, sod, or soot, these tattoos were an important tradition for many Inuit women, symbols etched on their skin that connected them to their families and communities. But with the rise of missionaries and residential schools in the North, the tradition of tattooing was almost lost. In 2005, when Angela Hovak Johnston heard that the last Inuk woman tattooed in the old way had died, she set out to tattoo herself in tribute to this ancient custom and learn how to tattoo others. What was at first a personal quest became a project to bring the art of traditional tattooing back to Inuit women across Nunavut.

Collected in this book are photos and stories from more than two dozen women who participated in Johnston's project. Together, these women have united to bring to life an ancient tradition, reawakening their ancestors' lines and sharing this knowledge with future generations. Hovak Johnston writes: "Never again will these Inuit traditions be close to extinction, or only a part of history you read about in books. This is my mission."

Reawakening Our Ancestors' Lines forms part of our Indigenous America Literature Collection.

Angela Hovak Johnston (right) with her cousin Janelle Angulalik and her aunt Millie Navalik Angulalik.

View other posts from our Indigenous America Literature Collection.

[moonreader1010]

Pac- how can you be the b*tch that never loses<3

(the pictures do not belong to me. All rights go to the original owner)

Pile 1. Pile 2.

Pile 3 ^

Pile 1:

Go tell your friends about it (about it)

Go tell 'em what you know, what you seen

How I roll, how I get it on the low (oh)

You have a really bright aura. You should really use it. it will take you to great heights. You have this ability to shed enlightenment over literally anyone. That's your superpower. Your connections are very important. You should work on your tolerance. Try to not get so involved in matters that don't concern you. Be helpful but to an extent. I see you giving A LOT to other people. But please look after yourself first. You are sensitive to certain things. Use this ability. Don't let it use you. Okay?. You need to learn how to balance your pride and when to compromise. I see you leaning toward one side more but bby different situations need to be dealt with differently. Yes balance. Another card is also pointing towards balance. Learn balancing things and you will be unstoppable.

There has been some loss. There is some anger too. And bby it is only contributing towards emotional instability. Don't let it control you. You are made for greater things. You might have felt left out a lot in your life but that's because people don't know what to do with you and your amazing self. You are different. And that's such a good thing no? Why don't you let yourself accept it. You won't fit in and that's because you simply are just better than them. Use it!!!!!!

Your brain is AMAZING. Your Ideas are amazing. You can play with emotions!!!!!! Girlllll!!! You really need to go out there and get it. Period.

Additional- Libra, high achiever, materialistic, 3, 1, affinity, triumph.

Song for you - tell your friends by the Weeknd

Pile 2: a bit 18+

You gotta be a star to jump over the moon so when you touch on me

You're a shooting star (a star), oh yeah (a star)

You know you got somethin' for the world to see and there I go

Still wondering who you are (a star, a star, yeah)

Your friendships are very important. Your communication has so much potential to make you a winner. Why don't you use it? You might love solitude and your own company but bby you gotta get out to play. And to win. Sympathy seems to be something that you know how to use. You have it in you. Again, friendship and community has been highlighted. There is a gift that you have inherited from your ancestors. You also seem to have a power in creating suspense and mystery and it's really attractive. You should use it more. Oohhh I see that you are quite feisty. You are not someone who just simply agrees to anything. You oppose it. You make things interesting. Yum. Are you possessive? Because people really admire it in you. In a sexy way. There is this arrogance that even though is conventionally bad but your arrogance is different. It makes things interesting almost. You give people ecstasy. This euphoric feeling. Very feminine energy from this pile.

Additional - cat, business, money.

Song for you - star by Megan thee stallion (feat. Lucky Daye)

Pile 3-

You came along when I needed a savior

Someone to pull me through somehow

I've been torn apart so many times

I've been hurt so many times before

So I'm counting on you now

Somebody already broke my heart

Straight up I'll tell you that i got very slippery energy. Very teasing. I also had this sudden moment where I got really angry. I feel like this pile is very "good girl gone bad" types. Past wounds. You have been hurt. A LOT. There was an earlier version of you that has been killed. You are an entirely new person. I'm getting very "don't touch or I'll break your hand" energy. Ummm. Baddie. Haha. Anyway, there has been a lot of stress, overworking or like some overwhelming experience. Too much to handle. Or maybe that's what people made you feel, that you are too much to handle or very high maintenance. But what do they know. They didn't deserve you (i suddenly felt like I had to tell you this). So true. They definitely don't deserve you. Maternal trauma. I'm so sorry bby. Heavy theme of transformation. Keep your good fait up bby. Do something for your soul and watch how you win. You have been oppressed a lot and it's time to break free. Don't hide. Despite all this, there is an innocence to you and it drives people crazy. Girlllllll. I got goosebumps. Please invest in yourself. Omg are you seriously okay bby? I'm so sorry. But it's over now. Get up and make sure nobody ever thinks about hurting you ever again. Don't suppress your memories bby. Feel them and let them transform you. Girl you are going to win.

Additional - heart, tears, fox, red, 8th house, scorpio.

Song for you - somebody already broke my heart by sade (this song is like a dedication from you to yourself)

[coinandcandle]

Offering Ideas!

Offerings can be so difficult to keep up with, but here are a few examples of some daily--or even weekly--offering ideas! These can be used for gods, spirits, ancestors, or any entity, really!

What is an Offering?

An offering is generally something that is offered as a religious sacrifice or token of devotion. This could be a physical item, a digital item, or an action.

Non-Physical Offerings

These are often easier to do, if you can remember to do it! Personally I have to have a reminder on my self care app to tell Lugh and The Morrigan "good morning" and "good night" every day. Here are some other non-physical offerings you can do!

Greetings. Just a simple "hello" or some other pleasantry at the beginning and end of each day.

Pray. Either improvise it or use one that you recite regularly. It's a bonus if you created the prayer yourself!

Sing. Again, you could create your own song if you'd like. This also works if you'd like to play an instrument.

Dance.

Recite Poetry.

Exercise. Dedicating your exercise is a great way to incorporate offerings into a more regular routine!

Chat. Sometimes if I feel like I'm not able to do much else, I will try and chat, almost in the way one would speak to an old friend while catching up. I know some folks who make whole discord servers specifically to talk to their deities or spirit pals.

Write a digital note on your phone. This one is simple and easy and you can do it anywhere without worrying about other people overseeing/hearing.

Meditate. Meditating with the sole purpose of it being an action as an offering is a good way to not only help you feel connected, but can help you throughout your day, too!

Physical Offerings

These involve a bit more work, especially if you're trying to make sure your pets or children don't get into them! But if you have a space you can place an offering, even if it's on a countertop or the topmost part of a bookshelf, then here are some things you can do.

Or consider doing a libation instead--where you pour out a drink instead of leave it out!

Drinks. Alcohol is a pretty common offering but can be rather expensive. Try milk, juice, tea, or coffee. Hell, even your favorite energy drink or sparkling water can be an offering!

Food. Set a portion of your meal aside as an offering.

Tending to plants. If you have a dedicated plant (or multiple!) then tending to them can be an offering in an of itself.

Candles or Incense. This one is as old as...well, candles and incense, I suppose! You can also use an LED light for this if needed!

Cleaning. This is especially good if you're doing it as an offering to house spirits. Also good for deities that reign over homemaking and the sort.

Pick up litter. This is a good one if you're trying to get in touch with local nature spirits.

[szynkaaa]

This is my first time asking but I'm going to ask anyway (and English is not my native language) I'm curious to know how your OC and the destined one met (I mean how was their first interaction)

hi hi! thank you so much for your ask, this is the first time I have received one about my OC <3

probably something like this (read right-to-left)

Gonna use this chance to talk a bit more about my AU lol

Wrote in a separate post here that Oz has met Sun Wukong before when she was a child and he was buried under the mountain.

So when she got whisked back into fantasy ancient China, she landed where Yuan Shoucheng aka Gourd Grandpa (the old man carrying a big gourd on his back) was already waiting there for her. He foresaw her arriva. The vague gist of my AU is that the the reason why this Destined One succeeds in retrieving all artifacts and becomes SWK is because he is also sort of the manifestation of that childish promise 5-years-old Oz made that she will save SWK one day (from under the mountain but clearly that didn't happen lol). But also since her ancestor is from this world, her descendants were fated to return back here one day.

Gourd grandpa updates her on her ancestors and their roles in the Celestial Court and the shitstorm that happened that ultimately let to the clan being massacred and one person escaping to "our" world, where magic doesn't exist and all those people are just characters from myths and stories. But also her ancestor isn't the only person that traversed through the two worlds - over the centuries more have come and gone. This is also why people in her world have those myths and deities. In my AU Wu Cheng'en also escaped from fantasy ancient China into her world and then wrote Journey to the West. He took artistic liberty to change some things for his novel, hence some things in BMW are different than in JTTW (like the ZBJ and violet spider love story or how SWK had a romance with White Bone Demon).

Anywayyy, Oz task on the adventure is to document their journey together, and she is responsible for using the magical gourd to suck in the will of the defeated bosses in.

And 2-3 days later the Destined One shows up. I don't think Oz was very happy about leaving gourd grandpa and join the Destined One on his travel, but if he is her best chance to find a way back home to see Taylor Swift live, then she will do it.

The Destined One is indifferent to mildly annoyed about this, but doesn't protest too much, as long as she doesn't slow him down yadda yadda. I do think that DO did feel some sort of special connection to her, because he is sort of a manifestation of that promise. it doesn't really take long for him to get used to her and also to care for her. One of Sun Wukong's massive core trait is that he cares so much for his loved ones and does not hesitate to do the impossible for them, and I like to imagine that even though SWK senses have been split into 6 different parts, the caring part stayed with each Destined One reincarnation.

[just-a-ghost00]

A short letter from them <3

Warning : this reading could be triggering.

Group 1

Cards - Surrender, Trust, The Universe, Soul work, Ancestors, Reflect, Page of cups, King of cups, 3 of pentacles, 5 of swords, Black Numen, The Hierophant

I see myself in you. It is troubling as much as it is freeing. I don't love myself enough to admit that I love you. I want to be a better person before I can come up to you.I hate that I have to be away from you. There is nothing I want more than to be close to you but duty calls. I have my own karma to resolve, my own issues and challenges to deal with. I understand now that the Universe let us meet for a reason. I realize that you were a lesson for me to learn. That all good things in life ask for dedication and faith. And I was not ready for you. I had dedication but I didn't have faith. Now I see clearly what I have to do. You awakened something in me I didn't know I had. Now I want to do more, live more, feel more. I want to shine brighter than before. I want to be a person you can be proud of. My ultimate goal is to propose to you. There will be a long way ahead before I can even dream of holding your hand again. In the meantime, I will work harder, better, faster, stronger. I'm sure you know that song too. Let us connect through music. When we're apart, I hope the songs we liked to listen to will keep you company and remind you of me, just as they will remind me of you. I'll hold you dear to my heart. Can you please do the same? ♡︎

Reader's insights : My alarm started ringing as I was shuffling your cards. I was hesitating on keeping the Reflect card and that's when the alarm chimed in so I took that as a confimation that yes this person is a reflection of you. The signs of Taurus, Scorpio, Leo and Aquarius could be significant. I get strong Twin flame vibes from this group. For some of you I pick up on cultural differences. A part of the reasons why this person is scared to come forward is because they're afraid of their family's opinion regarding your connection. They think that they wouldn't be too keen on having you in the family because you are from a different background. But your person doesn't care about your differences, in fact it's what drew them in and it's why they love you. They also were amazed at how similar you could be dispite your differences. I'm definitely picking up on long distance relationships. You aren't in contact with them at the moment or the contact is minimal. This person is going through some existential crisis. Meeting you put everything into perspective. You rocked their world.

♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎

Group 2

Cards - Reflect, Ascension, Withdraw, Play, Power (horizontal), get creative, Wheel of fortune, 7 of wands, 10 of pentacles, ace of swords, 2 of pentacles, 2 of swords

I feel like I constantly have to fight for your attention. You're always busy, always on the go. You always have something to do, something to say to someone that can't wait another day. So many excuses. Do I even matter? Like, do you even care about us? I know you're my soulmate and honestly it frustrates me because I feel like I have to go through so many struggles to just have one happy moment with you, without other people getting their nose in our business. It's always my friend said this, my family did that. What about me? What about what I said or did? What about my feelings? Honestly, do you even want me in your life? Because if you don't I have no problem with that. However I have a problem with you wasting my time and hurting me. I can be pretty open minded I just need people to be honest and mature enough to voice out what's wrong for them. You feel so distant and I don't know what to do anymore with this. To tell you the truth, I'm considering leaving and entertaining other connections because at this point why even bother? When I'm in the mood for more and ready to keep things going you just retreat to your shell and put up a wall between us. At least tell me what's wrong. If I've done something that hurt you I want to own up to it and apologize properly. I can't read your mind.

Reader's insights : I kept being distracted as I shuffled your cards. People might be interfering in this connection to deter you from being with that person if this is a romantic connection. This person thinks that you're seeing someone else and/or playing with them. Before even reading for you and writing what this person wanted to say, I felt a lot of frustration bubbling up in my chest. The cards feel quickly so this person has a lot on their plate. I'm sorry if this reading is triggering to some of you. You can't seem to see eye to eye with this person. There are serious communication issues in this group because I feel like you may be in the same energy as this person. You don't know what they want either, you feel like they keep running away from you. There's a lot of confusion between the two of you as to where this is going and what each other's intentions are. You don't trust one another, it's a battle of egos that seems like it's never ending.

♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎

Group 3

Cards - 9 of pentacles, The Magician, The Star, Page of cups, Temperance, 8 of pentacles, Speak Truth, Movement, Play, The Magi, The Creator, Versatility

Ever since we parted ways, I feel like my life is finally making sense. I feel better in my shoes, better in my skin. And I honestly think it's better this way. My career took a positive turn. I am more abundant. I feel like I'm in alignment with my destiny. I feel like life is finally smiling to me and I can finally work toward what I always wanted. I think going our separate ways was the best thing that could happen to us. Because I know deep down I would have choked being next to you. Being away from you allows me to express my true self. To explore and figure out who I am. To indulge in pleasures I didn't know existed, to give life to dreams I didn't know I had. I feel like I'm rebirthing. I'm finally in control of my life and my destiny. It took meeting you to realize I was not happy and for that I am grateful. I know this isn't what you would like to hear. But for once in my life I want to stop pleasing people and start pleasing myself. I will now give myself the love I deserve and needed. And I hope you can respect that. I am now moving on and flying on my own. Thank you for the memories.

Reader's insights : I felt quite nervous doing this reading, my body was tense. There were remanent energies from group 2 because I kept thinking of their last song The Negative. You might want to check group 2 if you hesitated between group 3 and group 2. It was like this person hesitated saying the things they said because they thought you'd take it personally and they're aware of the wrongs it would cause. But they had to get it off their chest. The signs of Gemini, Aquarius, Sagittarius may be significant.

[phoenixyfriend]

Do you think

Do you think there are sects of Mandalorians that put up pictures of Satine the way people put up pictures of the Virgin Mary

Like those illuminated icons

Part of me is suddenly very convinced that there are people who treat her like Catholics do saints

(I don't actually know what the Catholic angle is. I grew up Orthodox, and iconography was a big part of the divorce of 1054. Like I know that icons aren't a thing for Catholicism but also I've seen like. statues of saints? and there's paintings of Mary by Catholics? so I just threw spaghetti at the wall)

I was thinking about after the Empire rose, and maybe after the glassing.

I'm imagining the people who do it being the children of people who were young but around during the civil war.

Like Sabine and the generation after her.

Where they themselves were of traditional families, and heard stories of the conflicts, but hindsight just had them going "what if we hold up this woman as an icon of peace" and then maybe them, or maybe the generation after them, went "she was our leader, and she is dead and among the stars, and she was a symbol of peace, and let us pray to her."

@jebiknights:

I mean after she dies maybe? I could see her becoming a martyr to the cause but idk I've never gotten the impression she was actually revered But now I'm imagining people praying to Satine's ghost and being like "hey can you do me a solid and tell Tarre/the Manda to help me find my lost head piece" I feel like she'd be more held up as a martyr/revolutionary figure than religious though but maybe that's just me. The type that would get spray painted on alley walls as opposed to prayer cards

Given the ideology Mandalore has around death (ka'ra and whatnot), I feel like there's an overlap there. Like yes she's a martyr and a revolutionary figure, but since she was a leader, she's also sort of like. Ancestral worship But All Of Mandalore Is Her Children.

I'm imagining Satine like… generally she's a revolutionary figure and martyr, but some people took it further, and so she was getting colloquially sanctified by some, and others verging on Let's Make A Religion Out Of This.

This got long, more under the cut.

jebiknights:

I think it's just hard for me to picture her that way with all of the split between factions during her time ruling, and a lot of that was about traditional way of life and connections with religion. I could see her as a subjugated government figure that even those who didn't like her politics might see as a symbol of the sith/the empire trying to take over and then destroy them. I personally just don't see her crossing over into religiousity for a long long while after

I'm coming at this from the perspective of Former Socialist Yugoslavia.

A lot of my parents' generation were actually more religious than their own parents' generation (not my parents, but there were a lot of others who did) because of the overarching normalization of atheism by the government. Being religious was a form of rebellion. In this case, I'm imagining a clinging to the ancestor-worship parts of Mandalorian culture as being the part people embraced in response to the Empire trying to stamp them out overall.

jebiknights:

Oh I didn't mean that they're more or less religious I just didn't think she'd be incorporated into it bc of ya know the civil wars shrugs Or wasn't trying to say I couldn't see it because of less religious? I do think increased religiousity makes sense for the Mando's during and after the empire I guess I'm just struggling bc I'm drawing a line between Important Martyr in current political and religious struggle and "Saint like figure who almost immediately starts a new religion" lol. Cuz I just struggle to see her as the latter but that's just me no shade on her 💜 I think the initial comparison to the virgin Mary really threw me off 😂

Which is. Uh. NGL I was just thinking about the specific element of Having Pictures because Mother Mary was the only one I was sure that Catholics have in their houses. I've been told that it makes more sense to go the Orthodox route since we do iconoclasm a lot more.

Buuuuuuuuuuuuut also like. Yeah a few sects may, if not immediately, go full Main Religious Figure about her. Just give it a few generations.

Farmers as isolated as Din's covert, but Not Armor.

tbf most of this was inspired by Maul's weird hate shrine for her in sw Rebels.

This is what vaguely got me thinking about "Some people tried to canonize Satine."

Anyway, I was thinking in this style:

[unbidden-yidden-deactivated20240]

Okay something I haven't really had the words for so far is to describe the surreal weirdness of interacting with Current Events™️ as a ger.

Partially this has been me trying not to make this about my feelings, and partially this is a lack of ability to articulate the feelings anyway. But I'm gonna try because I think others might be in the same boat.

So one of the interesting things about being a Jew by Choice is that a number of us don't have any prior connections to Judaism. We are not culturally Jewish when we start, we do not have Jewish family or ancestry, and we are not joining a Jewish family through marriage. We just.... felt drawn. Called, if you will. A lot of us in that boat are seekers, moved by some moment of truth or divine connection.

At any rate, that leaves us in a weird position when it comes to Jewish cultural trauma, both new and old. We don’t carry the ancestral trauma of knowing we have lost literal family to atrocities, but we accept that may be our future. We don’t have the literal trauma, but the collective grief and community trauma seeps into your bones very quickly, the more you identify with the Jewish people. We don’t have the literal trauma, but we then worry about whether we also lack the resilience that has sustained Jews by birth throughout history.

"We are made of strong stuff! Your ancestors passed on their strength!" An excellent and true statement for many, but what if our specific ancestors did not? Worse: what if they were on the other side of the equation?

We are also confronting, for the first time, the reality of seeing how few people care about Jews outside of other Jews. For many born Jews, that makes this a time to consolidate into family, to hunker down. For gerim, we find strength in community but many of us have family that do not and cannot fully understand (and honestly many of us are praying our families don't understand it for any number of reasons.)

So we are processing this for the first time as adults, outside of a Jewish family. And it's surreal and weird and hard and alienating and you feel both like you are inside and outside of the community. You are profoundly affected, but do you have any right to complain? You chose this. You knew what was coming, probably. This kind of antisemitism? Brutally predictable, if you know Jewish history. You have survivors' guilt and secondhand trauma, but other people have it far worse, far more personal, and so it feels like there's no appropriate space to discuss that. You want to speak up and also, you don't want to draw attention to yourself. You want people to see you. You want to hide. This is the only thing anyone in your community can focus on, and you are struggling the same way. It's been two months and you need to snap out of this. This doesn't hurt you directly. But it does. It does. Because no matter how isolated you feel, you cannot separate yourself from your people.

Idk it's a lot. But I'm fine. I'm fine, of course.

[path-of-grass-and-leaves]

Working with Collective Spirits: Plants and Animals

UPG Warning: Content is based on personal experience.

Individual vs Collective

The difference between an individual spirit and a spirit collective is pretty simple. Working with an individual involves connecting with a being who has their own personality traits and motives. Some are well-known (like the Witch Father), some are spirits of the dead or specific ancestors, some are tied to certain individuals, families, and locations, and some are Nameless or long-forgotten.

A spirit collective is sort of like a current that runs through all living beings and objects. It can be as broad or as narrow as you wish. For example, you can work with the spirit of all trees or you can work with the spirit of Maples.

This is easy to conceptualize if you're an animist who believes that all life is connected and there is spirit in all things. Imagine the life force that runs through us all is a great river, and specific spiritual collectives are the tributaries.

To put it simply, if you are leaving offerings to the spirit of a dead rabbit that you found on the side of the road, you are engaging with an individual. If you are leaving an offering for all rabbits in your immediate area you are working with a collective.

Overlap

Sometimes a spirit can exist both as a collective and an individual. For example, the spirit of your house or local river may be made up of several different spirits and go by many names.

Additionally, if I'm working with the spirit of Apple Trees, one could assume that I'm working with millions of apple tree spirits formed into a single collective.

Connecting with Collective Spirits

If you're like me, you need to have an emotional and physical connection to certain spirits before you begin involving them in workings. This usually means that I'm working with plants and animals that exist in my own local biosphere.

Here are some ways to start getting to know plant and animal spirit collectives:

Meet them in their own environment: For example, if you want to work with the spirit of Oak Trees, start by spending time where they are known to grow. You can take a walk through a local forest or visit individual trees in a park or your own backyard.

Learn about them: Find reading material about the species you're interested in. Learn about their native habitat, behavior, diet, growth rate, myth and folklore, the time of year that they're present, etc. I find that engaging with a plant or animal on a scientific and material level helps you get to know them more personally and will therefore strengthen any spiritual relationships you wish to pursue.

Care for them: If you're looking to work with the spirit of Lilac, plant and care for a lilac shrub. If you want to work with the spirit of Hummingbirds, install a feeder. If you're interested in the spirit of cats or dogs, start fostering or volunteering for a rescue.

Observe them: If the collective that you want to work with is that of an animal, take some time to watch them from a safe distance in their natural environment. If you're working with a plant, feel free to get up close and personal as long as it's safe and you are not disturbing a protected species.

Veneration

I want to start by saying that veneration is not something that is required when working with spirits and in some cases can actually be a bit of a hindrance. However, it is beneficial if your goal is to emotionally connect with spirits, gain favor with them, and establish highly personal ongoing relationships. My workings boast a higher success rate and rich personal meaning when I am working with a spirit who I have developed a connection with through consistent offerings and acts of kindness.

Physical offerings

The most common form of veneration is a physical offering. They can be left at an altar or outdoors in the natural habitat of the collective spirit that you plan on working with.

Outdoor offerings should be left with great care for the local ecosystem. For plants I usually leave compost or fresh water. I will also drop specific food items in my compost bin as an offering to whatever plant spirit I'm working with that day.

For animals, things can be a bit more complicated. When offering food, it's crucial to be 100% certain that it is safe for wildlife to consume and that you aren't leaving so much so often that animals start to rely on you for food. I usually stick to birdseed, acorns, peanuts, fresh fruit and greens, unsalted sunflower seeds, and cat food for the strays. Keep in mind that food is left only in my own backyard (never, like, the woods) and never in high abundance. When in doubt, a bowl of fresh water is a more than sufficient offering.

Indoor offerings allow much more room for variety. Food items that cannot be left outside (like meat, cheese, confections, and alcohol) can be safely offered this way. You also won't be limited to compostable items and will be free to leave assorted trinkets, jewelry, or whatever you find appropriate.

Acts of Kindness

Personally I feel that acts of kindness are the best way to venerate plant and animal collectives. Not only are you building real-life relationships and connections, but you are making an active difference in the lives of actual living beings and this will always be well-received from a magical perspective. In my practice, how I interact with the physical world is in direct relation to that of the spirit world, so this is an important step for me.

Some acts of service can overlap with physical offerings such as leaving bowls of water for the wildlife on a hot day, filling a bird feeder, or watering a plant, but there are countless other options to choose from, including activism, rewilding, rescue, volunteering, and habitat restoration.

For example, if I want to work with the spirit of Monarch Butterflies, I may start a monarch waystation full of milkweed and nectar-producing native plants. If I'm venerating the spirit of Black-Eyed Susan, I could scatter some seeds on the roadside. If I'm working with the spirit of domestic dogs I might feel compelled to volunteer at a local shelter. Perhaps the spirit collective that I want to work with is fresh-water dwelling and I opt to help clean a local river.

In addition to physical offerings and acts of service, some ideas include constructing miniature altars and spirit houses, creating devotional art, and wearing devotional jewelry.

Working with Collective Spirits

There are many benefits to working with spirit collectives. They can be involved in spellwork, called directly during divination, and petitioned to help advance certain skills. This is where knowledge gained through study and observation are put to use. Plant and animal collectives come with their own folklore and symbolism, natural skill-sets, and physical and behavioral qualities which are useful in magical workings. Once you have a handful of spirit types that you're familiar with you can start putting everything into practice.

One way to begin choosing which collectives you incorporate into which workings is through divination. Break out your cards or bag of charms, call upon the spirit of your choosing, and ask them what their skills are. If you have researched the plant or animal in the past or already have a rough list of correspondences, you can compare the answers to your existing notes.

Petitioning spirits in magical workings is a great introduction to spirit work and can be easily executed by beginners. For simple workings, it's enough to just call upon the spirit, leave an offering, and ask for assistance. Here are a few simple ideas for getting started:

Divination: Call upon a specific plant or animal collective that corresponds with your question or possesses skills related to the subject at hand. Ask for them for their wisdom and guidance.

Spellwork: Before casting, call upon the collective spirit of your choosing and ask for them to assist you.

Glamours and Ambient Spells: Ask for the collective spirit to lend you some of their qualities, features, or skills, or ask them to bless a physical space or personal astral location with characteristics of their native environment.

Celebrations and Rituals: Invite the collective spirit of certain animals or plants to your ritual. For example, the spirit of Rabbits could be invited to join a Spring Equinox celebration.

Blessing or Enchanting Objects: Ask for the corresponding spirit collective to charm, enchant, or bless an object.

These are just basic concepts. Feel free to get creative and fine-tune some of these ideas to your personal practice. Working with collective animal and plant spirits is extremely rewarding and I've found that my magical skills have grown exponentially since doing so. My awareness of and connection to the natural world has also improved and I find that I notice and am able to identify significantly more plants and wildlife than I used to.

[bonefall]

BB!Moonpaw's Family

So, I don't rewrite arcs until they're done BUT!! HAVE NO FEAR IM HERE TO FIX IT.

You may have heard that Moonpaw's canonical family has been confirmed, Thriftear x Bayshine, and that it makes her a real doozy of inbreeding. The most important thing being that she is the product of a first cousin pair because Thriftear's father Fernsong and Bayshine's mother Sorrelstripe are full siblings.

But I am the family tree trimmer and I'm here to do a little pruning!

First of all, I've already done significant work in overhauling the ThunderClan Family Tree. Today I've made a more lightweight chart for showing off the options better, but please do go and check out the full version if you'd like to see the generations further back. It also has a link to my "diagnosis," which is handy for comparing my fixes to the problems with the canon tree.

So just to nip this in the bud; Thriftear and Bayshine are no longer first cousins in BB.

That's already fixed! I'm going to change it anyway but I just want that to be like, the first thing you know going in.

Second of all, now's a good time for a little refresher on my Three Strict Rules. These are the rules I use for overhauling the family trees; determining when cats are far enough apart, preventing one bloodline from getting too prolific, and when a fix is required.

Like before, click the link to see the rules more in-depth. Put simply, these rules are;

Three Generation Separation Cats must be three or more generations removed in order to be eligible as partners. That means they cannot share a simple grandparent, banning 1st cousin pairings. Further than that is typically allowed-- Clan sizes are too small to be more restrictive. ADDENDUM: Onestar's Exception. This rule applies to an extra generation, the great-grandparent, if one or more simple grandparents are alive to connect them all. This bans 1st cousins once removed (FCOR), like what Breezepelt and Heathertail are in-canon, and usually second cousins if I can help it.

Two Kit Max Any given pairing may only have two kittens who have successful grandchildren. If three or more kids have grandkids, one of the bloodlines will have to be pruned in some way. This is to prevent "superparents" who decimate the diversity. ADDENDUM: This applies per-Clan. Cats can leave their birth Clan and not contribute to their parents' "limit." Dovewing is now in ShadowClan and does not count towards the rule.

One Parent Litters Invoking the Queen's Rights allows for a cat to have kittens without a second parent. Sometimes these kittens are fully adopted. ADDENDUM: This is an in-universe rule. Ergo, other cats can and will have feelings on a cat who invokes this. That said, I don't always decide who that secret parent is beforehand!

With all that said, let's talk about the relevant differences in BB vs Canon, and the three options for who Moonpaw's parents are going to be...

Relevant Differences

So that we can narrow in on the ancestors that are relevant, I've gone and made a little version of my bigger tree.

Everyone in YELLOW is active in ThunderClan. PINK indicates that they may or may not remain there past ASC, either because they'll move or because they'll die. The ORANGE line tracks cats that are counted as Firekin.

(Note: Sunbeam, Twigbranch, and Finleap were left off this list since they're not relevant atm)

Spiderleg, Toadstep, Hazeltail, Sorreltail are still alive in BB.

However, in exchange, Molewhisker, Brackenfur, and Thornclaw are dead.

Cinderheart is off on adventures with Fallenleaf, who went through a whole thing

Mousewhisker and Nightheart will probably end up in RiverClan by the end of ASC.

Rosepetal will probably end up dying somewhere near the end of ASC OR in the BB overhaul of Ivypool's Heart. She will likely be Squirrelstar's first deputy.

Fernsong is an ex-kittypet. His name was Fiddles.

Because of a change in who dies in The Battle of the True Eclipse, Sorrelstripe is named Duststripe.

Because Ferncloud is the one to confront Ashfur in the Dark Forest instead of Graystripe, Graypaw is named Fernpaw.

Squirrelflight is infertile and unable to have bio-kits. Bramblestar disowned his children with her when the secret was revealed, and had a litter with Jessy. Sparkpelt is not Firekin-- her mate was.

Ivypool and Dovewing were swapped for Spotfur and Duststripe to keep the Firekin family consistent.

Larksong and Hollytuft have been fused into the same cat; Hollylark.

Hollylark was a poorly understood magical being. Xeir death prompted xeir parents, Cinderheart and Fallenleaf, to go on their journey.

Eaglewing, Honeyfur, and Leafshade are in my back pocket in case I need them elsewhere.

Snowbush, Dewnose, and Ambermoon were surrogated for cats in other Clans, but I still haven't placed them yet. Icecloud, now born AFTER the Battle of the True Eclipse, is taking any relevant roles for them.

Duststripe had kittens with an unknown sire, invoking the Queen's Rights to do so. I haven't thought about who this secret father is.

SO, as you can see, this tree is already significantly less tangled than canon's. If I just went with Thriftear x Bayshine, their last common ancestor was a great-great-grandmother (Frostfur), making them third cousins. On the other side, they share a great-great-great-grandmother (Nutmeg), making them fourth cousins.

These are both so far removed that most people don't even actually know their 3rd and 4th cousins. This is more than distant enough to not trip Rule 1.

That said... no 💕I don't care for this coupling 💕They haven't even talked in canon I am simply going to veto it 💕

Personally I've always seen Bayshine and Thriftear as being gay, so I'm going to move ahead with that in mind because it's MY AU and I get to homo the sexuals.

OPTION 1: BAYSHINE REMAINS I simply swap out Thriftear for her brother, Flipclaw, making Moonpaw into a FlipBay kitten.

This is the most canon compliant fix I can make. This is probably what I'm going to settle on as a default, unless and until we learn more about Changing Skies. OR, of course, someone makes a convincing and juicy argument.

Thoughts;

This closely matches canon. They can't possibly throw a curveball at me that I can't fix with Thriftear lesbianism. YOUR MOVE, WORKING PARTNERS.

I need more MLM ships, I'm actually really lacking those, so this would be a good opportunity.

BB!Bayshine and BB!Flipclaw will actually have really nice chemistry. Flipclaw's a silly boy who's known as the one example of a Firekin cat who can't live up to the legacy (something that likely used to cause him to quibble with Nightheart, back in the day). Bayshine is kind of a worrywart who actually appreciates Flipclaw's sense of humor and prefers a mate who doesn't give him heart attacks via heroics.

I feel like that'll bounce nicely off Moonpaw as well, since she's probably going to have a very serious story attached. It'll be nice to just write her having very supportive parents who listen and care.

Plus with her parents being Mr. "Always Worried" and Mr. "Fire Failure," I don't have to worry too much about legacy or status while still keeping her a Firekin. These two guys don't have a lot of power to leverage to help her get the Clan to believe her, if I need to keep a plot point.

OPTION 2: THRIFTEAR REMAINS I do some tweaks to put her with Plumstone, making Moonpaw a PlumThrift kitten.

More of a tinker than a tweak, but something I'm at least considering. I've been outspoken about how much I like PlumThrift, so I absolutely want to make it canon to BB. That said, I do like the idea that the two of them just don't have kids. Not all mates HAVE to have kittens.

Plus, it would come with restrictions anyway becaauuuuseeeeee,

It trips Rule 2, the Two Kit Max.

If Shellfur and Fernstripe have kittens, which I HOPE they do because good lord Canon!TC needs it, I couldn't let PlumThrift Moonpaw go on to have successful kittens of her own. Blossomfall's kittens would start to take over ThunderClan.

This is especially strict in BB because there's no way in hell I'm not going to have Shellfur and Fernstripe have some kittens. So help me god, I will pull Leafshade, Honeyfur, and Eaglewing out of my back pocket.

Moonpaw not having kittens isn't a bad thing, though. I'd happily do it, it's just that I'm trying to anticipate canon throwing a curveball at me.

BB!Plumstone and BB!Thriftear would probably have a more strained dynamic to their daughter, which might match canon very well if the team goes for the angle of having Moonpaw resent how she's seen as very special.

Both moms are overachievers, and very ambitious warriors. Thriftear is Firekin and living up to that legacy, and Plumstone is probably gunning for one of the head positions in the Clan.

It's not that they're mean or bad to her, it's that they'd have high expectations which might cause friction. Again; depends on where canon goes with Moonpaw's story.

Honestly, knowing them and what they want out of their lives, I can kinda see Moonpaw being something they didn't plan. Like she was an abandoned kitten they found and felt like it was a sign from StarClan, or somehow one of them accidentally got pregnant.

Which could be super interesting, honestly.

Option 2 might end up revealing itself to fit better than Option 1, but I need to see what the arc has in store first.

OPTION 3: TOTAL PARENT CHANGE Moonpaw is given to a non-Firekin couple that could have kits

This is the biggest change, but one I'll do if it's an important plot point that she's NOT Firekin by canon's wahoo logic. I already killed the inconsistency with MY family tree fixes, but the writing team seems to only count Firekin down from Squirrelflight's biokids.

So if I have to comply with that for some reason, I'll shuffle her over to one of these two couples;

She could either become the daughter of Stormcloud and Cherryfall, OR Shellfur and Fernstripe.

StormCherry:

Stormcloud actually got a massive glowup in BB lmao

Cherryfall and Stormcloud were previously sort-of-courting, probably-dating, in a weird situationship sort of thing. Unofficial only because they never made it official.

If Moonpaw is their kid, she'd definitely be what makes it official.

I feel like Stormcloud is better suited to being the Mi, but Cherryfall would insist that she acts as it instead. And Stormcloud knows better than to argue with her, she's the most stubborn thing you've ever met.

She's a knucklehead. He's a gentle giant. I feel like they'd be fun as parents.

But also a bit more absent compared to the other options, which could be good if that's a plot point... but seems unlikely, considering Moonpaw was apparently named because her parents believe she's special.

This one's the MOST clean of any bloodline Moonpaw could be wriggled into. It would actually be super useful going forward honestly. StormCherry kits are compatible with all of the cats of the next generation except Firekin.

If Moonpaw has a ton of siblings I might put them all here just for that... but something tells me she's going to be a singlet tbh.

ShellFern:

I have a weird fondness for these two tbh. Can't explain it. I like grumpy assholes and their sweethearts.

It's super unlikely that these two don't get kittens of their own at some point, but it wouldn't be too big of a problem if I did shuffle Moonpaw in as their first child.

I would enjoy having a little window into their relationship, I used ShellFern for an example of what a post-Lake Aftergathering looks like once just because I like writing about them.

They wouldn't "get in the way" of the plot, either. Shellfur and Fernstripe are both pretty standard warriors, not super ambitious, they have hobbies but they're not reaching for a high status or anything.

If Moonpaw ends up being a little bit of a snarky character, it would be fun if she got that from papa Shellfur lmao.

Aaaand that's it! I don't rewrite arcs until they are done, and as of writing this, even ASC isn't totally completed yet! But there's the pre-emptive options for a fix that is definitely going to happen.

This poll isn't binding because I really need to see which of these options will FIT the best, but I'm curious,

[creatingblackcharacters]

I'm really new to your blog so apologies if you've gotten this sort of ask before

Is there some sort of general consensus in the Black community about being called Black vs African American? I've heard people say calling us Black is offensive and other people say calling us African American is offensive and I want to know if one of those is small percent of the community or if there's an ongoing debate over this.

I personally don't like being called African American because of the disconnect between African and Black culture. Of course they have the same roots and some similarities since they come from the same place, but to me it feels like calling a hippo a type of whale because they evolved from the same thing, if that makes sense? (If this is offensive in some way, please let me know)

I have answered this before! It caused more tension than expected. Apparently many older, more centrist Black people preferred African American because it denotes ethnicity- they feel it connects them back to the motherland. They felt that Black is just a color. Many others prefer Black, as it comes with a reclamation of the identity here. It's why I'm always saying capitalize it, bc yeah if you always saw your identity is "black the color" you wouldn't like it.

I prefer Black for a similar reason as you. Not that I have any shame of being descended from Africans, of course not. But... That's an entire continent. It'd be different if I could say with confidence that I'm Nigerian, from such and such group. I absolutely would if I could, but I can't. That's gone, very purposely and violently stolen from me. My ancestors built an entirely new culture here as a unit with so many other peoples to survive and thrive, and I honor the work they put in.

So in summary, just ask someone what they prefer. Because not every Black person is African American.

[and-her-saints]

Hey sorry idk if you'd know this but I quite literally don't know where to turn about this so I'm sending this ask to every queer+catholic blog I can find

Are there *any* resources out there for queer/trans Catholics that go beyond affirmation and show how to pursue a religious life that goes beyond the laity (e.g. priesthood, joining a convent/monastery, something similar) without having to brush your queerness aside. I feel like if I don't find something soon I might go insane

years ago, i attended a Zoom event with Fr. James Alison as a keynote speaker, and something he said has been glued to my brain ever since. he said it in Spanish, so i'll try to remember, paraphrase and translate: "while they try to get us to stop being queer, what we must try to do is to be better queers."

i love what you said about "beyond affirmation" and that is precisely why i got reminded of the quote and WHY this quote resonated with me to begin with.

imho, there is a fundamental issue with a lot of queer theology and it's that it doesn't go beyond apologetics. it's not pragmatic nor does it seem to engage critically with the material conditions that work with or against queerness. and it's truly such a shame, because living "religiously" to me, as a queer catholic, it's infinitely more a matter of coherence, love, devotion and solidarity, than learning how to "reconcile" gayness/transness with the Bible.

it's a journey, of course. the apologetics were and are necessary for many of us to unlearn the hatred that might've been instilled in us through religious education and upbringing. however, here are some resources that, in my opinion, show how to pursue queer-religious-life.

💌 catholic/christian resources:

[book] The Reckless Way of Love: Notes on Following Jesus by Dorothy Day. Unlike larger collections and biographies, which cover her radical views, exceptional deeds, and amazing life story, this book focuses on a more personal dimension of her life: Where did she receive strength to stay true to her God-given calling despite her own doubts and inadequacies and the demands of an activist life? What was the unquenchable wellspring of her deep faith and her love for humanity?

[book & account] Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations for Staying Human by Cole Arthur Riley. Black Liturgies is a digital project that connects spiritual practice with Black emotion, Black memory, and the Black body. In this book, she brings together hundreds of new prayers, along with letters, poems, meditation questions, breath practices, scriptures, and the writings of Black literary ancestors to offer forty-three liturgies that can be practiced individually or as a community.

[book] Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor by Leonardo Boff. Focusing on the threated Amazon of his native Brazil, Boff traces the economic and metaphysical ties that bind the fate of the rain forests with the fate of the indigenous peoples and the poor of the land. He shows how liberation theology must join with ecology in reclaiming the dignity of the earth and our sense of a common community, part of God's creation. To illustrate the possibilities, Boff turns to resources in Christian spirituality both ancient and modern, from the vision of St. Francis of Assisi to cosmic christology.

[book] Undoing Theology: Life Stories from Non-normative Christians by Chris Greenough. The fundamental issue with ‘queer’ research is it cannot exist in any definable form, as the purpose of queer is to disrupt and disturb. Undoing Doing generates a process of ‘undoing’ as central to queer research enquiries. Aiming to engage in a process which breaks free from traditional academic norms, the text explores three life stories

[podcast] The Magnificast. "A weekly podcast about Christianity and leftist politics. The Magnificast is hosted by Dean Dettloff and Matt Bernico. Each week's episode focuses on a unique or under-realized aspect of territory between Christianity and politics that no one taught you about in sunday school."

💌 non-christian but still excellent resources:

[book] Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H. A memoir by a butch hijabi that follows the experiences of the author through stories and figures from the Qur'an.

[book] Lean on Me: A Politics of Radical Care by Lynne Segal. Questions of care, intimacy, education, meaningful work, and social engagement lie at the core of our ability to understand the world and its possibilities for human flourishing. In Lean On Me feminist thinker Lynne Segal goes in search of hope in her own life and in the world around her. She finds it entwined in our intimate commitments to each other and our shared collective endeavours.

i don't think these are precisely what you were looking for. but i hope these resources bring you as much peace and hope as they have brought me.

[bsof-maarav]

it's good this is my only social media and that i've insulated myself from the worst of this place. i'm not watching that video. i understand the value in bearing witness. but for me, it's like this. i know what's been happening to the hostages already, i don't need to be convinced. i don't want to violate them further by watching the beginning of the worst part of their lives and i don't want to be even more secondhand traumatized either. it would make me less, not more, able to do what i can do to be of use to the hostages.

but even more than i'm not watching that video, i'm not watching the absolutely psychopathic response to it by the mobs who are indulging in an orgy of probably the two oldest forms of hatred in the world--misogyny and antisemitism.

when i heard this video would be released, i had that impulse to hope that maybe now my former friends and community would finally get it. but it's not the case. we've all known this whole time. there's been no mystery about what kind of violence the go-pro wearing terrorists are perpetrating. we've already seen enough to know, even without seeking it out. journalists have described it thoroughly as well. if someone says they need to see something more explicit for "proof," they're nothing but consumers of terrorist torture porn. it's pure רַע

i'm not even going to try writing any appeals about these womens' humanity because anyone who doesn't get it, that's because they don't want to get it and they probably never will. they're getting off on this dehumanizing violence and trying to join it as part of the virtual mob. they're empty people and they are not going to change.

we are looking directly at this hate, some of us for the first time, and it's a window through time, through which we can see what many generations of Jews, and particularly Jewish women, have seen before. the violence and hatred is unchanging. only the technology of the violence has changed. the violence itself has not. the hatred has not. we know more about every previous age now, more about how our ancestors' hearts felt when they were breaking, the fear and anger, the determination to survive and make something better.

it's unbearable to know how outnumbered we are, how much of the world is morally and ethically dead when it comes to us, and how many of them accept, deny, are indifferent to, or celebrate this violence against us. it always has been unbearable, untenable, and yet we're here: the latest in a long line of generations who move forward even when it feels impossible, and do what we can to make a better world for the next ones with the conviction that no one should be hurt like this. never again.

and now i'm going back to listening to Israeli music. because i try to experience some kind of peace and calm each day, whatever i can, so i will have some strength to send. through davening, i try to send strength to the hostages to help them survive. we're one family, and all deeply connected. i have to hope that it helps in some way.

if you want to say Mi Sheberach and Tehillim for these women and don't know how, please reach out. or just daven from the heart for them, dedicate it to their merit, say each of their names out loud. light an extra Shabbat candle for them. set an extra place at your table. put something about them in a public place to make their reality present there. you'll have to protect it from attack. but do it anyway.

and if you want to know what you can do to pressure your political representatives or organizations to do something to free these captives, and all of the captives, i'll be here to talk about that as well.

[i-am-totally-not-a-lizard]

It's so insane how connected the internet makes us. The fact that someone on the other side of the world can see what I'm writing in real time. Just wow. The fact that I can listen to my playlist with music made by complete strangers I will never know in Korean, Japanese, Spanish, and Norwegian while lying on my warm bed in my home in America and not even give it a second thought. The fact that I'm connected instantaneously to billions of other people with just a couple taps on a screen.

This is one of those moments where I feel like I really was born in the right generation. This is so incredible. Thank you all for being here, connected to me through undersea cables and power lines. Who all tapped your phones in just the right sequence to find me, and decided you liked me enough to find this message. Thank you. We really do live in a world of marvels. We're so desensitized to modernity that I think we don't take enough time to appreciate how absolutely mind blowing it all is.

Like... This random post I'm typing at 2 am is going to be immortalized forever. That's insane! We're so lucky to have that type of record, and reach, and platform. We're so insanely lucky to be living in the present moment. I'm just so thankful. Thank you to everyone who made this moment possible. The creators of every invention. The laborers in every factory. All the individual consumers and users. My parents, and their parents, and all my ancestors too. All the artists and mechanics and politicians who butterfly effected they way to this moment. Thank you. I'm so grateful to be here. I'm so grateful to have all that I have. I love this moment. I love being here. I love you all.

[hanafubukki]

OT3 angst starting to kick again 😭 I mean, on one hand you are happy because the people you love are alive and well. On the other hand...

Silver: "I don't have a mother, but I have a father who raised me. We are not from the same blood, but it doesn't matter. I will always be my father son"

Lilia: "Oya, you look familiar. Do you have an ancestor who went to Briar Valley at some point ? My, my, this reminds me pleasant feelings, but it seems I'm too old, my memories is playing with me again."

Malleus: "Are you using parfume ? You do....not ? Nothing. Nothing Child of man. Your scent just reminds me of Lilia's home. It's just...stronger. Don't mind what I am saying. Perhaps I just miss this place."

Does this also means that in this Au Lilia forgot he always was Silver's dad too ? My heart- But the fact that he still found a way to give him the same name is priceless. "You have a head to be called Silver". And Meleanor and Dawn 🥲 Is Levan with them too ? What if everyone think they are dead ? (Except Maleficia perhaps. Wouldn't be surprise if she is the one who helped us in this situation to save everyone and is keeping the secret until the good time)

- 🦋 Anon

[OT3 Masterlist, specifically talking about this post.]

Ahsjskdkd 🦋 Anonie, the way you zoomed into my inbox so quickly, I was so surprised. I love it 💞🥰

So 👀 the parts that I figured out would go like this.

You turned back time and you also have the Great Seven help as well because of how the whole price and turning time worked. They can’t help outwardly but at a certain time they can when you need help bringing down what basically causes you to change time in the first place.

So to back track a bit, you turn back time. You ended up basically during the Fae versus Human war. You couldn’t stop the war, and Lilia escaped with the egg. You stop the battle with Meleanor and Dawn.

You have magic. You know how to fight because you were trained before the time was turned to defend yourself (because there was a war going on). You block the hit that would have killed Meleanor and put a healing sleep spell on her before teleporting her to safety.

You end up reasoning with KOD and returning to his kingdom. You would help heal his father and stop this war.

Even with everything, the humans turn on Leah and KoD because of Henrik. Leah is actually the one who tricks KOD to sleep in the same room as Baby Silver.

You come too late to rescue them. She dies in your arms. Princess Leah remembers the timeline from before, the one you turned and the canon one. I haven’t talked about her much in the ot3, but in the original au, you and Leah are best friends. (I need to talk about her in the ot3 😅, I can’t believe I haven’t yet lol)

She thanks you for everything and says how much she missed you. 😭

You end up burying her and return to the castle…where you see Baby Silver and KOD. You make a point to come visit them. You know make sure there isn’t dust on them and change baby silver’s clothes.

There’s actually a cute scene with baby silver if you want to know 🥰💞

With Lilia, he still travels and tries to hatch the egg as he did in canon and the ot3, you visit the egg so Malleus won’t be lonely. In fact, you end up giving some magic to baby mal when that time comes 😭

Lilia does find Silver as usual and names him and raises him. He sees Dawn but Dawn doesn’t wake up then and there. (After all, there’s no love there since you’re not there to connect them 😔)

Dawn wakes up later when Silver is a toddler and Silver finds the room they kept him in. With Meleanor, she’s healing and it takes time, she wakes up but Malleus is grown and the treaty is in place.

I haven’t decided on levan 😂😂 and with grandma maleficia, well, there’s two versions in my head. A version where she remembers you and there’s a version where you and her just became close over the hundreds of years that you visit behind the scene. Or maybe both 🤔

Silver is raised by his fathers and Malleus. He knows about his bio mom, but also he feels a connection to you. Could it be from before? When you were the one to give birth to him? Or now? When you took care of him in his cradle? He feels comfortable around you, as if he can hear your voice encouraging him to walk or feel your fingers in his hair.

Now Malleus gets a sense of nostalgia and comfort. He feels like he met you before. Maybe once upon a dream? You’re so familiar a gleam? You spent time with him when he was an egg. You would make him scarves and tell him stories. He oddly recalls a voice from a comforting dream so ago. And funny enough, the familiar smell. In my thoughts, even though the timeline was reversed back, you still retain items from that time.

Your wedding band, Lilia’s hachet, flower crown, etc. some of which, is used as a story plot later. Some used in angst and some comfort.

For KOD and Lilia, they feel as if they know you. As if they met you somewhere before. When you met them, you always covered your face so they couldn’t see you. Your voice sounds familiar but there’s no way you can be that hooded figure because they were clearly human.

On that note, you lived through the past 400 years. You can say you took steps for the future to help in the coming years of the disaster. To be ready.

Lilia and KOD feel something for you but they are confused. Is it infatuation? Is it your mystery? At one point, they are tensed around you because they think you might be a danger to their family. You know how protective they are.

It hurts to be left out and watch them from afar but you do it. You know the price you paid, but who knows? Maybe certain characters remember and will assist you?

…as you can see, I’ve thought about this alternate ot3 au a lot 😂💞🫶