#would do if we used the lines as prompts. or trying to represent a verse with an image

[bluastro-yellow]

at [youth center] they made us use AI for a thing (yeah...), so I also tried to push its limits and generate something gross for fun. I was hoping for something more similar to the weird fucked pulps of meat of older image generators, these three are best it could do

making the weird pulps mixed with an animal is hard I failed

(the last one is pretty cool I might use it as a reference if I will ever be bothered to draw something complex ever again)

[canyouhearthevoices]

‘The Leaders’ Lyric Analysis

Released with ZERO: FEVER Part 2, 1st March 2021.

Once upon a time I saw something online saying that this song’s Korean name was ‘The Student Council’ or something of the like. But when researching for this post, I didn’t find any mention of it. It seems logical because the student council is consistently mentioned in the lyrics, but if it was that obvious, I feel like it would be pretty common knowledge on the internet. 

This song is the first that marks my changed methods of analysis/annotation based on my changing view of the storyline prompted by the Diary entries. In my past analyses, red represented HALATEEZ, blue TREASURETEEZ, and purple traits that were present in both groups and the general story, such as time travel. Now, red will represent Gothic elements, including motifs like fire, fever, illusion vs reality, and so on. Blue will represent celestial and nautical imagery, and the idea of a ‘new hope’. Purple will represent general aspects of the storyline, like time travel. Luckily for me, this new system correlates quite closely with the old one - as HALATEEZ are associated with Gothic imagery, fire and such, and Treasureteez are associated with nautical imagery, light, and colours. This new system allows me to express broader themes about the storyline without shoving songs into tiny boxes.

But let’s talk about ‘The Leaders’.

It’s a very interesting song. Both ATEEZ’s general storyline and the FEVER series discuss rebelling against authority and systems of authority, using music, passion and dance. But ‘The Leaders’ not only takes joy in acts of authority, it supports the systems that authority came from. It comes off as having a duality of ATEEZ showing how cool they are, and them critiquing the system of authority through parodying how that system acts.

Or at least, I hope that’s the case. Because otherwise them bullying kids for their lunch money would be far more cruel than cool.

But other than that, it’s another ‘look how cool we are’ song - as is relatively common with ATEEZ, and especially with this album. They are expressing that they are the leaders of the 4th gen, and of kpop, music, and this rebellion. There’s lots of foreshadowing, lots of Hongjoong being a little odd, and lots of dissing those who aren’t as cool as them in some very creative and actually kind of motivating ways.

Full lyric analysis below the line.

The Leaders

The first verse here is also translated as ‘The leader is here, wait wait, raise your hands. What’s bad is bad man, listen to the new boomers.’

I find it funny that they call the people they’re dissing ‘boomers’ here. It’s a very unusual insult for them to use - since they usually don’t use common insults, and instead use very creative ones, as we will see later on.

It’s also interesting that the whole song has a juxtaposition of us being told to ‘wait’ and then do to something - like dance, raise our hands, sing, etc. I wonder if it is bad translation, bad lyricism, or just ATEEZ trying to further show this duality of good vs bad power and leadership. 

This verse is also translated as ‘wait a second, the breath rises ‘till my chin. My heart aches, you need disinfectant for the pain’.

One translator noted here that this literal translation of the second line would be better translated as ‘breathless.’ I also like the use of ‘disinfectant’ in the alternate translation. It foreshadows THE WORLD, a place where emotions are literally ‘disinfected’ from people, leaving sterilized husks behind. I also like the use of the red pill in the original translation, as the red pill has become a symbol of pulling the wool away from someone’s eyes and making them aware of the true, often horrific, nature of the world.

The first three lines of this verse are also translated as ‘I scream ‘ack’ because it stings. Today as well.’

Alright, it’s going to get a bit complex here.

The last three lines of the first verse are also translated as ‘Stand straight, gather around. Everyone behind me, oohh, quiet, follow me.

The last line of the last verse here is also ‘courage, ambition, fake bravado’. This is interesting because the alternate translation suggests that at least part of ATEEZ’s identity is a mask of confidence over insecurities - kind of a ‘fake it till you make it’ ideology. This is great because it humanizes them and adds a flaw that can be, and has been, manipulated. Their insecurities about themselves, their past, and everything in between make them vulnerable to infighting, self-destructive behaviour, and more.

The alternate translation uses the same third line of this verse, but they included a note suggesting that it is slang. What for? Goodness knows. Is a lollipop like Hongjoong’s staff that he carries in ‘Guerrilla?’ Is it supposed to say that ATEEZ are rich and mature instead of people who carry a lollipop (often seen as children and immature?)

And speaking of Hongjoong - the armband suggests that this verse is talking about him. It could alternatively be a nod to how those in positions of authority often have an armband to denote said authority in general, but the closest we know to this is that Hongjoong has one. 

Also, the last line is alternatively translated as prepare yourselves now.’

This last verse from my king Jongho is also translated as;

‘What should I say, I’m sorry to tell you but you don’t look cool at all, you look like a moody teenager. Clothes that fit on my body.’

I don’t think this translation is as good since it doesn’t include the context that the listener/reader needs to best understand the message. But it’s still pretty clear - the ‘moody teenager’ tries to cover up their body and self in baggy clothes, while ATEEZ express their coolness and their true self through clothes that fit their specific bodies well. It’s a stereotype, but we know that they exist for a reason, and either way, it still contributes to their message. 

I looked up ‘chuunibyou,’ since, when a translator leaves a word in the original language, it usually has a very specific and often long meaning that makes it hard to directly translate. In this case, chuunibyou translates roughly to ‘second-year syndrome’ and is supposed to represent someone in their early or pre teens who has a very grandiose and often unrealistic sense of self and their own coolness. This stage in life is also generally associated with being a moody teenager, and thus with baggy clothes, so clearly ‘moody teenager’ is how the second translator tried to solve the problem.

This one is... interesting, and the reason I talk in the intro of the post about both good and bad authority being portrayed in the song. It may have been lost in translation here, but it sounds like Yunho is bullying some poor kid for his lunch money. And I highly doubt this is something that they would uncritically say in an industry like kpop in a countrylike Korea, where school bullying in idols is a huge scandal. 

ATEEZ are known for critical consumption and creation of media - anarchy, the government, and so on. So I feel pretty confident that this is either 1) a mistranslation, or 2) then critiquing the corrupt and bullying use of power. 

Anyway, the second and third lines are also translated as ‘hand over your debit cards, I’ll appoint everyone right now.’

The second line here is also translated as ‘my surname is extraordinary.’ And this is because my guy Hongjoong has the surname ‘Kim,’ which, for those of you who don’t know, was the name of the royal family in Korea. Hence why, when peasants were able to choose surnames, a lot of them chose ‘Kim’ - making it the most common surname in the country. He’s literally calling himself a rich king.

This verse is also translated as;

‘Your crime is being pretentious, your crime is your words. Before receiving a bonus point, they need to receive a minus point first. This is all for me, teacher.’

This is interesting because, in the original translation, it is suggested that the person is not getting any bonuses, just punishments. But this translation suggests that they get both. I won’t point to which one is more likely valid, since they both have good points - the first has the misuse of power theme, and the second duality. Both of which are key in ATEEZ’s storyline.

The first two lines of this last verse are also translated as; ‘The leaders are amazing, they’re about to explode. We rock this world, lead every day.’

Conclusions

The duality of good and bad leadership is very key to ATEEZ in general, but especially the post-Treasure versions. And, although I like it, the language gap can make it a tad confusing. 

[lacrimaomnis]

BRF Reading, 21/7/2021 (Part 2 of 3)

This is the second of three spreads.

Yesterday, after I posted my first spread, I came across a post saying that there is no birth certificate for a Lili Diana, but there is a birth certificate for a Diana Mary Mountbatten-Windsor issued in Los Angeles. Now, this significantly changes the direction of my readings, because if the baby is indeed named Diana Mary (which is proved by the birth certificate), then, of course, there is no Lili Diana in the first place because she was not named as such. As the result of that development (I am aware it is well known by this point in Tumblr, but for me, this is absolutely new since I first read it in a passing and had just gotten the full gist of it last night when I came across it again), I decided to redraw the two spreads I have had previously drawn, this time with two different questions.

I also decided to do the Celtic Cross spread since I wanted to get clarity on both the internal and external motivation of these two.

As written, this is merely a speculation and therefore must be taken with a grain of salt. This speculation is not true until proven otherwise.

My question has changed into if Lili and Diana Mary is one and the same, why did Meghan and Harry decide to publicise her name as Lili(bet) Diana?

Cards drawn: Three of Wands, Seven of Swords, Ace of Cups, Two of Swords, Justice, Four of Wands, Five of Pentacles, Three of Cups, Three of Pentacles, The Emperor

Remarks/Comments: Well, well, well. Would you look at that? We have 3 Three cards (sorry, did that throw you off guard?), which prompted me to look into the numerology of the cards because the Threes seem to be particularly important.

Summary: They decided to publicise the baby as Lilibet Diana in part to get their business opportunities ongoing, and in part, as an act of revenge against BRF for the perceived slight they had received from the royal family. This is just one sad reading.

First part: Three of Wands, Seven of Swords, Ace of Cups, Two of Swords, Four of Wands, Justice

First card: Three of Wands. This is the first card of the cross part, and this card indicates the "present situation". As the card of enterprise, cooperation, and future financial success, this card told me Meghan and Harry decided to publicise her name as Lilibet Diana in order to have future financial success.

This is in line with all the readings I have done so far or the circumstances as they are known to the public: Meghan and Harry are in debt, they have purchased domains of Lilibet Diana, they already have plans to merchandise her. This card is very important because this card sets the entire tone of the reading. When they decided to publicise her name as Lilibet Diana, at that particular time (the present), they thought that she would be able to get them those business partnerships and cooperations.

This card also told me that instead of being an 'idea pops in my head and let's do it immediately' plan, Meghan and Harry's decision to publicise this baby as Lilibet Diana is well-thought-of and was planned to be their long-term plan insurance. In my deck, this card is illustrated as a stag looking away into the distance, a representation of visualising a future and thinking of long-term plans.

Second card: Seven of Swords. The card of deception and hidden plans, this is the "problem" card. Harry and Meghan thought they could keep "Diana Mary" sealed from the public's knowledge forever, and that they can profit off the "Lilibet Diana". Or, this could also be a plan from their part: they would first publicise her as "Lilibet Diana", and then when people are coming at them, they could show off the birth certificate of the baby being "Diana Mary" and then go on into the victim narratives we were all too familiar with. The problem is, they will eventually be figured out, sooner or later. They might get away for some time, but they will be figured out. And they perhaps did not think of that.

Third card: Ace of Cups. This is the "past" card, the motivations leading up to the event. This card speaks about new opportunities and beginnings, and this card affirmed to me that Meghan and Harry thought that publicising this baby as "Lilibet Diana" would give them new opportunities and a new beginning to get those moneybags back into their pockets.

Fourth card: Two of Swords. This is the card of difficult decisions, and as the card of the near future, this may imply that soon, a difficult decision must be made. This could also be interpreted that instead of getting them those business opportunities and beginnings, the decision to publicise the baby as "Lilibet Diana" will force them or the royal family to make a difficult decision regarding the baby.

Fifth card: Justice. The card of law, karma, fairness, honesty, balance, and reason. This card represents the effects of one's actions and the consequences of their decisions. Looking at the position of this card, this card is in the "conscious" position -- to put it simply, this is the "I want to do this to get something" card.

This card tells me that the reason why Meghan and Harry took this decision was to "get back" at the royal family for "cutting them off". This is the "justice" they think they deserve -- after all, they are the victim and the royal family is a "hostile" institution where they were constantly denied of what they "need". Is it the "justice" they "deserve"? That is up to your interpretation, but honestly? I don't think they deserve this "justice".

Sixth card: Four of Wands. In three separate readings done on different days, this card likes to show itself, all in readings related to Harry and Meghan in any sort. The position of this card in the spread speaks about the "unconscious" part of oneself. This card speaks about the "why I want to do this" card.

Four of Wands, is again, a card closely associated with the elements of home and family. A card of celebration and happiness. This tells me that by deciding to publicise "Lilibet Diana", Meghan and Harry had hoped that they will get their "justice" over the royal family and that they perhaps wanted their way back in so the royal family can be "whole" again. They had hoped that the public will celebrate this baby's birthday and had hoped that the public's celebration will drive home to the royal family that they are not "whole", that Meghan and Harry are "needed", because look at the public's celebration! ...which is little to none. Rather than celebration, all they get was negative PRs and people being fed up with them.

Second part: Five of Pentacles, Three of Cups, Three of Pentacles, The Emperor

First card: Five of Pentacles. This card is about financial hardship, loss, and poverty. As the first card of the staff section, the section that rules the outside situation of the subject, this card once again affirms to me that yes, Meghan and Harry are in a difficult situation, money-wise, that they decided to take this step. They really think that parading the baby around as 'Lilibet Diana' would get them the money.

Second card: Three of Cups. This is the card of celebration, weddings, friendship, and parties. If we look at the first card, the Five of Pentacles, this card seems to tell me that Meghan and Harry were in a difficult financial position because they partied way too hard. They were not careful with their money. They perhaps had said yes to one too many opportunities to party; or to splurge on money to celebrate something, whatever the occasion is. A friend's birthday? A friend had a child? Someone bought a new house and invited them all over to a party? You name it, they spent money on it.

Third card: Three of Pentacles. I have 3 Three out of the four possible Threes, the only missing Three is the Three of Swords. What are they trying to say?

I looked up a little bit (I am not at by any means versed in numerology) -- threes are usually about imagination, about someone with great creative energy but little to no direction. Threes tend to speak about frivolity, lack of discipline, naivety, and egoism -- things we all have seen from Meghan and Harry.

Three of Pentacles speaks about future building, diligence, hard work, and teamwork. As the "hopes and fears" card of the spread, this tells me that by deciding to parade the baby as "Lilibet Diana", Meghan and Harry had hoped their decision would contribute to their "future building". Pentacles are all about anything material and wealth, so this could well mean that the "future building" they wanted was synonymous with "racking in the cash".

Fourth card: The Emperor. This is the card of authority or a father. He is the patriarch, the card that urges one to choose the mind over the heart, to make decisions based on available facts rather than feelings.

In this spread, the card that can be read as The Emperor's pair is the Two of Swords -- implying that the difficult decision must be made by using a fact-based approach with little to no room for sentimentality or feelings. This card comes across to me as BRF as the institution, and that because of Meghan and Harry's decision to publicise the name of the baby as "Lilibet Diana", BRF has to make a difficult decision: for me, that manifested in the palace's statement where the palace will not tolerate any mistruths spoken by Meghan and Harry -- for years, the royal family's motto is to "never explain, never complain", and for the first time in their long existence, they are now forced to speak up.

Conclusion: They really think of this baby, whoever she is, as a means to cash in the moneybags and as a weapon to get their "revenge" over BRF and to get their "justice". This is just sick. How could someone decided to have a baby (surrogate or not, it matters not) just so they can use the baby as a weapon to get back against a perceived slight? As a way to milk money? I am sick to my stomach just thinking about it.

[stiltonbasket]

hi! i dont know if you've done something similar for renouncement verse but lwj getting baby rearing tips from lqr would be really cute uwu

(brief author’s note: please please reblog, since that’s how we get prompts for future chapters!)

Two weeks after Wei Shuilan’s full-moon party, Lan Xichen orders Wei Ying to get some fresh air and take a trip down to town with the juniors. 

“I’m ordering it as your physician,” he scolds, as Lan Wangji kisses his husband’s forehead and slips a packed lunch into his qiankun bag, just in case Wei Ying doesn’t like any of the delicacies Caiyi has to offer; having A-Lan altered his sense of taste, among other things, and made him more partial to sweet and bitter flavors as well as spicy-sour ones. “You haven’t left the Cloud Recesses in months.”

“Xichen-ge,” Wei Ying says, rolling his eyes, “you try taking those stairs when you can barely fit through the door. Or fly in a straight line without overbalancing, for that matter.”

He has a point, Lan Wangji thinks. A-Lan is a very round baby, big enough for her age that some of the guests at the full-moon feast asked if they were holding the party late, and it had certainly showed on Wei Ying’s slender figure in the weeks before her arrival.

“Well, you ought to go now,” Lan Xichen urges. “It’s a wonderful day, and A-Lan’s asleep. Go stretch your legs, and then come back and rest as soon as you feel tired.”

So Wei Ying had gone, leaving the Cloud Recesses with a kiss for Lan Wangji before flying off on A-Yuan’s sword and vanishing into the cloudy mist hanging over the Caiyi River.

After that, Lan Wangji settles down in the jingshi to wait for his husband’s return, placing his baby daughter on the bed beside him and starting on the mountain of official correspondence he’s been neglecting since A-Lan was born. Most of them are congratulations and well-wishes for the baby, along with a select few (which Lan Wangji sets on fire the second he opens them) consoling the Chief Cultivator for the one child of his blood being a daughter, and assuring him that the next baby will surely be a boy. 

Upon further reflection, Lan Wangji points a finger at the ashes in the hearth and incinerates them a second time. The thought of his little daughter ever facing anything but the honor and worship due to an empress sets his teeth on edge, and it takes only a moment of thinking until he decides to put off answering the guilty clan’s request for a second representative in Lanling’s council for as long as he can.

But unfortunately for him, the sound of the snapping fire jolts poor A-Lan awake, and she gives a soft, confused little gurgle before lifting her head and looking around. Lan Wangji lifts her into his lap, humming Wangxian beside her tiny ears as she begins to whimper—but his efforts are in vain, because the baby bursts into tears and refuses to stop crying no matter what he does to calm her. 

“A-Lan,” he says, more than a little shocked—because he has never heard A-Lan cry like this, not since that first shrieking wail when she first found herself out in the world six weeks ago. But A-Lan keeps crying, even after he tries changing her smallclothes (needlessly, since her diaper was freshly changed when Wei Ying left the jingshi) and puts her in another blanket to keep her warm, and no amount of rocking or singing or even a cool bath proves useful in the slightest. 

“What do you want, sweetheart?” Lan Wangji asks urgently. “A-Lan, baobei—”

Shuilan only draws her tiny legs up to her chest and sobs, rubbing her fat fists into her eyes as if the whole universe was against her, and the realization hits Lan Wangji so suddenly that he nearly falls to the floor, baby and all. 

“It’s because Wei Ying isn’t here,” he says wretchedly. “It is, isn’t it? You’re not sick, surely—he’s coming back, A-Bao. Don’t cry, your A-Die is coming back.”

But with such a little baby as A-Lan, how was she to know? All A-Lan knew was that she spent the first ten moons of her life safe inside Wei Ying, listening to his precious heartbeat and kicking out at his affectionate touches when he tried to feel for her head or her hands, and then she was in his arms instead, but still never so far away from him that she could not hear his voice. And now Wei Ying is gone, and A-Lan has rightfully taken his absence for the calamity that it is. 

Lan Wangji remembers his sixteen years of mourning after Wei Ying fell from his grasp and plunged to his death in Qishan, and wonders how frightened Shuilan must be that Wei Ying has disappeared without any explanation her infant mind can understand. Neither of them have left her side since she was born, so for one of her parents to disappear without explanation, and for it to be Wei Ying who had disappeared—

He nearly bursts into tears himself, just thinking about it. 

Naturally, it is at that moment—with half of Lan Wangji’s layers sliding off his shoulders, A-Lan screaming herself hoarse, and sweat dripping down her father’s pale face—that Lan Qiren lets himself into the house, apparently expecting to find a peaceful nephew and great-niece before he walks into the middle of a virtual tornado instead. 

“Wangji?” he calls, as Lan Wangji drags himself into the front room in all his miserable, disheveled glory. “What is the matter? Have you fed her?”

“I have fed her, changed her, checked her temperature, and made sure all her clothes were loose enough,” he says, distraught. “Perhaps I will take her to the healing ward, just to make sure she is well. Good afternoon, Shufu.”

“You examined her with your lingli, didn’t you? She’s not sick.”

“No, but—”

“Give her here,” his uncle sighs, holding out his arms for the child. “Now,  bring me that square blanket on the divan, and watch closely.”

While Lan Wangji watches, Lan Qiren lays the blanket out on the bed and folds it into a triangle, and then he places A-Lan onto it with her fluffy round head above the folded edge and packs her into a tight bundle with one arm waving freely outside it. 

“Shufu,” Lan Wangji ventures, brow furrowed. “What are you—”

“Quiet,” Lan Qiren instructs him. “Pay attention, Wangji.”

He folds up the bottom corner of the blanket, laying it over A-Lan’s chest and her chubby bent legs, and then he folds the other half around her like a bamboo string around a zongzi, trapping her flailing fist against her body before handing her back to her father. 

“There,” he says, satisfied. “See?”

A-Lan’s sobs are already calming down, and a moment later she blinks in confusion and goes straight back to sleep. 

Lan Wangji gapes at her. “What did you do, Uncle?” he wonders. “I already tried wrapping her, but this…”

“That is how a baby should be swaddled,” Lan Qiren scolds. “You and Wei Ying wrap her like a pancake roll, and it does well enough most of the time. But when a child this small is in distress, it can be helpful to remind them of their time in the womb, and put them in a similar position with a swaddling blanket. What made A-Lan cry so?”

“She missed Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji says dully. “He went to Caiyi with Sizhui and Xiaohui, and she woke early from her nap and cried when she realized he was gone.”

I remember weeping because Wei Ying was gone, he doesn’t say. She seemed as heartbroken as I was, back then. 

“Ah,” his uncle murmurs. “A word of advice, Wangji. When you are overtaxed, and dealing with a child in distress, your discomfort will inevitably worsen theirs. I learned this by trial with your brother, and it ended with him stopping his tears and laughing for me because he hated to see me cry.”

It sounds so much like Lan Xichen that Lan Wangji feels his throat swell. “En?”

“In such times, seek help before you become overwrought,” Lan Qiren advises him. “I am here, as is Xichen, and the nursery teachers who cared for you both when you were little. You and your husband are not alone, in any aspect of your lives, and it would be a joy to all of us to aid you.”

And then Lan Qiren makes tea and shoos Lan Wangji back to the bedroom, where he sinks down onto the bed with the baby snoring quietly in his arms and falls asleep himself.

When Wei Ying returns an hour later, he declares that everything must have gone perfectly for both of them to be so at ease.

“I didn’t want to leave you!” he laughs, cuddling a squealing A-Lan to his breast and waving a handful of new toys over her curious little face. “But you were as cool as a cucumber, Lan Zhan! Why can’t I be like you?”

“It was not so smooth as I hoped it would be,” Lan Wangji confesses. “But everything was all right in the end, xingan. My shufu is a very good teacher.”

[comfy-whumpee]

Whumping Safely 101

Many people in this community have mental health problems, face various types of discrimination, and have complicated relationships with some parts or types of whump. In particular, I aim this at people who care about the experience of survivors and others with triggers – partially because I am an abuse survivor who often flirts with triggering content as part of my love of whump.

Keeping your blog safe is difficult, takes effort, and is never a perfect process. But as the community grows and grows, it’s really important that we hold ourselves to a high standard. I would argue that this is a responsibility of all content creators, but especially those of us in the messy playground of whump.

I’ve got three sections in here: content warnings, writing with care, and community interaction. I’ve tried to make it navigable. It’s about 1.8k words. Shorter than a lot of drabbles! I welcome good-faith criticism on this topic and further questions on my own views.

Content Warnings

The biggest responsibility, in my opinion, is empowering your reader to make their own decision on whether they want to expose themselves to your writing. This also happens to be by far the easiest way to help people whump safely.

What to warn

This is a big and ever-changing topic. Some things you should warn for as a rule of thumb are anything NSFW, pet whump and box boy whump, drugs and alcohol, medical and hospital content, graphic gore, intimate partner violence, and animal harm. It can be tricky to draw the line of what counts – what needs a warning? If you’re in doubt, just warn it anyway. It doesn’t hurt.

If someone requests a trigger be warned for, even if it’s something that feels obscure or tame, show compassion and agree to the request. This is someone who cares enough about being able to read your writing that they wrote in! They want to be able to read it and enjoy it. You’re being complimented.

Otherwise, look at what other blogs tag for. You’ll see some variation in styles and levels of detail, but it’s a good way to gauge what people think is warn-worthy, when we’re often writing stuff that would already be R-rated in mainstream media.

Read Mores

The easiest way to make sure people don’t see your triggering content is to use a cut. Tumblr is not a very functional website and likes to delete cuts, but a cursory check of your posted content will usually tell you whether it’s worked. With asks, cuts are very spotty, so don’t be afraid to post an ask response separately with a screengrab of the original question. People often then respond to the ask itself with a link to the post, especially if it’s a whole drabble. Tumblr is weird and bad so just do your best.

Content notices

I.e., a quick summary before the drabble, usually in bold, to state what will be coming. I like to distinguish between using content notes (CN) and trigger warnings (TW) to indicate severity. Others might use the old phrase ‘dead dove do not eat’ to indicate this is a heavy piece, and often you will see qualifiers like ‘intense’, ‘mild’, ‘mention’, ‘referenced’ (i.e. it is discussed but not actively happening), and ‘implied’ (as the opposite of ‘explicit’). I’ve also seen a couple of people use ‘vibes’, which is a really nice way of demonstrating that it’s there, but not the focus. A quick paragraph like this, or just a line, lets people make a quick risk assessment on their reading.

This is also important if you’re sending in asks or requests to people. If you want to ask about something triggering, send an inquiry first about whether the blog is okay to hear it.

Tagging

Tagging is a chore, but it’s your primary way of warning people about your content. The main benefit of tagging is that you can be as detailed as you want, because can be tagging for content in general, not just triggers.

In a best case scenario, you’d tag the kind of whump you’re doing, tag triggers, tag characters, and even your ‘verses, because tagging is your index for your blog. If you tag reliably, you help your future self and your readers find stuff, and you also make your blog really dang safe. People who have unusual triggers can blacklist tags, and will pick up on your content tags to help them.

Don’t just tag your own writing. Tag your reblogs, tag your prompts, tag your asks. Yes, edit your asks to add the tags. Tag your images and gifs. Tag your images as images and your gifs as gifs.

If you aren’t up for detailed tagging for whatever reason, just tag for triggering content, and add stuff to that list if you’re asked to. My usual technique is to make a mental note of tags while I’m formatting and editing before posting.

Be aware that your first five tags will be used in search results. If you’re using tags that are associated with kink too, such as ‘shibari’, you might want to rethink your tag order if you don’t want interaction from those blogs. Also think about what tags might come up in non-whump contexts, such as ‘collar’ or ‘PTSD’. Some tactics for getting around this I’ve seen are adding ‘whump’ after the content or writing the tags in past tense (i.e., ‘collared’).

It is also a good idea to watch out for when you might be reblogging something whumpy that is intended as kink / porn / fetish, especially in images. Tagging these as spicy / nsfw / kink is a sensible move.

Writing with Care

Okay, now for the harder stuff.

I mean here to lay out some guidelines for how to write in a way that helps your reader build good faith. This is a much more nuanced topic, and it’s different for everyone. There will always be differing opinions on what should and shouldn’t be written about, what a good depiction of a sensitive topic is, and how to discuss that topic. I tried to strip this back into absolute basics that I hope we can all agree on.

Maybe your whump involves abuse. Maybe it’s gaslighting. Maybe it’s severe mental health problems, or addiction, or slavery, or you write about or analogise real-world issues. Whump deals with the dark stuff, and that’s a big part of its appeal. But don’t ever forget you’re writing the dark stuff.

(Try to) Know what you’re doing

Some of us play fast and loose with plots, medical accuracy, worldbuilding, and other things that get in the way of the pain we crave. This is all well and good, but when we start using whump that speaks true to people’s lived experiences, we shouldn’t be careless with it. I’m particularly talking about things that get represented poorly in mainstream media, such as abusive relationships, issues around marginalisation, mental illness and disability.

Be critical of media that you’ve consumed. Think about how its depicted things that you want to depict in turn. Look for opinions on fictional representations of those issues. Be aware that you might be more ignorant of things than you realise.

Look at how others are writing these issues, particularly if they’re writing from a perspective different to yours. If you haven’t personally experienced what you’re writing about, e.g., if you don’t have PTSD and you want to depict a character who does, seek out stuff written from or with experience. Listen to the experts.

If you’re looking for stuff about representation specifically, I recommend this collection of posts about ‘Braving Diversity’ cultivated by Writing With Colour, who are in themselves a fantastic resource for this topic, and have recommendations for other blogs that deal with intersecting issues.

Listen to others

Missteps are inevitable. Nobody is perfect. If constructive criticism is offered, that’s also a compliment to your writing. Someone read your work and thought about it, and thought you’d care about improving it. They’re offering themselves as a resource for helping you see your work in a new light.

Criticism is hard and sometimes hurtful, but even if we don’t think it’s accurate, there’s often a grain of truth in it. If someone tells you that your writing is harmful, think about why they’ve said that, not whether or not they’re correct. This is an opinion! Opinions are subjective! But what drove someone to send that in?

You don’t have to respond to all your criticism and definitely don’t respond straight away. Being respectful to those who are trying to help you means taking the time to consider it properly. Sometimes, they don’t need a response. Others, you might want to learn more about what they think before deciding. You might have already discussed the topic, in which case, you might just want to reblog your previous posts.

If it’s sent in bad faith or is outright hateful, you’re well within your rights to just delete it and move on. You might get the same criticism over and over again, and that’s exhausting, and you don’t have to retrace your steps for everyone.

But if it’s new, even if it puts your hackles up, you can always stop and wonder why someone felt that strongly about your work.

Take a step back

One of my better-known characters is a pet whumper who conditioned his victim to adore and depend on him. It’s not always easy to represent how deeply messed up that is within the text – though I think that’s part of the challenge – but in meta-commentary, I am always describing him as a creeptastic bastard lacking compassion and self-reflection. I hope to always give the reader the confidence that I know just how wrong it is.

This is a really simple thing you can do just to give readers good faith in you. Show that you know what you’re writing is dark and messed up. Show your understanding for the issues you’re handling and that they’re complicated. It might seem self-evident, but when you’re writing the really dark stuff, or unhealthy relationships, or institutionalised whump, you can inadvertently create the impression that you just think it’s fun. The fact that it’s fiction does not automatically absolve you. Show that you care about doing it right.

Community Interaction

I’m going to keep this one short and sweet because I will almost entirely be preaching to the choir here.

Be polite to others. Imagine saying what you’re saying to their face.

Don’t send anon hate. Just don’t. If you can send criticism off anon, do so.

Nobody is obligated to interact with you.

Nobody is obligated to monitor their own reader base.

If someone says do not interact, do not interact.

If someone says do not interact, why they’ve said that is none of your business.

You don’t need to spread the word about someone’s bad politics.

Ask yourself if your input is needed, or if what you’ve said has already been said.

You don’t have to take a side.

Take care of yourself. Take breaks. Remind yourself that whump is a small part of the world.

That’s all from me, folks. Stay safe.

[simpbur]

hello! i would like ur 40 song wiblur playlist

anon thank you so much for asking <333 while it would’ve been easier to just drop the link i have so many thoughts about everything so i explained why every single song has its spot on this list which was IMMENSELY fun for me

(also: if anyone does want the link i can provide both apple music and spotify but if u would like the apple music link i’d rather it be through dms or an ask off anon that i can make private!)

another also: i bolded all the songs for ease of perusing if you don’t want the director’s commentary and bolded + italicized the ones that i think fit Very Well

another another also: wrote the second bit of this on my laptop and the keyboard is p funky so if there are any typos or things that do not make sense i will try to fix them asap haha

saint bernard by lincoln: this is one of those like. Dream SMP Songs that i added because it fits into so many different relationships and plot lines and arcs but i think there’s some connection to c!wlbur somewhere out there. idk i asked my friend and he said to add it so this one goes out to him

amnesia was her name by lemon demon: ghostbur song ghostbur song! mostly comes from this lovely animatic

o valencia! by the decemberists: okay this is one of those songs that only really has one lyric that fits but is an absolutely banger so it’s here anyway. you’ll also notice a trend of quasi love songs that i relate to c!wilbur’s perception of l’manburg and i think this song shows this in a really cool way, esp with the chorus (‘and i swear to the stars i’ll burn this whole city down’ is The Line)

achilles come down by gang of youths: another one of those Dream SMP Songs. i think this fits better with c!tommy but i like it too much to remove it. this is a somewhat common trend with the earlier songs on this playlist (i’ve been building this thing since january, for reference)

brave as a noun by ajj: another Dream SMP Song. i think certain verses fit better than others when it comes to wilbur’s character but that ones that work really work

harness your hopes by pavement: a song that is one here for vibes alone. i have no idea what these lyrics mean. all i know is that i heard it, thought of c!wilbur, and put it on the playlist. thank you all for being here

evelyn evelyn by evelyn evelyn: sad-ist made this a tommy and tubbo song (as she should) so it’s validity on this playlist is questionable but folks used to compare it to wilbur and tommy’s relationship during the pogtopia arc and i think some points were made there

the execution of all things by rilo kiley: i’m so excited to get here because this was the first song i put on the playlist that i think really works and i thumb nailed an animatic for the last verse and november 16th so! i think it’s a good l’manburg song and the last verse has some good ghostbur lines (‘and lately you’re all alone with nothing left but sleep/but sleep never comes to you, it’s the guilt and forever wakefulness of the weak’)

i’m just your problem from adventure time: this ones a bit tricky since at is my favorite show of all time and i cannot detach this song from its in-show context very well but there is a very cool animatic with this song that landed it a spot on the playlist

man burning by josh ritter: almost became an animatic but the audio i wanted to use (which i recorded at a josh ritter concert and it’s just him and his guitar and there’s echo and it’s very haunting and pretty) has my stepbrother singing in the background and i could not edit it out so. that will probably not happen. but anyways the only hole i would pick in this song is that it’s mostly about self sabotage which isn’t really applicable but i think the imagery is cool

mamma mia by abba: here me out. here me out. this is another song that fits so well and i have spent so many hours thinking about this and somewhere there is a note on my phone explaining how every single line relates to c!wilbur’s entire arc from founding l’manburg to the resurrection (made when we thought gbur was going to get resurrected in january) and just. the metaphorical ‘you’ is l’manburg does this make any sense (another almost animatic except now that wilbur’s actually back it might become an actual animatic)

the other side of paradise by glass animals: no idea why this is here other than being a Dream SMP Song. it’s good tho

infinitesimal by mother mother: they saaaaay it stared with a big bang but they saaaaaaaay it came out of a small thing latelyyyyy i’ve been feeling like a big bang You Know

curses by the crane wives: had a thing drawn out for this song showing the comparisons between c!wilbur and c!niki because of the chorus and i think the last two lyrics of said chorus are the best thing about this one

lonely eyes by the front bottoms: gotta admit that i have no idea how this song got on here but i’ve come to associate it with ghostbur based on vibes alone. it’s a friendly song he’s a friendly ghost it works. the other tfb song coming up fits a bit better methinks

king of new orleans by better than ezra: not to put better than ezra on my c!wilbur playlist but like. something about the whole ‘tasing something up to let it fall’ motif makes me think

get me away from here, i’m dying by belle and sebastian: another almost animatic song (there’s a trend here). not only does the story told in this song work i like the lines ‘play me a song to set me free/nobody writes them like they used to so it may as well be me’ in relation to my l’manburg

montgomery forever by the front bottoms: certain bits and pieces of this song fit so well, specifically the chorus and those bits in the last two choruses Yeah (’montgomery forever and ever and ever and now they’re blowing it up/(x2)/as you started laughing and crying and trying to explain how all you want to do is leave’)

don’t look back in anger by oasis: out of all my almost animatic songs, this one got the furthest. the animatic, which I got pretty far in thumbnailing, was about wilbur and tommy and kind of drawing comparisons between their characters, also about the revolution in general. maybe i’ll finish that animatic one day idk 

snow by ricky montgomery: i wish i had a link for this so bad but!! saw art on twitter!! with the lyric ‘bury me six feet in snow’!! and went ahfsdjfk!!

burning pile by mother mother: a Dream SMP Song. also a jam there’s no real specific connection for this one but i think it could fit in a couple of ways

rounds by the oh hellos: in the same position as snow except it was on tumblr..... @ whoever made this comic i saw these lyrics in your brain is massive and your art is incredible

lovely by mt. eddy: on here for vibes alone. there’s something in the lyrical content too, but my thoughts in that regard are not very fleshed out

adventures in solitude by the new pornographers: ah yes..... the song that prompted this all...... this is a beautiful and incredibly well written song and if you’re going to listen to any song off of this playlist i’d encourage you to listen to this one. it’s place of here is mostly cause of the chorus but the imagery in the verses could all represent a part of c!wilbur and i’d love to explore that more

caught in the middle by paramore: obligatory paramore song. i think it got on here because limbo = ‘middle’ but i’m not quite sure. on the verge of being deleted if i can find a better pmore song

delicate by damien rice: one of the oddest songs on this list and i am well aware that it sticks out like a sore thumb. a song that’s on here pretty much because of one lyric, which is ‘and why’d you sing hallelujah/if it means nothing to you’ which i related to both eret’s betrayal and how my l’manburg is hallelujah yknow

bang! by ajr: almost animatic song. i think we all know what the bang is here

somewhere only we know by lily allen: ik i said don’t look back in anger has the most potential to get made into an animatic but this song might actually take it place. on par with adventures in solitude in terms of how pretty of a song it is, and probably even moreso. it’s kind of turned into a ghostbur song in my head, and makes me cry like an infant child every time i hear it

a pearl by mitski: i cannot defend this song’s place on here past the line ‘it’s just that i fell in love with a war and nobody told me it ended’

eight by sleeping at last: the official c!wilbur song needs a spot on here <3 if i can dig up the clip of cc!wilbur talking about this song in relation to his character i’ll add it but until then yeah <3

always by rilo kiley: no idea why this is on here but it fits well!! could not tell you why!! banger!!

celebration guns by stars: it’s a hauntingly beautiful song about war, and kind of one of those that necessarily isn’t about wilbur but moreso his place in the story? idk how to explain it but yes

passerine by the oh hellos: it’s. it’s from the . the fic. yeah h

oh, you are the roots that sleep beneath my feet and hold the earth in place by bright eyes: added this after the real resurrection and i think it’s because fo the imagery? also the last verse

we are beautiful, we are doomed by los campesinos!: all i have to say is ‘i cannot emphasize enough that my body/is a badly designed, poorly put together vessel/harboring these diminishing, so called vital organs/i hope my heart goes first, i hope my heart goes first!’ has always made me think of pogtopia era wilbur :(

dead weight by jack stauber: no real connection other than eret played this song during a break during the ghostbur’s january ‘resurrection’ and i heard it and went :0

point me at lost lands by tired pony: gives me season on l’manburg vibes..... i love how free and passionate it sounds and that's p much the only reason it’s on this list haha

ghosting by mother mother: added this five seconds ago because i could not BELIEVE it was not on here. ghostbur song. mans sang it on that one stream with the reverb and everything. the lyrics ‘i will be kind and i’ll be sweet/if you stop staring straight through me’ hit particularly hard back when everyone thought that ghostbur was actually wilbur in disguise 

[demiromantic-official]

Carnival of Aros July 2020

I haven’t participated in one of these before, but since music is quite important to me, I decided that this one I would write about. 

My View as a Consumer

Now I feel that I’m bit different than most arospecs, especially in my relationship to music. I don’t have a problem with songs about love, though I do dislike most of those sappy, cliché ones like those played on the pop stations. However as a musician, lyrics are not the only things I think of when deciding whether I like a song, which also may make my view a bit different than others. 

Mostly I listen to new wave / post punk from the ‘80s, and those songs  reflected the depressing and tumultuous emotions of the era. They explored themes like depression, hopelessness, fascism, the Cold War, threat of nuclear destruction, longing, disconnect, stardom, politics, WWII, addiction, war, humans relationship with technology, religious guilt, commercialism, and many others that are clearly not love but which also doesn’t have a clear meaning to me.  Or maybe they weren’t meant to have a meaning, like the songwriters of New Order claim about their songs.

When it does come to the love songs, I don’t feel the revulsion or disconnect that many arospecs seem to feel. I do dislike many of the vapid meaningless ones that are found on the pop stations (like Ed Sheeran etc), but most of the ones I listen to, I’m not sure if I would call them love songs. Maybe I’m being naïve, but even though I know the songwriter was thinking about someone they loved when writing it, the lyrics that have a deeper meaning than “i saw this hot girl and i wish we would date”, and are therefore interesting to me. Rather the feelings are described in such a way that it could be about a close friend, or someone that means a lot, without even stretching. They seem more about the human experience and interconnectedness, rather than purely romance. Even though I don’t experience romantic attraction, I like songs that delve deep into the human experience, about longing and fear and death and brokenness and other profound emotions. There’s a reason that era of music was sometimes described as “the new romantic”. Take “Lovesong” by the Cure for example. 

Whenever I’m alone with you

You make me feel like I am home again

Whenever I’m alone with you

You make me feel like I am whole again

Now it’s no secret that Robert Smith wrote it about his wife whom he had been with for years, but I also think it describes something about the human experience that most people can relate to: being a broken and hurt person, but having people in your life that make you feel safe, make you not think so much about your brokenness. And that’s part of my aromantic experience, I think. That I don’t listen to songs with a “love filter”, but rather I think about what the song says about the human experience, about the deeper emotions that most people are afraid to talk about. It’s the same with his song “Disintegration”. Even though the song alludes to being about losing a partner, it’s much more than that. It’s (according to interviews, but also my own interpretation) about depression and drug addiction and having such a bleak view on life that you don’t see the possibility of being whole again. The poetry in it is stunning. I’ve never heard a song that better describes what it feels like to go through a trauma and to be in so much pain that you don’t know you can survive much longer, or that in his words:

through the eye of a needle, 

it’s easier for me to get closer to heaven than ever be whole again.

I guess what I’ve been trying to describe is that as an arospec person, I don’t seek out traditional love songs, but I like the kinds that mention love, that maybe have love as a theme, but which aren’t entirely about it, those which have much deeper themes that describe other aspects of the human experience that maybe most people are afraid to touch on. I’ve related a lot of such songs, or songs about a failing relationship / losing a lover that do not explicitly mention it being about a partner, to being about other situations in my own life, such as losing a friend. Or platonic love, in general. 

I don’t think there are any songs I’ve related to being aromantic in particular; I’ve had an easier time relating songs to asexuality (like some Smiths songs, such as Pretty Girls Make Graves, can relate to asexuality since Morrissey viewed himself as such). Nevertheless, I still feel that music has been able to describe my range of experiences, and I’ve never felt excluded or underrepresented. 

If one wanted to be coy, though, I could name the song “Shot by Both Sides” by Magazine as one to which I could add an aromantic meaning. It’s meant to be about having a political view that leaves one “shot by both sides”, which one can say a lot about even today, when the loudest voices are extremists and having a nuanced opinion leaves many people hated by both majorities, but I won’t go into that on this blog. However sometimes it sadly feel like the aro experience...Straight people don’t accept us because we aren’t straight enough, because we’re cold people who don’t know love (in their eyes). And LGBT+ people don’t like us because we can “pass” as straight. I know not all people feel this and outside of the occasional hateful ask and mutual making a “aro and aces don’t belong in the community post” “haha all these asks trying to convince me otherwise are funny you’re not gonna convince me”, I’ve not experienced anything like this firsthand. But the sentiment is there.

My View as a Songwriter

When I write songs, I try to keep this same energy of the earlier songs I mentioned. That is, if the song is about a person or being hurt by a person, I try to make it in such a way that multiple interpretations are valid. It could be about a friend, or it could be someone else. I focus on the feelings, or even on topics that are not about interhuman connections. 

I don’t necessarily think that songwriters should be expected to be inclusive of the community, like the promptings asked. Unlike movies/shows, songs can be highly personal and typically express some emotion, experience, social commentary, or opinion that the person has, and I feel there’s an extent to which you can tell someone how to make their art (not giving spotlight to people who sing about rape/pedophilia/racism in a way that’s not satire and not social commentary or a demand for change is one exception I stand by 100%). With movies and books it’s different, because then you’re telling a story and fantasy or not, stories should contain myriads of experiences because they are almost always a reflection of the outer world in at least a small way. 

I think it’s a lot easier to be inclusive of the trans or gay community, by changing lines slightly to be vague about the genders of the people involved, which is something Pete Shelley from the Buzzcocks did to make his music accessible for people no matter their gender or what gender they liked. And it can be done without changing the meaning. 

That being said, as an artist I can recommend the following actions:

Reach out to your favorite artists! I know a lot might not answer especially if they are well-known, and fan mail doesn’t seem to be a thing anymore, but it’s a good try. Bringing up the Smiths again, I remember an interview talking about Hand in Glove (one of their many songs that have a reference to homosexuality), in which songwriters Morrissey and Johnny basically talked about being inclusive with the song. Even when they were playing cover songs, they didn’t have a problem playing a song but a girl pop group about wanting a boy. Based on his bio, I know Johnny is likely not LGBT, but is a wonderful ally. I say this to point out that if you show how important being included is, the artist may just do something similar.

Maybe try different out artists/genres? This doesn’t solve the problem of being included, but I see a lot of arospecs claim most music is about romantic love...and as someone who sees themselves as well-versed in music...it’s really not? Maybe it’s because almost all my music is alternative and because I used to listen to a lot of punk which often is social commentary and calls for change, but in my experience of listening I’ve heard a wide range of experiences and parts of humanity expressed, evening disregarding the songs that are ambiguous about whether they are about romantic love or other love. Even popular artists like Radiohead and Nirvana have many songs with different topics than love. Sure, the topic of love may be represented than any single other topic alone, but combined the other number of songs on other topics are great too.

Support aromantic artists (or artists who sing about topics you relate to). Artists need support to keep making music, so support the ones who include you. And who knows, maybe more aromantic artists will start singing about their experiences as support grows.

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day One Hundred Forty-Five: Ridiculous Statement ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata, Hyūga Hiashi ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: Divine Light ] [ AO3 Link ]

Word, apparently, travels fast.

They’ve only been in the capital city a few months when the little procession arrives. Plans to rebuild the elemental council have scarcely begun. Hinata’s barely even made up her mind to stay and begin learning the necessary politics to - once she’s ready - become the dignitary of Auquiana’s disciples.

How they found her, Sasuke really isn’t sure.

All he does know, is that while out practicing his swordsmanship stances, a carriage clickity-clacks along the stone streets toward the Luxerian palace. Brow drawing - they hardly expect any visitors - he watches before sheathing his blade and moving to intercept as they pull around the curved drive to the front steps.

Alongside the carriage are several riders on horseback, the beasts dancing a bit with nerves.

He has a feeling he knows why.

Standing at the base of the stairs, Sasuke folds his arms, eyeing the buggy warily. From within emerges a man, and genuine surprise pulls the Uchiha’s face taut.

...it’s Hiashi. Hinata’s father. The one she ran away from in secret all those months ago when they began this journey.

The water mage stands upon the small step up haughtily, looking over the palace with an unreadable gaze tinged with several flickering emotions Sasuke can’t begin to decipher. But he gets the impression Hiashi’s seen it before.

...but that means…?

“Where is my daughter?”

Facade smoothed once more, Sasuke - at first - doesn’t answer. “...name?”

“You know damn well who I am,” the elder elf spits, descending to the street. “Hiashi of the Hyūga. Pureblood descendent of those who first accepted the water elemental Auquiana’s blessing.” He gives Sasuke an appraising look, not bothering to hide his disdain. “...and you are?”

“Sasuke, line Uchiha. Pureblood of Ignitrios.”

“Tch, fire...how typical. Of course you stand in my path.”

“What makes you think your daughter is here?”

“She was spotted by men I’ve sent in search of her. And don’t play dumb with me, young man. They reported your visage, too. As well as your brother’s, and the lux mage. Don’t bother trying to lie to me. Now where is she?”

“If she wishes to speak to you, she’ll do so. If not, you’ll have to live with the disappointment,” Sasuke retorts, tone just as challenging.

“How dare you…? She is my daughter!”

“And perfectly capable of making her own decisions. If she doesn’t wish to see you, you can’t force her.”

A vein ticks in Hiashi’s temple, mouth opening to argue. But he comes up short, eyes flickering up over Sasuke’s head.

Glancing back over his shoulder, he sees the rest of his party descending the steps.

“That’s enough, Father,” Hinata calls, skirts pulled up with a hand as shoes clack along the stone stairs. “Sasuke’s right. Stop yelling at him!”

“Young lady,” Hiashi begins, tone like ice. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

“I do,” she responds, tone firm. “I left behind a home that was no longer my home, and a father who refused to let me f-follow my destiny.”

“You ran away from home! Without a word! I’ve sent man after man to follow your trail, and now that I’ve finally found you, you refuse me?”

“I will, if you will not respect me.”

Hiashi actually retreats half a step in shock, gazing up at his daughter’s unwavering stare.

Clearly, he’s realizing she’s not the timid girl that left home so long ago.

“...all I have seen, and all I have learned, since leaving your home...has changed me. I’m not a doll for you to pose and control. I won’t be refused my path any longer, Father. I’ve learned about ven - about my element! I can control it now. It speaks to me. Just like it spoke to Mother -”

“Ven and its arts are what got your mother killed!” Hiashi cuts in.

“Fear and prejudice are what killed my mother. And I’ll bow to it no longer. I am not a child, Father. I’m forging my own destiny. And it’s here. With the new elemental council.”

“Are you mad…? What a ridiculous statement! The council has been dead for hundreds of years! Since the coup that broke it!”

“The coup that unfolded in this very city,” the lux mage cuts in, stepping further. “...in this very palace. Which led to the sealing and petrification of the Luxerian capital, until the return of one of their disciples. And here I am. The time for hiding and fear is over, Hiashi. The elemental council will be reborn. Balance will be found again. And the mor’el’ven and mor’el’kor will stop their cold war and return to peace.”

“...you’re delusion, the lot of you,” the aqua mage scowls. “All you’re doing is exposing our kinds to the threat of open war. The el’kor will never listen. They fear us. Hate us for our magic. For our bonds with the Elementals. Elementals that abandoned us!”

“Because we abandoned them!” Hinata retorts. “Ven was n-never meant to be used as a weapon. Not like it was after the coup. We forgot the ways of peace and balance the Elementals taught us...and for that, we were punished. They left us...but I know they’ll return.”

“You know nothing -”

“Do you know what happened to Mother the night she died?”

Hiashi goes silent.

“...she heard Auquiana. Heard their voice. Accepted their embrace. And through her, they shaped their ven to combat the enemy. It’s why Mother suddenly surged in power. Why she was able to destroy the foes that pursued us. Why we got away. She gave up her life for us...and that selflessness - that need - is what brought Auquiana to her. She became a vessel for their power. They have not left us…! If we return to the old ways - if we revive our cultures, our paths of peaceful unity with our elements - they will return.”

For a long moment, the Hyūga patriarch is quiet. Eyes flicker as he thinks, the memory clearly playing in his mind as he tries to find an argument.

But there’s none to be had.

“...the time of division is over, Father,” Hinata murmurs. Stepping up beside Sasuke, she gently takes his hand, threading their fingers in an inarguable symbol. “Our people will be brought out of hiding. Out of the darkness. The light has returned - the lux mages are not extinct as we feared. With her help, we will unite the twelve elements again. We will free the el’ven people. And I plan to remain and help. I will help guide and coalesce the disciples of Auquiana.”

“You…?”

“Yes.”

Hiashi studies his daughter, expression again unclear. But slowly, recognition colors his gaze.

“...you truly are your mother’s daughter. Were she here...she would argue the same case. She always was a dreamer…” He sighs, head bowing. “...it will be dangerous. The attention this will attract…”

“We’re ready for it,” Sasuke then says, drawing Hiashi’s gaze. “The council isn’t the only thing returning.”

Umber brows furrow...and then lift as a distant sound echoes. A great whistling cuts through the air. Through the sky streaks a white glimmer, the horses rearing in full-blown panic as the lux dragon flutters down into the courtyard, feathered wings buffeting the grass.

“The dragons, too, are heeding our call. They can feel the same change we feel. This one has remained, waiting diligently, for a disciple of Luxeria to return. And now she s-stands beside us. More will come. Drach, mor...the hidden kinds no longer have to hide. The world is changing, Father...and I want to be there when it does.”

Staring at the beast in awe, the last of Hiashi’s argument seems to crumble. “...what can I do?”

“Spread the word. Tell everyone you know - all the mor’el’ven - that the Luxerian capital no longer slumbers. The council is regathering. The future is quivering in anticipation. We must rise to meet it.”

Dragging his eyes back to his daughter, the pair lock gazes, communicating silently.

“...your mother would be proud of you. And I...am proud of you, too.”

Hinata jolts, eyes widening as her father turns, retreating into his carriage.

“I will return home. Gather the el’ven I know. I’m sure the winds will carry the news. When I am able...I will see you again.”

Still shocked, Hinata can only nod as the group retreats back down the cobbled road.

Behind them, Itachi and the lux mage exchange a glance before retreating inside.

“...did...did that really just happen…?”

“I think it did,” Sasuke replies softly. “...you were amazing.”

“My heart was p-pounding - was it obvious?”

“Not at all. You spoke your mind. Stood up for what you believed in.” Turning to her, Sasuke smiles softly, a hand tucking hair behind her pointed ear. “...you really have grown, Hinata. When we first met, you’d never have made a speech so rousing.”

Her cheeks dust pink, head ducking.

“Then again, I’d hope you could. Soon you’ll be doing that quite often once you represent your element.”

“...at times, I still can’t believe it,” she breathes. “It all seems to be happening so fast…”

“...well, you’ll not be doing it alone.”

Her gaze snaps back to him. “...you mean -?”

“I’m going to stay. Guess Hiashi’s not the only one you convinced,” Sasuke teases lightly, pressing lips to her brow. “Besides, you’ll need a little fire to boil your water until you learn to do it on your own, eh? But maybe you’re better at it than I thought.”

“...maybe I am.”

     *flops* Guh, tired...I'll be brief.      More DL, woo! This crossover's not the most well-received, but...this prompt gave me like NO ideas, so this was the best I could come up with, lol - Hinata and Hiashi finally break down and have a talk they've been needing to have for...a long time. But it could only happen now, with Hinata having grown as much as she has.      And Sasuke's right beside her, but...this time around, she handled it pretty well on her own x3      Anywho, I've got a long day ahead of me tomorrow, so time to call it a night. Thanks for reading!

[tailahjanbash]

Why You Shouldn’t Be A Christian Blogger

I know, It's bizarre. This title is probably the last thing you would expect from me. But lately more and more "faith" inspired posts have been popping up on my timeline. Most of them are from young girls who have just begun their faith walk and have decided to take it upon themselves to teach the masses how to be a Christian. All it takes is a title that's click-bait and one viral post to make a name for yourself, right?

The problem with some of these articles, is that they have little to no scriptural backing or reference, and many are centered around emotions—what makes me happy and what being a Christian means to me. They often contradict scripture. Other times they make excuses for blatant sin—"The bible was written thousands of years ago so it's okay for me to sleep with my boyfriend" for example.

This is not teaching. "But I'm not trying to be a pastor or a bible teacher" you might say. "I'm just sharing my experiences." Great. Share your experiences! But once you cross that line and begin telling your readers who God is, His nature, character, and what it means to be a Christian, you have taken a teaching mantle upon yourself.

And you never place a mantle upon yourself. What is a mantle? In the Old Testament, they were big cloaks that teachers, worship leaders, prophets and priests wore. Mantles are a physical representation of God's covering because they covered the people who wore them. Mantles represent a call and an anointing that has been placed upon you by God that you wear and carry wherever you go.

Christian bloggers do not get the luxury of scheduling posts or waking up one morning and slapping some random inspiring thought together and present it as gospel like any other blogger would.

I never write posts just to write posts. Or because I have to keep my page relevant or need new and consistent content. Even if I have understanding, I will ONLY write a post once I have had revelation and prompting by the Holy Spirit to create and publish it.

I pray over every single word. I read the message over and over, and reference as many scriptures as I possibly can. I submit to the Holy Spirit and ask that he would be the one writing and speaking through me. I send the finished posts to pastors, mentors, and leaders just to make sure that everything is biblically sound. That is the kind of reverence I have for this mantle that God has placed on me.

You cannot force a call. You cannot force revelation. If God has not told you to teach and write about a topic, you will be 1. Acting outside of his will. 2. Will not have the proper or full understanding, revelation, and preparation to handle the massive responsibility and repercussions of teaching.

I did not want to be a teacher. I did not choose to be Christian Blogger. I did not want to be a life-group leader at my university and be responsible for teaching my peers the word of God, because I understood the seriousness of the call. God had to arrest my heart and even send multiple church members with prophetic words to tell me that it was time to step out, teach, and write. My point is this: God will make it clear as day that he has chosen, appointed, and anointed you.

James 3:1 says "Don't be in any rush to become a teacher, my friends. Teaching is highly responsible work. Teachers are held to the strictest standards." In most translations, this verse says, "Those who teach will be judged more strictly."

The word 'Judgement' used in this passage is the Greek word, 'Krima; κρίμα' defined as; A condemnation of wrong, the decision (whether severe or mild) which one passes on the faults of others.

The Greek word for 'strictly' used above is 'Megas; μέγας'. One of its definitions is: Great mass and weight. Another definition is: Intensity; violent, mighty, strong.

One passes on the faults of others. If you are teaching false interpretations, false doctrine, or setting a bad example by not walking out what you teach, God will punish you and hold you accountable not only for your own sins, but the sins of others. He will pass that punishment from them on to you, because you misrepresented Him and caused them to stumble by teaching them incorrectly. The faults and sins that are passed on to the teacher are not small. They are of great mass and weight as we read in the original Greek. These judgements are not easy to bear.

Jesus says that we will have to answer for every worthless and idle word we have ever spoken at judgement. (Matt 12:36)

And a few chapters later, Jesus goes on to say, "If anyone causes one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for him to have a heavy boulder tied around his neck and be hurled into the deepest sea than to face the punishment he deserves! (Matt 18:6)

This…coming from the mouth of Jesus? Absolutely terrifying.

Obviously, God does not take teaching, theology, knowledge, or understanding lightly. At all. He literally says that being tied to a boulder and drowned to death is better than the punishment God has for this serious crime.

Online articles (including mine, people!) cannot feed your spirit. You need the word of God to gain knowledge and understanding so you will be able to catch false teachings swirling around your Facebook and Instagram feeds.

2 Timothy 4:3-4 says, "For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."

It truly angers me whenever I see viral posts that claim the heart of God but teach the opposite of scripture. I can't imagine how that makes God feel. At the end of the day, its His precious children who are being taught that living in sin is okay, or that that He views his daughters as less valuable than His sons. (Real posts I saw today, guys)

"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." 1 John 4:1-6

We have to guard our heart, spirit, soul, and mind. This is why John instructed us to test every spirit—because not every teaching is inspired by the Holy Spirit. And if it is not from the Holy Spirit, then by process of elimination, it is from an unclean spirit. And don't forget, Satan knows scripture and has twisted it from the beginning. From Eve, to Jesus, to us even today.

Always examine doctrine next to scripture. Ask God if it is truth. Ask the Holy Spirit for revelation. He'll give it to you. This is a promise Jesus gives us in Luke 11:11-13—"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

At the end of the day, recognizing false teaching comes by being filled with the Holy Spirit and knowing the word of God. As long as you are seeking these, you do not have to worry about falling prey to deceitful interpretations, because the Holy Spirit is our interpreter (1 Cor 2:12).

Below are two prayers. One is for those who have found themselves placing a mantle of teaching upon themselves that God has not ordained or placed upon you. The second is a prayer to stand against and cast out any false teachings or ideologies that you have fallen victim to.

Lord, I repent for placing a false mantle upon myself instead of allowing you to call, anoint, and appoint me. In the name of Jesus, I surrender and release my giftings and desire to teach to you. Shape me, my understanding, and knowledge to your perfect wisdom, revelation, and will. Give me a new hunger and desire for you and your word, Holy Spirit. Remove anything in me that is not like you. I bind every spirit of false doctrine or false teaching that would confuse me and whisper untruths into my ears, heart, and mind. We pray and ask all of these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

Father God, I repent and ask for forgiveness for any sin I have committed, knowingly or unknowingly. I ask that you fill me with your Holy Spirit right now in the name of Jesus. Holy Spirit, I ask that you would be my interpreter, teacher, and friend. That you would strengthen me to withstand attacks from the enemy and give me a greater measure of your holy and perfect discernment in the name of Jesus. I renounce, bind, and rebuke any and all false teachings that have been spoken to me or over me in the name of Jesus. Jesus, shine your light and perfect knowledge over all of these areas and fill them with your Spirit and truth right now. I forgive any false teacher that has deposited untruths into me and ask that you would have mercy on them and bring them to You. In Jesus name, amen

If you would like access to devotionals, teachings, walk-through prayers, or to ask me any questions click here!

[tisfan]

For the Halloween prompts, I was hoping you'd be willing to dip into your Sandbridge verse for 31 - "What a way to spend Halloween" for Winteriron, or any other of those pairings? Thanks!

A/N: Sandbridge story, post Mother of Tides (if you haven’t read that, Billie is Bucky’s niece, age 12, that they’ve adopted and Livvy, age almost 4, is Tony’s daughter, by surrogate Darcy Lewis

No Place Like Home

Livvy looked at the picture that her sister was pointing at withas much disgust as a not-quite-four year old could manage. “No! Yion!”

“Livvyyyyyy,” Billie whined, “but Dorothy has to have Toto! Andyou’d be so cute!”

“No,” Livvy said, crossing her arms and imitating Billie’s besthuffy attitude, including the cocked head and stubbornly thrust out chin. “Nopuppies! Puppy was yast year.” Which was true, she had been a puppy lastyear (and, Tony would admit, the year before that, too. Livvy had anunreasonable obsession with puppies, right up until she didn’t anymore.) “Yion!Raor!” She pounced on an imaginary hapless prey animal -- represented by one ofher stuffed pokemon’s and shook her head.

“That’s needlessly gruesome,” Bucky said, watching Livvy pretendto maul the animal. “Why are we slaughtering bulbasoars in the living room?”

“We’re discussing Halloween options,” Tony explained. “Billiewants to do a themed costume, with her as Dorothy and Livvy as Toto. Liv wouldrather be the Cowardly Lion, apparently.”

“Yion,” Livvy said. “Yion’s got crown! Toto is dumb!”

Tony made a you see? gesture at Bucky. “What if Liv is thelion,” he suggested, “and we find you a stuffed animal to serve as Toto?” heoffered Billie.

“Well, that’s dumb,” Billie said. “Like, Tin Man’s Dorothy’s bestfriend, we’ll look stupid, Dorothy an’ the Lion an’ a toy.”

“Hmmm, can we tone it down with the dumb and stupid around here?Those aren’t nice words,” Bucky remarked.

Billie’s rolled eyes and dubious expression made it clear thatthey’d now moved into adults are stupid territory. “This is my lastyear,” she complained, voice spiraling up. “Liv’s got years an’ years to dresslike she wants, it’s not fair.”

“No one’s saying you can’t dress up however you want,” Tonypointed out. “We’re just saying that you don’t necessarily get to choose what Livvydresses up as. At least she’s staying with the Oz theme.”

“And it’s not your last year,” Bucky said, reasonably. “Youjust can’t go trick-or-treating next year. You can dress up for parties, andjus’ cause you want to for as long as you want.” That was a stupid law, as faras Tony thought, that kids over the age of 13 couldn’t go -- hell, half thekids in their neighborhood were taking younger siblings and cousins anyway. Notthat Tony had ever gone; Howard didn’t approve, and Mom hadn’t wantedhim alone on the streets. The kind of seeing it in moviestrick-or-treating was as close as he’d ever gotten until that first year thatBillie had been with them, and Bucky had dumped the whole thing into Tony’slap, since Dockside got a lot of local kids and parents in after thetrick-or-treating was done.

Tony had thrown himself into it, decorating and creating a small“graveyard” in a corner of the parking lot (it was never close to full in theoff-season anyway) and helping Billie create the most outlandish costume shecould imagine. He was pretty sure he’d had at least as much fun as she had.

“Yeah, we’re not giving up on costumes just because you can’ttrick-or-treat,” he assured Billie. “We’ll figure something out. But now, forthis year, tell me how we can compromise on this, because Liv seems pretty seton this whole lion thing.”

“Rawr!” There went the feral four year old again, and this timeshe was mauling Bucky’s ankle.

“Ow… gently,” Bucky said. He glanced at Tony with a wry,and slightly pained, grin. “I thought ankle-biter was supposed to be a joke.”

Tony stretched up and kissed Bucky’s cheek. “I’ll kiss it better,”he promised. He turned back to Billie. “Come on, what’s... What’s the minimumthat Dorothy needs to be seen in public, hm?”

“If she’s gonna be the lion--” Billie jerked her chin, trying tooutstubborn her sister, although Tony thought it was probably a lost cause, “--then I need a stuffed Toto, the Tin Man, and Scarecrow.”

“Wicked Witch!” Livvy piped up. “Bee’s a wicked witch!”

Billie’s eyes widened, then narrowed. “No! I want ruby slippers!”

Tony considered it. “Alternate universe dystopia where the WickedWitch got to the slippers before Dorothy?” he offered. “You could be a witch andhave ruby slippers, and we could give you a basket with blue gingham lining orsomething to keep all the things you’ve stolen from the good guys.”

“I’ll get you, my pretty!” Billie cackled. “AND your little dog,Toto, too.”

Livvy sat there, smug. “Bee’s a witch.”

Bucky had gone very minimalist with his costume -- he still hadtables to wait and customer disputes to settle -- but that hadn’t kept peoplefrom yanking on the tail all night. The events room was cordoned off, only costumedkids and parents allowed, with a special menu; Steve had enjoyed putting thattogether, and they were serving mummy dogs and eyeball tacos and FlyingSpaghetti Monsters on a plate, as well as some adult beverages for tiredparents.

“How did you talk me into this again?” Bucky wondered, hooking thetail over his arm again. The vest and hat were blue, with orange zigzag, andthe wings had been easy to pick up in the local costume shop. The tail,however, was hand made, sewn into the back of Bucky’s grey jeans, and eitherhis pants were going to come off, or the tail was, depending on who was doingthe pulling.

“Because you’re a sucker for Billie’s big sad eyes?” Tonysuggested. “You want to trade costumes? I absolutely will.” Tony’s costume wasanything but minimalist; he’d practically built himself a suit of armorout of tin sheeting, and was clanking around awkwardly. Which was why he wasmostly on cash register duty; it didn’t require as much movement as most of theother jobs. He lifted his “oil can” and took a sip from the long spout. Buckywas beginning to wonder if he had something in there in addition to Coke.

“You look great, but I’ll pass,” Bucky said. At least Tony haddiscovered there was no way to put armor over his butt and still be able to sitdown, which meant the rear view was still fantastic. “Steve can take a pictureof all of us, it’ll be awesome.”

Steve had, point blank, refused to dress up at all. Wheneversomeone nagged him about it, he pulled his apron up to cover his face and intonedthat they should pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

Whereas Nat’s tips were through the roof, her sexy scarecrowoutfit getting even more attention than last year’s Catwoman latex bodysuit.

“Buck up,” Tony said, rattling a little as he patted Bucky on theshoulder. “Only another half hour until the party is done and all thesugared-up monsters go home.”

“Well, at least at the end of the night, there’s still no placelike home,” Bucky said, being cheesy and knowing he was being cheesy.

“Ug,” Tony complained, laughing. “Just for that, you have to helpme clean off all this face paint.”

There really wasn’t anyplace on Tony’s face thatwasn’t covered in glittery silver makeup, but if Bucky’s flying monkey costumehad silver lipstick, he wasn’t sure anyone would notice. He leaned in and stolea quick kiss. “I can do that. What a way to spend Halloween, right? Checking myhusband for glittery paint… all over.”

[iamanartichoke]

I don’t know if ur still taking prompts but I saw this prompt once that was like “ur ship is in a situation where one kisses the other & the other is just shocked bc it’s not the situation that would happen in & they don’t expect it from them” like using it as a distraction or something?? Okay honestly it didn’t say that it explained it much better but if u .. kind of understand .. can u do it with valki? Or something similar

So this prompt inspired some Loki and Thor feels, which came out, in order to let Valkyrie pick up the pieces (kind of) so … I hope it’s in line with what you had in mind! Also, this is not particularly flattering to Thor, so I apologize, but I still love him, truly. Some of my prompts have been set in the Sanctuary ‘verse, but this is very much not, just as a disclaimer. Anyway, I hope you like it and thank you for the prompt and your patience! 

Word Count: 2126 

Loki’s biggest mistake, he would reflect later, was believing that Thor was at all capable of treating Loki as an equal.

It should not have been a surprise. Even after Loki had fallen, Thor had not seemed to understand - had not seemed to care - what drove Loki’s actions. Thor, who called Loki’s grievances imagined slights, who turned to throw blame at Loki’s feet quick as lightning when things went wrong, who had not hesitated to leave Loki writhing in immobilized pain on Sakaar.

You’ll always be the God of Mischief, Thor had said. Loki heard the truth behind the words - you’ll always be lesser, Thor might as well have said. You’ll always be a weaselly trickster up to no good. Returning to Asgard with the ship to save them all meant nothing, in the end. Loki thought he could die trying to prove himself to Thor, and Thor would only look at his corpse and scoff that his death could have been more glorious, had be bothered to try harder.

Three days after they’d set course for Earth, Thor gathered his tiny council - Heimdall, the Valkyrie, Banner, Korg, and Loki - to discuss preparations and logistics for their journey. While Loki appreciated that Thor included him on the council, he could not help but bring up the fact that Earth might not be the best destination for the Asgardian refugees.

“Surely we might be better received on Vanaheim, perhaps,” he suggested, “or Alfheim. Somewhere we’ve already got an alliance.”

“Earth has an alliance with Asgard,” Thor countered, “and it is where we have friends. It’s like a second home to me.”

“To you, yes,” Loki said, “but not to the rest of your people. Earth is a chaotic world, brother. Its governments are often in opposition to one another. Wars between the humans are on-going and violent. They are fickle creatures.”

“You think too little of them,” Thor said, clasping his fingers together. The others had grown quiet, watching Thor and Loki volley back and forth like it was a sporting match. Out of the corner of his eye, Loki noticed the Valkyrie bring a flask to her lips. “I have lived among them, brother; I know how they operate.”

“You know how your Avengers operate,” Loki refuted, keeping his voice even, though irritation was beginning to prick at his nerves. “Not humans.”

Thor tilted his head slightly, and the corners of his lips tilted in what Loki was beginning to recognize as Thor’s new smile. It was not borne of amusement or good-nature; it didn’t reach his eyes. (Eye, rather.) It was a smile that revealed an impatience Loki had never realized Thor possessed; it was a smile that said Thor believed he was right and that to try to convince him otherwise was to waste his time.

With a pang, Loki realized that it reminded him of the way Thor’s arrogance had taken hold before his first coronation.

“Do you mean to say that the Avengers are not humans?” Thor asked, with a lifted brow.

“I mean to say that they are not representative of Midgard as a whole,” Loki returned evenly. “Have you even considered the humans’ innate hostility toward a superior race? How much trouble it can cause?”

“You still think us above them.” Thor’s voice was flat.

“Of course I do,” Loki snapped. “We are above them. That is simple fact.”

“What’s simple fact,” Thor replied, his remaining eye darkening, “is that you are willing to put  the remainder of Asgard in peril so that you can hide from the consequences of your crimes on Midgard. Don’t pretend that’s not what this is.”

Loki blinked. The words were cruel, even for this new Thor, and Loki’s guard was lowered enough that they hit him like a sucker punch to the gut. “Is that truly what you think?”

“I think that you always act in your own best interests, Loki,” Thor replied, “everyone else be damned.”

Loki’s anger sprung up so violently that it was a visceral shock to his system. He felt heat rush to his cheeks as he glanced around the table. Everyone was making great pains to avoid his gaze. When Loki looked back at Thor, he saw something that might have resembled regret, as if Thor realized he’d gone too far, but he did not take back the words.

“Clearly,” Loki said tightly, as rage began to build up beneath the surface, pulsing in his veins, “my opinions are not welcome here, so I shall take my leave.”

“Loki -” Thor began, but Loki was already pushing away from the table.

“Do as you wish, your Majesty,” Loki said. He spun on his heel, fists clenching at his sides. His anger radiated palpably off of his skin and several of the electric lights in the room burst and shattered as he passed. He paid them no mind. He just kept moving like a walking statue - eyes straight ahead, shoulders rigid, features frozen into a mask of impassivity. Anyone who looked at him, however, would have seen the dangerous darkening of his green eyes and been wise to stay away.

Loki didn’t know where he was going. He just knew he had to put as much distance between himself and Thor as possible. He thought of going to his quarters, but he did not wish to be cooped up in the tiny, empty space. He thought about going to the Commodore and simply taking it, Thor and the rest of Asgard be damned. He’d fly far away from this wretched ship, seek out Xandar or someplace similar, where all he’d need was his wits and a bit of gold to start anew.

In the end, he went to the observatory deck, where just a few days ago Thor had been crowned king and Loki had felt balanced and centered, for the first time in years. They’d all been riding the high of a battle hard won, he supposed, and the reality of Asgard’s destruction had not truly set in. What a fool Loki was, to believe anything had truly changed.

He stood at the window for a long time, long enough for his anger to simmer and cool, receding back under the surface. He wished that he could lose himself out among the stars - that he could simply be swallowed up by the glittering darkness and disappear into the void. It was such a tempting thought, until one remembered what terrors lurked in the folds and shadows of the void, unseen. Loki shuddered.

Soon, he heard footsteps approaching. He listened to the shuffle of the person’s walk, light and a bit uneven, before he determined it was the Valkyrie. “Are you lost?” he asked, without turning around.

“No.” The Valkyrie continued her approach until she was standing beside him. She folded her arms across her chest and gazed out the window, not looking back when Loki glanced at her. “Just seemed like a nice view.”

“View’s the same at any window,” Loki told her, clasping his hands behind his back. “I’m not sure why you chose this one.”

“Perhaps I wanted the company at this particular window,” the Valkyrie replied, lifting her shoulders. “Do you mind?”

“Yes,” Loki said honestly. “I do mind. I’d rather be alone.”

“Hmm.” Valkyrie did look at him then, something measuring in her gaze. “I think you’re right, you know.”

“About being alone?”

“No. About Earth.” Valkyrie reached into her pocket for her flask and offered it to him. Loki accepted it and brought it to his lips. He took a long swallow, his eyes never leaving her face.

“You could have said so,” he replied when he lowered the flask, handing it back to her. “In the meeting.”

“I could have,” she agreed, “but I don’t think it would have done much good. You and Thor are both so stubborn - when you get going, there’s nothing anyone can say.”

Loki scoffed and looked back out the window. They were allies in battle, perhaps, but being in their presence for a few days did not mean she knew either Loki or Thor. Not truly, not enough. Behind his back, he pressed his thumbnail into his palm, relishing the sting. “You must know,” he said, “that Thor is always right. Even more so now that he is king.”

Valkyrie said nothing. Not that Loki expected her to. He sighed, unclasping his hands so that he could examine his fingers. “Thor’s changed,” he went on, more quietly. “He’s always been arrogant, but I thought he’d outgrown it. Circumstances necessitated he outgrow it. Now … now he seems to be regressing into the hothead he’d always proven to be in our youth.”

“Maybe not,” Valkyrie countered. She tipped her head back, downing the rest of her flask. “He’ll seek you out,” she added, tucking the flask back into whatever pocket it came from. “After you stormed out, he was regretful. Said he didn’t mean to upset you and he’d grown too defensive. It’s just a quarrel, Loki. All siblings have them.” Valkyrie smiled a little. “You’ll kiss and make up, sooner or later. Thor does value you, even if you can’t see it.”

Loki felt a lurch in his chest. “Why do you care?” he asked, lifting his eyebrows at her. “I don’t even know you. Nor do you know me.”

“Call it turning over a new leaf,” she replied dryly.

They were quiet for a few moments, and then, as if on cue, Loki heard Thor’s heavy footsteps drawing near. He closed his eyes, wanting to neither argue with Thor nor work it out. Not yet. Either option seemed exhausting.

Perhaps, Valkyrie could tell. “You wanna talk to him?” she asked in a low voice, leaning in.

“Not really.”

“Loki!” called Thor, and Loki started to turn, but then the next thing he was aware of was Valkyrie’s lips against his.

He let out a sound that might have been a yelp, had she not swallowed it down. Her fingers went to his hair, gripping the strands and, even though everything rational in him screamed at him to pull away, Loki felt himself respond. She pressed against his lips, seeking entry; he granted it and her mouth felt molten against his tongue. Loki felt dizzy and somewhat faint, his heart thudding in his ears.

“Wow, um, okay,” Thor said, sounding very far away, and only then did Valkyrie pull back. For a long moment, she and Loki stared at one another. Loki noticed her cheeks were flushed and her eyes seemed much brighter than they had a moment ago.

Then Valkyrie turned her head enough to look at Thor, without letting go of Loki. “If you don’t mind, your Majesty,” she said, cocking an eyebrow, “we were hoping for some privacy.”

“Oh, um, right.” Thor looked nothing short of bewildered as he looked from Loki to Valkyrie and back again. “Loki, I just thought we could talk, but - uh, I guess … I mean, I can find you later. If you want.”

Loki managed to nod.

“Right. Okay.” Thor took a couple of backward steps and then shook his head. “I’ll just … see you two later, then,” he added, and then all Loki was aware of was the quickening of his steps as he all but fled the deck. When he was gone, Valkyrie finally let go and stepped back.

“What in the Norns was that?” Loki finally asked, backing up as if he expected her to fling herself at him again.

“Distraction,” Valkyrie said simply, and then laughed. “My God, you should have seen your face. It was hilarious.”

Loki was still having trouble finding his words. He could not remember the last time he’d been kissed. It had not been a priority in a very long time. “Distraction?”

“Yeah. Not only did I put off your inevitable talk with Thor,” she said, “but now, you’ll have something to talk about besides how much you two hate each other. Or love each other. Whichever.”

“I hope you’re not expecting me to thank you.” Loki’s tone was laced with a dryness that he did not quite feel. His heart was still beating too quickly for his liking.

“You kissed me back,” Valkyrie said with a shrug. “That’s thanks enough, if you ask me.”

“I -”

Valkyrie grinned and tossed her ponytail. “You’re welcome,” she said, and then she was sauntering off before Loki could respond. He watched her go, suddenly aware of her in a way he had not been before. He watched the swing of her ponytail, the shift of her walk, and then he brought his fingers lightly to his lips, and he smiled.

[kusunogatari-a]

[ SasuHinaMonth Day Fourteen: Forbidden Love ] [ @sasuhinamonth ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata, Uchiha Mikoto, Uchiha Fugaku ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: Divine Light ] 

“If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times. No son of mine will ever wed a mage of water! We’ve a long line of purebred igni mages, back to the blessings of the el’ven! I’ll not have my sons sully that tradition!”

Fugaku paces fervidly, neck red with anger and crimson eyes alight with temper. Behind him, his wife hesitates, torn between trying to calm him and simply urging Sasuke to take his leave to let the situation cool.

Jaw set and expression unyielding, Sasuke gives no ground, standing proudly in the doorway. “...you’ve not seen what I’ve seen this past year, Father. The hold of the Rift on our people is fading. The elements are gathering, and peace is slowly reemerging. Cling to the old times if you want. There’s too much to be gained in this future to wallow in the past. I’ll not let your old-fashioned ideals dictate my life. Disown me if you think that will help. Hinata has proved a steadfast companion, and an open heart. I couldn’t care less about the element in her veins. I love her.”

The patriarch turns, a vein in his temple flaring. “...you would dismiss hundreds of years of tradition, of proud bloodlines…”

“For love? In a heartbeat.”

“Husband.”

Turning to Mikoto, Fugaku doesn’t reply.

“...Sasuke...is right. The viceful pride of the elements is what brought war and suffering to our peoples. Do you not find beauty in the uniting of those that were once parted?” A hand gestures to their son. “Are you so blinded by that pride that you would refuse your son his happiness? We have lost everything: our home, our wealth, our status...but he has a chance to have what all hearts crave. Someone who beats in time with him. There is enough hatred and anger in this world. Let us allow love to bloom where it can in ground so parched.”

She brings a hand to his cheek. “...do you forget, you chose me over your destiny once…?”

A long moment of silence, and then the man deflates with a sigh, head bowing. “...you are still of the igni lines…”

“But second born. You were fated to my sister, and you defied that decree. Please, dearest...find it in your heart to see that same yearning in our son. Do not deny him this chance at happiness. At least allow him time. Consider this matter more deeply. Do not let a swift decision without thought cast out your flesh and blood so quickly.” Mikoto smiles. “...and you forget, he yet has a brother to carry on your line. The lux mage is suited, for fire is a child of light. Do not act so rashly. Fury is fire’s vice. Do not let it rob you of your senses.”

“...I will...think on this matter. For now, it’s best you go.” Fugaku waves a hand, signaling his son. Around his shoulder, Mikoto gives subtle nod.

Returning the gesture, Sasuke turns on a heel and takes his leave.

...he expected much worse.

Leaving the little house behind, he doesn’t stop until he can put his back to a tree, sagging and heaving a sigh. He knew Fugaku would reject her...but thank the gods for his mother and her diplomacy. There may yet be hope.

“...did it fare so poorly?”

Head turning, Sasuke considers her for a moment. “...yes and no. For now, best we keep our distance.”

Hinata, expression hesitant, gives a small dip of her head.

“...you must understand my father’s position. When I was a child, we lived within a great city, with power enough to ignore the prejudice of those without magic. Admittedly...it got to our heads. We believed ourselves untouchable. So when the riots began, we scattered to the winds. In a night, we lost everything. My father went from the leader of a mighty igni clan...to a refugee hiding in another land, unable to admit to the power in his veins. It wasn’t long after that...my brother fell ill.” A blink. “...and then my pilgrimage to the capital of Luxeria’s lands...where I found you. And our journey began.”

Stepping up beside him, Hinata leans gently against the bark. “...it’s strange. It seems both so long ago, and yet...like yesterday.”

“It does…we’ve endured many trials since then.” Glancing down, he takes her hand in his, grip loose. “...I never imagined that I would find in you what I did. I wasn’t sure I’d find the means to save my brother...and now look at all we’ve done.”

“It’s a little hard to believe,” she agrees, tone soft. “And our work has just begun. But...I’m hoping we can continue it together.”

“We will, regardless. At this point I care little about what my father thinks. His view of the world is narrow. I’ve seen so much of it all this past year. Before I’d left...I’ll admit, I was likely just as shallow. Perhaps, in time...he can learn as I have. Until then, I can’t blame him for his lack of experience. But nor can I let that shortcoming limit me, as well.”

Hinata looks to him thoughtfully. “...you have come a long way. When I first met you...I’d never have expected words like those from your lips. If you can change...so can he. Perhaps...this will be the first step. We have an entire world to shift. There are many just like him...my father, too. The centuries after the Great War have been hard...and it’s not easy to change what was adapted to survive. We just have to show them that times are changing, and that they will be for the better. If we learn from our mistakes...we can bring this world into a better, brighter era.”

Unable to help a soft smirk, he counters, “Sounds like that lux mage has been rubbing off on you.”

“W-well...she wants me to represent my element. I have to start somewhere.”

“You sound like a professional already. I’m sure you’ll flourish at court. No one will be able to resist your charm.”

“Hush,” she chides, fighting a smile. “You know, if your brother takes igni’s mantle, he’ll likely have you as an adviser. You won’t escape the politics, either.”

“Hn...he’d know better than to ask me for help. Our cousin, perhaps...but not me.”

“You’ve seen all of this change with your own eyes. Who better to help guide our way forward?”

“...we’ll see.”

“...Sasuke…?”

Turning, he straightens as his mother approaches, hands clasped at her front. “Mother…?”

“...Fugaku has calmed down. I’m not sure if it’s wise for you to come back inside, but...I think he really will consider all you said.”

“You said more than I, and in better words.”

Mikoto gives a tired smile. “...I will admit, it’s...strange. But in the end, what I want most for you is your happiness. And if this is what will bring it, then...I cannot refute you.” Her eyes flicker behind her son, seeing Hinata hide at his back. “...please don’t fear me, my dear. I’m eager to make your acquaintance.”

After a pause, Hinata steps up beside Sasuke, looking hesitant. “It...it’s an honor to meet you, lady Mikoto.”

“Oh please, no titles - our clan is scattered to the four winds. I’m lady of nothing now.”

“Your circumstances do not change your nobility, my lady. It’s in your blood, not your fate.”

The woman blinks, and then laughs. “I must admit...I like her already! What a charming young lady. I apologize for my husband...perhaps, one day, he will greet you, too. Until then, please take mine in his place...and know all I wish is that you cradle my son’s heart gently. In my eyes, this is a love forbidden no longer.” Mikoto looks then to her son. “...I’d best get back. Do give Itachi my love, dear. I’m sure we will see him soon. Take care, all of you.”

Nodding, Sasuke watches her go, a strange fullness in his throat he has to swallow down.

“...we’d best get going, then.”

“...hn.”

     Word count: 1357      Cumulative: 17,028      Goodness this was a challenge - I had a horrible headache all day, and just managed to eek this out @~@ I’m not sure if I’m 100% satisfied with it, but...it will have to do, lol      This is a verse of my own creation: intended for a series of original novels I’ll likely never get to. So if you don’t recognize some terms, that’s likely why! It’s a fantasy universe I’ve been working on for years, near and dear to my heart. RPing and writing fics in it has helped me flesh out the worldbuilding tremendously while I continue to work on casts and stories. Hopefully despite its novelty, you can still enjoy it n_n      For now, I’d best get some sleep. Life hasn’t been slowing down for me lately, so I have to take it when I can! Hopefully tomorrow I’ll have more time to address the prompt more thoroughly.

[kitten1618x]

Scale of Dragon, Tooth of Wolf: ASOIAF and the Wars of the Roses

The hardest thing about writing this meta was literally, where to begin? I will apologize in advance, as I will try to keep my thoughts as tidy and streamlined as possible, but I have a lot to cover and do tend to run away with my words at times. This is a collaborative meta of sorts, as I drew insight, inspiration and help in constructing this massive baby from the wonderful @thewesterwoman (who also contributed parts of it, as noted within).

So, I suppose we’ll start where I begun. A few weeks ago, I stumbled onto this meta about Jamie Lannister and how he may actually be TPTWP. Now, before you shrug that off, I suggest you read this:

https://thewesterwoman.tumblr.com/post/163650220053/azor-ahai-and-the-matter-of-jaime-irony-and

And while you’re at it, make sure you give @thewesterwoman a follow because her brilliant analytical mind is a blessing to this fandom. Yes, she even ships Jonsa (but less flailing and more logic). 😉

After reading her meta,  I was definitely intrigued, so I began some research of my own, and this theory is actually a lot more popular (especially with book readers) than you may think. It prompted me to send her this ask:

https://thewesterwoman.tumblr.com/post/163779372473/so-if-you-think-that-jamie-may-be-the-one-who

Her answer only served to intrigue me more, and we struck up a private convo discussing all the War of the Roses similarities, and how GoT might actually come to its bittersweet end -and so this meta was born. It will be part tinfoil/part actual history. Let’s begin.

What’s in a Name?

So with that said, let us first focus on the last three major houses left in GoT: the Lannisters, the Starks and the Targaryens -and the three* major players of the War of the Roses: the Lancasters, the Yorks and the Tudors. Marinate on that a minute. Okay? Good. Here’s what you should have came up with:

Lancasters/Lannisters

Yorks/Starks

Tudor (Plantagenet)/Targaryen *

*History shows us that the War of the Roses actual main players were the Lancasters and Yorks, but for all of you who are not historian buffs (me), they both descended from the same royal house: Plantagenet and ended with Tudor. Think of them as Alpha and Omega.* Oh, and wouldn’t you know -what an incestuous web they wove, but that’s a meta for another day. 😂

As per Wikipedia (and because I’m lazy):

The House of Plantagenet (/plænˈtædʒᵻnᵻt/) was a royal house which originated from the lands of Anjou in France. The name Plantagenet is used by modern historians to identify four distinct royal houses – the Angevins who were also Counts of Anjou, the main body of the Plantagenets following the loss of Anjou, and the houses of Lancaster and York, the Plantagenets’ two cadet branches. The family held the English throne from 1154, with the accession of Henry II, until 1485, when Richard III died.

One other thought ( @thewesterwoman adds )- as many have noted, Westeros is obviously a continent-sized, fantasy-version of Britain (with the North more or less standing in for Scotland). Westerosi history is similarly based on British history, which saw several waves of migration from foreign invaders that greatly resembles the Westerosi invasions by the First Men, the Andals, and finally the Targaryens.

The Targaryens in particular seem to represent the Norman invasion of England, which was led by William the Conqueror, who I take for a direct analogue to Westeros’s own Aegon the Conqueror (a foreign invader who united several warring kingdoms into one country under his reign). This is relevant to our theory because the royal English House of Plantagenet (and thus the House of Tudor as well) is more or less directly descended from the dynasty founded by William the Conqueror, just as the Targaryens are from Aegon the Conqueror.

Amidst the War a King is Born

As you all know, the War of Roses was put to an end by Henry Tudor, or King Henry VII -also known as the first King of the Tudor line. I’m not going to dive fully into his entire biography -just the parts/similarities that fit in the GoT narrative.

The War of the Roses broke out prior to his birth on May 22, 1455 and Henry was born on January 28, 1457 -the son of Lady Margaret Beaufort, and Edmund Tudor, first Earl of Richmond (half brother to King Henry VI). Edmund, a Lancastrian, was taken prisoner by Yorkist forces mere months after his marriage to Margaret, and died in captivity less than a year later, leaving behind a 13-year-old widow who was seven months pregnant with their child -whom she birthed at the tender age of 14.

This sounds vaguely familiar -like a lovable bastard prince we know, who’s mother birthed him at a tender age, his father dying in a “rebellion” of sorts -War of the Roses/Roberts Rebellion. But wait -the similarities don’t end there. While Margaret didn’t die like Lyanna -Henry would be her only child. The birth was described as “particularly difficult; at one point, both the Countess and her child were close to death, due to her young age and small size”. She never gave birth again. After his father’s death, Margaret and Henry were taken in by Edmunds brother Jasper (Henry’s uncle), the Duke of Pembroke.

Now here’s where it gets tricky … because I’m about to split Henry’s upbringing into two parts, or rather -two characters: Jon Snow and Danaerys Targaryen.

Jon Snow:

When Edward IV became the first Yorkist King in 1461, Jasper fled abroad and Castle Pembroke, along with the Earldom were given over to the Yorkist, William Herbert -who then took over guardianship of the 4 year old Henry and his mother. Henry lived in the Herbert household until 1469 (he was 12) when more York/Lancaster drama ensued and Henry VI reclaimed his throne.

Daenerys Targaryen:

At some point, fearing her son’s safety, Margaret sent Henry into exile with his uncle Jasper -where he remained, garnering French and Welsh support before returning to lay a claim to the throne. When Henry Tudor invaded England, his army consisted of French mercenaries and Welsh warriors – which would be considered a largely foreign group (foreign invaders -Dothraki and the Unsullied).

So, you see how in comparison to Henry’s early life, we could easily divide aspects of it between both Jon and Dany. Being raised by an uncle, being exiled for safety, garnering foreign support and returning to claim their “birthright”.  It’s also important to note that with his father dying prior to his birth, Henry fought claims of illegitimacy (bastard) for most of his life.

A Dragon and a Prophecy

Henry also made some political capital out of his Welsh ancestry, attracting military support and safeguarding his army’s passage through Wales on his way to the Battle of Bosworth. He came from an old, established Anglesey family that claimed descent from Cadwaladr (a Welsh King depicted in legend, the last ancient British king), and on occasion Henry displayed that Welsh standard.

That Welsh standard Henry fought and conquered under? Well I’m glad you asked … The flag of Wales (Welsh: Baner Cymru or Y Ddraig Goch, meaning the red dragon) .

A red dragon! You don’t say? Where have we seen that before? Oh, right …the Targaryen house sigil.

But Henry’s welsh dragon isn’t just ANY dragon, but -a dragon that’s attached to a prophecy: Y Mab Darogan.

From Wikipedia (again because I’m lazy):

Y Mab Darogan (pronounced [ə mɑːb darɔˈɡan] meaning “The Destined/Prophesised Son” or “Son of Destiny”) is a messianic figure of Welsh legend, destined to force the English out of Britain and reclaim it for its Celtic inhabitants. A number of figures have been called Y Mab Darogan in history (other titles include Y Gŵr Darogan and Y Daroganwr). An extensive corpus of medieval Welsh prophetic verse, beginning with Armes Prydain (10th century?), is centred on the figure of Y Mab Darogan.

A prince who was promised? Ya don’t say?!?!

Several historical figures have thought to have been this “Son of Destiny” -even King Arthur of Camelot. With poets and supporters labeling Henry the prophesied prince, it certainly didn’t hurt in strengthening his claim to the throne. Later, his reign over England was believed to be the prophecy fulfilled -a belief that he encouraged by naming his firstborn son Arthur.

Two Roses become One

As most of you know, Henry later wed Elizabeth of York. They were third cousins -both great-great grandchildren of John of Gaunt. The marriage unified the two warring houses and gave any of their future children strong claims to the throne. The unification of the houses of York and Lancaster by this marriage is symbolised by the Tudor Rose -a combination of the white rose of York and the red rose of Lancaster.

*Remember this, because we’ll come back to this later when I make my endgame predictions.

I would also like to present to you, the Tudor house Coat of Arms (under Henry VII and the first half of his son, Henry VIII’s reign):

A red dragon, a white dog (wolf) and a golden lion sitting atop the crest, amid the Tudor roses.

As Alice (in Wonderland) would say: Curiouser and curiouser ….  

The White Rose (of Winterfell?)

A red-headed beauty -Elizabeth of York was described as fair of hair and face. The eldest child, she had two younger brothers (known as the Princes in the Tower) who disappeared shortly after her father’s death -thought to be murdered by her uncle.

From Wikipedia (and you guessed it, because I’m lazy):

“The Princes in the Tower” is an expression frequently used to refer to Edward V, King of England and Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York. The two brothers were the only sons of Edward IV of England and Elizabeth Woodville surviving at the time of their father’s death in 1483. When they were 12 and 9 years old, respectively, they were lodged in the Tower of London by the man appointed to look after them, their uncle, the Lord Protector: Richard, Duke of Gloucester. This was supposedly in preparation for Edward’s forthcoming coronation as king. However, Richard took the throne for himself and the boys disappeared.

Compare this if you’d like, to Sansa’s brothers  Bran and Rickon “disappearing” -first thought to be murdered by Theon, then Rickon actually being murdered, and Bran essentially dying as well, now that he’s the 3 eyed Raven. This may be a bit tin foilish, but Bran was also pushed from a Tower -which sent the whole chain of events in motion.

Despite being a political arrangement at first, the marriage between Henry and Elizabeth proved successful and both partners appear to have grown to love each other. Jon and Sansa have already proven to share a powerful loving bond rooted in trust.

But wait!

Aren’t the Starks (Yorks) supposed to be the good guys, and the Lannisters (Lancasters) the bad? I’m glad you asked, and I’ll hand you over to @thewesterwoman for that …

When it comes to the Wars of the Roses, one side - the Lancasters - has traditionally been presented in a far more positive light than the other - the Yorks. This is because the Tudor dynasty which ultimately emerged the victor of the war was descended in the male line from the Lancasters, making them the ‘winning’ side. As such, the vast majority of primary sources from after the war paint the Lancasters in a flattering light and the Yorks in a negative one, in an effort on the part of their writers to gain favor with the current reigning monarchs of England.

Today, this is especially noticeable in Shakespeare’s ‘history plays,’ several of which - Henry IV Part One, Henry IV Part Two, Henry IV Part Three, and Richard III - deal directly with the historical events of the Wars of the Roses. Shakespeare was writing during the reign of Elizabeth Tudor, and had an obvious motive for depicting her forebears as the heroes of the story that ultimately led to her rule. This is especially notable in Richard III, where the evil schemes of Richard of York lead England into chaos until the heroic Henry Tudor (a Lancastrian, and Elizabeth’s direct ancestor) finally emerges to defeat him and save the realm.

GRRM seems to have taken his fictional noble houses Stark and Lannister from the real-world Yorks and Lancasters, and they retain vestiges of the stereotypes of their historical counterparts. House Stark is strongly associated with tradtionally ‘evil’ motifs: ice, winter, death, and wolves (connoting the Big Bad Wolf of many fairytales). House Lannister, in contrast, has many ‘heroic’ connotations: warmth, sunlight, gold, and lions (which incidentally are on the royal coat of arms of England). From a distance, the Lannisters - with their wealth, beauty, and natural charisma - would seem like a natural fit for the protagonists of any story, while the Starks - known for their grim and gloomy dispositions and ominous House words - would seem like more natural antagonists.

But this is of course not the case. GRRM has both reversed the traditional historical narrative of the good Lancasters versus the evil Yorks, and the traditional motifs that we associate with good versus bad characters. In ASOIAF, the Starks are the heroes and the Lannisters are the villains, despite their respective surface appearances. This is both very interesting and very typical of GRRM, who loves to invert our expectations of fantasy narratives.

And now it’s time to put your tin foil hats on, because it’s endgame prediction time ….

So what does this all mean?

So if Jon and Dany are actually the two facets of Henry’s life prior to the crown -the exiled conqueror (Dany) and the “bastard” prince (Jon) raised by a Yorkist (Stark) -also his uncle, where does that leave Dany? Well, I’m pretty sure Dany will meet her death on the other side of the wall.  

Let us return to Dany’s time spent in the House of the Undying -to simplify, we’ll use the show version. We’ll come back to her time in the throne room later, but first -remember when she stepped through what looked curiously like the gates to the other side of the wall -into the wintery beyond?

Here, she was reunited with her true love and husband, Khal Drogo and their son, Rhaego.

Here, she was reunited with her true love and husband, Khal Drogo and their son, Rhaego.

Perhaps this was a foreshadowing of sorts, that she will die in battle beyond the wall during the Long Night, and in death, be reunited with her son and husband -who wait for her in some form of purgatory, so they can all ride together into the Night Lands?

Drawing from the Henry Dany/Jon parallels, and if you’d like to get real tinfoil-y, we could look at Targcest as a way of melding these two halves of Henry into one. Maybe Dany perishes before the showdown with Cersei -leaving that war for Jon to be the parallel to Henry’s Battle of Bosworth -the battle that won him the crown by conquest -as to which he strengthened by then marrying Elizabeth of York.

*I’d like to make that very clear. He didn’t use his new wife to seal the deal, he used conquest (in defeating his rival) -he strengthened his throne (and future line of succession) in marrying EoY.

Returning back to Dany’s visions in The House of the Undying, she enters the throne room and it looks destroyed -although the throne still remains intact. Some people think it was ash falling through the broken ceiling -others snow. I’m going with the latter. Here’s why:

Dany approaches the throne, but does not touch it -instead she walks out the door which led her to the other side of the wall (to her family). She’s come to Westeros, but she will never be the queen. Instead, Jon will be the reluctant King -again thrust into a position of leadership that he doesn’t necessarily want, but will accept for the good of all. He will not be a King who conquered, but instead a King that was chosen.

Since Jon is both a Stark and a Targaryen, but his Targaryen lineage is what gives him a right to the Iron Throne -ironically, a Targaryen will once again rule Westeros. With Dany’s death, so dies the old House Targaryen that she represents, with Jon being the start of a new (and as @thewesterwoman points out -less incestuous) dynasty. This would again mirror the fate of House Plantagenet.

But will he rule as a Targaryen? Or a Stark? Maybe neither?

Perhaps he will rule as a Snow -which considering the connotations, and how being a bastard plagued him his entire life, it would certainly be rather poetic. The Snow falling in the throne room could be a foreshadowing of this. The Targaryen structure is destroyed, but the throne that Targaryen and Lannisters have sat on, is intact.

And remember this? The blending of the Lancaster and York roses into the Tudor rose?

This also leads me to believe that Jon might start a new house entirely, and create his own house sigil -combining the Targaryen and Starks somehow, but allowing BOTH original houses to die off -much like both the Lancasters and Yorks, with no male heirs left to carry on the names. In the books, snow is a big theme in a lot of Sansa’s arc -especially the time she spends as Alayne in the Vale. Many have already drawn these parallels to Jon.

There Must Always be a Stark in Winterfell

(Inspired by the ask I sent thewesterwoman)

Bran has made it pretty clear that he is NOT the Lord of Winterfell. Bran technically isn’t even Bran anymore. *Think of Elizabeth of Yorks two brothers (the princes in the tower). If Arya marries, she will take her husband’s name -same with Sansa. So, if Jon doesn’t take the Stark name, the Stark name perishes, too.

Consider if you will, that Winterfell falls in the Long Night. It was built by Brandon Stark (aka: Bran the builder), one of the “First Men”, as well as the founder of House Stark. He also is said to have built the Wall -“raised it with the aid of Giants”, according to legend. Ironically, the Night King is known to be one of the First Men, too. Supposedly, Bran Stark is in the Winterfell crypts, although some have speculated that he’s actually the NK.

What if there’s something “magical” behind Winterfell and it’s crypts? When Bran asked undead Benjen to come with them to the other side of the wall, he said he couldn’t, as there was magic carved into the foundation of the Wall, and as long as it stood, he could not pass. Maybe there’s something magical connected to Winterfell and the phrase “there must always be a Stark in Winterfell” and, that it’s all somehow connected to the Night King.

If the Night King is defeated once and for all, and Winterfell falls, there’s no longer a “need” for a Stark to be there -giving credence to the theory of Jon starting a new house entirely.

With the Starks being the “good guys” and the story mostly framed around them, Jon and Sansa as Ned/Cat 2.0 yet, the end of House Stark sounds pretty bittersweet to me.

Of course, this is all just speculation …

War of the Roses was only one of many things that GRRM drew inspiration from.

*credit to @sardoniyx for this AMAZING manip work!*

[madewithonerib]

When I was a 20-year-old serving with Youth With A Mission in an impoverished section of an immense Asian city, I grew close to a Christian family that lived near our base house.

These dear friends still live in that same neighborhood, & we’ve managed to stay in contact for 35 years.

      Life for my friends has always been extraordinarily hard       by Western standards.

      Now, the coronavirus pandemic that’s prompted a lockdown       in their nation has made life extraordinarily hard       by their standards.

They can’t work. Which means no money.

Which means no food, no medicine — nothing.

      Those in their network of relationships, including their church,       share the same level of poverty, so there’s very little       to go around.

      And there’s no government relief payment coming their way.

      We are seeking to help them, but their network of extended       family & friends is so big that our help feels like 5 loaves & 2 fish.

      We are praying our LORD multiplies it.

      My friends represent 100′s & 100′s of millions of precious       souls who live in areas of the world where the pandemic       is forcing them into impossible situations.

      Many millions of these souls are Christians.

      In this global emergency, GOD is once again issuing a call       to Christians everywhere, with any amount of means to help,       to “remember the poor” [Galatians 2:10].

Remember the Poor

      When Paul & Barnabas went to Jerusalem to make sure       the gospel they were preaching to the Gentiles had the       approval of the church’s “pillars”

      — including James, Peter, & John — they received, along       with the official blessing, the request to “only       . . . remember the poor” [Galatians 2:9–10].

      Many scholars believe that “the poor” in this text refers       specifically to impoverished Christians living in Judea

      — those whose dire situation Paul sought to help relieve       through the financial collections he gathered from Gentile       churches [Romans 15:25–26; 1 Corinthians 16:1–3].

      But if so, this directive certainly would not have been       exclusive to the Christian poor in Judea, even if they       were the most sizable & notable of the world’s Christian       poor at the time.

      Rather, this call demonstrates that right from the beginning,       the entire Christian church was instructed to be mindful of,       & feel some measure of responsibility for, the plight of       other Christians, however geographically & culturally       remote they might be.

      And from JESUS’s own example, we know that Christians’       concern for the poor also extends beyond the church’s       boundaries into the unbelieving world.

From Riches to Rags

The incarnation of GOD the Son is a massively influential, church-shaping, Christian-forming example of GOD’s heart to bring relief to the poor. In fact, Paul pointed to this example when raising funds for the Judean poor: “You know the grace of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” [2 Corinthians 8:9]. Paul’s words highlight two realities: First, before GOD we all are extremely spiritually poor & needy, & GOD moved to meet our deepest need. Second, JESUS’s willingness to “empty himself” [Philippians 2:7], identify with our poverty, & address our greatest needs models how we should move to meet the profound spiritual & material needs of believers & unbelievers.

Think of JESUS’s entire life. He was born & raised in a poor family. During his years as a public figure, he & his disciples refused to monetize their ministry [Matthew 10:8], living off the charitable gifts of supporters [Luke 8:3]. He taught that those who are “poor” [Luke 6:20], & “poor in spirit” [Matthew 5:3], are “blessed” since “theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” And he healed, delivered, & performed miracles for those who were destitute, afflicted, & across-the-spectrum needy.

JESUS also regularly gave to the poor. We know this because, during the Last Supper, when JESUS told Judas, “What you are going to do, do quickly,” the other disciples assumed Judas, who kept the moneybag, might be going to “give something to the poor” [John 13:27–29]. The disciples would have assumed this only if such giving were not unusual.

The Church’s Care for the Poor The church’s early days show that the example of JESUS’s remembering the poor had taken root in the apostles’ lives & shaped the church’s culture. We see it in these famous verses:

All who believed were together & had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions & belongings & distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. [Acts 2:44–45]

Out of the mass conversions emerged a new community of Christians, & with it all kinds of needs. Many were likely already poor when they converted, & others could have found themselves suddenly facing financial hardship when following JESUS cost them the support of family or other sources of income. Whatever the causes, the church quickly mobilized to meet these needs so that “there was not a needy person among them” [Acts 4:34].

The controversy regarding the neglect of the Hellenistic widows in Acts 6:1–6 gives us a helpful picture of how they approached this. Without neglecting the “preaching [of] the word of GOD,” those early Christians created new social structures & systems to meet people’s basic needs & make sure the poor were remembered.

Christian history is replete with examples of Christians serving the poor & the sick [yes, with some glaring failures too]. The sheer number of individuals, churches, & Christian charities rushing to the front lines of crises & chronic troubles to meet both Christians’ & non-Christians’ needs demonstrates that what JESUS & the apostles modeled & taught continues to live on in the living church around the world. Millions of Christians continue to “remember the poor.”

Remembering Reveals Our Treasure Now, as the coronavirus pandemic builds steam, particularly in the Global South, where countries have nowhere near the wealth & infrastructures of the more industrialized nations, GOD is calling us Christians again to remember the poor — all those in need, with a particular responsibility for poor believers.

This crisis is not like a famine or tsunami or hurricane, or even like HIV/AIDS or Ebola. It is a global health crisis with a global economic crisis on top of it — & the latter crisis may cost more lives than the former in the poorest nations. And these crises are unlike the regionally contained crises that occur in far-flung places in the world, because we are now being called to remember the poor while dealing with various consequences of the crises ourselves. Which means this is a time of real treasure-testing for us. Where is our treasure stored up? Where is our heart [Matthew 6:19–21]?

This is a time to remember the poor. It’s part of what it means to be a Christian. This is our calling & our joy. We must remember the poor among us, those in our local churches who have been furloughed or laid off & find themselves in sudden financial or some other need. We must remember the poor in our cities or regions that are particularly vulnerable. And we must remember the poor in impoverished countries who are at the greatest risk on the greatest scale. These needs are overwhelming, but we cannot allow ourselves to shut down due to the staggering size of the needs, & retreat to Netflix, while they perish.

You’ll notice a conspicuous lack of specific recommendations for where to give & what to do. That’s because we each have unique situations, unique needs right in front of us, & unique prompts from GOD regarding where he wants us to give & serve. But also, our LORD tends to use our prayerful discernment & research to help us more fully engage in our acts of remembering. And the more engaged we are, the more likely we will see & feel the treasure that has our hearts.

Generosity Born from Affliction As I was finishing this article, I received a message from my dear friend in that impoverished region of that immense city on the other side of the world. And as I read, I was humbled.

She confessed the sin of losing her temper with someone. [Knowing the very stressful & grievous nature of that situation, my response likely would have been worse.] She also shared her deep trust in JESUS to provide for their needs. And she told me of opportunities she’s had to pray with neighbors & share words of gospel hope with them, & that she’s been trying to meet the material needs of others around her who also are in a desperate place. Like the ancient Macedonians, “in a severe test of affliction, [her] abundance of joy & [her] extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on [her] part” [2 Corinthians 8:2].

She is carrying on the great tradition of her LORD & centuries of Christian witness. If she can remember the poor, so can I. So can we all.

Jon Bloom [@Bloom_Jon] serves as author, board chair, & co-founder of Desiring GOD. He is author of three books, Not by Sight, Things Not Seen, & Don’t Follow Your Heart. He & his wife have five children & make their home in the Twin Cities.

[thisselflovecamebacktome]

I’m honestly pretty worried that Look What You Made Me Do won’t be as cool as I imagine it in my head on tour to be honest. Like I have such a clear view of what I think it should be, but I don’t think she would or in some cases could do any of it.

Basically I would have it start out with her singing in the middle of the stage with ‘couples’ around her. Then on the click sound right after the first “No I don’t like you”, she clicks, point to the ground, prompting all the men to come grab a chair with wheels and lift her up both to show her reputation for ‘man eating’ and ‘man stealing’ while the female dancers go backstage. They walk around with her still on the chair to show her ‘uses men to get to the top’ reputation before the “Eurgh” sound when they chuck her off. This not only shows the ‘can’t keep a man’ reputation but is somewhat symbolic of the media who lifted her up doing the 1989 era just to throw her under the bus when it suited them.

For the first prechorus, I’d have her walking around (and the male dancers following her) looking for a piece of paper for the first two lines before finding it, writing a fake (or real, who am I to judge if she wants to be petty?) name on it until the end of “unlined” and then going to kiss it only for it to burst into flames and her to smirk for the last line.

The first and second chorus is the bit I don’t really have as clear a picture on. Perhaps more dancing.

As the second verse hits, I’d have the dancers all on one side of the stage and her on the other, making it clear she has been excluded. Then, as the “what?!” hits in, the dancers bring that same chair used to the middle of the stage on the floor along with a newspaper and two darts before Taylor sits in it and leaves the stage to set up two dart boards at each side of the stage. Taylor proceeds to pick up the newspaper, reading it with the most bored expression she’s ever given until the “one thing’s for sure” line where she puts down the newspaper, picks up the darts and then throws them to hit the dart boards just on “yours”.

The second prechorus starts with her standing up, kicking the chair back to reveal a third dartboard behind her. This time, the female dancers, representing her ‘squad’ come following as she looks for the scroll. It continues on like the first prechorus, but rather than Taylor kissing the scroll, the dancers step on it and she yanks it, representing how she ‘controlled’ and ‘lost’ her ‘squad’.

Like I said, the second chorus I don’t have clear, but if it is dancing, I think the dancers should be a noticeable distance away from her in comparison to the first chorus.

Then for the bridge, I think both her and all the dancers should be walking/dancing in a way where they’re all trying to get away from each other, but end up closer and closer until they’re all surrounding her. Then as the last “bad dreams” hits, the dancers jump away and leave the stage. The “look what you made me do”s play in the background, Taylor speaks the “can’t come to the phone” part with a tired yet strange look on her face, and then, as the “oh” after “because she’s dead” hits, she jumps up (in a perfect world does a backflip but that’s asking a lot considering the situation) and we see a dart go from a dancer in the audience flying under her and hitting the final dartboard. This is mostly just to represent the media and the fact that it doesn’t matter if they aim at her, they’ll end up eating their own words because she always bounces back.

As she lands, a baseball bat is also thrown up to her. She catches it and starts swinging at balls thrown at her, hitting them on each “do” and knocking them as far as she can into the audience because she always knocks it out of the park. Meanwhile, the dancers bring back the chair near the back of the stage. As the last few “look what you made me do”s are playing, she turns around, sits on the chair with her legs crossed, places the bat on her leg, looks up to the audience and smirks as she says the final “look what you made me do”. Lights fade and/or curtains go down to end the song.

Once again, this would probably be way too dangerous for both her and the audience to actually do, but it is literally all I picture in my head when I hear this song and I hope she can think of something just as cool to do.

[theragamuffininitiative]

What do you think of Calvinism?

Hey, friend! Thanks for dropping by. I don’t advertise it a lot, but I am, in fact, a Calvinist.

Regrettably, and to my shame, I have not been very good at delving into hard or systematic theology of late. I’ve been dealing with some personal blockage in that area (or…failing to deal with it, really) but I’m trying to be better. ;)

For you, or for anyone going “what the heck? she is a Calvinist? what is that exactly?” here’s my best short answer, which because it is late and I am tired, I am copying from calvinistcorner.com

Calvinists use the acronym TULIP as a short reference for core beliefs, so that’s

Total Depravity (also known as Total Inability and Original Sin)

Unconditional Election

Limited Atonement (also known as Particular Atonement)

Irresistible Grace

Perseverance of the Saints (also known as Once Saved Always Saved)

These five categories do not comprise Calvinism in totality. They simply represent some of its main points.

Total Depravity:

Sin has affected all parts of man. The heart, emotions, will, mind, and body are all affected by sin. We are completely sinful. We are not as sinful as we could be, but we are completely affected by sin.

The doctrine of Total Depravity is derived from scriptures that reveal human character: Man’s heart is evil (Mark 7:21-23) and sick (Jer. 17:9). Man is a slave of sin (Rom. 6:20). He does not seek for God (Rom. 3:10-12). He cannot understand spiritual things (1 Cor. 2:14). He is at enmity with God (Eph. 2:15). And, is by nature a child of wrath (Eph. 2:3). The Calvinist asks the question, “In light of the scriptures that declare man’s true nature as being utterly lost and incapable, how is it possible for anyone to choose or desire God?” The answer is, “He cannot. Therefore God must predestine.”

Calvinism also maintains that because of our fallen nature we are born again not by our own will but God’s will (John 1:12-13); God grants that we believe (Phil. 1:29); faith is the work of God (John 6:28-29); God appoints people to believe (Acts 13:48); and God predestines (Eph. 1:1-11; Rom. 8:29; 9:9-23).

Unconditional Election:God does not base His election on anything He sees in the individual. He chooses the elect according to the kind intention of His will (Eph. 1:4-8; Rom. 9:11) without any consideration of merit within the individual. Nor does God look into the future to see who would pick Him. Also, as some are elected into salvation, others are not (Rom. 9:15, 21).

Limited Atonement:Jesus died only for the elect. Though Jesus’ sacrifice was sufficient for all, it was not efficacious for all. Jesus only bore the sins of the elect. Support for this position is drawn from such scriptures as Matt. 26:28 where Jesus died for ‘many’; John 10:11, 15 which say that Jesus died for the sheep (not the goats, per Matt. 25:32-33); John 17:9 where Jesus in prayer interceded for the ones given Him, not those of the entire world; Acts 20:28 and Eph. 5:25-27 which state that the Church was purchased by Christ, not all people; and Isaiah 53:12 which is a prophecy of Jesus’ crucifixion where he would bore the sins of many (not all).

Irresistible Grace:When God calls his elect into salvation, they cannot resist. God offers to all people the gospel message. This is called the external call. But to the elect, God extends an internal call and it cannot be resisted. This call is by the Holy Spirit who works in the hearts and minds of the elect to bring them to repentance and regeneration whereby they willingly and freely come to God. Some of the verses used in support of this teaching are Romans 9:16 where it says that “it is not of him who wills nor of him who runs, but of God who has mercy”; Philippians 2:12-13 where God is said to be the one working salvation in the individual; John 6:28-29 where faith is declared to be the work of God; Acts 13:48 where God appoints people to believe; and John 1:12-13 where being born again is not by man’s will, but by God’s. “All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out,“ (John 6:37).

Perseverance of the Saints:You cannot lose your salvation. Because the Father has elected, the Son has redeemed, and the Holy Spirit has applied salvation, those thus saved are eternally secure. They are eternally secure in Christ. Some of the verses for this position are John 10:27-28 where Jesus said His sheep will never perish; John 6:47 where salvation is described as everlasting life; Romans 8:1 where it is said we have passed out of judgment; 1 Corinthians 10:13 where God promises to never let us be tempted beyond what we can handle; and Phil. 1:6 where God is the one being faithful to perfect us until the day of Jesus’ return.

Although I hold to Calvinistic teachings, I also struggle with them. It is hard to accept because while I understand the darkness of my own heart cannot achieve love for God on its own, I wrestle with the (Scripture-based) idea of God choosing to save some and not all, and how this ability of his regarding both the elect and the non-elect can somehow uphold both his Holiness and his Mercy. This is my biggest struggle with in faith in general, but especially reconciling my Calvinistic beliefs with my own human nature and doubt.

However, it accurately lines up with what Scripture reveals to us about how God and salvation operate. While other interpretations can be made, there is no evidence in Scripture that these things are not true either, and as I said, they line up pretty well. So I’m working on accepting and understanding it - probably in that order.

As far as anything else I think about Calvinism: I think there are other systems of Biblical theology that are fine and healthy and thoughtful, but Calvinism gets really down to those very hard questions in ways other methods of thought do not. I think it is ultimately a theology made by man in an effort to try to understand God and his methods and reasons for doing things, which make it very complicated and, as it is man-made (though Scripture-based) completely capable of making mistakes. I think it’s the best and most accurate line of thought regarding how Christianity and salvation work that we have been able to place inside a box of doctrine and I will continue to hold to it. :)

This is probably the deepest ask I’ve gotten, thank you anon! (although I don’t know precisely what prompted it?) I hope this answered your question.