#not for superstition its just that i have one representative for each of these that annoy me or i dont like

[sierrawitch]

Celtic Customs: Death

by autumn sierra

In honor of my friend who just recently lost a loved one, and my sister who witnessed a tragic death that she was helpless to prevent, I thought it the proper moment to reflect and write on some Celtic death customs and traditions of remembering passed loved ones.

Scotland

Before burial, the body of recently passed relatives were kept in the home, dressed and in their own beds. Family and friends would throw a celebration in honor of their lives. The Scots view death as an opportunity to both mourn the loss of a soul, but to laugh and be merry in their memory to find balance in contrary. All the furniture in the departed’s home—especially mirrors—would be covered with white linens and everyone would play music, dance, sing, and share stories around the hearth to keep memories alive.

A traditional custom practiced by the older members of the family and community include a plate of salt and a plate of soil laid on the chest of the deceased person. The soil represents the body as a physical vessel, and the salt represent the purity of the soul. It was thought that without this ritual, the ghost would not be able to rest, and would haunt their family.

Another custom was to stay up at night and watch the body, also known as a lykewake. This is now seen as a sign of respect for the deceased, but in olden times people believed that the devil would steal the body of their loved one unless they kept safe watch over it. The youth of the family were given whiskey at the beginning of the night and some tea or beer with bread at some point in the middle of the night, and would take on this responsibility for the family. The watchers would tell stories, reminisce, and sometimes recite verses from the Bible.

It was also considered bad luck to see the body of the recently deceased without touching it. A week of bad dreams would follow unless this superstition was taken seriously.

Our perception of death in the modern world is one of detachment and taboo. Many people are squeamish about even seeing a dead body, much less watching or touching one in the night. But to the Celtic people, death was not a taboo thing which had to be hidden, as it is a natural, inevitable part of being alive.

The pivotal connecting moments of birth and death link the physical and metaphysical worlds to each other. Similar to the thinning of the veil during Samhain, we each witness a thinning of the veil when we are born, and when we die. In death, the spirit of the deceased moves across the veil and into the Otherworld, the lands of gods, sìth (spirits), and the deceased.

Ireland

The Irish are no strangers to pain and loss, having experienced famine, colonization, and poverty over its long history. There are many customs that have been cultivated over generations to venerate and remember the dead which are unique to their culture, but the Irish Wake is one of the most well known funeral traditions around the world.

Most likely giving root to Scottish customs, the tone of an Irish Wake is a time of mourning and celebration. It’s an opportunity to grieve and and honor life as a treasured miracle. Those attending an Irish Wake will participate and music making, singing, and drinking, especially if the deceased was an elderly member of the community, or ill long term. However, in the instance of a young person’s or child’s death, the wakes are much more solemn and respectful of the tragedy. Family and friends meet in the home of the deceased to recount memories together, grieve, and celebrate the life lost.

The exact origins of the Irish Wake are unknown, but it’s believed that it was heavily influenced by elements of Paganism and may have originated with the Ancient Celts. The Celts believed in life after death and thought that when a person died, they then moved onto a better life in the Otherworld. The Ancient Celts saw death only as a means for a new beginning, which is where the festivities come into play.

The Irish Wake incorporates the tradition of watching over the bodies of the deceased, and some say that the term ‘wake’ originates from the Irish tradition. Lit candles were placed closely around the body and tobacco was smoked by male attendees as they stood guard against the potential of the devil seizing the deceased. It was believed that the smoke would help keep malicious spirits at bay and stop the devil from stealing the soul. Clocks were also often stopped at the time of death and mirrors covered to further protect the body, as mirrors can act as portals to other—maybe not so friendly—worlds.

The Afterlife

In ancient Celtic religion, there was a belief in an afterlife in the Otherworld (as mentioned earlier), which is considered almost like a mirror of life on Earth but without disease, pain, and sorrow. This eliminated the aspect of fear when it came to passing on since the soul continues to live following its leaving the head (where it was believed to reside). Prayers were made to the Celtic gods, and sacrifices—both animal and human—food, weapons, and precious items were ritually offered to them to bless and allow safe passage of the deceased to the Otherworld.

The gods played a fairly significant role in the lives of the Ancient Celts as evidenced by their religious practices and the existence of protective amulets and talismans within their tombs. Alongside these, Celtic tombs and burial sites contained a wide range of objects, from tools to jewellery, which prepared the soul for the journey to the Otherworld (similarly to how the Egyptians prepared their deceased for the journey in the Duat).

Cremations & Burials

The Ancient Celts buried the deceased in tombs, and alternatively cremated their bodies, a practice beginning in the early second century. Excarnation was also not uncommon, during which the body was left exposed to the elements for a period and the bones were then either buried or kept for religious ceremony.

Burials of warriors and rulers were often rife with personal belongings and other treasures including weapons, armour, gold jewellery, and even large objects like chariots and waggons. Other common items included tools, extra clothing, grooming equipment, oil lamps, food, drink, eating utensils, and gaming counters, again, in preparation for their journey through the veil.

How do these customs compare to the ones of your culture, and your family?

What is your perception of death in relation to life, and how does it mentally or emotionally affect you?

Are you afraid of death? Why?

If you could personify who or what death is, what would that look like?

I urge everyone to challenge their instilled views of what death is and what it means not only for the people witnessing it, but also for those who go through its process. Many people fear that unknown reality, but it’s something we all share and experience eventually in life. You’re never truly alone. And isn’t that thought a bit comforting?

[dailydemonspotlight]

Norn - Day 70

Race: Megami

Alignment: Light-Law

Arcana: Fortune

July 12th, 2024

Fate is a fickle thing. Concepts of fate have existed throughout many world religions, mythologies, and superstitions- walk under a ladder, and fate may bring you ill fortune, after all- or perhaps, a black cat will bring bad luck. Most mythologies have specific deities or beings dedicated to fate, or one's own life- take, for example, the Greek Moirai sisters, or today's Demon of the Day, a Nordic subset of deities who spin the wheel of fate and measure one's own time left to live, the Norns, A set of three Jötunn who paint pictures of one's fate and judge them to see how their life shall go.

Depicted in the Völuspá, the most famous poem in the Poetic Edda, the sisters Norn are depicted as caretakers of the great tree Yggdrasil, as said in the passage below. The Poetic Edda is, of course, an intense and long story, and while the Norns aren't given many mentions, their role is still as important as any other deity- that being to take care of the tree of life, keep it alive, and keep humanity and the Æsir alive in tow. As described as well, the poem also goes over their role in fate. To quote,

I know an ash tree, named Yggdrasil: Sparkling showers are shed on its leaves That drip dew, into the dales below, By Urd's well it waves evergreen, Stands over that still pool, Near it a bower whence now there come The Fate Maidens, first Urd, Skuld second, scorer of runes, Then Verdandi, third of the Norns: The laws that determine the lives of men They fixed forever and their fate sealed.

The well they drew this water from, Urðarbrunnr, named so after one of the Norns themselves, contained sacred water that could wash away the rot gnawing at the tree's roots, nourishing the grand tree and keeping it from bringing about the death of the realms riding upon it. Beyond just this, though, what's the deal with the fate imagery? Well, it's complicated. The three Norns are, in effect, the 'Primary' Norns- there were attestations by Snorri Sturluson, the primary compiler of the Poetic Edda, that there were far more that watched over the fates of man themselves. As stated by pre-Christian Scandinavian sources, and later recalled by Snorri in the Prose Edda's first book, there were good and evil Norns. To quote,

"If the Norns determine the weirds of men, then they apportion exceeding unevenly, seeing that some have a pleasant and luxurious life, but others have little worldly goods or fame; some have long life, others short." Hárr said: "Good norns and of honorable race appoint good life; but those men that suffer evil fortunes are governed by evil norns."

As implied, it's said that Norns were different from just being three fates- they were, in effect, guardian angels, those who watched over others and ensured their fates. I personally find it interesting that this is one of the only major differences between the Norns and the Sisters Moirai, as the three main Norns do not govern the fate of everyone; everyone instead has their own Norn to govern them and their time. The main three, Urd, Skuld, and Verdandi, seem to simply be major Norn figures who protected the fate of all of life itself through their attending of Yggdrasil.

Looking at the design of the Norn in SMT, I believe it's less meant to represent the three sisters, and more of the overall concept of them as guardians who represent fate. The three Norn surrounding the clock do appear to be allusions to Urd, Skuld, and Verdandi, but the clock itself seems to be drawing comparison to the concept of fate- the idea that, when the clock ends, the one they watch over shall die.

To completely swerve topics, @averagefungus was the one who got the easter egg in the Alice DDS first! Congratulations! To answer what it was, if you look at the first letter of each paragraph, it spells out DIE FOR ME!

[theboarsbride]

Hi! Just saw your rant review of ACOTAR and thank god someone else felt the same way. As someone who really loves Celtic/Brythonic folklore, there's something that felt very icky and disrespectful about SJM taking a folktale told by the people, for the people, and saying "Not hot enough, it needs be more s e x y." And this is definitely partially inspired by the Twilight series' interpretations of vampires although I am much more forgiving of the latter. While the vampires in Twilight felt de-fanged, if you will, historically, vampires represent the unknown, the dead coming back to life being an affront to God, etc. And that is something Twilight, at the very least, partially explores and expands on the traditions before it. The fae folk can be thought of similarly; remnants of an old, pre-Christian, pagan world full of darkness, danger, and beauty. However, the fae folk in SJM's world felt less of an almost unbeatable force of nature that rarely is defeated and more like. A group of (very racist and deeply misogynistic) elven Edward Cullens acting on their petulant and childish whims. It removes what makes the superstition of the fae so powerful in the British Isles. That was what made the original Ballad of Tam Lin so compelling to me; it is a story about a young woman who fought against the manifestation of the dark and unknown and WON. And SJM's interpretation of the Beauty and the Beast/Hades and Persephone trope is also one-note and surface level. First of all, the Ballad of Tam Lin is NOT a Beauty and the Beast story and to change Tam Lin from being a man trapped by the supernatural to the one doing the trapping is so gross. And, in my opinion, the more compelling Beauty and the Beast retellings re-examines the transformative power of love trope. Instead of the heroine being so virtuous as to change the Beast, both parties involved come to a mutually understanding of each other and love each other for being themselves. Love shouldn't transform, love should bring about mutual understanding. Which is honestly a better lesson than "I can fix him". Just seeing the Ballad being deeply misunderstood like this personally hurt me because it is very formative to me in my younger years. If you want really good stories with Celtic folklore, check out Sargentum and Mias and Elle, they're on Tapastic. (Although Mias and Elle is a Hades and Persephone inspired story which comes with its own problems and is very dark and heavy but at the very least passes the very low bar of not condoning the male lead's actions as hot or sexy and actually punishes him). I'm so sorry this is super long but I have a lot of feelings about ACOTAR and I essentially grieved over the fact that *this* will now be more known than the original Ballad.

OH MY GOD ALL OF THIS YES!!!!! You've worded this so much better than I ever could!

SJM is disrespecting so many folklores, mythologies, folktales, fairytales, traditional stories, etc. for the sake of having faeries that are sexy and hot and got MASSIVE dicks. Her fae don't feel FAE! She forgoes the reason WHY faeries exist in folklore and their significance within their respective mythologies just so she can make 'faeries hotter.' All of her writing especially in the realms of her 'retelling' these fairytales is so, so shallow and unnecessary. She cherry picks what she likes and finds 'hot' from mythologies rather than being respectful to the source material, and it's so disheartening to see!

Because 'Tam Lin' is a really great story of overcoming the supernatural for someone you love! Beauty and the Beast, at its core, is about kindness and mutual understanding! ACOTAR DOES NEITHER OF THOSE!! Sure, Feyre goes Under the Mountain to save a man she loves, but all of her tasks are physical ones - one of which Rhys helped her cheat - so it's not like she can outsmart or overpower the supernatural ESPECIALLY WHEN SHE IS GIVEN A MOMENT TO 'OUTSMART' THE SUPERNATURAL VIA AMARANTHA'S RIDDLE! And in the end, it means nothing because Tamlin isn't her TrUe MaTe. Thanks, I hate it.

And I REFUSE to call ACOTAR a retelling of Beauty and the Beast because aside from there being a beast (that is only on-page for a handful of pages before he is a hot guy for the remainder of the book) it has nothing to do with the original story nor does it really do anything to ELEVATE or reinterpret the fairytale. It literally encompasses everything I hate in retellings.

I will forever detest the trend of turning Beauty and the Beast into an 'i can change him!' narrative, I fucking hate ITTTTTTT!!!!1 And SJM turns it into just that, ESPECIALLY in ACOMAF! (which, ugh, I couldn't even finish ACOMAF because it pissed me off sm)

I too grieve the fact that this toxic, poorly written, shallow, one-note 'retelling' of 'Tam Lin' has become more popular than the original Ballad, it's a legit travesty!!

thanks sm for this ask!! AND DONT APOLOGIZE IT FOR BEING SO LONG!! I LOVE THESE TYPE OF RANTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm glad there are more people that share with me a hate for SJM!

[cleolinda]

Varney the Vampire: Chapter 12

Chapter 11: Oh boy, Gothic ableism feat. implied racism; Charles Holland has Plans

Chapter XII.

CHARLES HOLLAND'S SAD FEELINGS. -- THE PORTRAIT. -- THE OCCURRENCE OF THE NIGHT AT THE HALL.

This chapter is fully twice as long as the previous one, so you can imagine how I felt when I got a couple thousand words in and it just! kept! going! It's 4900+ words, y'all. Colin Robinson feasts tonight. As such, it's helpful to me to break it up into sections—like movements in a symphony, really, except that all four movements are inhumanly long renditions of "Free Bird."

I. PREVIOUSLY ON: Charles Holland still feels a way about it (530+ words)

As noted in the previous chapter, it would have been one thing if Flora had been a strumpet, or if Charles Holland (who I literally cannot just call "Charles," that's just how it is) had fallen out of love with her, but Flora transparently trying to break up with him For His Own Good gives him a sad. The reason she wants to break up is also pretty alarming:

Fortune he had enough for both; death had not even threatened to rob him of the prize of such a noble and faithful heart which he had won. But a horrible superstition had arisen, which seemed to place at once an impassable abyss between them, and to say to him, in a voice of thundering denunciation, -- "Charles Holland, will you have a vampyre for your bride?" The thought was terrific.

Oh, the thought is fantastic. "Will you have a vampyre for your bride" is PEAK goth; in my opinion it's 100% relationship g—oh. You mean it's terror-ific. I mean... if you have no sense of adventure, I guess.

II. Charles Holland looks at a painting (670+ words)

Charles Holland is settling down in Flora's room to wait for a motherfucker to try it. We're looking at the painting of Sir Ancestor von Spookyportrait, who is wearing a 1700s coat that matches the handful of cloth pulled off Varney. You see where we're going with this.

The picture, as a picture, was well done, whether it was a correct likeness or not of the party whom it represented. It was one of those kind of portraits that seem so lifelike, that, as you look at them, they seem to return your gaze fully, and even to follow you with their eyes from place to place.

Spooky trompe l'oeil (OR IS IT?). Impeccable vibes.

For a considerable number of words, Charles Holland remains staring at this painting:

"I shall now," he said, "know that face again, let me see it where I may, or under what circumstances I may. Each feature is now indelibly fixed upon my memory -- I can never mistake it."

This will obviously become a plot point.

III. Charles Holland tries to move a painting (840+ words)

After the panel containing the picture had been placed where it was, it appeared that pieces of moulding had been inserted all around, which had had the effect of keeping it in its place, and it was a fracture of one of these pieces which had first called Charles Holland's attention to the probability of the picture having been removed. That he should have to get two, at least, of the pieces of moulding away, before he could hope to remove the picture, was to him quite apparent, and he was considering how he should accomplish such a result, when he was suddenly startled by a knock at his chamber door.

POINTS:

holy shit the probability of the molding I don't give a fuck

Suddenly there came a tapping, as of someone gently rapping, at Charles Holland's chamber door: Poe's "The Raven" was published in the U.S. the same year, 1845, that Varney the Vampire began serialization. I'm not saying there's a connection, I just think that's fun.

Random knockings in dark halls also made me think of my favorite TV genre: paranormal investigation.

Now, while I'm primarily a Ghost Files/Buzzfeed Unsolved fan because having an actual skeptic completely changes the usual Ghost Show vibe, I also enjoy a ton of shows on Discovery Plus that involve investigators getting spooked and flipping the fuck out. (Honestly, the real appeal of any of these shows is the personalities involved; it's not like I actually need to see eight different takes on Waverly Hills Sanatorium.) One of my favorites is the recently-canceled, soon-to-be-revived Destination Fear, where a group of friends ride around in an RV and torment each other in dark abandoned buildings that may or may not be riddled with squatters. Sometimes there is a stray cat. I suspect a lot of it was faked, and I honestly don't even care. They are constantly hearing random slams and knocks and voices, maybe, and shrieking in panic when a camera falls over, and I love it. What I'm telling you is, I am basically imagining Charles Holland as one of the Destination Fear kids in their solo sleeping arrangements, trying to decide if he wants to go barreling after this ghost or not. This is an experiment in fear and he can't call Dakota on the walkie and say he wants to peace out because he can't let this location get the best of him!!:

"I will remain the occupant of this room come what may, happen what may. No terrors, real or unsubstantial, shall drive me from it: I will brave them all, and remain here to brave them."

The thing is, it's "an odd sort of tap -- a single tap, as if some one demanded admittance, and wished to awaken his attention with the least possible chance of disturbing any one else." This happens, like, four times, and Charles Holland keeps flinging the door open and no one is there. I have no idea who this is supposed to be—it can't be Varney, because he has enough corporeal substance to be unable to haul himself over a garden wall, and therefore he can't vanish instantly. If it's a ghost who can vanish, we've never heard of them, and I don't recall that we do later. I am forced to conclude that it is one of James Malcolm Rymer's creditors asking if he's gotten his pay by the line yet.

IV. Charles Holland and Henry look at a painting (1020+ words)

At last, Henry emerges from his own bedroom at the sound of Charles Holland repeatedly demanding who the fuck happens to be tapping, rapping at his chamber door, and now Charles Holland is vexed that he looks like a coward who couldn't handle it. In contrast, the Destination Fear kids are always walkie-ing each other to GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW,  A FALLING BRICK DID ME A SCARE!!! and then pelting through the ruins of some heinous crumbling hospital past a Tall Dark Mass named Red (it's always named Red) and maybe a couple of crawlers (there's always a crawler) to save each other from nothing in particular. I've watched the entire series like five times. I would pay good money for an adaptation of Varney where Charles Holland and the Bannerworth brothers are panicking at each other from the various mansion bedrooms over, like, tin cans tied together with string. 

Anyway, Henry and Charles Holland look at the painting of Ancestor von Spookyportrait and try to pry it off the wall. It's painted on a panel rather than a hanging canvas. Someone has recently pried it off and put it back! It's eminently priable! They cannot do it, for they do not have any tools to do so, except then they have a knife out of nowhere that they can use, because you keep knives in bedrooms the way you do crowbars and swords, and they finally get the portrait off the wall.

There is nothing behind the portrait.

"There is no mystery here," said Henry. "None whatever," said Charles, as he tapped the wall with his knuckles, and found all hard and sound. "We are foiled." "We are indeed."

V. Someone shoots a vampyre, again, maybe (790 words)

Even as he spoke they were both startled by a strange clattering noise at the window, which was accompanied by a shrill, odd kind of shriek, which sounded fearful and preternatural on the night air. "What is that?" said Charles. "God only knows," said Henry.

I didn't have a whole lot of sympathy for Henry back when he was moping around the family crypt, but I'm starting to get on board now. What WAS that? God only knows for 800 words of it, Henry. God only knows.

The two young men naturally turned their earnest gaze in the direction of the window, which we have before remarked was one unprovided with shutters, and there, to their intense surprise, they saw, slowly rising up from the lower part of it, what appeared to be a human form. Henry would have dashed forward, but Charles restrained him, and drawing quickly from its case a large holster pistol

What? Do we also keep pistols in bedrooms? Flora's bedroom? Did Charles Holland just know to bring his trusty Large Holster Pistol with him from Somewhere in Europe? Do we keep them in cases or holsters? What?

He pulled the trigger -- a loud report followed -- the room was filled with smoke, and then all was still.

Like, this is great. Cinematic before there was cinema. And then Rymer has to dither around with hundreds of words about how the smoke blew out the only candle they had (I hope to fuck y'all have matches), and the window latch is too fancy for Charles Holland to fathom and he needs Henry to unfasten the fastening because the fancy fastening is known only to Henry, and then Rymer goes into the perfect bullet hole in the glass that did not cause any cracking or "starring," and I had to go take two Advil and lie down. Like. I can't. I cannot when Rymer does this. I mean, I comprehend perfectly what's happening. I just. I Just. So what are we, 3000 words into this chapter about staring at paintings? SUDDENLY AN ACTION SCENE BREAKS OUT. Henry's brother George and their mother's—somebody—Mr. Marchdale rush in! Henry flings the fascinating fastened window open! Henry and Charles Holland and Marchdale (eventually) leap down to the garden in "a wonderfully short space of time"! Indubitably, here is the terrestrial location where the vampyre must have gotten his sad ass shot, again—

But nothing is there. No blood. No vampyre. No "revivified corpse" that Charles Holland was so sure they'd be able to net, and that was the foundation of his optimism. Woe:

"Human means against such an appearance as we saw to-night," said Charles, "are evidently useless."

VI. You must leave Spookyportrait Manor (200+ words)

A brief movement in the symphony, but an important aspect:

"My dear young friend," said Marchdale, with much emotion, as he grasped Henry Bannerworth's hand, and the tears stood in his eyes as he did so, -- "my dear young friend, these constant alarms will kill you. They will drive you, and all whose happiness you hold dear, distracted. You must control these dreadful feelings, and there is but one chance that I can see of getting the better of these." "What is that?" "By leaving this place for ever."

We've seen in previous chapters how Henry just cannot cope with any vampire-themed revelations, and maybe I'm too hard on him for that—mostly it's because I always see him in contrast to Flora, the actual victimized person, who has wailed a good bit less about it. But I've always liked that literary Victorian masculinity seems to leave more room for tears and expressing distress (many of you are familiar with this from Dracula, I'm sure, and that's one of my favorite things about it), so maybe I should take that into consideration. However you see it, the serial has definitely established that Henry is very emotional about the Whole Vampyre Thing. But why Marchdale breaks in now, while Henry is merely "silent" and "lost in wonder" with Charles Holland, I don't know. Should we consider this sus? Unsure.

What's important about this to me, however, is that Henry does bring up that he doesn't want to be Driven from the Home of His Ancestors—but also, that they can't afford to flee the mansion and, by necessity, sell off the property cheap to pay their creditors and have anything to live on somewhere else. How many times have you yelled at someone in a horror movie to just LEAVE! WHY DON'T YOU LEAVE THE HOUSE?!? Well: money.

VII. As regards Flora (870+ words)

"As regards poor dear Flora," said Mr. Marchdale, "I know not what to say, or what to think; she has been attacked by a vampyre, and after this mortal life shall have ended, it is dreadful to think there may be a possibility that she, with all her beauty, all her excellence and purity of mind, and all those virtues and qualities which should make her the beloved of all, and which do, indeed, attach all hearts towards her, should become one of that dreadful tribe of beings who cling to existence by feeding, in the most dreadful manner, upon the life blood of others -- oh, it is dreadful to contemplate! Too horrible -- too horrible!"

Quick recap: in the previous chapter, we discussed 1) the weirdness of this serial conflating a contagion with a "race" or "tribe" of beings; 2) the way Victorians often associated mental illness with both violence and [racist bullshit here], and 3) the way that they also cast all of these things as a "family stain" that must not be passed to your children, and yet, 4) Flora is also visually coded as being white, fair, "pure," and immune to any stain. Marchdale's blathering touches on the contagion idea without confusing it with heredity, at least. But Victorian ideals of beauty were tied up in whiteness (source: there are so many), so that historical subtext is present. Also, the word tribe: not a great usage right here!

That said, I also have a long-suppressed rant about the way people don't get that Lucy Westenra needs to be played as sweet and pure and lovingly innocent (I think wanting three husbands is very sweet! Desire isn’t impure! Wait why are Victorians throwing me in an asylum), in order to underline the real horror of the woman we knew, corrupted into an unrecognizable predator. And that's the excellence and virtue and purity of mind that make Flora the beloved of all—which sounds very Lucy to me—that Marchdale is talking about. Ultimately, if you put that paragraph under the microscope, you can isolate what you need to discard and what you could keep, and the sweetness of character is something that works.

Meanwhile, I have the temerity to claim that James Malcolm Rymer is long-winded. Go off, Charles Holland:

"Then wherefore speak of it?" said Charles, with some asperity

We're back to the thing Rymer mentioned umpteen thousand words ago: how Marchdale and Charles Holland hated each other on sight, for (allegedly) no reason. Charles Holland does not appreciate your bullshit, Marchdale, and he "will not give into such a horrible doctrine!" Marchdale tries to backpedal with a reply I had to read five times to parse, but I think he is saying that if anything could make this whole Vampyred Flora situation worse, it's that Charles Holland is such a stand-up dude and it's a shame the young couple can never marry now. BET? says Charles Holland. "May Heaven forbid it!" ripostes Marchdale, who just. cannot. quit:

"Oh, fancy, then, for a moment, the mother of your babes coming at the still hour of midnight to drain from their veins the very life blood she gave to them. To drive you and them mad with the expected horror of such visitations -- to make your nights hideous -- your days but so many hours of melancholy retrospection. Oh, you know not the world of terror, on the awful brink of which you stand, when you talk of making Flora Bannerworth a wife."

Aaaaand here we are back at the Do Not Propagate the Family Stain discourse. I told you.

That said! It is a Vampire Literature Trope that the vampire preys on the people who were closest to them in life, particularly a betrothed, from Lenore and The Bride of Corinth forwards. As noted on that very handy Wikipedia page, Byron's The Giaour (1813) specifically says that first, the vampire will first "ghostly haunt [its] native place, / And suck the blood of all [its] race"—daughter, sister, and wife included. I can't say what Rymer did or didn't read, but if he had Byron in mind, the idea is twisted so that the wife/mother, the Victorian "angel of the home," is the predator: extra unnatural.

Meanwhile, Henry is trying to get Marchdale to stop, but Marchdale just! will! not! Charles Holland will hear no more of this!! "Fine, I'm done," says Marchdale. "YOU COULD HAVE JUST NOT," says Charles Holland. "It was my SOLEMN DUTY," bloviates Marchdale. Charles Holland uses sarcasm!! It's so wordy effective that Marchdale abruptly threatens to flounce:

"To-morrow, I leave this house," said Marchdale. "Leave us?" exclaimed Henry. "Ay, for ever."

So now Henry has to coddle this asshole's disingenuously hurt feelings—I really wanted to like Marchdale, but come on, y'all, this guy is every mother-in-law on AITA. "I was just trying to help, I guess you hate me!!" Have you seen the Reddit essay about "boat-rockers" and their enablers? Basically, Henry has to get Charles Holland to steady the boat with him, even though the latter just got here and has no desire to cater to whichever random, non-Flora family member. Charles Holland does manage to say that if saying he's sorry Marchdale got his feelings hurt is an apology, then he'll say that he's sorry Marchdale got his feelings hurt (it's not). BUT KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT FROM NOW ON, YOU DON'T EVEN GO HERE:

"I will not allow this monstrous superstition to tread me down, like the tread of a giant on a broken reed. I will contend against it while I have life to do so." [...] "Come weal or woe -- come what may, I am the affianced husband of [Henry's] sister, and she, and she only, can break asunder the tie that binds me to her."

Which Flora already did two chapters ago, like, five times, but in a very "I clearly don't want to say this but we can't just talk to each other like normal people or there wouldn't be a plot" way, so I'll allow it. *gavel*

Varney the Vampire masterpost

[sixminutestoriesblog]

pearls

My grandmother was a diamond woman. One of the first things she bought herself, when WWII came around and she started working in the factory making bomber airplanes and got her first paycheck for it was a diamond ring. Then a fur coat and then a bright yellow sports car so - that says something about both the woman and the way wages were back in the day. She had to give up the car when my grandfather came back from the war alive, something I suspect my grandmother never quite forgave him for and over time the fur coat went the same way. She never stopped with the diamonds though. Over the years, and another husband, she collected them and when she was old she had all of her diamonds set into two huge rings, one for my sister and one for me. She showed them to us, in their safe deposit box at the bank, when we were young, with a promise that when she was gone, she would still be with us in those two rings.

Rings that were sold long before she died to pay for family needs but - diamonds. Always diamonds.

For myself, I always wanted something less - pat. Everyone loved diamonds. I wanted something unique and, living on the coast, there were plenty of places that sold pearls, both fresh water and salt. Pearls were magic to me, born of the sea, plucked from knobbed shells that I found ugly, secrets unwillingly shared by their oyster hosts, each one special and one of a kind. I told my grandmother, the first time she offered to buy me jewelry, that I wanted a pearl.

She refused.

Pearls, she firmly told me, meant tears. I could pick any other stone to wear but she would not, she said, buy me sorrow.

It was the second time she taught me a superstition with the solid assurance of it being fact. It stuck with me.

So, lets talk about pearls, the traditional birthstone of June.

Pearls have been taken from the sea almost the world over and their legends stretch that far too. In many Asian countries, pearls are tears that fell from one god or another into the ocean or the blood of dragons that did the same, falling into the water below them as they fought. Sometimes the oysters themselves are responsible, swallowing down rainbows to make their pearls. In Western culture, pearls have been said to be the tears Adam and Eve shed when booted from the Garden or a result of the goddess Venus rising from the foam of the ocean. Pearls show up in the Bible, both in the story about the merchant who sold all he had to buy a pearl he found in the market and with the proverb about 'throwing pearls before swine', a rebuke against giving wisdom to people who won't listen.

Interestingly enough, in Asia, pearls are a symbol of wisdom as well as prosperity and are considered lucky. In China, gold colored pearls are especially prized and dragons are often shown clutching one in their claws, symbolizing their wise nature. In Polynesia, its black pearls are prized for their rainbow incandescence, said to be the gift of a god to the human princess he loved. Western cultures prize white pearls which are said to represent purity, innocence, elegance and sophistication and despite my grandmother's words, are worn by brides on their wedding just as often as they're not, with a list of cravats that let people get around the 'pearls mean tears' with it being all right as long as the bride buys them herself, as long as the bride doesn't buy them herself, only if the groom gives them to the bride, only if they're borrowed, only if they're new and lastly, they're worn to represent fake tears that can take the place of real tears so the bride won't need to shed any in her marriage. Never, the saying goes, buy pearls that are whiter than your teeth.

Jackie Kennedy made wearing a pearl necklace a long running fashion trend and the painting The Girl With the Pearl Earring is almost as well known for her pearl as the girl. Considered a feminine gem recently, ropes of pearl were worn by men throughout history as a way of showing their wealth, particularly in India. The pearl is also considered a magical component, supposedly good for good fortune, protection and summoning wealth as well as a guard against snake bites and jaundice. Pearls are associated with the moon. They are used in love spells and sleeping with one under your pillow is said to ensure fertility. One of my favorites is that wearing them when you're scuba diving prevents shark attacks!

Speaking of diving, if you want extra reading, look up the Ama of Japan, women who traditionally freedive deep for pearls without breathing equipment. Their history goes back centuries and is absolutely woven with folklore and stories. (If you want me to make a post about them, just ask).

So - are pearls tears? Maybe. But not all tears are bad and these are particularly magical looking ones too.

[dcwnthercbbithcle]

CROTUS PRENN HEADCANON DUMP

OKAY THIS IS THE BIGGEST THING, you know how Crotus Prenn maps are some of the smallest in the game?? This DOES NOT apply here.

Crotus Prenn refers to not just one building, but rather a collection of four buildings, connected underground via a collection of tunnels, and all the land above them.

You think you know terror? Imagine Sally blinking her decaying corpse ass after you in tight, claustrophobic, cobweb covered, pipe laden tunnels that are bricked off and decaying all around you. THAT is terror.

After the murders, and the significant drop in funding and reputation the Asylum took following the events of the incident, the entire building that functioned as the Disturbed Ward was closed off. The tunnels connecting it bricked off, and the windows and doors boarded up and left to decay.

This, expectedly did little to stop the hauntings that took place, or heal the wounds that the building represented. But it was a solution, and a cheap one at that, even if it was a bandaid over a bullet wound.

Over the years, more and more buildings were abandoned, boarded up and the tunnels beneath them bricked off, and Crotus Prenn went from 4 to 3, to 2, then 1 until eventually the owners gave up the dream and shuttered the doors for good.

Even after it was put into disuse, the Asylum couldn’t seem to stop claiming lives. First it was a young woman, disappeared after venturing into the buildings with her friends to explore it, only to later be discovered in the tunnels beneath the buildings, seemingly having gotten lost. Then it was a group of men who braved the superstition to harvest copper wire, only to, again, found dead. And so on and so forth. You want to party in the buildings? Deface them? A bit of light arson or teenage destruction? Lost, dead or scared UTTERLY SHITLESS.

Eventually, after the string of deaths attributed to the asylum and everyone getting a little terrified, a group of brave souls from the town took it upon themselves to try and solve the issue once and for all by attempting to burn it all down to rid themselves of the curse that seemed to follow the building.

The Disturbed Ward along with the Chapel and several smaller structures were burnt to a shell of themselves. Mission accomplished in that respect. But Sally decided enough was enough and left the asylum to go into town and psychologically torture those brave men and cause them an agonizingly slow death of suffocation. After that everyone seemed to want to leave the buildings alone. Wonder why!

It almost goes without saying but Crotus Prenn is haunted, that much is a given after the 150+ years of torment and agony that took place within its walls. However, I cannot understate this, but, not all of the Ghosts present were victims of Sally! Sally, her murder and the murders of all the patients and staff present in the Disturbed Ward are only one piece of a much, much grander puzzle of suffering.

In total there are 115, if not more spirits calling Crotus Prenn home!

These spirits originate from all throughout the Asylum’s lifetime, from the day it opened, to its reign as a sanitarium, to its final years as a rehabilitation facility. You’ll find spirits from the 1880s to the 1960s all living alongside each other with minimal clashing. Peace and love on planet earth!

I would say about 45% of the ghosts that inhabit the buildings are the former patients of the Disturbed Ward and it’s staff. 25% are patients from separate buildings, who aren’t directly tied to Sally or any of her patients, but faced different tragic demises. 15% are staff, both reluctant and devoted who chose to remain in the building to continue their work into the afterlife. And that last 5%? They’re strangers.

Which leads me into my next point. Not only is Crotus Prenn haunted with a capital H, but the sheer density of spirits and supernatural activity causes it to act like a beacon for other wayward spirits. Crotus Prenn isn’t heaven, but it isn’t hell either (at least not anymore), when you enter it’s halls you won’t find eternal peace but you will never be alone again.

The buildings almost seem alive. People passing in the dead of night have seen lights in the windows, even though power hasn’t flowed to any of the buildings in over 50 years. They’ve heard conversation, the sounds of people and hospital staff going about life. Almost as though a memory of a bygone time is replaying in perfect detail.

I cannot stress this enough: NONE OF THE OTHER SPIRITS IN CROTUS PRENN ARE KNOWN TO BE VIOLENT. At most what an instructive ghost hunter may experience a ghost pushing them back or giving a scratch in perceived self-defense and fear. However, that’s it!! There is only one spirit capable of extreme violence or killing the living in their midst and her name is Sally.

Why is Sally the only one capable of extreme violence and killing the living? Two things! Sally isn’t a ghost ghost, she’s a Newfoundland Hag. But also, because SALLY CAN AND WILL HUNT DOWN AND DESTROY THE SOULS OF OTHER DANGEROUS SPIRITS. She will not allow any spirit that could harm her patients into the building, and if they make it that far, she’ll steal them away and make sure they can’t hurt anyone.

Ghost Hunters beware though, though it is easy to get activity in the buildings, they are teeming with life afterall. Their kind do find themselves becoming quick targets of Sally. Their presence and disturbing of the spirits makes them harmful to the patients, so they will be dealt with, even if it means Sally following them home!

[calicohyde]

I got a question a long time ago from I don’t remember who about how I made sure the witch noir power types (which are inspired by cultural folklore) were not offensive or appropriative, and I think my answer was probably pretty dismissive, so I decided to give some actual examples of the ones I still remember and my process for coming up with them.

First off, remember that folklore is not synonymous with religion or spiritual practices. So that already makes taking inspiration from there much less delicate of a thing to do. To give a comparative example before we get into the process examples: say I wanted to make a power in this fashion inspired by North American Native culture. I would use “land stewardship” or something similar as my jumping off point, NOT something like the w*ndigo. The difference between those things is significant, and I think pretty clear?

I also think a big part of this system that makes it not insensitive is that none of the powers (and therefore none of the - obliquely - referenced cultures) are exoticized. What I mean by that is that power type isn’t determined by skin color or religion, and every power type is equally special and mundane to each other (aside from the oppressed group of types, which are primarily based in my own cultures anyway just because those are what the main characters have and in this particular work the main characters are tangentially representing me). There’s no Magical Brown Guy or whatever that trope is called. inversely, neither are any of the white people inspired power types portrayed as being more “civilized” or otherwise more inherently Good™ in any way.

Now for some actual inspirations I took, the witch types they ended up being, and how I got there.

1. spin the globe, pick a people. okay, Slavic. get more specific. Romania. take it back now y'all. Transylvania. so obviously vampires then. what are vampire “powers”. hypnotism. what’s the basic concept of hypnotism. control of perception. apply some limits. only works on relative strangers. word associate to name it. first impressions -> impressionist. no that’s already a widely recognizable word in the language I’m writing in. well they can make people trust them on sight, kind of like how some baby animals imprint on the first thing they see. experiment with suffixes until it sounds good. google that to make sure it’s not already something. viola, the Imprintor witch type.

2. pick a people. Asian. get more specific. Chinese. what’s one of the most iconic Chinese artifacts (is that the right word?). the Great Wall. what was its purpose. to protect the border. a protective barrier. how can I make that into a power. warding is already a type of magic. make it unique using characteristics of the Wall. it was made with extraordinary physical labor. for this power wards must be connected and maintained by the caster through a physical part of them left behind. now name it. protector -> guard -> the Guardian witch type.

3. pick a people. European. get more specific. Italian. what have they got. da Vinci -> no ideas. Vatican City -> Catholicism -> I’m not into that. what’s a culturally-based quirk Italians are known for? superstition. how can I turn that into a power type. someone in the presence of whom superstitions become true. apply limitations because holy shit lol. now name it. superstitionist? no that’s too on the nose. something to do with omens. behold, the Augur witch type.

4. pick a people. central American. get more specific. Mexican. what’s a frequent theme in Mexican art? death -> dia de los muertos -> communication and visitation from the spiritual world. that doesn’t really need any finagling. name it. look up a list of things people who can talk to spirits are called. pick one -> the Medium witch type.

5. pick a people. Irish. first thought is of course fairies. no, fairies are their own thing. second thought: “luck of the Irish” -> bad luck. how can I turn that into a power. someone who can inflict bad luck on people. add good luck and some other easily associated things like grace/clumsiness to round it out and get it on the level of the other power types (and make sure no type can only be villainous - or heroic for that matter). name it. it’s based on what amounts to a cheeky little curse. a hex -> the Hexist witch type.

I also reverse engineered… well, at least one.

pick a people. European again. get more specific. Greek. gosh they sure have a lot of statues of gods and heroes. idols, you might say. what would the powers of an Idol be? well idols are worshipped, so someone who can make you worship them. include an opposite effect to round it out like with the Hexist. apply some specificity and limitations, and make it more morally neutral. an Idol is someone who can extreme-ify emotions in other, as to turn like into love and annoyance into hate.

In the name of full disclosure, I did have a few types initially that I later decided either toed the line of appropriation or learned used words or traditions that were not meant to be shared, and I either got rid of them or adjusted them until they were distant enough from the starting point - or could just as easily be gotten through the same process from a different starting point - that I didn’t feel it was necessarily connected anymore.

Again to compare, unlike say Joker who transposed the names and images of real Native American spiritual figures in her fundamentally British Christian boarding school fantasy, I first of all did not use specific figures or practices, nor anything expressly religious (other than, again, my own), and also only used the folklore/motif/symbol/characteristic/idiom/philosophy/geography/etc as a jumping off point rather than lifting it wholesale. The power types I made are in fact power types that I made, and only use things as a basis that are broad or nebulous enough in nature that they can’t really be stolen or misrepresented.

So that’s why I’m, as I said in my more dismissive answer, “not that worried about it”. Does that make sense, whoever asked several months ago…?

[sultanaislammow]

The new social artifact of the post-00 generation, everyone has a "street stall"?

“Bracelet” is now popular among HE Tuber the post-00s generation. Why are “bracelets” so popular? They are pouring their hearts into each other, they are looking for similar people, and they are seeking something. Let’s follow the author to analyze this craze!

As night fell, Wu Shan walked into the Jewelry Building of China University of Geosciences.

In the circle of college students in Wuhan, this place is regarded as a shopping mall for high-quality and low-priced trinkets. Jewelry design is one of the flagship majors of China University of Geosciences, and Wu Shan believes in the students’ professional abilities and “special paths.”

When she walked out of the jewelry city, she had a bracelet on her wrist made of Hetian jade, southern red agate, and turquoise. The three colors complemented each other. The stall owner quoted 247 yuan, which is expensive considering the consumption level of college students, but Wu Shan expressed satisfaction: "I picked these beads one by one, and they have personal characteristics."

Represented by Wu Shan and her friends, a "bracelet craze" is quietly emerging among the post-90s and post-00s generations. Compared with the wooden bracelets worn by the older generation, these colorful bead strings have lost their deep Zen feel and "value-preserving" cultural toy attributes, and have returned to their original intention as decorations.

But for young people, the meaning of bracelets goes beyond that. Just like figurines, glue, and rubber stamps, bracelets are hobbies, and they are also a symbol of identity among Generation Z to sniff out each other's scents and divide territories. As the pearls flowed, it no longer mattered whether the bracelet was valuable or not. Even if it was the cheapest ore and wood, players still poured their hearts into it.

1. Elsewhere

Generation Z’s preference for “hand-crossing strings” is different from that of middle-aged and elderly people.

As a kind of cultural toy, the traditional bracelet has a hidden chain of contempt for its material. At the bottom are bodhi seeds, horns, etc., with unit prices usually less than 100 yuan; at the level of sandalwood and huanghuali wood, the price rises to hundreds or even thousands of yuan depending on the wood and pattern; as for top-grade agarwood, raw ore Turquoise bracelets can easily sell for more than 10,000 yuan.

The joining of young people has opened cracks in this hierarchical value system. They not only like mid-to-high-end materials such as mammoth ivory and amber beeswax, but they also have a special liking for cheap Hericium walnuts and artificial crystals. In their view, these materials have a fresh literary style and are not too expensive, making them suitable for novice enthusiasts.

"The wooden bracelets (color) are not that bright and don't look good." Wu Shan said bluntly.

Wu Shan’s bracelets photographed at the jewelry market (photo provided by interviewee)

Compared with wooden bracelets with single colors, young people have created more ways to play with colorful bracelets. In Cheche's memory, more than a year ago, bracelets made of bodhi root dyed pink suddenly became popular around her, which opened the door for many people to wear bracelets.

"Most of what young people wear on their plates is Bodhi, crystal, agate, as well as precious and semi-precious stones." Cheche was born in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, which is the origin of "Balin Stone", one of China's four famous stones. She has been fascinated by gem crafts since she was a child. , knowing that a piece of "good material" is usually cut directly into bracelets, and the remaining scraps are turned into loose beads and then woven into bracelets.

Therefore, the superstition of expensive bracelets does not exist here in Cheche. She feels that bracelets are just a type of handicraft, just like glue and rubber stamps. Whenever she needs to give a gift, Cheche will choose the corresponding "birthstone" according to her friend's birthday, or find loose beads of the corresponding color according to the other person's favorite two-dimensional character, and weave them into an "impression bracelet" to give to her friend.

On e-commerce platforms, the prices of such "impression bracelets" are mostly less than 100 yuan, and the IPs they cover include novels such as "Tomb Raiders" and "The Strange Fairy", and games such as "Genshin" and "Arknights". The main colors of the two-dimensional characters were extracted and woven into a unique bracelet, which is more like a fan peripheral used to identify fans than an ornament.

What exactly is a bracelet? First of all, it is not a literary toy, this concept is too boring; it is not entirely a decoration, it is also endowed with more value. Young people’s definition of kebab falls elsewhere

[pandoramusicbox]

Wedding dresses.

I got some inspiration a few days ago to draw wedding dresses. So here are some weddings wear of scalipia and julner. On the left is a wedding coat form agura in southern scalipia. In center the blue forest and to the right from mournic and northern scalipia. I’m only covering feminine wedding regalia in this one, who knows I may do gender nuteral and masculine regalia at some point, as they are more exiting then just a suit and tie.

The auguran wedding coat. Colorful like much of the aguraen clothing, though specifics variety in the region the regalia is generally made up of, a ribbon crown, the ribbon drag, paper flowers, kester broach, and the “feather” or “petal” overcoat.

- ribbon drags: once made from scraps and sometimes paper, but nowadays are made of fancy lace, cut and full ribbons or sewn together into a single drag. It’s popular to use the colors of one’s homeland flag. Especially for those marriages that are for international couples (or polycules)

-paper flowers. Sometimes substituted with real flowers when available, usually one of the seven sacred flowers of Pandora but daisies and violets are popular too. They symbolize fertility but each flower has its own meaning, daisies being joy and violets fidelity.

- kester Broaches: named for a local symbol of luck, a large coin/broach worn around the neck. It is usually gold, silver or bronze, and is given to the bride for good luck and as a monetary gift for the start of her new life.

- petal/feather overcoats. The main attraction of the wedding outfit. Can be worn over pants or a skirt. The coat is heavily embroidered. Having several layers of tapered panels. These are often gifted to the bride and are embroidered by different families in a community.

The Blue Forest’s wedding dress. Relatively simple, consisting of a black laced vail, a bell band and the striped coat.

- bell band: on each side of the band (or just one side) there are five bells, the largest is gold, copper or brass, representing the sun. The other four smaller ones are often made of silver, tin or steal balls that represent the four moons. Traditionally tied right at the rib cage but often tied lower on the waist, under the bodice or even as hair decorations in some modern day weddings. The band is there to announce the coming of the bride. As well as there being superstitions around the belt, the bells are to scare of werewolves, tailed and evil spirits. Also encourage health.

- striped coat: made of cloth woven with striped or if that’s not possible made from several panels of colorful fabric. In the past especially poor or short notice ones are made by hanging strips of fabric from the bell belt. Though modesty decretive in the modern era the bodice of the past was often made from hardened leather or even metal. Forming something like a breastplate of armor. This is thought to have once just been armor one the past as there where a lot of warriors from here back in the day. A similar tradition of wearing wedding armor exists in Leona though no one is certain if it this originated in scalipia or julner.

Finally the Mournic wedding attire. Often a loose fitting dress (light colors, though not necessarily white) tied with a belt. Now the more important parts of the atire are the accessories. The shum cap, the starweaven cloth veal and hangs, and the ansesrol shawl. Do note this is a much less universal costume to mournic compared to the previous two for their regions.

-shum cap, small bowl like hat worn with golden twine to tie into the hair. It is seposibly able to ward off werewolves. Or if the bride is marrying a werewolf in hiding legend says that the golden twine will unravel and cut the creature before the bond can be legally sealed. Then of course legend continuous on about how the attendees of the wedding will brutally despose of the creature. (Lovely/s)

- starcloth: a shiny thin material that represents the devotion of the bride to time and to the goddess Praxis. Other kinds of veils are worn by different religious groups of Mournic, such as the stitched eye by the cult of the seer, a rose woven for luelless, a rain veil for the goddess iris, a white fringe for devotees of Pandora and neijfjel, a spidershrowd for the god fiveiist and his two wives. A grey veil for organdi the kin killer, yellow for hastuth, a half veil for babayaga, or black laced vails for devotees to the dragon queens and the divine chiors, so on and so fourth. veils are common practice.

-the Ansesrol shawl, often passed on in famalies, worn around the shoulders and decorated with symbols of friends and family. It plays a role in the ceremony itself as the tie that binds.

[troutfur]

The first fic I wrote for my year-long effort to get more Kestrel & Willow & Holly & Jay & Flame content out into the world ended up titled cauda draconis, after the cursed geomantic chart superstition I've talked about before while doing the SandClan bios.

At the time it was just the most interesting reference I could think of to throw in as a title when I was otherwise completely blank. But I'm wondering if perhaps geomantic figures could be a viable naming scheme for the more canon compliant/canon adjacent pieces.

Some ideas of what I could use each of the titles for:

For the current Kestrelpaw-centric piece: either amissio (loss) or tristitia (sorrow) seem fairly obvious, considering the slow death of Barkface over the course of the Po3-OotS timeskip is the focal point. But carcer (prison), the figure that represents bindings whether physical or social, is also a good candidate as the ultimate result of that is Kestrelflight being promoted to full medic without being fully ready.

For a Flamepaw-centric piece I can think of puella (girl) in the sense that it is a figure that represents youth with qualities of nurturing, which I think encapsulates who I want to portray a young Flametail as in the Po3-OotS timeskip. If not centered on his apprenticeship, a Flamepaw/tail piece could also carry the name coniunctio (affinity), for how he incorporates into the group dynamic as its younger member or more specifically for how he relates to any particular member within it (Jayfeather and Kestrelpaw/flight are both strong contenders).

For a Jayfeather-centric piece rubeus (red), the figure of anger and uncontrolled aggression seems fitting, especially for how it pairs with Hollyleaf's figure as the other one where if it is the first mother the chart is considered to be cursed. My main problem with the idea is that I generally like to soften the blow of his forced career change (or even just outright make him want it from the start and derive conflict around the med cat position some other way) too much where I think it doesn't fit anymore. I'll have to think on it.

Willowshine's the hardest to think anything for, mainly as she doesn't have any obvious story angle during either Po3 or OotS. puella is good for just about any medicine cat apprentice but if I were to use it I'd want to reserve it for Flametail. Maybe populus (people)? It is the figure of stillness, maturity, and stability, which seems aligned, and it's also a figure ruled by the element of water so RiverClan themed? IDK.

[blackwaxidol]

u know u love ur son when there’s an entire 12 day discrepancy concerning his birthday

[chinaaesthetic]

Chinese New Year! 新年快乐!

*please note that the information below isn’t celebrated by everyone in the same way. Some customs are more common in northern China rather than southern China and vice-versa.

How to wish someone a Happy Chinese New Year:

1. 新年快乐！Xīnnián kuàilè! - Happy New Year! (This can be used one the first day of the lunar calendar as well as the Gregorian calendar).

2. 新春快乐！Xīnchūn kuàilè! - Happy Spring Festival!

3. 新年好！Xīnnián hǎo! - Hello! (This is how you greet people during Chinese New Year).

When greeting or wishing someone a Happy Chinese New Year, many Chinese people wish their family and friends things like: “I hope you have a happy and healthy family,” “I hope you get a job promotion,” “I hope you have good fortune and pockets overflowing with gold.” Here are some examples:

4. 恭喜发财！Gōngxǐ fācái! - Wish you a successful and prosperous year! (This saying is known well because of this Chinese New Year song you can watch here).

5. 阖家幸福! Hé jiā xìngfú - Wish you a happy family!

6. 事业有成! Shìyè yǒu chéng - Hope you have a successful career!

You can watch this YouTube video or read this article to learn more about how to wish someone a Happy Chinese New Year!

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What is Chinese New Year?

Chinese New Year, also known as lunar new year or the spring festival, celebrates the first day of the new year on the lunar calendar. In 2021, this holiday falls on Friday, February 12!  This holiday is the most important holiday to those who celebrate this - its importance can be comparable to how Americans celebrate Christmas.

People have been celebrating Chinese New Year for about 3,500 - 3,900 years. It’s exact origins are unknown, but this tradition is believed to have started in the Shang Dynasty (1600-1049 BC) when people would make sacrifices to the gods and their ancestors towards the end of a year. However, the tradition was recorded and official during the Han Dynasty (202 BC - 220 AD) when Emperor Wu began using the lunar calendar. He chose to follow this calendar because it would let him know when second new moon after the winter solstice was.

Now, many Southeast Asian countries and people besides the Chinese celebrate Chinese New Year such as: Koreans, Vietnamese, Tibetans, etc. However, it is common to not see Japan celebrate Chinese New Year.

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Why do I keep hearing about the Year of the Ox/Cow?

Just like in western culture, there are zodiacs in eastern culture that the Chinese follow. There are 12 zodiacs, and these zodiacs follow a cycle of 12 years. Each new year represents one of the zodiacs. 

In order, they are: Rat/mouse, Ox/cow, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.

2021 is year of the Ox/Cow - 2020 was year of the Rat/Mouse - 2019 was Year of the Pig... and so on. 

Because each zodiac has its own characteristics, they define a year. Chinese zodiac scholars have said in 2021, Year of the Ox, will be a flip-around positive change. They believe this year will be lucky and that it will be a good time to focus on love and relationships. People who are born in years of the Ox are known to have a lot of endurance, be calm and confident, but are also stubborn.

Just like in western culture, these zodiacs are believed to affect personality, fortune, etc, and instead of getting your zodiac by your birth month, you get your zodiac by your birth year. If you are interested in your Chinese zodiac, you can type in your birthday on this calculator and read about it.

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What happens during Chinese New Year and how long do you celebrate it for? Lantern Festival?

On average, Chinese New Year is celebrated for about 15-16 days (from about New Year’s eve to the first full moon). Preparations start seven days before New Years because stores and restaurants close and people travel to be with their families. Most students are also on their big break during this time - they get off from school around the beginning of january and go back after Chinese New Year. It should also be noted that Northern China and Southern China celebrate the new year differently.

During the preparation period, people go shopping for food and decorations. They also clean the house very well. If living in a different city than one’s family, many people will travel back to their hometown to celebrate with family.

During the New Year’s Eve period, the house is decorated with New Year’s decorations, and there is a reunion dinner with family at the host’s house. Out of all the dinners you have during the year, it is incredibly important you don’t miss this dinner, which is why there are so many issues with travelling during this time. At this dinner, you eat many lucky foods such as dumplings and fish. Also during this time, the older generations will give younger generations something called 红包, which translates to “red envelope.” These envelopes are filled with money and are only given on very special occasions such as new years and weddings. Friends give these to each other, but it is not common at all for a younger generation to give one to an older generation person. There is a custom where families stay up late to “watch over the new year,” which is called 守岁. Late at night, people also like to go to temples to hear the first bells of the new year ring because they believe it will drive away bad luck.

On Chinese New Year’s Day, fireworks go off, families cook and eat large meals together, sacrifices are made to ancestors, etc. (Fireworks are especially important because they believe it will make your business more successful.) One popular tradition you might know of is the dancing lion/dragon parades where people wear a dragon costume and parade through the city. Dragons are very representative of Chinese culture and are thought to bring luck to a community. Lions are a symbol of protection.

For about a week after the first day, most people go visit family and friends. A lot of times people will visit the other side of their family. For example, someone will spend most of the time with their mother’s side of the family during the new year, then during this week, they will go visit relatives of the father’s side.

After that week, most people go back to work. This is around day 8-10. Businesses, restaurants, and stores reopen, and many people leave their hometown to go back to jobs in the city.

Day 15, the final day of Chinese New Year, is the Lantern Festival. On this day, the first full moon of the new year happens. To celebrate, people will light more fireworks, revisit family, eat sweet dumplings (called tangyuan), and participate in the Lantern Festival. People release lit lanterns into the sky to honor dead ancestors. This is called 元宵节.

You can read more here.

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What foods are eaten during Chinese New Year, and what do they represent?

During Chinese New Year, many special foods are eaten, and these are foods that are considered to be lucky and to bring fortune into the new year.

1. Dumplings - represent wealth. Dumplings take hours to make and involve family help. They’ve been eaten for at least 1,800 years and are especially popular in northern China. It is said that the more dumplings you eat during the new year, the more money you will make.

2. Fish - represents prosperity and success. The word “fish” in Chinese sounds like the word “surplus” in Chinese.

3. Glutinous Rice Cake/Nian gao - represents success in your work (more money, better position). 

4. Spring rolls - represent wealth. They get their name because they are most often eaten during the Spring Festival which is CNY. This dish is more popular in eastern and southern China.

5. Oranges, tangerines - represents luck and fortune. This is originally a Cantonese custom, but many people grace their tables with citrus fruits. The word for “tangerine” sounds similar to the word for “good fortune” in Chinese.

6. Longevity noodles - represents longevity. These noodles are longer than usual to represent a person’s long and happy life. This is more commonly eaten in northern China. *It should be noted that these are mostly eaten on birthdays but can be eaten during the NY as well.

7. Sweet rice balls/tang yuan - togetherness in family. This food is eaten during the Lantern Festival, the last day of Chinese New Year. The shape and pronunciation is associated with closeness of the family.

8. Snacks - represent a sweet and pleasant life. Any sweet snack like dried fruit, candy, tanghulu is eaten during this time.

When it comes to food during Chinese New Year, there are superstitions about how foods should be prepared and what makes them lucky. You can read more about them here as well as here.

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What kinds of decorations are put up in houses during the new year? What do the colors represent?

1. Spring/door couplets - These couplets originated in the Shu era. As seen in the picture below, you post these on doors in couples - in Chinese culture, even numbers are seen as good luck. On many of these couplets are written wishes or poems for the new year. Each couplet should have the same rhythm and the same number of words.

2. Paper cutting - Translated as “window flower,” these intricate, red paper cutting pieces are placed on windows and often represent the zodiac of the new year or other symbolic animals such as fish, dragons, and phoenixes.

3. Upside down characters/Fortune - Many Chinese people during the new year hang up positive characters such as Fu, which means happiness and good fortune. It is written in calligraphy on a red piece of paper and then put upside down on doors and windows. It is hung upside down because the people want the good fortune to fall down onto them.

4. Red lanterns - These lanterns push away bad luck and are seen during both the Spring and Autumn Festival. They can be hung on trees, outside houses, etc. There are also many styles - they can come in many shapes and have symbols written on them.

5. Kumquat trees - As said before, citruses represent good luck and fortune. People place kumquats and citrus fruits on their tables or decorate their homes with small kumquat trees.

You can read more about decorations here as well as here.

Common colors seen during Chinese New Year are red and gold, but green can also be found.

The color red is not only dominate during Chinese New Year, but it is also very representative of Chinese culture as well. Red signifies fire, good fortune, and happiness. It is representative of good luck, keeps the holiday very joyous, and scares away bad spirits.

Gold or yellow is considered to be a very beautiful color. Gold symbolizes wealth, riches, and prosperity.

Green represents money, harmony, and growth. 

Though these are the most common colors, it should be noted that a color combination of green and red is considered to be tacky in Chinese culture. 

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What do people wear during Chinese New Year?

On the first day, it is traditional to wear new clothes and new accessories as it symbolizes new beginnings. However, there are people who like to wear sentimental accessories to respect and remember their ancestors.

Some people like to wear traditional Qipao/Cheongsam, Tang Suits, and Hanfu, but many people stick to western clothes like skirts, dresses, and pants. There is also a tradition of wearing lucky, red underwear for New Years.

Tang suits are the most popular to wear during the New Year, Qipao is also popular, but it is often too cold to wear during the winter months. Many people are starting to wear Hanfu again to celebrate the new year, but it isn’t widely accepted yet to wear during the new year.

During the new year, people wear a lot of red and gold. It is important to NOT wear mostly white and/or black. These symbolize death, and white is worn at funerals. Anything that is bright, bold, and upbeat should be fine to wear, but you should go for something that is red.

*If you want to wear something that is traditional Chinese for New Years, please make sure you know about cultural appropriation and know how to wear these properly.

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As there is so much information about Chinese New Year, I cannot possibly tell you all about it in one post. It is truly something that you must experience in your lifetime. It is very beautiful, fun, and there are so many things to do and celebrate. I ask you that you please research this more and look at all the beautiful pictures of food, lanterns, fireworks, etc. 

Please stay safe and 新年快乐！

[cobra-creampuff]

I got a question a long time ago from I don't remember who about how I made sure the witch noir power types (which are inspired by cultural folklore) were not offensive or appropriative, and I think my answer was probably pretty dismissive, so I decided to give some actual examples of the ones I still remember and my process for coming up with them.

First off, remember that folklore is not synonymous with religion or spiritual practices. So that already makes taking inspiration from there much less delicate of a thing to do. To give a comparative example before we get into the process examples: say I wanted to make a power in this fashion inspired by North American Native culture. I would use "land stewardship" or something similar as my jumping off point, NOT something like the w*ndigo. The difference between those things is significant, and I think pretty clear?

I also think a big part of this system that makes it not insensitive is that none of the powers (and therefore none of the - obliquely - referenced cultures) are exoticized. What I mean by that is that power type isn't determined by skin color or religion, and every power type is equally special and mundane to each other (aside from the oppressed group of types, which are primarily based in my own cultures anyway just because those are what the main characters have and in this particular work the main characters are tangentially representing me). There's no Magical Brown Guy or whatever that trope is called. inversely, neither are any of the white people inspired power types portrayed as being more "civilized" or otherwise more inherently Good™ in any way.

Now for some actual inspirations I took, the witch types they ended up being, and how I got there.

1. spin the globe, pick a people. okay, Slavic. get more specific. Romania. take it back now y'all. Transylvania. so obviously vampires then. what are vampire "powers". hypnotism. what's the basic concept of hypnotism. control of perception. apply some limits. only works on relative strangers. word associate to name it. first impressions -> impressionist. no that's already a widely recognizable word in the language I'm writing in. well they can make people trust them on sight, kind of like how some baby animals imprint on the first thing they see. experiment with suffixes until it sounds good. google that to make sure it's not already something. viola, the Imprintor witch type.

2. pick a people. Asian. get more specific. Chinese. what's one of the most iconic Chinese artifacts (is that the right word?). the Great Wall. what was its purpose. to protect the border. a protective barrier. how can I make that into a power. warding is already a type of magic. make it unique using characteristics of the Wall. it was made with extraordinary physical labor. for this power wards must be connected and maintained by the caster through a physical part of them left behind. now name it. protector -> guard -> the Guardian witch type.

3. pick a people. European. get more specific. Italian. what have they got. da Vinci -> no ideas. Vatican City -> Catholicism -> I'm not into that. what's a culturally-based quirk Italians are known for? superstition. how can I turn that into a power type. someone in the presence of whom superstitions become true. apply limitations because holy shit lol. now name it. superstitionist? no that's too on the nose. something to do with omens. behold, the Augur witch type.

4. pick a people. central American. get more specific. Mexican. what's a frequent theme in Mexican art? death -> dia de los muertos -> communication and visitation from the spiritual world. that doesn't really need any finagling. name it. look up a list of things people who can talk to spirits are called. pick one -> the Medium witch type.

5. pick a people. Irish. first thought is of course fairies. no, fairies are their own thing. second thought: "luck of the Irish" -> bad luck. how can I turn that into a power. someone who can inflict bad luck on people. add good luck and some other easily associated things like grace/clumsiness to round it out and get it on the level of the other power types (and make sure no type can only be villainous - or heroic for that matter). name it. it's based on what amounts to a cheeky little curse. a hex -> the Hexist witch type.

I also reverse engineered... well, at least one.

pick a people. European again. get more specific. Greek. gosh they sure have a lot of statues of gods and heroes. idols, you might say. what would the powers of an Idol be? well idols are worshipped, so someone who can make you worship them. include an opposite effect to round it out like with the Hexist. apply some specificity and limitations, and make it more morally neutral. an Idol is someone who can extreme-ify emotions in other, as to turn like into love and annoyance into hate.

In the name of full disclosure, I did have a few types initially that I later decided either toed the line of appropriation or learned used words or traditions that were not meant to be shared, and I either got rid of them or adjusted them until they were distant enough from the starting point - or could just as easily be gotten through the same process from a different starting point - that I didn't feel it was necessarily connected anymore.

Again to compare, unlike say Joker who transposed the names and images of real Native American spiritual figures in her fundamentally British Christian boarding school fantasy, I first of all did not use specific figures or practices, nor anything expressly religious (other than, again, my own), and also only used the folklore/motif/symbol/characteristic/idiom/philosophy/geography/etc as a jumping off point rather than lifting it wholesale. The power types I made are in fact power types that I made, and only use things as a basis that are broad or nebulous enough in nature that they can't really be stolen or misrepresented.

So that's why I'm, as I said in my more dismissive answer, "not that worried about it". Does that make sense, whoever asked several months ago...?

(not tagging witch noir taglist atm because I'm on mobile and that's an absolute hassle. will do later. if I remember. I will tag @athena-anna-rose right now tho, since I remember you briefly struggling a while ago with making a magic system. idk if you still need that or if this kind of structure is at all relevant to what you're going for, but just in case lol.)

[elminx]

Energy Update: January 2023

January is an “8” Universal Month [1 (January) + 7 (2023) = 8] in a “7” Universal Year.   8 is an upright infinity symbol, also known as the ouroboros; it represents that path that we travel in our lives and the cycles that we must endure - both the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.   An 8-month represents the “whole package” - when the numerological energy of 8 is in the air, things tend to come full circle.   This is in alignment with the astrological energy of January where we end three retrograde cycles (Mercury, Mars, and Uranus). It is worth noting that the energy of January (and more specifically the energy of January 1st) sets the tone for the year ahead.   Our 7-year will likely be introspective and for many quite spiritual and our 8-month will allow us to bring all of these intense energies into perspective.   What goes up, must come down.   But what goes down will also, eventually, come back up. The Details

We begin January with the Sun, retrograde Mercury, Venus and Pluto in Capricorn, retrograde Mars in Gemini, Jupiter and Chiron in Aries, Saturn in Aquarius, retrograde Uranus in Taurus, and Neptune in Pisces.   By month’s end, each of the three retrograde planets will have stationed direct ending retrograde season for the moment.   Additionally, the Sun will have entered Aquarius and Venus will have moved all the way through Aquarius and into Pisces.

We may all feel a bit like we are Merlin or other famous time distortionists. Most of the strong aspects fall at the beginning of the month while both Mercury and Mars remain retrograde. Then, as we exit the retrogrades, things get less frantic. A lot of getting done is going to come due all at once but none of it will need doing. That isn't supposed to make sense.

The Nitty Gritty

To a greater or lesser degree, the energies of the first day of the year affect the entire year ahead.   So, as far as our time construct year of “2023” goes, it is worth taking a moment to carefully look at the transits specifically for 1/1/2023.   As mentioned above, we have a strong stellium between retrograde Mercury, Venus, and Pluto in play, and the exact conjunction between Venus and Pluto falls on the first.   Additionally, Mercury Mars, and Pluto are in retrograde motion.

I think that there is wisdom in reading the energies of Venus and Mars as a pair - even if you’re not personally into their roles as the Divine Feminine and Divine Masculine, they still should be read as the “pull vs push” energies that affect us at all points in time.   Mars is currently very poorly placed while retrograde in Gemini - there is no push.   And Venus is being augmented by the deep chthonic energies of Pluto, the planet of death and resurrection.   This will give the entire year a bit of a dark feminine feel to it - this is the energy of the death goddess who is the earth herself, the feral energy of the “me too” movement, this is the energy of the howling fury on a cold and frigid night.   Here I predict that 2023 may not be the faint of heart but, as we live in “interesting times”, this should be expected.

With Pluto so strongly aspected on the first day of the year, one should expect that death will be a part of our lives throughout 2023; but I do not say that to scare you.   Pluto is more often the Death card in the tarot than a Grim Reaper figure.   Things change, whether you want them to or not.   It is when we can sit in observance of the change that we do not get so caught in its web.

As the first week of January (and the new year) progresses, things may just feel a bit strange. On Monday, retrograde Mercury makes a quick sextile with Neptune in Pisces: this is your high fog warning. Don't trust the sounds that you hear in the night, and so forth. Insert your favorite superstitions here as is appropriate to your culture. Venus enters Aquarius on Tuesday and immediately makes a sextile to Jupiter in Aries which will spice things up. We have a full moon in Cancer on Friday which lights up the sky with the Sun and Mercury in trine to Uranus in Taurus. The energy will be high, as is chance of all kinds.

Proceed with caution or enjoy it as fits your personality.

We're all pretty in it right about now. Capricorn feels a bit touchy about Uranus's recent squares with Saturn. There is a feeling of consequences in the air. We all have to pay up sooner or later.

Be aware of what you are saying this week. The Sun and Mercury have been moving towards each other since this Mercury retrograde began and they complete this conjunction on Saturday. That day is poorly aspected to do anything that involves mercurial pursuits of all kinds. Everybody is talking too much and not listening enough. People are out there looking to take offense. The energy will carry all the way through the weekend as Mercury makes an exact trine with Uranus on Sunday 1/8. Venus in Aquarius makes a trine to retrograde Mars in Gemini on Monday 1/9 which sounds like it should be nice, but I smell an argument. Mars in Gemini is furious about being forced to retrace his steps and Venus in Aquarius isn't holding back any harsh words. If yelling it out is helpful to you and yours, this day could be really cathartic. Watch out for those arguments between you and your closest. Yeah, that argument. You know the one.

If Mars actually shows up that Monday, it could be a really good day. It's a good day to get together with your favorite friends who like to play Scrabble, sing karaoke, or go to strange museums and learn something together. This is an air trine no matter whether Venus and Mars can get along so Monday 1/9 is a very auspicious day for air magic of all kinds. I just think that, in general, Mars in Gemini doesn't remember to show up in the best of times and Mars retrograde is not even on the same plane of existence, so how COULD they show up? It's not really Mars's fault here. On Thursday, Mars stations direct at 08° Gemini so by Monday he's already basically standing still. Whatever change you're feeling, it may need to wait a bit. Remember that Mars still has to retrace his way through his post retrograde shadow. Again, I get that feeling of consequence - this is a time to make right with whomever you owe things to. The Sun will be sextile to Neptune adding to the haze of it all.

The second weekend of January will also be quite Uranian as Venus in Aquarius squares off with Uranus in Taurus. This may feel like the one final personalization of the lessons brought up by all of those Saturn-Uranus squares from 2021-2022. This energy will be quite liminal, use it if you know how. On Wednesday, 1/18 The Sun meets up in conjunction with Pluto at the end of Capricorn and Mercury stations direct at 08° Capricorn. Pay attention to what happens in and around that date. It's also worth noting that Mercury is in trine to the North Node during this as well. Check in with the messengers in your life - what do the people around you have to say?

On Friday 1/20, the Sun enters Aquarius and we have a new moon at 01° Aquarius on Saturday while Venus and Saturn also meet up at 22° Aquarius. It will be a very Aquarian weekend. Is that different from a very Uranian weekend? Time will tell. Venus may be harsh while she is conjunct to Saturn so hold your tongue if you can. Sometimes the nicest thing that you can do is not say anything at all.

Uranus stations direct on Sunday 1/22 at 15° Taurus. Uranus isn't quite square to either Saturn and Uranus of that early new moon but it will be felt all the same. That whole week is a week to play it safe - no more games of chance, please. The fourth week of January will be quieter. On Wednesday, 1/25, the Sun in Aquarius makes a sextile with Jupiter in Aries which is highly auspicious. It is a good day to have a good day. Enjoy yourself.

Venus enters Pisces on 1/27 which will shift the mood from a lot of air to something a bit...wetter. We will probably be dehydrated AF so it may be a nice change. This is when you might finally see the waterworks that the explosions early in the month should have created. As I said, this whole month feels like walking backward.

If your experiences seem to happen out of time (and there's not a mental health reason that you are experiencing this, see also any other needed disclaimer here), know that you are right on time.

It's okay to take your time. This energy is dense and most people won't be able to see more than 5 ft of their own faces.

The big flex all month is going to be to look up and see that there are still other people around you. The big flex this month is going to be to stay in your heart as Venus in Aquarius whips up her wind storms. The big flex this month is going to be to stay present and in your body. Also, drink some water. So much air dries out the soul.

Do you like my work? You can support me over on Kofi.

[linkspooky]

I was wondering what was your inspiration for Noran-so and Ito Rie?

I found Noran-so, the curse spirit, in your fic to be really interesting and it’s ability unique. So I was wondering what was the inspiration and how the curse fit in with them theme so far with the fic.

I also found Ito Rie to be very tragic and human as well. And I also see she sort of parallels with Mai in some ways. Was that your intentions? If so was that the inspiration for Ito Rie?

Thank you for sending me the ask, I lovet alking about my fics so let me go and rant underath the readmore. 

Noran-so’s inspiration came from my two friends who each had a twin (that’s four twins in total) who were kind of annoyed at the reveal that twins or at least the type of twins Maki and Mai are, are cursed in Jujutsu Kaisen, and they will always share the same cursed energy. That kind of frames it like it’s Mai’s fault that Maki isn’t as powerful as she wants to be because Mai just won’t try hard enough, when the whole point was supposed to be they were supposed to reconcile and understand each of them was a complicated victim in their own right. 

They were especially annoyed by the whole “I am you, and you are me” thing that implies that Mai is Maki’s Jungian shadow somehow and not her own special person. 

So I wanted to tweak the lore a bit in regards to twins sharing a cursed technique and / or cursed energy. Basically my rewrite is that Maki and Mai are unique in that they both have a heavenly restriction placed on them, and they just happened to be born that way it’s not because they are twins. Twins aren’t actually an omen, that’s just a made up superstition. 

Then, I thought what could be the cause of the superstition, and that’s Noran-so, a horrific set of conjoined twins and member of the Death Painting Wombs whose both halves were ripped apart soon after they were born. 

Also Noran-so being a literal set of conjoined twins, is thematic because it represents how Jujutsu Society at large, and how the people around them see Maki and Mai, treating them like they are the same person just because they are twins who grew up in the same house, and not like they are two different people who deal with their trauma in different ways. Nobara essentailly comapres them because they are sisters, and expects Mai to act like Maki and finds fault in Mai because she doesn’t, and that’s also an expectation Mai sets on herself because she has always viewed Maki as better than her and herself as lacking in comparison. Of course, siblings are often times compared to one another, but being the same person is an expectation that’s uniquely put on twins. 

Also, Noran-so after being ripped away from the other set of conjoined twins, wants to return to the way they were before, when they were still in the womb and perfectly connected to one another. Maki and Mai also wish to return to the simplicty of their childhood where they were always together hand in hand, and Maki could keep a simple promise that she would never let go because they were sisters, but they cannot return to that. 

As for Noran-so’s motivation, concept-wise they were inspired by a light novel called Shinobumonogatari, the basic gist is that a girl who wants an excuse to quit the basketball team begs to be mugged as she comes home, or even eaten by a monster because that will give her an excuse. Afterwards a vampire finds her and on a whim transforms her. The actual story itself was kind of unexciting in its execution but i thought the concept was neat. 

Ito Rie was inspired by two characters, the first is the character Ruri Hijibire. She’s a character from Durarara!! whose backstory is that she grew up in a small village and lost her family, and was bullied because of rumors her grandmother was a vampire (she was). SHe grew up wishing to become a monster, and loving monsters in horror movies especially the special effects makeup that created them, so she apprentices to a legendary makeup artist to get her start in HollyWood. However, she ends up going through serious trauma and turns into the serial killer hollywood, someone who uses her makeup skills to dress up as a different famous hollywood movie monster for each kill. 

Her second inspiration was the novel Confessions by Kanae Minato. Basically, it’s a novel about children inflicting violence against other children. The main (ish) character is beaten by his mother over and over again, and eventually abandoned by her when she divorces his father, because she blamed him for having to give up her career as an academic. Because of that, the child internalizes the idea that he needs to be a genius, and special in some way. When he sees newspaper headlines and all the attention children are getting for acts of violence, he decides he can do better and use his invention a small wallet that shocks people to deliberately kill a much younger child. There’s a lot more than that, but basically the entire book is about analyzing why children who are so young they could possibly become violent (hint hint, they learn it from the adults around them), but then it kind of totally fumbles the message. More or less, the mother of the child gets really violent revenge on the boy who was beaten by his mother, and then tells the audience not to feel sorry for them because he was just telling a very convincing sob story. 

Anyway, the whole website scene and the motivations of Ito are a pretty close tribute to the final third of the book, because I wanted to write something about what could push a child to such violence through a much more sympathetic lens to the child. 

Mai and Ito are parallels in that they both make themselves into monsters, or in Mai’s case, the bad twin as a way of coping with their trauma. They both believe in the absolute worst of themselves. However, this manifests in different ways, Mai has an inferiority complex towards her sister, and Ito wants to prove she is in some way superior to the other children to prove her existence. They isolate me because I am better than them. They are also both people who are not really looking for sympathy, Ito Rie is generally offputting to be around, Mai starts fights with Nobara and tries to make people hate her so they know she doesn’t care what they think. 

Ito is also partially inspired by Junpei, the concept was originally “how Junpei’s victimhood and bullying would manifest if he were female instead of male.” She has the same shared fascination with horror movies, though her interest lies in making models not talking about them in film club. Ito also mentions Junpei once, because Junpei’s violent incident at the high school getting the same kind of sensationalized media coverage that school shootsings got, essentially inspired her plan. 

[makingspiritualityreal]

Numerology Life Path 4 - Your Birth Card and its Ruling Planet

Numerology Life Path Numbers and their assigned Tarot Card Meaning Series

This is a post in my new astrology/numerology/tarot series, that only concerns you, if you are a Life Path 4. Posts on consecutive Life Path Numbers will follow. Originally, I wanted to do them all in one post, but my writing turned out to be so long, I decided to split the post and seperate the Life Path Numbers. The introduction part of the post will be the same for all Life Path Numbers, in case you only read a post about your own Life Path Number, and nothing else.

Introduction   

The concept of a Birth Card links Tarot and Numerology together, in order to deepen our understanding of a vibration of a Life Path Number we are born with. The Birth Card, or rather Birth Cards, are Major Arcana Tarot Cards with assigned numbers, which correlate with Life Path Numbers. Understanding the meaning of tarot cards, mixed with the knowledge of Numerology Vibrations, helps create a more unique vision of your life experience.

A person with any given Life Path Number, having several Major Arcana energies present in their lives, usually struggles with one of the energies more than the other. As a result, life will probably force them to focus on mastering one of these energies. In general, however, any Life Path describes both your biggest downfall and ultimate triumph - just like with an Astrology Chart, the highlighted numbers/astrology houses point to your biggest strengths and weaknesses. For a better understanding of this concept, visit my article “Natal Chart - A map of your issues?”

Remember, that everyone, besides their Life Path Number and Birth Card also has a unique astrology chart. Thus, for some people embracing the higher expression of their energy is easier, for others it’s harder and it takes more time to master, and some energies become easier to deal with than others. Most human beings are somewhere in between, working on their path and having some achievements while struggling with difficulties at the same time. 

In the spiritual community, there are differences in opinion on linking Astrological Planets and positions to specific numerology numbers energies. My take is a result of my own personal experience, conversations with other people in my field and research, in order to give you the widest possible spectrum of ideas and increase the understanding of every Life Path Number.

If you are a Master Number 11, 22 or 33, there will be a seperate post on how the Birth Cards apply to you as well. 

Even If you have only a basic understanding of Astrology, Tarot or Numerology, this post will still be helpful to you, because it describes the unique vibrational mix that comes from the expression of both these spiritual sciences mixed together. To calculate which Tarot Cards and what Life Path correspond to your birthday, click here.

Life Path 4 - The Emperor and Death

Number 4 throughout cultures has many interpretations, both in Numerology and Astrology. Since there are different opinions on what Astrological planet is ruled by this number, I will give interpretations for all these planets influencing the vibration of Life Path 4, with the additional benefit of my personal experience. Astrological energies associated with this Life Path are linked to the Sun, Saturn, Uranus and Rahu, depending on the cultural context. One thing that these placements all have in common, is that this is definitely not one of the carefree energies. The common theme of Life Path 4 is substance. This is the energy, that will throw all the superficial, light-hearted themes away in search for something more meaningful, or at least the idea of building it. Prioritising and groundwork are huge themes for Life Path 4s, as this is the energy that doesn’t like to stay idle or waste its time. 

Life Path 4 represents the shadow expression of Sun, as opposed to Life Path 1. It is important to note, that “shadow” doesn’t mean inferior, and both aspects of the Sun energy have their positive and negative side, each contributing to development of the human condition in its own unique way. The Sun expressing itself through Life Path 4 results in hyperfocusing on the material realm. Since the Sun burns what it touches, at its lowest it can lead to selfishness and insensitivity, and make a person out of touch on the inside of themselves, even if on the outside they are accomplished. However, this also makes the native very mature and dependable. Unlike the carefree, childlike Sun for a Life Path 1, this Sun is very committed to building something for both themselves and the world, thus being focused more on the practical support role than the more so innocent 1 vibration. The key here is finding balance and not falling into destructive practical habitual cycles. 

A Life Path 4 under stress can have workaholic tendencies, as a way to quell the constant urge to build stability, and avoid the chaos that every human being has inside themselves. This is the expression of the shadow side of Rahu rulership, witch chases the illusion of fulfillment through material success, without looking at the spiritual truth of things. However, not confronting one’s demons, a Life Path 4 can struggle finding emotional comfort, that comes from emotional purging, and truly knowing yourself. As a result, this Life Path number can seem ruthless when unhappy in how it can cut things off - a darker expression of Sun turning off it’s shine, which in turn relates to the Death card in tarot, and also links the Sun energy to the Saturnian vibe of Life Path 4. A mature expression of Life Path 4, that is associated with the Sun ties in with the connection to Rahu energies of building constructively in the material world, and self sufficiency, which is also linked to the Emperor Tarot card, indicating his supreme rulership, and mental control over the material world. This is the more difficult path for the Sun, and it exposes, how the Sun can stop shining and giving life, and how it can also burn as well as nourish, which again ties in with the karmic lessons of Saturn of the duality of the spiritual reality of the world.

Other keywords for Life Path 4 are Power and Struggle  - Saturn themes. Just like Saturn in Astrology, the Death card in Tarot takes something away, but only to teach you the value of what you have or the deeper truth of the matter - things that die, go away from us, because they were supposed to. The Emperor in tarot points to the ultimate power of the mind, that we all possess, the ability of discernment, that we can chose to use even in the most difficult situation, the ability to build something solid and powerful out of nothing, even after difficult events, represented by the Death card. We have the possibility to accomplish those feats with our sheer willpower and discipline, through the use of Saturnian energies. 

Life Path 4 is also linked with Rahu and Uranus, tying it with Saturn through Aquarian energies. Uranus expresses itself through powerful intellectual inspiration, a sudden appearance of an idea inside a strong mind, that The Emperor represents. Uranus also shows us, that the idea can come seemingly out of nowhere, after the Death card process. Saturn tying in with Uranus teaches us, that whenever we have a brilliant idea, we have to take a chance, and use this idea to capitalise and build on it. 

Rahu for a Life Path 4 gives the ultimate power of the logical pursuit of the material realm, which the Emperor has a gift for, but also warns us of the endings that will come, if we allow ourselves to emotionally decay. Then, the Death card steps in, to lead us to a new beginning. 

Tarot cards associated with this Life Path show us how to use its energy best for a fulfilling life.

The Emperor - This cards points out to Life Path 4’s need to have a functioning structure in their life. Any situation, either practical or emotional, no matter how difficult, can be handled with organisation over time. A good way for a Life Path 4 to manage their life is to have a system, that they can design to address all their needs, satisfy all parts of themselves, and not lose themselves in the process. This is their way of keeping up with reality, while dealing with human fragility at the same time. It’s important that the system stays logical and functioning, and constantly kept in check, or it becomes a coping mechanism, that traps a Life Path 4. However, the Emperor has the ruling power to make a good judgment call. 

Death - Points out to the spiritual truth, that sometimes in life, no matter how hard we were building something, things fall apart, as their life cycle comes to an end. Death here gives us the gift of mercilessly cutting off what is no longer working and thus not needed. Death appreciates the brutal facing of the facts and necessary endings, all in order to clear up space for more constructive, future building. A Life Path 4 struggles in this department, because it wants stability so badly it can hold on to a familiar system desperately. However, Death teaches us, that transformation is a necessary part of the process, in order to actually build anything solid and authentic in life. 

Number 4 is known to have negative associations in the mass consciousness, being a hard number to master. It expresses itself in Feng Shui, but also for example in Japanese culture, where the number is avoided in buildings. To a common person, it’s simply a mix of superstition and cultural habits, but there is energetic truth, long forgotten by the masses, behind the seemingly sinister vibration of this number. If you want proof, look at 2020, a universal Number 4 Year and what a mess it was, what a trial, for so many people. 

However, the energetic frequency is always polarised, and no number is purely negative. Behind the obstacles and difficulties presented to this Life Path, lies enormous stability and the ultimate building power. Why the negative association then? The answer lies in the human condition. As human beings, collectively, we fear death, we both desire and demonise power, and we underestimate, how much strength and hard work lies beneath the frequency of Life Path 4.

If you are a Life Path 4, embrace both the power and the challenges that come with it. Remember, that your birth is a divinely orchestrated event. You were given these gifts for a reason, and only you can use them. Don’t listen to the collective narrative, and make the most out of your life. More than any other Life Path, you know exactly how to.