#i think it’s a cultural thing also but. i’m not rlly used to it bc my close friends are Not like that

[legofbicuriosity]

i hate you expectation of romance i hate you seeing romantic subtext in the most mundane interactions i hate you amatonormativity i hate y

[nicomoon69]

College AU (or a retirement job au?) where Bernard is a Biology Professor and Tim is a [doesn’t matter] Professor. For the sole purpose of this interaction:

Professor Drake accidentally enters the lecture hall Bernard was teaching in.

Professor Dowd, planning to use Drake as an example of how little we know about our bodies, asks “Professor Drake, could you tell me where your spleen is located?”

Drake replies, “Probably in a jar somewhere in Asia.”

Dowd: 😧

That interaction starts their enemies to lovers story. It was posted on the internet and it wants them to fuck

O MY GODS YES!!!! Bernard would hate Tim somehow being witty with the weirdest story ever and Tim would be so smug bc “HA gotchu”

and not to delve into headcanons but to delve into headcanons I think Tim should teach a language. like he somewhere while heroing does a smth part time and it’s something he already knows so he’s somewhat breezing through it outside of the like cultural side of the study (my preference goes for like Chinese or Ancient Greek) (also disclaimer idk how language studies work outside of the Netherlands so if that’s not how they work in the us mb) and then when he quits hero life does like a master before he ends up teaching at Gotham University (so this would be a retirement AU)

anyways I think them somehow not realizing its Bernard Dowd and Tim Drake from high school would be funny. like they’re beefing for months without ever noticing that “hey wasn’t that the weirdo I went to school with briefly” bc atp it would’ve been years (they’re like well into heir 30s I think) and neither of them rlly recognize the other outside of “hm this feels familiar but I’m not gonna look too deep into it”

also Bernard hating on Tim for being a rookie professor bc Bernard has been working at the university for years while Tim random ass decided after his master that “hey I mean since they asked me why the hell not teach”

and everyone at least somewhat knows of the homoerotic professor fights happening. like you said the internet wants them to fuck!!! someone made a reddit post or smth that blew up (and neither of them is aware bc Bernard learned to not be chronically online anymore and Tim quit the internet bc his psychologist told him to)

them realizing who the other is should also be the most anticlimactic thing ever. random student points it out and they both go “huh”

[shalom-iamcominghome]

I’m going to send emails out soon to finally try to find a willing rabbi to guide me in the conversion process. I’ve said I wanted to convert in December but was thinking about it even before then (that’s just when I told people). But I’m worried about not being Jewish enough. Like I want to convert ‘orthodox’ Sephardic, which ik is kind of redundant bc most sephardic ppl just say sephardic and aren’t rlly divided into orthodox, conservative, reform either due to historical reason, but like what if I turn out being not so orthodox after? Like I love the idea of being observant, but I know that I’m not someone to wear modest dress 24/7 (rn I only wear shorts like a handful of times of year but I’ll also wear leggings, and tights pants or v neck shirts that show cleavage). And I’m not a virgin and don’t really want to be celibate. Idk I just feel like if I go through the process of converting and being observant, I will be expectant to be fully observant and idk if that’s an expectation I can’t hold. Are there any other ppl that converted only to become ‘less’ observant after? And idk observance is a personal things, but many ppl will still look at you as less observant if you don’t follow every interpretation they do

I want to preface this by saying I hope you are able to find a rabbi who you feel safe to discuss this with. Oftentimes, you'll find that they themselves can empathize with you, even if they themselves are born jews. Jewish identity for all is complex. I also hope that, in answering this further, you might find comfort and know that you are worthy of converting.

I am in a mixed Ashki and Sephardi conservative shul, and my sponsoring rabbi is himself not conservative (I'm in a unique position). When he and when other rabbis ask about observance goals, I have noticed it is so they can anticipate how they can best help you. I myself want to be a 'typical' conservative jewish man, so I find some level of empathy with you! It's hard! And you're in what can feel like a raw and vulnerable space, one where judaism feels just out of reach, something you want or need. Trust me when I say I absolutely get it.

I felt the exact same as you before I joined my shul and later again when I found my rabbi. I worried about the fact that I didn't know how to daven, when to bow, the fact that the siddur is transliterated differently than what we say. It was overwhelming! But then... my community privileged me and truly put such an astounding effort in supporting my journey. It is by no means over, but they treat me the same as any other jew in the congregation. I'd feel weird if I pulled by phone out during shabbos because they hold me in the same light as them. All of this is to say that it is just as likely that you will find a community with whom you feel embraces you through this entire wonderful journey. It is entirely possible to marry your goals with judaism - it has been done before. How could a culture, a religion, a people have survived millenniums without someone like you having made a similar journey and made it as a jew? There will always be people like you, like me, who have made this journey and made it work for them, with others who loved them as a comrade, lover, friend, and confidant.

And when it comes to a varying of practice once you are jewish? It is only natural if that happens. A conversion is not an ever-lasting contract to stay stagnant in your practice - it is, essentially, formalizing that you are part of this people. I have been following plenty of jews who have converted and who have both become more observant and less observant. In fact, a ruling about this which has truly comforted me is from Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel, a Sephardi chief rabbi who made a ruling about this:

You are human, and there are 613 mitzvot. Hardly any of us consistently follow them all - especially when many require the temple! We can only expect you to do your best, to live jewishly under your terms and readiness! It takes some of us years to work up to certain observances, and that is regardless of jewish status. It would be unfair to expect you to take on more than you are ready for, regardless of if you have immersed yet or not. Heck, I only feel comfortable observing a select amount of mitzvot because I want to understand all of them before doing them. I want my soul to yearn for an aspect of observance, because my personal goal is to fall hopelessly and madly in love with jewish life, judaism, and this wonderful people. I want to emphasize that we all come at judaism with a unique, interesting, and worthy background. Yours is no exception.

I hope that, maybe, you got something out of this rambling. You are worth it to convert if you have decided this is your desire, want, or need. I for one welcome you here, and hope that our paths continue to cross. Please don't hesitate to talk anytime - judaism is a communal practice. It is not something you can wholly do alone.

[petrichorium]

pluvi!! i know that capitano is (lowkey, not really) a patient man when it comes to you. but how does he persuade you while courting you? 👀

Oh,,,,,, truly he has Run Out of patience at that point I fear,,,,,,, but he’s very good at going through the motions 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️ comes off as a real gentleman, if a bit eager to Get Married.

I kinda shut down for a few months after my second husband’s death—it’s just so sudden and so soon after the wedding it shocks me greatly—and he doesn’t wanna scare me off so he waits twiddling his thumbs until I finally attend a dance, and he pounces then without a Teaspoon of shame LOL makes his interest very apparent by asking me for a dance and blatantly keeping by me the whole night………

The gifts start appearing at my door after that, mostly flowers and little impersonal things like perfume or sweets. As it continues he makes them more directed towards me, lots of writing supplies and books, and often he’ll have annotated the books. He refrains from sending letters which is a bit odd but he doesn’t trust himself enough to initiate that kinda communication 🫣

He also starts popping up Everywhere. Hes not big on participating in court culture but for the months he’s courting me he shows up at p much every event I do, and I kinda gaslight myself into thinking it’s just coincidence LMFAOOOOO he’s always a bit rigid himself except when it’s a hunt, where he is quite Visibly more in his own element. I find it kinda adorable.

But he’s actually very charming I feel!!! Again he plays the gentleman part very well, he’s already quite observant and pretty attuned to what makes me comfortable so within a few meetings I’m very at ease around him. He is Very careful not to seem too eager or like he knows too much even tho he like. Has known everything about me for years oops but it works out well. Hes actually a bit touchy too—hands lingering even when we’ve stopped dancing and on more than one occasion feeding me things. If the dragon arms instead of gloves concept is real this is Even More insane bc I think he’s only touching me w gloves on and later learn oh he was just. rawdogging that shit the whole time right out in public Jesus Fucking Christ

(If we assume he’s from Natlan, I think he actually just doesn’t rlly vibe w court culture that much, it’s all very stifling and prevents one from expressing themselves well. In my head we have a little discussion where he “jokingly” implies he has to resist the urge to just take me and stop bothering w any pretense, which I much later on realize Was Not At All A Joke)

And he def makes visits to my house 🥺 those r his favorite parts icl. Hates having to put on a show in public but loves being able to just sit across from me and get me talking……… at this point he’s giving me those books in person and tbh I think sometimes he insists I read them there as he sits and stares at me silently 😵‍💫 freak behavior truly.

My family does approve of him but we all also know it wouldn’t matter if they didn’t…….. he’s the first harbinger there’s not much to be done if he wants to marry someone. We r all just happy he’s going through the proper motions and seems to be focusing on earning me the right way (not that his reputation would imply otherwise but it’s just smthn that Lingers in all our minds). I think he’s probably proposing within a month or two, and then the wedding ends up Additionally expedited, so it’s all quite fast pfft. And then it’s….. the two or three years of us being married but still kinda avoiding each other rip LMFAOOOOOOO anyway ty for asking!!!

[reasoncourt]

if anyone is wondering why i care about taylor swift discourse it’s genuinely just because i think people lose their point in their hate for her. and they lose perspective.

like she’s actually not the most evil woman in the world. she gives her workers insurance (bare minimum) and good bonuses (she’s mega rich so also bare minimum) and she buys carbon credits (bare minimum but also opens an interesting convo - i.e. how much should we value carbon credits?). she doesn’t use her voice enough imo but she also doesn’t speak out of turn (i.e. she doesn’t pretend to be well-versed and authoritative on topics she has no knowledge in (arguably she should educate herself on certain topics but tbh i’m inclined to view it as a positive that she doesn’t introduce global political issues beyond “trump bad” to her crazy af fan base… like she could do more but i also don’t have much faith in her politics cause she’s so so so out of touch so i prefer the silence)).

an important note here is that i do think she’s absolutely fucked for not condemning the genocide of palestinian people (especially when she’s supposedly close friends with the hadids who are outspoken on the issue and would greatly benefit from her public support (obv she shouldn’t just speak out bc it affects her personal friends but the fact that she isn’t speaking out when she has personal friends is honestly bizarre to me)).

but she's not unique for any of this. she does more than most of her peers and also way less than she should. that's all i see.

and yet ultimately it’s like - people side with kanye when he put a naked wax figure of her in his music video without her consent when she was 25. that situation was obviously misogynistic but people hate her so they largely glossed over it and decided she deserved it for "lying"about a phone call she didn't lie about. people also seem to think it’s funny that football bros are making ai porn of her (arguing she “deserves” it) despite that line of thinking obviously being detrimental to all women and especially those who are so much more vulnerable than her. people got angry at her for donating $250,000 to help with kesha’s legal fees in her case against ‘Dr. Luke’ because they considered it a publicity stunt even though taylor swift wasn’t the one to make that donation public. people called her performative for taking a man to court for sexually assaulting her and only asking for $1. and obviously they would’ve criticised her for asking for more.

the thing that really aggravates me is that there is so so so so so much to criticise her for. but it’s so so so so so obvious that a lot of people just hate her and don’t actually have any legit problem with the things they say they have a problem with. their favs could do the exact same thing and they won’t find any issue with it. cause they just really hate taylor swift and won’t step back a bit in order to just critically think about what their principles are and how those principles apply to this situation with taylor swift and whether they’re actually consistent with those principles and will apply them to someone other than taylor swift.

there are such valid points and important discussions i see being completely missed because the complaint is about Taylor swift and people seem to be incapable of thinking beyond the fact that they just, first and foremost, hate her

and let it be said that this is not a taylor swift defence post. i could not give a single shit about her specifically. i do find her music fun and nostalgic but i also think it deserves more criticism than it gets (but that’s not what this post is about). it’s just that she’s one of the most talked about people in pop culture and i feel like legitimate and productive discourse is rlly hindered by people’s disproportionate focus on her

[send-up-my-heart-to-you]

Just wanna let you know that I freaking love seeing your posts when they pop up on my dash and I think you're cool as hell

You interact with tumblr in a way a lot of people don't, comfortably having full conversations in reblogs in a way I've always felt too socially awkward to do and it's super inspiring I love it

you're also really quick to answer questions about your culture which is awesome because like... while I totally understand the things of "it's not my responsibility to educate you, do your own research", I really deeply prefer being able to ask people who've lived through an experience rather than google, so it makes me happy that you're so open to answering questions and educating :)

idk yeah i just wanted to let you know that you're freaking awesome

awwwwfjxicd this warms my heart so much omg ??? i’ve read it like three times already ajshxbcb

you’re literally flattering me sm babes, thats mostly bc i’m never bothered to go to dms 😭😭 i mean, barely anyone tries to go into my dms so its mostly bc im too embarrassed to dm them first so having conversations in reblogs is the only way i can rlly talk to people 🤧🤧🤧

plus, i loveeee talking abt my culture (proud of my heritage forever) and also i alr know theres a lot of misrepresentation of us as bedouins, as arabs, as muslims, and blowing you off when you ask a question isnt gonna exactly make you eager to learn abt us. so answering is simply the more logical choice <3 (side note but i literally get so excited when someone asks about my culture??? more than when ppl ask me questions abt myself. idk why lol)

youre freaking awesome too, anon i love youu

[alphaketoglutaricacid]

an anon from one time before. I really wasn't asking in bad faith what kind of microagressions Toshiro has experienced from Laios and the rest of the party. I just know that Laios a)interrogated him about the Eastern Archipelago and b)misheard his name and seconds later introduced him with that name to his party. (I think Laios heard his name like that bc Toshiro was so exhausted from having to talk for five hours and could only speak quietly (and he even could not speak the whole word at once. Relatable) so he said To... shiro, so the To could have been interpreted as the hesitation word eto with nonexistent e, and when spoken without much vocalisation, shi sounded like shu as in japanese the u is rarely strongly vocalised, so he ended up with that nickname for 2 years). He couldn't confront anyone about his name so he had to endure it, unfortunately. I get him, although it's not about racism in my case, as people like using the shortened more childish version of my name, and I don't like it, but as I'm also very non-confrontational, as demanding to call me by my full name would be seen as arrogant, I've just become used to it.

So back to the topic, I just want to have a better view of all the characters and I might not be the only one who might have not noticed some obvious things.

Oh i didnt take offense to it! I’m just lazy abt citing but I will get to it. But informally; Its a little hard to explain micro aggressions but like imagine ur minding ur own business and some guy u dont know approaches u says u look weird, asks where ur from, asks if theres elephants where ur from that shits crazy. And he keeps doing it and treating his culture like a funny curiosity. Thats weird. Somewhere in the manga laios is like rice was shuros favorite food (insane thing to say). Maybe its a little hard to explain it but the interactions ape a lot from like the experience of being an asian person in a predominantly white country… ppl rlly do act like this w no self awareness and its frustrating and dehumanizing. Does that make sense?

[starlooove]

y’all literally have Aisha why erase BROWN ppl’s rep by hc Flora as a different race y’all do it all the time

Brown ppl exist!!

Anyways,

Bloom is brownskinned with a cute baby fro and since in my mind you can change your form however it suits you; she uses her base transformation to experiment with locs, goddess braids, Bantu knots, etc; I like to think the first few times she “half” transformed she also experimented with outfits but when she finally settled she decided on the canon fit and some shoulder-mid back length locs! Tbh I don’t hc her as black most of the time bc she’s like. THE white girl ever but yknow if I’m feeling it I’m feeling it!

Stella has a HUGE fro (like the sun!) and she keeps it in puffs during her base tranformation. Solaria is a whole different planet so i think their hairstyles for Afro textured hair would lean towards mimicking celestial bodies; and it’s actually a point of envy ppl have for Stella bc her hair can mimic the sun so well! (She absolutely uses her powers to give it a soft glow when she wants to make a dramatic entrance, which is always!) There are spells and potions that can help but on Solaria personal fashion is a point of pride in general so copying others is kind of a no go if you wanna be taken seriously. Sad. There’s this cute fanart where they base her off of Greek clothing so I’d personally say she’s black and Greek.

Tecna has a fade and she shaves specific patterns into it whenever she feels like it. She lets people believe that they have to do with whatever topic of knowledge she’s pursuing (since in magix it isn’t unheard of for specific things to require more long term changes in appearance and clothing without a transformation; this predominantly occurs with witches, wizards, and sorcerors, but you’ll occasionally find a fairy or mage doing the same!) I see Tecna as AA bc we are never beating the early 2000s cartoon nerd stereotypes ☹️☹️☹️💔💔💔💔💔

For Aisha I saw this GORGEOUS fanart of her awhile ago wearing a hijab and I basically engrained that into my psyche. I also hc her as either the androsian equivalent to blasian or Egyptian, depending on my mood tbh! I think she’s good at makeup bc she has to be but struggles with finding her personal style (in clothing as well) outside of “royal” but Stella helps her a lot with that and they bond over the burden of being rich and famous 💔💔💔💔

Which leads me to musa who I hc as blasian soooometimes but not rlly? Like idk it really just depends on how I’m feeling but when I do you KNOW she’s rocking the puffs and her hair growth is literally just box braids relax don’t call paw patrol 🙄🙄🙄🙄 black or not; i think she does have a shaved head bleached hair/eyebrows era but she wasn’t rocking with it so it’s whatever. She does enjoy shaving her brows and drawing little shapes instead and when she combines it with a makeup look? Purr.

And finally, Flora. I genuinely don’t have much to say since I didn’t know brown people existed but if I WERE an Afro Latina who saw Winx Club as one of the most diverse shows in media at the time and heavily projected onto and related to flora since the Aisha we literally have wasn’t there in season one, I’d headcanon her as Afro Dominican with 3C curls that she does take care of but doesn’t bother styling. She’d have that “spiritual” fashion sense and loudly demonstrates both her cultures not just because she’s proud of them but because of preconceived notions from silly bitches who think she can’t be both. I think she’d only “do” her hair during her transformations but she eventually ends up with freeforms! She and bloom tried wicks together and book didn’t rock with them but flora fucked with them HEAVY and even though she’d never admit it she partly did like having them because the reactions she got from people who were confused that she spoke Spanish fluently and was actually Latina because it’s possible to be both at once were funny asf!

[semiverbal-culture-is]

can I ask a question instead of a vent or culture thing? I have read ur definitions of verbal terms however I still have confusion. i rlly want semiverbal ppls thoughts and information on this over anyone else. can semiverbal mean u struggle with speech bc u often do not know what to say if it’s not a topic on your special interest or otherwise your scripts which consist of like “that’s nice” or other short phrases. like I can try to have conversation but my brain will go blank and I literarily cannot think of what to say therefore I cannot keep talking. or if I do talk I must repeat the same two word phrases over and over. i have struggled to make friendships bc of my issues with talking. I can say words it’s not a physical struggle but my brain can’t know what to say to say words often. so all of my life I’ve been known as a very very quiet barely speaks shy kid. I even often have trouble talking about my special interests if it’s not done over text rather than talking. I have a very strong inner monologue lots of words but when it comes to actually talking I struggle. there are times I do talk fast and more though. And times around certain people I feel it is easier. but often it’s not. and even if I’m comfortable around a person I can still struggle. but I’m not sure if this is a semiverbal thing or if I would still be verbal. i don’t want to wrongly use a term. any help?

I have no clue how long this has been sitting in my inbox because I've been inactive for the past couple of months. So sorry, hopefully you see this anon. 

What you're experiencing could be a verbal symptom, but it could also be a social symptom. 

For me, I tend to experience verbal symptoms as knowing what to respond or what I want to say, but not being able to say it out loud. Or sometimes my brain just forgets language and grammar. 

While social symptoms for me are not knowing what to say or when to say it, even when I'm capable of speaking. 

I'd think more about whether it's the social element or the verbal element that you're struggling with.

I can give examples for you to compare your symptoms to, but I can't tell you if you're semiverbal or not. 

[jackredfieldwasmyjacob]

Fellow Spaniard here! Just read through all your SV posts analyzing references to Spanish culture (which made me notice a lot of stuff that I missed even tho I’m from and live in Spain bc I was too starstruck by everything in the game that I loved (and also bc I was playing the English version (bc I just Had to see the Spanglish I just Had to))) and they’re pretty neat!! I rlly appreciate them :]

Tho one thing is that I, personally, wouldn’t call the reference to LATAM culture “mistakes”? I’d think of it as say how in the Galar region there were references to non-British countries that were colonized by Britain and thus share relevant, albeit very unpleasant to put it kindly, history with the nation; thus things like the copperajah line being there despite this one being Indian-inspired and not Britain-inspired. So I’d say that things like some Latin American dishes or Pokémon are less research mistakes from Game Freak’s end and more of intentional allusions to the real life territories’ relationship/wanting to represent Hispanic stuff more broadly than just the Iberian side of it

But that’s just my personal take on it, again I’m rlly enjoying the SV Spanish culture influence talks! It’s just something I wanted to point out because of the use of the word mistake for it seemed odd to me cause, if anything, game freak tends to be actually really good at intensive detailed research about the concepts and cultures they’re going to be representing through a Pokémon world filter in their games

fair enough, yeah you're right, maybe mistake isn't the correct word there and it could just be a nod to the colonial past! i thought about it briefly but i just forgot all about it while making the posts, and tbh there's not that many references to latam so it makes sense they would do that with food (and like in the same way they did with galar and india)

also i'm very curious, how's the spanglish in the english version of the game???? i kinda want to watch an english gameplay or something to see if it's cringe or not lol. also i imagine that the language teacher speaks in spanish (in the spanish version he's just the friendliest english teacher ever lol)?? idk i would love to see if there's any particular insights into all of that

[nychthemeron-rants]

artificer anon here! thats rlly cool bc my oc is a gnome artificer and even though gnomes have an affinity for magic, she just cant seem to get it. she became an artificer bc magic is important to her family and its the closest she could get.

i've only watched the anime and your takes seemed really cool so i asked!! i was also thinking smth along runes, so thx!

your oc seems really cool, anything else abt them you wanna share?

Thank you so much! I’m flattered that you like my take on things! And your OC sounds really cool too, feel free to send in more about her, I’d love to learn more!

I just finished my OC’s basic profile, so thank you for the excuse to share it.

Wren Grey

Profile:

True Name: Rhen of Kahka Brud

Age: 57

Race/ Sex: Dwarf/ Female*

Birthplace: Eastern Continent

Family: Mother, Father

Physique: 125 cm (4’1” tall), BMI 34

Favorite Food: Curry and Rice

Likes: Sweets, art (making and viewing), history, learning about different cultures, linguistics

Dislikes: Bananas, greasy foods, being underestimated/ patronized

First Cause of Death: Activated a trap and was impaled.

Speaks: Dwarvish, Common, Half-foot

More details under the cut if interested:

*Wren would consider themself to be nonbinary in a modern setting, but given a lack of resources/ knowledge of the time they consider themself to be a woman who doesn’t care about being a woman/ has no connection to womanhood despite being feminine. In universe Wren uses she/her but I will use she/they when talking about them.

Wren is a researcher (I.E. grad student) at the same magic academy as Marcille and Falin, specializing in ancient languages. Because they are a dwarf, Wren has faced a lot of shit for pursuing magic. Even fellow dwarves look down on them for pursuing magic, leading them to go against their parents wishes and subsequently be seen as an outsider by the dwarves in their community back home. Wren changed the spelling of their name and gave herself a fake last name in order to not immediately give themself away as a dwarf on applications and papers at school in order to get their work taken more seriously. Eventually she got sick and tired of all the questions and comments she got from the others at the academy about being the only dwarf at the school, so she became progressively more secluded and withdrawn overtime. She wasn’t completely isolated, however, making friends in the nearby town, mostly with half-foots as they seem the group least likely to judge her for pursuing magic. That being said, she had work colleagues, she just mostly interacted with them via notes and letters while staying holed up in her room and office. In fact she “unknowingly” helped Marcille learn ancient magic, helping to translate some of the texts she wanted to study, though the two only ever communicated through text and had never met in person.

In addition to studying ancient languages, Wren is a magic user too, but falls more into the category of artificer in order to overcome her low magic tolerance. She knows how to and can cast a few simple spells, but her magic wouldn’t be very useful in the context of a party mage. She uses glyphs and symbols in order to create magic items she can activate using only a fraction of the mana she would use trying to cast spells traditionally. They use a combination of the gnomish and the elvish magic systems in order to create their magical items.

Eventually, Wren gets sent on a research trip into the dungeon to study some of the ancient text written throughout, however, having never been in a dungeon before and honestly having little interest in dungeons, they severely underestimated the danger. While she initially hired a party for a week using the budget the school gave her, her trip took far longer than a week, and her party (rightfully) wanted to return because their contracts had ended. Wren understood but insisted on staying behind despite the party’s warning about the danger. This led to their first death a day after when they accidentally triggered a trap and got themself impaled (thankfully through the head).

[latinokaeya-moving]

i wuv ganyu so much even if the game has done nothing but make her entire personality overworked ‘waifu’ (😵‍💫) that only worries abt her weight but like the potential is There i can taste it and i am obsessed w it even if her outfit is so godawfully ugly. why did they have to do that to her

[curiosity-killed]

Lang Qianqiu deserves more love goddammit: a post, unfortunately

This brought to you by the wonderful @veliseraptor & @/yuer on Twitter but also mostly out of spite and the fact that it’s preventing me from writing a very dumb poke-the-bear post abt the entire weird social media culture around The Minors

As always ✨SPOILERS!! SPOILERS EVERYWHERE✨

So first off: when I hit the scene where lqq confronts xl and screams “I will never be like you” I sat up in bed, did a little shimmy of delight, and hissed “fuck yes” at like 2 AM so. Now you have a preview of wtf this train wreck will be

1 ) lqq is a good character

We don’t get a ton of time with lqq because tgcf is 87 side characters running across stage with The Most Interesting Concept constantly one-upping each other before vanishing. But what we do get is, I think, enough to make a pretty compelling story: Lang Qianqiu is a kind and generous prince who is also the sole survivor of the bloody massacre of his entire family, committed by the people dearest to him (both in his belief that Gusohi Fangxin did it and in the reality of An Le’s involvement), who goes on to peacefully lead his fractious nation into a peaceful reign before he ascends as a powerful enough (aka beloved and worshipped enough) god to be ranked among the top heavenly generals. That’s like. Pretty fucking classic protagonist vibes right there.

And, as usual with mxtx’s characters, we get a lot more than this lovely little backstory. In his interactions in canon, lqq is capable of great grief and anger; he is willing to sacrifice himself if it means avenging his murdered family; and he simultaneously holds both great hatred and great respect for his old teacher. And, of course, he winds up raising and taking care of his enemy’s son which shows a remarkable depth of compassion and emotional messiness that I find terribly compelling. He struggles with a simplistic view of justice that is supported by lies told to “protect” him and that is uprooted by the truth and forces him to try to make sense of the world without the guardrails that others installed around him (looking at you mister fangxin sir).

Also I’m stealing my own tweets bc I’m Right but:

*pulls up single barstool to lqq is a good character table* I think it’s interesting & Says Things abt the continued relationship btwn lqq & xl that lqq *didn’t* recognize xl, implying that he left fangxin’s mask in place even when he went to kill him

Like here is the man who killed his family & best friend, who left him abandoned in bloodshed on his 17th bday—& here is also the man who saved his life, who taught him, who lqq looked up to & wanted to be like

Even when lqq *does* recognize xl, he still has so much respect for him paired with that hatred that it’s honestly rlly tragic? Like man. There’s so much grief in lqq’s repeated demands for a duel & insisting it’s fine if xl kills him as long as he doesn’t hold back

*pats lqq pompom* this bb is so sad. And so much more like his teacher than either of them seem to realize or necessarily want

Despite being a pretty minor character, lqq gets a lot of complexity and nuance! Look at this child trying to be grown up while desperately turning to his old master for guidance and “the truth”! Look at him! Be sad!!

2 ) lqq is an excellent parallel to xl

Okay stealing my own tweet again don’t look at me I yell the same shit everywhere

Xl didn’t want lqq to become like him (self-sacrificing, vengeful, alone) but lqq not only became alone, chasing vengeance, & willing to sacrifice himself for revenge—he also became kind, open-minded, & remorseful!! & he still clearly respects xl @ novel end 🙃🙃

We all know hc’s “they’re not very alike at all” and yeah sure baby go support your man but narratively, there’s a lot of importance given to cycles, parallels, and foils in mxtx’s writing and most explicitly (compared to mdzs, haven’t read svss) in tgcf. For example, *gestures at beefleaf, gestures at Xianle Trio vs Wuyogn Crew, gestures at Xie Lian & Jun Wu’s whole uh. Deal.* And while I’d argue xl and lqq are part of a triumvirate rather than a pair, we’re not including mister three-face in this conversation so just looking at xl and lqq:

Both adored and sheltered crown princes

Both taught by a guoshi who was seeking to prevent the repetition of their own tragedies and in their efforts, lied/omitted information and failed to protect their charge from tragedy

Both were betrayed* by their closest friends

Both are the last living members of their respective royal families

Both caught the interest of supernatural beings from a young age

Etc etc I’m getting v bored and distracted writing this so moving on

Most importantly to me, we have their betrayal by a very close and adored mentor and how they react. The confrontation I mention at the start of this shitshow is really imo one of the most important scenes in the novel because it a) illustrates the differences in xl and Jun Wu and b) sort of gives you a preview of how xl ultimately wins

So a) Jun Wu and Xie Lian both take a talented, marked-for ascension young prince under their wing. Jun Wu sees himself in the boy and obsesses over shaping him into Jun Wu’s own image in the belief that this will make him the perfect heir. Jun Wu pushes his chosen heir into situations where Xie Lian is repeatedly harmed in an effort to show that the common people are fickle and cruel and don’t deserve his compassion and care.

Meanwhile, Xie Lian is reluctantly roped into mentoring his prince due to his inability to stand aside when he feels he could do something to prevent hurt or injustice befalling another (simultaneously his great strength and great weakness! God I love him). Xie Lian tries to teach his student to believe in and care for the common people and not to sacrifice himself (see: flashback convo re:taking the force of the sword strike into his own body).

When Xie Lian refuses to bend in the shape Jun Wu demands, Jun Wu bashes his head into the wall. When Lang Qianqiu cries “I will never be like you!”, Xie Lian laughs and says “Good!”.

B) this of course feeds directly into foreshadowing! Like Lang Qianqiu’s bold words, xl ultimately refuses to become like his mentor and remains defiant even when it would stop him from being hurt. Xl beats lqq and says so what if I tricked you, so what if I lied, I still won. Naturally, xl beats Jun Wu not through standard swordplay but by using a trick he learned while forced to busk and wander the earth alone and unlucky for centuries.

…okay so I have fully forgotten what I was actually saying here! Anyway!

Like Xie Lian, Lang Qianqiu spends a time consumed with the need for vengeance, hunting his enemy and rejecting the heavens. And like Xie Lian, he winds up caring for his enemy’s “son” and trying to both comfort him and maintain what’s left of Qi Rong’s life force despite having previously been hellbent on destroying him—bc he sees the impact it has on another person. In the end, he even gives a gift to Xie Lian—his mentor, his role model, and the one who killed his father—that was once given to him as a symbol of unexpected kindness. Sound familiar?

But, importantly, and contradictory to what I have been yelling abt but whatever it’s 12:30 am, Lang Qianqiu is not a direct mirror of Xie Lian but a closing of a vital loop in the story. Lqq is very similar to xl (I will die on this hill!! Only I won’t bc I’m stronger than y’all and will keep swinging these pots and pans) but bc xl tries to do better and keep lqq from suffering the way xl has, lqq is able to have a gentler and more optimistic path forward. He’s proof that even a small act of kindness or even kindness to only one person still matters and has a ripple effect that can’t be seen when you’re in the middle of it—a thread started with xl giving the coral pearl to Lang Ying and closed with Lang Qianqiu returning the pearl to Xie Lian.

So I have no idea if any of this is coherent or compelling but I meant to be asleep two hours ago and the points are:

A) Lang Qianqiu is good actually

B) parallels!!!

C) look ive already started another wip about Lang Qianqiu and Xie Lian and I didn’t want this but no one else wrote it so now I have to so pls just accept this as a warning

*sort of air quotes around this for Xie Lian bc frankly Mu Qing was right & Xie Lian kicked feng xin out BUT on the other hand, it was experienced as a betrayal and we also again have all of Jun Wu’s shit so it evens out

[sencrose]

first off, sorry if my thoughts are a bit all over the place/vague, it’s been a while since i finished the book and i borrowed it via libby so i don’t have it on hand to reference orz. (also this got rlly long so i’m rbing and putting thoughts under the cut oops)

generally speaking, i really enjoyed moreno’s writing, especially in the first half-two/thirds(?) of the book. definitely agree that his imagery was great and really immerses the reader into the story. it definitely played a big part in keeping me glued to it. 

and i also thought the portrayal of grief through thiago felt real/raw, and probably my favorite part of the book. like the random realizations of doing something for vera and before remembering she isn’t here anymore, the use of “our” when she’s gone, but also all the ugly parts too. there were some sections where thiago was pretty candid about his distaste towards vera’s friends and how they mourned her in a way that felt self-gratuitous that stuck out to me. (i really wish i could find the specific passages but it is what it is)

in terms of culture — i don’t really have much to say on it bc im not familiar/not from that background but i can somewhat empathize with what thiago is going through in terms of feeling like an imposter to your own culture; not knowing much about the traditions, barely being able to speak your parent’s native tongue and the shame that comes with it. i think in its own way, its a bit sad and tragic but yk. this whole thing reads like a tragedy. i kinda interpreted it as cultural assimilation being its own type of horror, and another way thiago finds himself alone and isolated. 

the book was sold to me by really playing up the technological horror aspect so i was a little disappointed when it was 1) not really the focal point and 2) felt like a pretty shallow attempt at it (for me, personally). 

sometimes it felt like moreno was trying to do a lot at once and it ended up making everything feel pretty surface level and a bit hard to follow.. then again i feel like maybe surreal horror is just not my thing. definitely felt confused while reading the last bits, 

i felt like i couldn’t make heads or tails of anything. it also felt like it was really snowballing in terms of all the deaths that made it feel like? woah can we hit the brakes just for a moment so we can breathe? then again it might be what was needed to push thiago closer to the breaking point; i think as a reader i just wanted a little bit more time to digest it. 

overall i also thought it was ok? still an interesting read but also confusing towards the end orz. 

cort!! hope you've been doing well <3

this is really random but i remember you posted somewhere on your old blog you were reading this thing between us by gus moreno and i just finished it recently and was wondering about your thoughts!

finally answering this, sen! literally just finished the book after slamming it out in like a day.

first and foremost:

overall rating ⭐⭐⭐.5/5

fucked up rating 💀💀💀.8/5

MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS

overall, I think it was an interesting read and a fascinating take on the whole "possession" trope while integrating the inescapability of technology, grief, and struggles with cultural identity. those themes came thru consistently and potently throughout the entire story and I'm glad for that.

interestingly, I'm actually really delighted to have a protagonist like Thiago bc he never really grows from his experiences—only dissolves deeper into his grief and struggles, still blames himself, and I think his story was really the exploration of the opposite side of grief. usually, we read novels where the protagonists overcome their grief or, at the very least, learn to accept their lives as they were by the end—thiago just sort of continually spirals throughout the entire thing and sort of relents to the fact that he's going to die no matter what he does

I don't have a lot to say in regards to the cultural identity stuff bc it isn't something I can relate to on any level—but, moreno made sure this was a pretty significant focal point throughout the story, albeit quite spotty, and other reviewers don't seem pleased with the route he went with it.

I've read some people think moreno just spent a whole lot of time trashing mexican culture than anything else, but I do think that his idea was to write about a character who came from a "hard" background, who grew up knowing nothing besides that, and never really was given the opportunity to fully escape that. sure, vera is there, and he loves her, but I feel like a big point moreno tried to make was not only the significance of having vera come from a "easy" background (both parents, never having to struggle), but to have them culturally similar to sort of... idk really drive home that Thiago holds some sort of internal resentment towards her for that, and that he could never view himself as anything other than less than.

I could be completely wrong, but that's just sort of how I ended up interpreting it. some reviewers definitely didn't approach it critically, but even tho it was done poorly in some places, moreno really tried to give the cultural identity stuff complexity and I can respect the attempt there.

uhhhh

man, I am too tired to try to theorize about what the fuck was happening half of the time in the novel, but I do think: 1) this was more than a demon, but an interdimensional entity trying to make itself "real". 2) why it was trapped in a itza I have no fucking clue 3) probably the scenes of the beach and the table were easily the creepiest scenes in the book

it's fascinating bc Thiago does a pretty good job doing everything "right". he resists. he avoids. he runs. he destroyed the itza. tried to destroy the wall. tried to do the rituals that diane suggested. he's a lot more mentally robust of a character than he was aware of it and it took MULTIPLE deaths and possessions to finally get him to fully surrender; whereas he spent the entire novel believing that he was the weak one compared to vera.

one thing I'm thinking about is that this is technically a psychological horror—there are numerous times throughout the story where reality shifts, you're not sure of your head or your ass, and what the hell is going on. I think that's partially bc moreno may not be too familiar writing those sorts of things, bc I was confused more times than not BUT

in the beginning when thiago first met the cook at that diner, he drank the milkshake and it seemed to me that the diner actually existed. just like the possessions of brimley and jacobson actually existed, but, like, idk it makes me wonder how much was actually hallucinated vs real idk

gore was plentiful, somewhat gratuitous, but not really detailed enough to make me squeamish so it's whatever. tho, not-brimley's zipper mouth of teeth and Jacobson's eel eyes definitely put unique images in my head that are gonna hang around for a while. I really digged how moreno described the cook's real body bc as being fibrous, viscous, like some sort of bug covered in something—i think. it sounds and feels like it'd be gross and unnatural.

moreno's descriptive language was quite good imo. his imagery never really fell flat and he had this way of creating very specific, saturated images in your head that I really respect and is probably one of the biggest things I took away from his writing style. that imagery definitely did most of the heavy lifting for the story bc w/o it, the writing would've kinda just... a pissed off, grieving man whining the entire time.

one thing I did find jarring was how direct he could be with some details e.g. the scene where Jacobson throws Thiago into the grave and, like, hits him with the shovel and basically scalps him—it's so point blank that I'm like ?????

like, cool. I get it, but ???????

as a writer, I understand not everything deserves a paragraph of description to make it effective, but some elements could've been expanded imo

hands on hips

the ending was pretty bleak and it was meant to be bc this is, ultimately, a man who's been chased down to the point of being physically, emotionally, and psychologically exhausted and has completely surrendered by the end with a dim smolder left to fuck with cook just as a final 🖕🏻. fitting.

I felt pretty neutral about it tbh. not particularly impressed. not really able to say it was awful. it was kinda just "eh, that works, I guess. nebulous as hell, but whatever"

and, yeah!!! it was an okay book that was pretty easy to read and shred thru. not really making any of my lists for outstanding literature, but worth the time if you wanna read something sort of gory, highly atmospheric

what are your thoughts?????

[curryaboo]

— hiii! i was tagged by @banglatown @bengayli @jentlemahae @chameli aaand @/minteas to do this “get to know me better/20 questions” tag!! thank u so much beauts!! <3<3<3<3<3

🪁 what do you prefer to be called name-wise?

rao is absolutely fine!! <33

🪁 when is your birthday?

oct 13 :) i share it with some,, prominent people in popular culture and politics which aren’t rlly MY personal faves but wtvr it just goes to prove i’m the superior oct 13 baby !

🪁 where do you live?

the uk :<

🪁 three things you’re doing right now?

answering these questions, sorting out some spotify playlists in between answering these questions & casting my eyes between lines of james acaster’s classic scrapes and my phone (sunny @/amarakaran mentioned the book on one of her tag games n very kindly gave me the link to it and i jumped str8 to reading it! u know you’ve watched too many things featuring james acaster when u now read his book in his exact voice :/)

🪁 four fandoms that have piqued your interest right now?

bbc ghosts (ppl have some amazing theories n opinions surrounding it but i would not advise looking up the tag on here and sorting thru recent god bless youse but there are some awful takes there) aaand idk ig a range of kpop groups but i don’t rlly participate in the fandom sides of things anymore (and i’m not consuming a lot of new media or at least keeping up to date with the media that i do to label myself as being interested in being part of the fandom)

🪁 how is the pandemic treating you?

icl now that i’m seeing it in retrospect, it’s been cruel in the sense that it’s taken a lot of important things away from me (my last two years of high school for example i’m rlly bummed abt that) & stunted me in some ways but regardless i’ve learnt a lot about myself and my friends & family and yeah i’ve learnt to cherish myself and my loved ones all the same :)

🪁 song you can’t stop listening to right now?

boy am i glad this question is here bc since yesterday ? maybe i’ve been listening to gal mitthi mitthi endlesslyyy i think my brain chemicals recognise that we haven’t been to a wedding for the past 2 summers so it tries to fill the void by fixating on this one wedding-y song 💔💔

🪁 recommend a movie

PLS if u haven’t already , pls watch assassination nation bc i need someone to begrudgingly revel with in the absolute shit show pisstake of a movie that this is . (as a side note: my soul will not know peace until kennie jd does a video on it) on a more serious side, english vinglish is one of my most favourite films 10000/10 recommend pls go see it if u haven’t it’s an absolute warm hug of a movie <3

🪁 how old are you?

18 :)

🪁 school, university, occupation, other?

gap year babieee my soul is just wondering the place rn

🪁 do you prefer hot or cold?

cold !!

🪁 name one fact others may not know about you.

uhmm i lived in bangladesh for about 9-10 months when i was abt 4 and it was so amazing i miss it very much :’]

🪁 are you shy?

yes quite shy :} but i will always put effort into getting to know someone or initiating a convo !!

🪁 do you have any preferred pronouns?

i was in turmoil over them rlly but she/they is what i’m comfy with rn ! :D

🪁 any pet peeves?

other than some obvious ones, when ppl open things like crisps packets upside down,, that disgusts me truly

🪁 what’s your favourite “dere” type?

i would be a liar if i said i wasn’t biased towards a good bakadere but not too much that it annoys me lmao

🪁 rate your life 1-10. 1 being really crappy and 10 being the best you could ever be.

hmm rn it’s maybe a 5?? i’m grateful for so many things but there is def a lot of room for improvement :] (actually i just got on a 3 month free trial for spotify today so that just bumped the 5 up to a 6 😌)

🪁 what’s your main blog?

this one right here jaanoo.tumblr.com !!

🪁 list your side blogs and what they’re used for.

i don’t have any but i’ve been thinking of making one for aesthetics or like future references ??

🪁 is there anything you think people need to know about you before becoming friends with you?

uhmm again i am quite shy teehee™️ imo there’s a noticeable difference between when we were yk just friendly towards each other vs when we actually become friends and i’m more comfortable with u . that’s not to say that i was being fake in the earlier instances of u knowing me, i was just a lot more reserved :) i’m also one of those *is online 24/7 but gets virtual interaction burnout every 2 hours so postpones replying to ur message to 3 days later* which sucks skfjdsj but yeah if there was anything that i’d need to know about YOU it’d be if u had any dietary requirements bc i love baking for my friends <333

ok now i’m gonna embarrass myself more than i already have & tag a lot of ppl bc i’m super nosey like that and want to know my mutuals’ answers to these 🥸 ofc u can absolutely ignore this and not want to do it we’re not under any contractual binding here <33 @allenoraaa @okhag @watermlon @gayanese @letteredwingsmain @theropoda @holyself @txtzy @creatures2010 @junqhwans @mistblush @snsdyuri @waterz @derelicthousefootage @killuaology @staycverse @amarakaran @tendermachines @shahrukh-khan @peachysara @firesigns @postmoderncaricatures @horrormanga @iqraars @123dream @sunmisbf @avisachi @bengaligirlfriend @morksuns @czennie-on-top @markvibes @joppin @nyuly @shin-jiyoon @99lover @mithaai @chamelis @thefinalgirlz @nikolailantsovswifey @mehendi @yerification @oneustual @singinginthecar @yejiswife @lovedsoup @mangopickled and uhh tumblr’s not letting me annoy tag anymore ppl so if u wanna do this and ur not on the list (ur in my heart 💕 and in an ideal world where tumblr automatically tags all my mutuals 😑) u can say i tagged u if you’d like!! ^_^

[faeparrish]

hey i may be wrong & feel free to ignore this but i think youve mentioned living in london before? im moving there (from the midlands) do you have any tips?

yep I live here ! it’s quite a big city tho so depending on where you move to you might have a totally different experience to me, but my main advice would be to get to know your area. london kinda feels like it’s just a load of different towns all pushed together so i think it’s nice to just go exploring in your area, scope out the nearest shops/pubs/parks/public transport etc. and just spend a day walking around.

also idk if you’re moving from another city or a smaller area but public transport can be kinda confusing here. citymapper is rlly useful for that, and i’m p sure it has the tube map on it too if you wanna figure routes out yourself. also if you’re using public transport and you NEED to get somewhere on time i would always recommend leaving at least like 15-20 mins before you actually need to (you’ll learn very quickly that public transport in this city is ridiculously unreliable lol). also if you’re a student you should definitely invest in a student oyster bc you’ll get like 30% discounted travel i think ? if you have a railcard you can also add it to your oyster which gives you an extra tfl discount on top which is pretty neat :-) we also have boris bikes and loads of other app-powered bikes/scooters dotted around the city. a lot of ppl are kinda wary of cycling in london but i think it can be a really fun way to learn how to navigate the city, and it’s especially nice in the more scenic/residential areas

the only other thing i’d say is be a tourist! go to central, explore hyde park, borough market, southbank, soho (definitely explore china town), find cheap tickets for the west end, look up events/exhibitions, visit museums, etc. it’s such a cultural place with so much going on - definitely make the most of it. and don’t worry if it takes you a little while to settle in - it’s a big city and it can get a bit lonely when you first move here. i think most people experienced that when first moving here so you’re definitely not alone if that’s the case, and once you settle in it’s a really cool place to live <3 sorry if this was all stuff you knew already lmao but i hope that was helpful in some way - good luck !