#it is circumstantial

[doikayt]

fundamental to bioessentialist and zionist ideology is a refusal to recognize that victimhood is situational rather than ontological

[kristybluebird]

"I have seen the cage you are weaving for me; it is a very pretty one and I shall sit, hereafter, in my cage among the other singing birds but I—I shall be dumb, from spite" (Carter, 1979)

[wolfisland]

hold on actually i have a question that comes from pure morbid curiosity

please rb this i am so fucking nosy i wanna know how many of you are homewreckers

for clarity: by "messed around" i mainly mean dated, spoken with in an explicitly romantic or sexual way, or hooked up with someone already in a relationship. whether you count an emotional affair is up to you.

[lovelessrage]

Shoutout to mean aros. Aros that are a hard pill to swallow. Aros that aren't palatable. Aros that are angry, cold, and distant. Aros that don't want to be "good representation". Aros that don't love and don't care what's said about it. Aros that do love and don't care who understands it. Aros that don't sit right with alloromos. Aros that want to be left alone and don't want to talk. Aros that are loud and opinionated and refuse to shut up. Aros that are bitter. Aros that don't want to answer questions about their labels. You shouldn't need to be warm and approachable to earn respect for your aromanticism and avoid harassment from arophobes.

[marzipanandminutiae]

I don't know if Lizzie Borden did or didn't Do It, but what matters more is what she did afterwards:

moved to a grand house with her sister and had intense, Ambiguously Gay friendships with actresses until her death at age 66

there's a terrible slasher film called Lizzie Borden's Revenge and I'm like. revenge for WHAT. what about the entire rest of her life could possibly leave her feeling in need of vengeance. barring local notoriety and the emotional toll thereof, the rest of her life was excellent

[egophiliac]

Have you heard of the "Crowley is Malleus' dad" theory going around? Where Prince Levan (or whatever his name is) didn't actually die and just went out to get some milk and is now known as Dire Crowley, the silly man? The implications of that theory is absolutely hilarious when you think about it

hold on, we can figure this out, we just need LISTS

PROS THAT CROWLEY IS SECRETLY REVAAN/LEVAN/LAVERNE/WHATEVER:

unspecified fae of some kind, with similar coloring to Mal

the animal masks are apparently a Briar Valley thing

has some kind of big blackmailable secret that was alluded to in episode 4, and then as far as I know never brought up again

(unless this was just Azul bullshitting, which is extremely possible)

based on Diablo, which...maybe means something?

has canonically worn Dad Shorts

CONS:

(gestures to Crowley's entire personality)

NO LISTEN Revaan was the guy they sent off on diplomatic missions and to take care of delicate political situations, and...look, I love this dweeb, but would you trust Crowley to be in charge of negotiating your war treaties

despite my brain insisting on reading his name as "Raven", Revaan's title does imply that he was also a dragon (or super into longan berries, I'm not ruling that out)

currently unclear why Lilia "my closest friend Revaan...he is no longer with us...I used to make fun of him for being kind of a priss about eating jerky..." Vanrouge has somehow not noticed or said anything

Malleus' Aloof Anime ~Aristocrat~ vibe had to come from somewhere, and by all accounts it was NOT his mom's side of the family

???:

turns into a bird in the opening, I don't know if that means anything but it's kinda cool, I guess

all that aside, if Malleus and Yuu are any indication, then the Draconias have...questionable taste in their social choices. so anything is possible!

[pirateprincessjess]

I found some very compelling evidence that indicates that JK Rowling may have secretly written Argylle

[radioactive-earthshine]

Image ID

Batfam: Looks like they will kill you... won't kill you.

Superfam: Looks like they won't kill you... won't kill you.

Flashfam: Looks like they won't kill you... will kill you. (or will do something worse)

*in general. No one reblog this mentioning Jason Todd. It's a joke*

[astralleywright]

i have a lot of thoughts about orym's character arc, seemingly resolved as it is, but most of them are really just my disappointment that the process felt so thoroughly disconnected from anyone in bh, except a little bit dorian at the very end. especially given that grief and self-sacrifice bordering on passive suicidal ideation are major parts of like. the majority of their characters.

[musicalmoritz]

Glazing TBHK again idk

There are absolutely valid critiques to be made about the writing of TBHK but I keep seeing teenagers on TikTok make the most mind-numbing takes about how the manga is problematic because it has toxic relationships. Sure there are some questionable scenes that I hate but of all the things to bitch about, you choose the relationships??? And not even a take about the way they’re written, you think a manga having toxic relationships in any capacity makes it bad???

I specified teenagers because I wanted to cut them a little bit of slack but I’ve seen grown ass adults make similar takes. Do ya’ll not watch adult shows with adult themes??? Where the relationships are much worse than what you find in a ghost romance manga aimed at tweens???

I wouldn’t even say the toxicity is glorified, they just don’t tell you how you’re supposed to feel about it 24/7. Like when Hanako says he wants Nene to live the life he gave her, or when Kou wants Mitsuba to be completely reliant on him, you’re supposed to understand that these are severely traumatized characters who’s baggage is going to weigh down their relationships. They don’t give a disclaimer every chapter that you’re not supposed to agree with them because they expect their audience to be sensible enough to come to their own conclusions on how they should feel about those scenes.

I hate to break it to ya’ll but mentally ill people have relationships irl, whether they’re ready for them or not. These relationships may go poorly or they may turn out to be very beneficial depending on how they’re handled. All types of people, whether they deal with trauma/mental illness or not, have flaws that sometimes follow them throughout life. Not all of these flaws will go away, because no human being is 100% perfect. Sometimes we hurt the people we care about even if we’re generally good people. Fiction that falls under the category of magical realism (aka TBHK) is meant to reflect reality, so we’re often going to see characters deal with flaws that they may or may not overcome.

Not to mention, half of these characters are dead, they’re not going to be capable of having normal healthy relationships. They behave realistically for their circumstances, it doesn’t have to have a moral tied up with a pretty pink bow. Most of the ships are doomed to fail anyways so them being toxic is a relevant part of the natural decline of their development. The toxicity doesn’t automatically make the series bad, in fact I’d argue that element is well-written and necessary for the progression of the story. If HanaNene weren’t a little bit toxic, we wouldn’t have gotten the Picture Perfect arc or the Severance arc

It’s perfectly fine to dislike toxic ships in fiction, but don’t ridicule authors for wanting to depict more complex themes in their work. AidaIro have certainly included some weird fan service scenes/official art in their series, but those criticisms should remain separate from creative choices you personally dislike.

[shaykai]

Look I don’t think Nightmare and Error would pick a fight with each other (I think they both acknowledge that the other is not someone they want to have to fight) but if they did?????

[stripedstarsblueflags]

i didn't win the wheel: episode 9 (pt. 1)

why did williams have to choose the freakiest content setup for the time in the season when their drivers' mental health is going to be at its lowest (so far)? seriously, this could’ve been GOLD. instead we’ve got some sad and understated praise kink and a lot of vegetables. anyway. to elaborate:

Logan: “What’s up, everyone… this is what’s-that-crunch… wheel-or-no-wheel. What we’re exactly doing here I’m not sure–”

yeah, exactly what i meant. ever see someone look that disengaged with a blindfold on? you have now. and oh god this image is a punch in the gut. the symbolism in this particular frame GAGS ME. logan is completely blindfolded, painfully and poorly delivering an unoriginal script that clearly has been fed to him seconds before the camera turns on. alex, on the other hand, is lifting his blindfold up, looking around, taking in logan and the room around them and the camera crew… honestly, you gotta feel for the williams pr team, because in this instance they’ve accidentally shown us what it’s like to have one of their drivers restricted by their device and yet forced to lead anyway while the other is dealing with a similar obstacle while being allowed and encouraged to overcome it. genuinely a coincidence but such a flop. thank god none of the fans who watch this are analytical hyperreactive overachievers who look into every single aspect of these videos with merciless scrutiny and rainbow-colored glasses, right?

omg how did i just now notice that under that stupid skinny ass table both their legs are almost touching except alex is a giraffe so he has to keep his giraffe ankles tucked awkwardly back closer to the chair legs so he’s not taking up logan’s space but he still wants to have horrible posture so he’s a half-folded lawn chair wtfffffff this is too cute!!

Logan (still doing the intro)(still confusedly): “But you know whoever wins… gets to spin tha’ wheel.”

THANK YOU, LOGAN SARGEANT. this is what i meant about blindfolds 🤝 freak content, except usually when we have other teams do this there’s usually a pretty big goofball element to it (even charlos always brings goofball to the kink). this tiny snippet on the other hand looks suspiciously like he’s doing it on purpose. just looking at the gif doesn’t begin to cover it, even to my own eyes it looks like i’m reading too much into it paired with the visual alone but it’s all in the tone of voice. i REALLY recommend rewatching this episode because there’s no way i can do it justice in just words. the closest i can get to is my favorite word to use when someone’s voice is being sexy which is ‘lilt’. like there’s no seduction or husk or anything obviously intentional like that it’s more like you can just hear the slow arrogance in their voice. the way the pitch fluctuations almost singsong like just on the edge of a taunt no matter what the actual words are saying. it’s how people say i’ve got you right where i want you.

and also. THE VISUAL?? IS STILL A THING?? logan is blindfolded since the start of the video, so until this point he’s just been facing some meaningless direction because, duh, he can’t actually see. he doesn’t even make much of an effort to face the camera as he’s introducing the show even though he obviously remembers where it is. but the shift. the turning to the camera for just a split second and his deadpan expression flickering into a lazy smirk and his voice gets ✨like that✨ and here we go game show hosts and their attraction to inanimate objects but by the time he gets to “that wheel” (tha’ wheel) he’s turning right back to alex. who at this point is probably also blindfolded. and can’t see logan. and even if he isn’t and is still fidgeting logan doesn’t know that because LOGAN CAN’T SEE SHIT. but he remembers the bit alex likes and instead of just repeating the same old same old (which we know alex will laugh at no matter how many times) he makes this tiny adjustment in just the body language and the tone of voice alone and now we’ve transitioned from him flirting with the wheel to him flirting with alex. fuck. this is episode four and episode one territory why does depression get in the way of everything

Alex: *celery noises*

Logan: “….can you take another bite?”

[both laugh]

what is this challenge like– oh my god i can’t take it any seriously than they can. first of all the ASMR mic-ed up crunching? major ick, we all know what celery sounds like, we don’t need Celery (Alex’s Version). but it’s so unbearably awkward that it ends up being hilarious anyway. logan having no idea how to ask that question (because what kind of question is “can you take another bite so i can intently listen to it with my head leaned towards your face and my eyes covered”) but at the very least it helps them bring some warmth into the activity. up to this point (with flirtatious logan appearance being a notable exception) they’ve seemed very… isolated. logan’s entire vibe is “why did you wake me up for this” at 3 pm and alex is left without 1) an interesting sport or task he actually wants to do AND 2) logan to help him stay present, cause logan is entirely matching alex’s “how long do i have to be here” energy and when they plateau like this the awkwardness becomes nauseating. until finally the game itself is so stupid that they can’t play it without laughing at the activity and themselves and even when he’s looking down logan’s smile is such a relief to see

also, alex staring intently at logan and leaning all the way over and chewing with his mouth open and trying to be as helpful as possible even while logan’s mind is entirely tv static. adorable. so often alex forgets to treat these challenges as a competition and instead to him it’s like a group activity, a puzzle they have to work together to solve like mice in a maze or smth because it’s not fun for him if logan’s losing

Alex: *pepper noises*

Logan: “A bit softer…”

Alex: “Mm. Good.”

Logan: “…one more.”

ooooh okay i like that a lot better. so the first try (celery) was a flop; already in this second item we see some changes. because what did i say alex has way more fun when this is a little puzzle they have to solve together rather than them both trying to stump the other. remember lewis looking up “most difficult words to lip-read” in that noise cancelling headphone thing against george? alex brings a very different energy. i can’t believe i’m analyzing chewing techniques now but from the very first bite he’s ending his sentence early, swallowing, leaning closer, the concentration is evident on his face with how clear he’s trying to make this crunch sound. and then logan starts talking out loud, trying to narrate his thought process basically, but not trying to trick anyone into giving him a hint– it’s sort of like on grill the grid when he thinks out loud not to entice a clue but to prove “hey, i’m thinking! i’m putting effort into this! i’m actually trying i just don’t know the answer please don’t think i’m stupid” and alex– who at this point is supposed to be competing, how many times do i have to remind– is audibly encouraging him. only leans back when he can tell logan’s on the right track (sort of).

and that in turn– just the word ‘good’ is an evident confidence boost for logan. it doesn’t take a lot to get him to turn around, alex doesn’t have to worry about being patronizing or sounding like he’s trying too hard but the fact that alex is observing how he’s doing in the first place and noticing when he improves/gets something right even in a game is enough. and so the next time logan asks for a repeat it’s not a really awkward sentence, it’s not “i’m gonna say this in a goofy voice because i’m so uncomfortable asking this that i have to make this funny because otherwise the embarrassment is going to kill both of us” it’s a command. like god shivers down my spine. and alex doesn’t laugh either he just takes another bite good boy because this is how he prefers to play the game! together!

still didn’t guess the pepper but moving on!

ok this is just adorable. alex what were you doing

didn’t set out for this to be a two-parter (maybe more???) but whenever there’s a blindfold the body language goes CRAZY to overcompensate and there’s always so much more to analyze! so breaking this down for now!

[bonefall]

Could Sorrelkit have gotten an honor title for surviving being poisoned like Honeysnake? Or is that not given to babies?

There's a few factors here;

No, babies aren't able to earn Honor Titles yet. They're for warriors-only. You can go from Apprentice to Honor Titled Warrior but that's very rare.

Sometimes kits ARE named for deadly circumstances. They receive their First Name upon seeing the full moon for the first time, so there are kittens who end up being named for something like that; such as Adderkit, who was rescued from an adder by Talltail. Sorrelkit was already named.

A poisoning like that wouldn't be honored due to its horrific nature. Honeysnake survived an adder bite, venom, after saving Briarkit's life. She wasn't tricked into eating nightshade by someone she loved and trusted.

Make sense? Honor Titles are things of honor, achievements. This wasn't an honor to ThunderClan at this time, it was just sickening.

Must have been extra rough on Sorreltail, though, to go through a nightshade poisoning as a kitten, and then watch her baby desperately fight to survive an adder bite. So soon after losing Brackenfur, too.

[serpentface]

In what context would you have effigies of evil spirits? Or objects carrying curses in general

I haven't really specifically invoked folk religious practices in the Wardi sphere (though a lot of what I've talked about includes it), a LOT of stuff revolving around curses is derived from folk magic traditions.

Folk religion here means magical/spiritual practices that develop out of common practice and may be Informed by religious doctrine but not Controlled by it. The Faith of the Seven Faced God is a state religion, but its broader sphere includes dozens of folk traditions (some heavily informed by and interactive with core doctrine, and some that are very distinct from core doctrine and have developed independently, or are heavily syncretic with foreign practices, older Wardi practices, or those of other native groups).

There's also major separation between the practices of priesthoods and lay folk (even in the urban context in which religious authority is based). This divide is fairly stark across class lines (as the upper classes are heavily integrated with the priesthoods, and Most priesthoods take their members from nobility (with Galenii being the only major exception)). However, virtually all members of society will include Some folk religious aspects in their practice. For example, the wearing of skimmer-woman amulets is Not derived from official doctrine, it is Not a canonical representation of Pelennaumache (with whom it is usually associated) this is just a very widespread folk practice (to the point that many priests wear them too). The Faith of the Seven Faced God is not proselytizing and prioritizes core orthopraxy being maintained (both on a public and private level, but the private levels are not actively policed). So these folk practices are not condemned unless they outright defy/supercede expected elements of practice.

This is the context for a lot of what I'm talking about wrt curses and magical practices outside of official rites. So like, belief in curses and evil spirits is basically ubiquitous in the Imperial Wardi cultural sphere, but folk traditions have unique ways of dealing with these threats (or inflicting these threats upon an intended target) while religious doctrine attempts to address these via blessings and public rites.

So to actually answer the question: a very common folk religious practice is to produce effigies of an offending evil spirit as means of confronting it. Some variants attempt to specifically trap it within the effigy in order to contain or destroy it, others attempt to wield power over it via the effigy (sometimes to destroy it, sometimes to redirect it to another target). Other effigies representing evil spirits in general are used to scare off real ones (the hats of the new years dancers are an example of this that has found a place in official public rites).

Attempts to cast spells and inflict curses usually involves objects as mechanisms. This most commonly comes in the form of writing your intent on a small object (frequently pieces of broken pottery, which is easy to come by) and then burying or hiding it in a secure and relevant location (ie- a curse or love spell might be buried near the home of your target). If it's targeted, parts of the other person's body (most commonly hair, best case scenario blood) will be bound to it in order to direct the spell. Somewhat lazier curse and spell attempts involve scrawling your desired effect onto a public wall as graffiti. The outer walls of temple grounds are sometimes targeted specifically for this purpose in hopes of getting God directly involved (this is Not Condoned, though will not get you executed like defacing the temple itself).

Other methods involve attempting to imbue a nondescript object with the intended curse/spell (often in order to get it close to the target without being questioned). This often integrates aspects of traditional medicine, using the Essence of various items (plants, animal parts, minerals, etc) to imbue an object with their effect (usually while speaking your intended spell/curse. Some folk traditions involve animal sacrifice to work magic- the animal is killed in offering to one of God's Faces (which are often interpreted more like a pantheon in common practice, especially those distanced from religious centers) so that the deity will perform the desired effect, imbue an object with the desired effect, etc. This IS condemned as heretical- official doctrine holds that ONLY priests can perform killing sacrifices, a layman does not have the necessary education and practice to do so properly, and attempting to is at best disrespectful and at worst spiritual defacement to the body of God (which the animal becomes at the moment of death). (Laymen can buy or provide animals to be offered on their behalf, but themselves can only offer their own blood or food/drink/flowers/incense/etc). It's particularly heretical when done to inflict curses - doctrine holds that God does not curse and only maintains order and blesses, curses and other spiritual harm come from being partly severed from God's influence and/or disruption of the body's living spirit (something all people are susceptible to). Laymen (and unofficial priesthoods/sects) sometimes do this regardless in secrecy (and it's very common in rural parts of the region with little access to religious centers), under the belief that this will make their magic substantially more powerful.

Bottom line is there are all sorts of methods to make cursed objects, so it's pretty common that people will find objects suspected of being cursed (or that actually Have been placed with intent to inflict a curse/spell), and in that context need methods of breaking the curse. Blessings from a priest are thought to dispel most common attachments to the body, but this is not always accessible and the object itself must be neutralized. This is sometimes accomplished by simply Putting It Somewhere Else so it becomes another person's problem, but there's a chance that the curse could be highly directed to oneself (maybe bound with your hair or etc). Most practices include a combination of neutralizing, destruction, and purification. Neutralizing is done via deflection (like the method mentioned in the prev post, though there are many other strategies), at which point the object may be safely destroyed. Lingering attachments are removed through self purification (at the most basic, this is performing one of the gestures against evil and bathing oneself).

The wearing of most apotropaic amulets hope to prevent curses from reaching their targets from the get-go. The pelatoche works to deflect the evil eye and minor evil spirits and curses, the phallus imbues masculine protection of the sanctity of the body, transforms bad luck into good, and threatens reprisal for curses. etc. These kinds of amulets are worn on all levels of society, but tend to be relied upon more fully by the upper classes (which are more closely looped in with the priesthood/state religion). Someone like Janeys wears at Least one pelatoche amulet constantly for protection but thinks most other folk-magic attempts to dispel curses are silly commoner superstitions, any harm that cannot be prevented by this sort of protection needs an official blessing and purification to be dispelled.

[arale2126]

feel free to take this idea and write/draw it:

instead of growing up with Raven, Charles adopts Jean a few years/months before the events in First Class

or

Cherik saves Jean during gay mutant road trip and is forced to act as stand-in parents

[cheriekos]

sharing this because I like it and why the hell not but I don’t see myself returning to this fic. It was supposed to be a SuperBat AU mildly inspired by Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Fairies but I wasn’t loving where the draft was going. And there’s a lot more reading on fae and folk tales that I need to do that quite frankly, I don’t have time for lol