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lurkingteapot · 11 months

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Every now and then I think about how subtitles (or dubs), and thus translation choices, shape our perception of the media we consume. It's so interesting. I'd wager anyone who speaks two (or more) languages knows the feeling of "yeah, that's what it literally translates to, but that's not what it means" or has answered a question like "how do you say _____ in (language)?" with "you don't, it's just … not a thing, we don't say that."

I've had my fair share of "[SHIP] are [married/soulmates/fated/FANCY TERM], it's text!" "[CHARACTER A] calls [CHARACTER B] [ENDEARMENT/NICKNAME], it's text!" and every time. Every time I'm just like. Do they though. Is it though. And a lot of the time, this means seeking out alternative translations, or translation meta from fluent or native speakers, or sometimes from language learners of the language the piece of media is originally in.

Why does it matter? Maybe it doesn't. To lots of people, it doesn't. People have different interests and priorities in fiction and the way they interact with it. It's great. It matters to me because back in the early 2000s, I had dial-up internet. Video or audio media that wasn't available through my local library very much wasn't available, but fanfiction was. So I started to read English language Gundam Wing fanfic before I ever had a chance to watch the show. When I did get around to watching Gundam Wing, it was the original Japanese dub. Some of the characters were almost unrecognisable to me, and first I doubted my Japanese language ability, then, after checking some bits with friends, I wondered why even my favourite writers, writers I knew to be consistent in other things, had made these characters seem so different … until I had the chance to watch the US-English dub a few years later. Going by that adaptation, the characterisation from all those stories suddenly made a lot more sense. And the thing is, that interpretation is also valid! They just took it a direction that was a larger leap for me to make.

Loose adaptations and very free translations have become less frequent since, or maybe my taste just hasn't led me their way, but the issue at the core is still a thing: Supernatural fandom got different nuances of endings for their show depending on the language they watched it in. CQL and MDZS fandom and the never-ending discussions about 知己 vs soulmate vs Other Options. A subset of VLD fans looking at a specific clip in all the different languages to see what was being said/implied in which dub, and how different translators interpreted the same English original line. The list is pretty much endless.

And that's … idk if it's fine, but it's what happens! A lot of the time, concepts -- expressed in language -- don't translate 1:1. The larger the cultural gap, the larger the gaps between the way concepts are expressed or understood also tend to be. Other times, there is a literal translation that works but isn't very idiomatic because there's a register mismatch or worse. And that's even before cultural assumptions come in. It's normal to have those. It's also important to remember that things like "thanks I hate it" as a sentiment of praise/affection, while the words translate literally quite easily, emphatically isn't easy to translate in the sense anglophone internet users the phrase.

Every translation is, at some level, a transformative work. Sometimes expressions or concepts or even single words simply don't have an exact equivalent in the target language and need to be interpreted at the translator's discretion, especially when going from a high-context/listener-responsible source language to a low-context/speaker-responsible target language (where high-context/listener responsible roughly means a large amount of contextual information can be omitted by the speaker because it's the listener's responsibility to infer it and ask for clarification if needed, and low-context/speaker-responsible roughly means a lot of information needs to be codified in speech, i.e. the speaker is responsible for providing sufficiently explicit context and will be blamed if it's lacking).

Is this a mouse or a rat? Guess based on context clues! High-context languages can and frequently do omit entire parts of speech that lower-context/speaker-responsible languages like English regard as essential, such as the grammatical subject of a sentence: the equivalent of "Go?" - "Go." does largely the same amount of heavy lifting as "is he/she/it/are you/they/we going?" - "yes, I am/he/she/it is/we/you/they are" in several listener-responsible languages, but tends to seem clumsy or incomplete in more speaker-responsible ones. This does NOT mean the listener-responsible language is clumsy. It's arguably more efficient! And reversely, saying "Are you going?" - "I am (going)" might seem unnecessarily convoluted and clumsy in a listener-responsible language. All depending on context.

This gets tricky both when the ambiguity of the missing subject of the sentence is clearly important (is speaker A asking "are you going" or "is she going"? wait until next chapter and find out!) AND when it's important that the translator assign an explicit subject in order for the sentence to make sense in the target language. For our example, depending on context, something like "are we all going?" - "yes" or "they going, too?" might work. Context!

As a consequence of this, sometimes, translation adds things – we gain things in translation, so to speak. Sometimes, it's because the target language needs the extra information (like the subject in the examples above), sometimes it's because the target language actually differentiates between mouse and rat even though the source language doesn't. However, because in most cases translators don't have access to the original authors, or even the original authors' agencies to ask for clarification (and in most cases wouldn't get paid for the time to put in this extra work even if they did), this kind of addition is almost always an interpretation. Sometimes made with a lot of certainty, sometimes it's more of a "fuck it, I've got to put something and hope it doesn't get proven wrong next episode/chapter/ten seasons down" (especially fun when you're working on a series that's in progress).

For the vast majority of cases, several translations are valid. Some may be more far-fetched than others, and there'll always be subjectivity to whether something was translated effectively, what "effectively" even means …

ANYWAY. I think my point is … how interesting, how cool is it that engaging with media in multiple languages will always yield multiple, often equally valid but just sliiiiightly different versions of that piece of media? And that I'd love more conversations about how, the second we (as folks who don't speak the material's original language) start picking the subtitle or dub wording apart for meta, we're basically working from a secondary source, and if we're doing due diligence, to which extent do we need to check there's nothing substantial being (literally) lost -- or added! -- in translation?

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cosmereplay · 28 days

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Kaladin Didn’t Invent Therapy (And Why That’s Actually Great)

“...You need someone to talk to, Noril, when the darkness is strong. Someone to remind you the world hasn’t always been this way; that it won’t always be this way.” “How do you … know this?” Noril asked. “I’ve felt it,” Kaladin said. “Feel it most days.” - Rhythm of War, Ch. 25 Devotary of Mercy

I’m writing as someone with a background in psychotherapy and peer support, and I'm bursting with excitement about one of my favourite topics. You can imagine why I love Kaladin’s arc in Rhythm of War so much! I actually yelled out loud when I read some of these parts the first time.

I’ve seen people online saying and making jokes that Kaladin invents therapy, and while that could eventually be true, what Kaladin actually invented in RoW is mental health peer support. Psychotherapy as most people would understand it simply doesn’t exist yet on Roshar. However, peer support is a legitimate modality for healing on its own merits. Even more importantly for the story, peer support is something Kaladin would personally really benefit from, and it fits his narrative arc way better than therapy would.

1. Therapy as we know it won’t exist for a while yet.

“We need to study their responses, use an empirical approach to treatment instead of just assuming someone who has suffered mental trauma is permanently broken.” - Rhythm of War, Ch. 25 Devotary of Mercy “Someone needs to talk to them, try different treatments, see what they think works. What actually helps.” - Rhythm of War, Ch. 25 Devotary of Mercy

Obviously, Kaladin has not been educated in battle shock or melancholia or any other diagnosis. In Alethkar there's hardly any knowledge to be had on the subject. Even now in real life, research into effective interventions for various diagnoses is still ongoing, over 100 years after modern therapy was founded.

Building an empirical knowledge base* will take time, not to mention the years it will take to train new therapists across Roshar in how to provide interventions specific to various issues. Therapy as we know it today generally includes time in mentorship with another therapist, so in a way, the first therapist isn't a therapist. 😅 In the meantime, there are people who need help today, including Kaladin.

Peer support can fill that gap because its knowledge base is different. Peers bring their expertise, which is their years of trial and error, successes and failures - their lived experience. Peer facilitators need to know the basics of managing a group, and they have to be willing to share their own experiences and learn from the group. Thus, training peer leaders is relatively quick, and incredibly scalable and adaptable across cultures and many issues/diagnoses.

2. Peer Support is a distinct path to recovery that doesn’t require an expert in therapy.

Kaladin located six men in the sanitarium with similar symptoms. He released them and got them working to support each other. He developed a plan, and showed them how to share in ways that would help...Today they sat in seats on the balcony outside his clinic. Warmed by mugs of tea, they talked. About their lives. The people they’d lost. The darkness. - Rhythm of War, Ch. 33 Understanding “While you can’t force it, having someone to talk to usually helps. You should be letting him meet with others who feel like he does.” - Rhythm of War, Ch. 25, Devotary of Mercy

Kaladin is already positioning himself to align with the values of peer support. Some of these values overlap with therapy, such as dignity, respect, inclusion, hope, and trust. What makes peer support different is a particular emphasis on equal relationships, self-determination, and personal growth (Peer Support Canada, 2022).

In peer support, the group facilitator is not considered an authority like a therapist would be. A peer leader may be further on the road to recovery, but they may not be. They are expected to listen and grow just like any other group member.

Because the leader of the group is also a learner, peer support groups tend to be more collaborative and open-ended. Everyone in the group has something they can take out of it and something to give. Everyone in the group is responsible for managing their own self care, and everyone in the group is responsible for the direction of their own growth. This is different from most therapy groups, which often have a specific focus or goal that the therapist is responsible for implementing. And speaking of responsibility...

3. Peer Support Fits Kaladin’s Narrative Arc Better than Therapy

At his father’s recommendation—then insistence—Kaladin took it slowly, confining his initial efforts to men who shared similar symptoms. Battle fatigue, nightmares, persistent melancholy, suicidal tendencies. -Rhythm of War, Ch. 33 Understanding …he’d learned—these last few months—that his battle shock could take many forms. He was getting to where he could confront it. -Rhythm of War, Ch. 39 Invasion

I think everyone can agree that Kaladin needs to participate in therapy just as much as the other battle-shocked men he finds in the Devotary of Mercy.

However, in therapy, the focus is solely on the needs of the clients. A therapist should not be distracted by their own issues (when this happens, it’s called countertransference). Further, therapy is generally framed such that the therapist is the only expert in the room, which means therapists have a higher level of responsibility for how the clients are doing (which varies depending on the issue, the therapy modality, and the circumstances).

In his own recovery, Kaladin is working on trying to take less responsibility for others, so setting him up as a therapeutic authority could be harmful for him. In a position of authority, he might be tempted to replicate the hierarchical structure he was in before (which would impede his own growth), or try to save everyone (which could impede everyone's growth). He simply doesn’t have the mentorship or knowledge base he'd need to work through those issues before leading as an expert.

In contrast, the point of peer support is the mutual sharing of lived experience. The group facilitator is expected to share their own struggles (as a model of recovery), and allow others to support them. In the context of a more balanced power dynamic, Kaladin can give the other group members the space they need to grow, and he can pursue his own recovery without feeling like he’s letting others down. Also, he will be able to leave the group during KOWT without worrying that the group won't be able to run without him. Everyone in the group carries some responsibility for each other, so group members can come and go with less stress than a change in therapist would cause in group therapy.

This is the beauty of peer support. It can happen anywhere people with similar experiences get together. No formal education is required. What is required is a willingness to know yourself as well as you can; to share your experiences; to listen to others tell their stories; to question your own assumptions as you learn how others handle things differently; to look out for each other's safety; to care.

Peer support creates a place of belonging and a community repository of shared wisdom. Kaladin almost had it on Bridge Four, but his position of authority wouldn’t allow him to grow the way he needed. Peer support is what Kaladin needs - he needs a place where he can take off his armour among people who get it because they're struggling with similar issues, and without having a position of responsibility over them. When he (eventually**) attends the groups, they help him grow!

Anyway, that's why Kaladin didn’t invent therapy, and why I think that's great.

For the men chatting together softly, the change was in being shown sunlight again. In being reminded that the darkness did pass. But perhaps most important, the change was in not merely knowing that you weren’t alone—but in feeling it. Realizing that no matter how isolated you thought you were, no matter how often your brain told you terrible things, there were others who understood. - Rhythm of War, Ch. 33 Understanding

---

*Funny enough, empirical research could lead Rosharan researchers right back to peer support. Empirical research on Earth has shown that modern therapy and peer support have similar levels of effectiveness (for example, for depression and PTSD).

**Look who’s resisting attending the groups he founded…KALADIN!! (shakes fist in the general direction of the sky) (This is the most relatable passage for me in this whole book, by the way, helper types unite lmao):

Kaladin looked down at the table. Had it? Had talking to Noril helped? “He’s been avoiding joining in,” Teft said. “I haven’t,” Kaladin snapped. “I’ve been busy.” Teft gave him a flat stare. Storming sergeants. They always heard the things you weren’t saying. - Rhythm of War, Ch. 38 Rhythm of the Terrors

Peer Support Canada. (2022). Peer Support Core Values. Accessed from https://peersupportcanada.ca/ Jun 27, 2022.

#I shared this on reddit a while ago but it got archived so here #enjoy #this is not an april fools thing this is just bad timing on my part #kaladin stormblessed #rhythm of war #row spoilers #kaladin didn't invent therapy #peer support #stormlight archive #the stormlight archive #stormlight essay #stormlight meta #god i love kaladin so much

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romanarose · 23 days

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Banner by @winniethewife

Oscar Issac/Pedro Pascal Fan Art and Fiction Pride Event 2024

Hello friends!

Let's try this again and I'll try to be more clear to not invoke discourse. That being said, it is *my* event and if you'd like to run one a certain way, go nuts. However, this is how I'm doing it.

I had a lot of fun doing Dead Dove December and the Triple Frontier Anniversary Event so I decided I wanted to do an event for pride this year! I know it seems far away right now, especially given how many of us in north America are still cold af, but I wanna give everyone time!

Each week of pride will have a theme to write or draw for (you don't have to do all of them! Think of it like kinktober.) at the end, I will put out a masterlist (or multiple depending how many)so we can all share each other's work.

Why?

Oscar Isaac and Pedro Pascal are both allies to LGBT people, Pedro having played multiple queer rolls and having likened his sexuality to that of Prince Oberyn. Despite none of the characters being canon queer, Triple Frontier specifically lends itself to queer stories. Recently, theres been a rise in stories of Oscar characters in relationships or Pedro characters in relationships which I love.

What I'd really like to do is encourage people to think past x fem!reader or canon presentation of characters. I want to encourage gay, lesbian, bisexual relationships, trans readers, trans interpretations of characters etc. More content guidelines will be in the what section.

Where?

Primarily tumblr.com, our very own shithole hellsight. However, especially given tumblr's censorship vs. twitter, I am encouraging posting on twitter or wherever you'd like. If you post something elsewhere, send me a link or send me a post you made about it on tumblr and I'll promote the link.

Additionally if you only write on ao3, I'd love for you to participate too! Once again, just send the link!

When?

in order to do the week by week themes and hold all of June, there will be 6 weeks from May 26th-July 6th

Each week will have themes. I won't be policing the weeks and these so if you do the 1st week on july 3rd, that's fine. The themes are keeping in mind both artists and writers. I only got one artist for DDD, a great piece and I've love to see more! Ideas are just for spit balling, do your own take!

May 26th-June 1st: Coming out. Ideas: Coming out to family, lover, friend. Finding gender affirming clothes/hair, first pride

June 2nd-8th: Transitioning Ideas: Surgary, surgery scars, starting T or E, binding (safely!!!)

June 9th-15th: Sex/kissing First time together, first time with certain biology or the same sex, sweet kisses, smut showing scars,

June 16th-22nd: Food, fashion, fun

All things queer culture and culture of different religions, racial or country backgrounds, queer fashion, gender affirming clothes, Keshet (קשת), listening to Lady Gaga or Bruce Springsteen, watching a queer movie

June 23rd-29th: Struggles Rejection, reconciling faith and identity, missing family that rejected one, comfort, candlelight vigil, day of remembrance.

June 30th- July 6th:Strength Asserting ones or a partner/friend/family's pronouns, standing up against hate, being loudly and proudly yourself, pride events

Who?

Writers and artists in any form are welcome. I also want to encourage working with each other, writers and artists together!

For characters: Any Oscar Isaac or Pedro Pascal character has to at least be in the relationship. Other characters in universes can be done, such as FishBen.

Reader can be anyone, just properly tag! If you want to come out to Marc Spector as bisexual, do it!!! If you want Joel to take care of you after top surgery, do it!

YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE QUEER TO PARTICIPATE!

However! Please do your research if writing or drawing an identity not yours. There are trans, nonbinary, gay, lebian etc bloggers all over tumblr who write about their experience, please divert to first person testimonies rather than assumptions.

What?

A few rules

MUST contain more than male character x fem!reader. Male character x fem!reader x male character does not count unless the two male characters are romantically or sexually involved or one or the reader is trans. Any Q's, dm me!

This is not a dark event. I'm not going to be policing the content matter but I really want to primarily focus on the pride. However, as a bisexual, gender non-conforming person I know a lot of pain can still be involved. What we are not doing is suicide, death, self-harm, or non consensual activity. If you have questions or would like to make a case for something, just dm me!

This is not inherently NSFW, but there is absolutely NSFW allowed. Always tag everything properly.

The usual no's like bestiality, incest, underage nsfw etc

As far as minor characters, SFW MINOR CHARACTERS IS ALLOWED. You can write or draw lgbt themes because being LGBT is not inherently sexual. For example, teenage Santi coming out as trans to Frankie or your own version of Ellie and Joel's talk about Ellie and Dina kiss. That being said, I'd prefer to reserve this to teens. Again, any questions or ideas that don' quite fit into parameters, just ask!

As always, I am allowed to use my discretion. If I do not want to include something, I won't. However, I know that there are rifts in the fandom. I won't be excluding you out of personal bias. As long as I don't have you blocked and you haven't plagerized or done something really bad to people, you'll be included. I'm not letting petty beefs get in the way. Harmful actions will, however. I need to protect my peace and keep

NO REAL PERSON FANFICTION. Do not write about Oscar Isaac or Pedro pascal being gay or trans and do not make any assumptions about their sexuality or gender identity. Oscar is happily married to a woman and Pedro has expressed his sexuality is like that of Oberyn Martell but has not elaborated much further, nor should he have to. Just leave ‘em be. You can speculate elsewhere but that’s not what this event is for.

How?

Simply tag me, @romanarose and use the #OscarPedroPrideEvent2024 please please please use BOTH so it's easier for me to find!!!

When the event is over, much like DDD I will compiled them into a masterlist and posted. This is a chance for every blog, big and small, to get a moment in the sun and to share each others works! Remember, reblogging, comments, and interacting is what makes this a community! I want to create an environment that is welcoming and we all help each other.

Please feel free to reach out to me for any questions or clarification!

However, if you go issues with me writing men kissing, chracters being trans, queer readers etc, I'm not really open to debate.

~A nonbinary bisexual <3

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ktempestbradford · 11 months

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There is so much to talk about with this article. So much. In this post I want to focus on a specific part of it: the reactions of Lindelof and Cuse to what the writers and actors experienced. Here are several quotes [emphasis mine].

“What can I say? Other than it breaks my heart that that was Harold [Perrineau's] experience,” replied Lindelof, who said he did not recall “ever” saying that. “And I’ll just cede that the events that you’re describing happened 17 years ago, and I don’t know why anybody would make that up about me.”

Lindelof told me he didn’t remember any negative incident with an editor, adding that he seeks out input from collaborators and that he’s “never threatened anyone’s career.” Lindelof also said he had no recollection of anything Hsu Taylor said about events connected to “Ab Aeterno.” He said she was a “great writer who executed at a high level” and he’s “stricken” that she was made to feel the way she felt at that time.

Regarding the other allegations leveled at him and the show, Lindelof said he had no memory of the incidents and comments I related. He told me he was “shocked and appalled and surprised” by the incidents I described to him, and said more than once that he did not think anyone was making anything up. “I just can’t imagine that Carlton would’ve said something like that, or some of those attributions, some of those comments that you [shared]—I’m telling you, I swear, I have no recollection of those specific things. And that’s not me saying that they didn’t happen. I’m just saying that it’s literally baffling my brain—that they did happen and that I bore witness to them or that I said them. To think that they came out of my mouth or the mouths of people that I still consider friends is just not computing.”

I'm not going to quote Cuse's responses here because they all boil down to: "I don't remember doing/saying that" or "Nuh uh, that didn't happen!" which is... certainly a choice.

You're going to see a bunch of people siding with and empathizing with Lindelof and praising him for saying that what happened was wrong, etc., and I will push back every time I see it because of all those instances of him saying he doesn't recall and doesn't remember. I don't think he's lying. I do think it's indicative of an ongoing problem with him as a writer and showrunner and it needs to be called out.

I'm going to tell you a story that explains my point. Also putting it and my conclusions under a cut as this is long. Please do read.

Many years ago I became friends with a white woman writer in the SFF community who lived in NYC during some of the time I did. She knew many of the writers and editors in our community who also lived in NYC or nearby. At the time, the majority of these editors were white and most were men. She became particularly friendly with some of them.

A couple of years into our relationship we were at ReaderCon together. One day at the hotel bar I was sitting with this woman (we'll call her Karen for the purposes of this story) and two other BIPOC male authors who had both published multiple books at this point and were people that Karen felt were impressive and important. During the conversation someone (probably me?) brought up the online conversations/debates/fights currently happening about representation in the SFF genre and the way certain editors were part of the problem. I want to say this was even before RaceFail happened.

Karen revealed that she'd been talking to important people like Gordon van Gelder about the things I'd been saying online and how, well... the things I was saying were just crazy. Crazy things! I was acting so crazy.

I don't remember the exact phrasing, but I remember the repeated categorizing of me/my words as Crazy.

I also don't remember exactly what I said in response. I do remember how I felt in my body at that moment. I was suddenly flooded with, I think, adrenaline or something and I wanted to run away because otherwise I was going to start throwing things. I couldn't believe this person, who claimed to be my friend, was saying this to me.

I also remember that I felt trapped because I was in a booth and the two other writers were on either side of me so I couldn't just get up and leave. It turned out I didn't need to do that. Because immediately both of them were like: Hold up. Hold the EFF up.

They both pointed out to Karen that the things I brought up in those online discussions were real issues that did need addressing and that I wasn't crazy and the only reason she thought so was because I was a Black woman and when white people or even people perceived as being white said the same thigs I did, people in the community listened, so what the heck was even wrong with her.

I just sat there, pretty quiet, still trying to calm myself down while this all happened and also felt so very grateful for how these two guys (also friends) stood up for me without hesitating, without equivocating, without giving Karen an inch to continue to talk about me in such a way. I don't even know how that conversation ended or if I even talked to Karen again at the con. I did decide right then that I was going to pull back from our friendship because of it.

A year or so later I ended up having to have a conversation with Karen because of some nonsense she pulled at WisCon. In that conversation I mentioned the discussion we had at ReaderCon and how that truly affected my view of her, a person who was supposedly my friend and who constantly tried to say she was an ally to BIPOC. And that's when she said: What discussion?

At first I wasn't sure if she was feigning ignorance or not. The more we talked, the more I realized she wasn't. She didn't remember the incident. And in that talk I realized why: It didn't have that big of an impact on her.

Even with her being essentially told off by the other two, for her, having conversations where she casually parroted some white, male editor's racist and misogynistic view of me was of little note because she and the other people she spent a majority of time with were doing it all the time. It was just a Tuesday for her. And so after ReaderCon when she continually asked if I wanted to hang out or go on writing dates, she did so as if she had not said some absolutely egregious stuff to me weeks before. Again, to her: a Tuesday.

Having had more experience in life with certain kinds of racists, sexists, ableists, and bigots in general, I can say that this phenomenon was not specific to Karen. It is endemic with a certain kind of person who is devoted to the status quo/dominant paradigm.

So when Lindelof says that he doesn't remember doing and saying these things, he's probably not lying. Because for him, it was business as usual, a Tuesday. Normalized on a number of levels. He was a fish in water and the water was composed of racist, sexist a-holes doing whatever they wanted because no one above them put a stop to it. And that is a problem even 20ish years later.

That Lindelof had to be told he did these things and that he, in all this time, has not reflected on them, not realized on his own that what he did was terrible, apologized, and worked his butt off to not only ensure the shows he runs do not have this atmosphere but to also throw every bit of work that he can to those writers (not necessarily on his shows, but others) is proof that it continues to be a problem. And that he has a lot of work to do to atone for all these things he can't remember--starting by doing a real deep dive into why he can't.

Cuse can't be saved. I suggest we introduce him to a nice oubliette.

#I'll note that the author of the piece called him out on his passive language and I very much appreciate that #Her whole book looks to be amazing and a wake up call and I hope everyone reads it #LOST #Damon Lindelof #Carlton Cuse #Carlton Cuse For Oubliette President #I feel justified in all of my critiques of LOST

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cowboyjen68 · 1 year

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Dear Jen--

I'm writing to ask you if you ever felt pressure to be a "good butch" or a "good masc". If there was a ever a time when you felt there was one specific way to present yourself, how did you go against that? I'm a stone butch, I'm sensitive and kind and I know that all of these things have to exist within me at the same time so I can be myself, but sometimes I feel like I'm not being a butch the "right way". I know there isn't one way to be anything, especially queer, but I never got any advice when I was young, any consolation when I realized I was a lesbian and was too scared to accept it. I never had an "elder" to guide me. At least no one like you. I hope you've been enjoying your spring.

When I first heard the word “butch” I was intrigued because so many of the traits fit me. Being mistaken for “not a woman”, being told “you should have been a boy” and how I related to women was a shared thread from the bits and pieces of stories I heard from older butches.

I was handed a copy of Stone Butch Blues while camping at a women’s festival and it made me sad rather than comforted. I thought perhaps I could not be butch because I just did not relate to Leslie, (the book is NOT an exact autobiography but is often mistaken as such). I had not experienced much of the trauma nor the harshness in life Leslie dealt with, both in real life and the character in the book.

It was another year before someone, besides my girlfriend, referred to me as butch. Having a stranger call me that truly changed how I saw myself. All my friends were like “yeah.. Duh”. I was told by one elder butch 20 years my senior that SBB is the story of ONE butch, not the story of ALL butches. That helped me understand we are not all the same in all ways. We share certain experiences and those differ based on location, upbringing and, most importantly, our personalities. We are as varied as any part of the lesbian (and human) population. At that point I really started to embrace being butch and using that part of my lesbian story to inform my life, to do what made me happy and not what I was “supposed to do” as directed by my culture or even by other lesbians who were not butch.

I am so glad you reached out. It makes me sad that so many young butches do not benefit from the real life community of lesbians and butches who have live through and been where you are right now. I want you to know, you are not alone and we understand. I understand. What you are feeling is not unusual for butches. You are not bound to reach some “standard” of butchness. There is no scale, except for fun and to sort of bond over the humor of our shared stories.

You can be masculine and mistaken for a man, and called “unapproachable:” or perceived as rough or scary or told you are not “like other women” but the fact is you are like many other women and you are allowed to have your own personality. YOU are allowed to be Quiet, soft, gentle, vulnerable or outgoing, loud and funny or any mix of these and you can still be butch.

I have been told I am too short and happy to be butch. Neither of those things informs my butchness but I had to learn that through the guidance of butches.

You are great just the way you are.

#lesbian #butch #older butch #younger butches

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batmanisagatewaydrug · 28 days

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reading update: March 2024

March was so !!!!!! so fucking long, but that means that I got to read a lot of books - more than I did in January or February. they're pretty all over the place in terms of quality, but I think they're also all going to be pretty memorable in one way or another. shall we discuss?

what have I been reading?

The Ballad of Perilous Graves (Alex Jennings, 2022) - I bought this novel at Crescent City Books in New Orleans last June, then tucked it away to wait for exactly the right moment. and I'm so glad I did, because it was a gorgeous little flash of NOLA in the middle of a gray midwestern winter funk. this novel is so, SO steeped in celebrating the art, history, and culture of New Orleans, creating a version of the city filled with talking animals, living songs, and moving graffiti that hardly even feels that different than the real New Orleans. and in this book, Nola is distinct from New Orleans; there's some interesting multiverse stuff going on in the city that might be really interesting to my fellow fans of Dimension 20's Unsleeping City and N.K. Jemisin's City We Became. not every part of the book totally worked for me: the parts of the books following the kids - the titular Perilous "Perry" Graves and company - are definitely the strongest, and the actual details of how the plot got resolved got a little muddled for me before the surprisingly abrupt end. but! it must be said that the vibes are immaculate, and vibes will get you really far with me. I want to see a thousand more stories set in this world.

Thank You For Sharing (Rachel Runya Katz, 2023) - with god as my witness this was one of the most boring romance novels I've ever read, and that's saying something considering I literally just read Red String Theory. what I really adore are romances that take place at around an 11 on a scale of 1-10, under circumstances where absolutely no normal person should even be able to contemplate fucking but our protagonists power through because they're horny to a degree that renders them clinically unwell. this book was hovering somewhere around a 2; it's literally just two adults having jobs and hanging out in pretty mundane circumstances. the only thing that really strains my belief is that an otherwise well-adjusted woman is still upset about something that happened at summer camp over a decade ago, but I guess if she wasn't mad about something then the protagonists wouldn't be able to have a conversation about their feelings to show off how good they are at therapy speak.

Africa Is Not a Country: Notes on a Bright Continent (Dipo Faloyin, 2022) - genuinely one of the most excellent pieces of nonfiction that I've read in a hot minute. Faloyin's book consists of interconnected essays that just dazzlingly brilliant, in turns solemn, sardonic, and sly, always ready to offer the audience a little wink as it subverts expectations. Faloyin walks the reader through the history of several African countries, from colonial looting to rocky political regimes to the common tropes that plague modern media with depictions of Africa as universally backwards, impoverished, and struggling. I really felt like I was *learning* while I was reading this book and learning the specifics of so many places that are often portrayed as interchangeable in American media. I really sincerely can't recommend this enough, it's an excellent read.

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon (Kimberly Lemming, 2024) - I can't in good conscience say that I enjoyed this book, but it is kind of a great read if you enjoy updating your housemates on the latest bullshit in your horny fantasy romance. Lemming's in a weird middle ground where she's putting a lot of effort into the backstory of the world that justifies our protagonist (who's named CINNAMON HOTPEPPER!!!!) meeting and hooking up with a demon (who's also a dragon, because all monsters are just a subspecies of demon. I'm not crazy about that but the worst part by far is definitely that his dragon form has hair) but also stops giving a shit about it the second it's not necessary. like (spoilers) but all of the human characters are REALLY chill about finding out that the goddess they've been worshipping for CENTURIES is actually an evil lich? and there's another human character who pretty casually watches the city where she's spent her entire life get razed to the ground by monsters with absolutely zero remorse, which is genuinely bananas. also this book misses SOOOO many opportunities to be really nasty horny because it's so focused on hyping up Cinnamon and Fallon's all-consuming five day spiral into unhinged magical demon marriage. even the "light bondage" promised in the content warning was disappointing; the emphasis was definitely more on the "light" than the "bondage." what does a bitch have to do to find a decent monsterfucker book. for the love of god please.

It Came From the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror (ed. Joe Vallese, 2022) - I've heard a lot of hype about this book, an anthology of queer writers musing about the queerness that draws them to the horror genre. I was expecting the essays to be of an analytical nature, but it turns out they're much more personal. that's not necessarily a bad thing, but some of these essays ended up falling SUPER flat for me, with weak analogies that felt like the result of authors remembering at the last second that they were supposed to be relating their life to a horror movie somehow. which isn't to say that there weren't high points as well, but overall the collection was low lows and medium highs for me.

Sex Criminals Volume One: One Weird Trick (Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky, 2014) - I'm trying so hard to remember to read comics that aren't 30 year old Batman stories, and my friend Emily lent this to me months ago when I helped them move, so it seemed like high time to get around to checking out Sex Criminals. the premise is fun! what if time stopped when you had an orgasm? then what if you met someone else with the same ability and the two of you could have sex and run around in a time-stopped world together? and then what if you robbed banks? and I'm a huge fan of that. the writing isn't the most gripping thing in the world, and now that it's a decade old I find that it feels very emblematic of the kind of aggressively offbeat, Whedon-ish writing style that felt like it was really unavoidable in the 2010s, which I can't say has aged MAGNIFICENTLY for me. but I'm willing to read more, see where this series goes, and give it the chance to really win me over. stay tuned for Volume Two!

Rental Person Who Does Nothing (Shoji Morimoto, trans. Don Knotting 2023) - I can't decide if I want to sit Morimoto down for dinner to pick his brain or just skip the niceties and put his brain in a jar to study it, but either way this guy definitely has something fascinating going on. tl;dr: in this memoir Morimoto recounts his experiences using Twitter to let other people hire him out as a person who will do nothing. "doing nothing" covers all kinds of things: accompanying people to eat a meal that they felt too self-conscious to eat alone, keeping someone company so they don't get distracted while they should be working, or waving goodbye to a stranger at a train station. he's not paid for this, either, or at least doesn't charge a fixed rate; all the Morimoto asks for is the price of his train ticket to meet clients, who sometimes buy him extra gifts as a thank you. there are so many FASCINATING ideas presented in this book about work and value and interpersonal connection, and yet the book clocks in at under 200 pages. Morimoto isn't here to tell you how to feel about anything he's done, only to present some experiences and let you unravel the meaning for yourself. and I guess that's sort of brilliant. throughout the memoir he's adamant that Rental Person doesn't offer advice or tell anyone what to do, offering only basic responses when prompted. telling someone else what to think or attempting to offer up any wisdom gleaned from his rental work would count as doing something, wouldn't it? I really recommend checking it out for yourself and deciding what you think, especially if you're in a slump seeking something quick, engaging, and easy to read.

#reading updates #bookblr

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archaic-lord · 1 year

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Of Dust and Flowers, The Seelies Who Survived

Preface

To give some context on this theory, this idea sprang to mind when I came across a twitter post sharing an entry from Honey Hunter World detailing an unreleased 4th volume to the "Customs of Liyue" book. The volume in particular talks about Glaze Lilies in a historical and cultural context. The information presented within made me think of this theory:

"Could Guizhong have been a Seelie?"

After doing some researching, I've come to conclude that it has a high likelihood of being true! So to explain this, I will discuss it in this order:

Guizhong and the Goddess of Flowers are of similar descent

Seelies and their similarities with the two

With that laid out, let's take a look at...

Part 1. Guizhong and the Flower Goddess

Firstly, let us establish who they were and what they did during their life.

Guizhong

The God of Dust, Guizhong, was one of the founding deities of Liyue. Originally, she took dominion over an area now known as the Guili Plains together with Morax. She was incredibly kind and wise, and took great interest in machinery.

During her reign, she taught the people under her protection how to live and survive. In particular, she taught them agriculture. She also had 4 wise tenets whom the people of the Guili Assembly followed:

"To unite in ambition is to be steadfast and immovable for all time."

"Wisdom is like water, it nourishes all those who receive it and in it is a reflection of the truth."

'"Fortify the bones, that movement be supple when the time comes."

"Virtue grows tall like a tree, though there be shade it will flourish forever"

Guizhong is heavily linked to Glaze Lilies, and seems to have been the one who created them! This is mentioned in the unreleased volume of "Customs of Liyue"

Disclaimer: the photo above is unreleased content from the game. it's been at least a year since it was leaked, but they've not added it after all this time so please take it with a grain of salt.

"[Guizhong] released glittering blue seeds from her long sleeves, scattering them over the Guili Plains."

Here are other instances of Guizhong being linked to Glaze Lilies:

The Goddess of Flowers

As of version 3.2, not much is known about the Goddess of Flowers yet. The specific details we do know are highly suspect however.

The Goddess of Flowers was one of the 3 wise God-Kings who co-founded Sumeru thousands of years ago. She was also the first among the 3 to die via unknown means.

She had several titles such as "Mistress of Dreams", "Lord of Flowers", "Mistress of Dreams and Oases". It seems that her abilities did not just stop at proliferating flora, she calmed people's minds and produced flowing water from her sleeves.

She and the Lord of Deserts established Ay-Khanoum, the city of Jinn and the Moon. Following her death, Ay-Khanoum dissolved into smaller societies.

She was also affiliated with the Padisarah flowers.

The Connection

So now, to summarize the info, let's take a look at the similarities between Guizhong and the Goddess of Flowers! In essence, both of them were:

Gods who were known for their wisdom and gentle nature. They got along with 2 other god friends.

Gods who co-founded an ancient human society along with their god friends.

In possession of esoteric knowledge and guided mankind.

Both the first to die among their god friends, which was followed by a calamity that damaged their established civilization.

Associated with a flower that became rare or extinct following their deaths.

Seeing this now, it's very unlikely that their connections could be mere coincidence, no? After all, their stories went exactly the same save for a few variables like geography.

Hence, I'd like to propose that this is Hoyoverse telling us there's something about them that may be crucial. What struck me as odd about the unreleased volume were several moments that are only ever seen in the Sumeru!

Referring to Guizhong and Morax as "God-Kings"

A god proliferating a certain type of flower across a large area.

Suffice it to say, I think it was very intentional that Hoyoverse decided to remove this before we got any more proper Goddess of Flowers lore. I'm doing a minor prediction that we may come across this volume officially some time in the future.

So.. why try to connect Guizhong and the Goddess of Flowers? Well, this is important in proving Guizhong's origin as a Seelie, as we shall see in...

Part 2. Seelies and Such, Silly or Similarity?

Before we tackle the meat of this speculation, let's set up one last assumption to make our case. This assumption being:

"The Goddess of Flowers was a Seelie"

While it's only been teased at, it's been hinted quite enough to make it pretty much true.

Arama, during the Aranyaka storyline, mentions a survivor of the Seelie calamity befriending King Deshret and Rukkhadevata.

Nilou mentions her costume being based on the Goddess of Flowers' clothing. This includes a pair of horns that are also seen in Seelies.

The Goddess of Flowers is associated with the Moon. The 3 Moon Sisters were said to have lived alongside the Seelies.

So now, given the trail Hoyoverse has given to connect Guizhong and her, do we see such similar traits? As it turns out, yes!

Floral Resemblance

The first comparison I'll be making concerns the similarities with flowers.

Within the game, there is another flower that behaves and looks similar to the Glaze Lilies that Guizhong are linked to. This flower is the Nilotpala Lotus.

Both flowers, aside from sharing the same color scheme, have the peculiar behavior of only blooming at night. In other words, when the Moon is out. The Nilotpala Lotus, in particular, was produced by the Moon Sisters as they stepped on the earth.

So now, we've connected Guizhong and the Moon Sisters through parallels in their respective flowers. But this doesn't reflect the qualities seen in the Padisarah. Why not?

It's because haven't seen the real Padisarahs. The ones we encounter are just mimicries done by Rukkhadevata. This is similar to how Glaze Lilies are now almost exclusively cultivated in farms. The only reason they still live in their endangered state is due to Morax's influence.

Seelie Service

Moving on, Guizhong also bears a striking resemblance to how Seelies guided humans. Simply, Seelies used their obscure knowledge to help mankind develop many things.

This is eerily similar to Guizhong's actions, as well as her 4 philosophical commandments, no?

"To unite in ambition is to be steadfast and immovable for all time."

"Wisdom is like water, it nourishes all those who receive it and in it is a reflection of the truth."

'"Fortify the bones, that movement be supple when the time comes."

"Virtue grows tall like a tree, though there be shade it will flourish forever"

I think it's not strange to see how all of her tenets mention nature and complex concepts like time or truth to convey how to strengthen her people's bonds. Not to mention, it's mentioned repeatedly how beautiful Guizhong was.

With this in mind, I think it's safe to say Guizhong at least has done things similar to Seelies. Additionally, she is one of the only deities who have been shown to possess so many traits similar to them.

Now, Guizhong being associated closely with the Moon Sisters puts into question her status as "God of Dust". Why dust? To this, I introduce this piece of information found within Moonpiercer as well.

I am also theorizing that, while Seelies may not be of the same lineage as the Moon Sisters, they posses traits that are found within them!

Titillating Titles & More Similarities

Let's use the Goddess of Flowers as an example. We know that she is not simply just a Flower Goddess. Ironically, it seems as though producing flowers is just something she happened to also do. Many descriptions of her focus on her ability to give dreams and produce water.

In other words, the titles they got as gods are merely one facet of their being, compared to other gods like Marchosius, Boreas, Decarabian, and even some of the archons.

Just as the Goddess of Flowers possesses traits found in the Moon Sisters (flowers, water, dreaming), Guizhong also exhibits these qualities (esoteric wisdom, agriculture, dust).

Something I forgot to mention is Volume 2 of 'Records of the Gallant'. In it, not only do we see Guizhong being mentioned, she is also depicted alongside Glaze Lilies, the starry sky, AND Seelies.

Something I also just realized in the making of this theory is the mirrored descriptions of Guizhong and the Goddess of Flowers' appearances. One of these was the matter of sleeves.

They are the only gods to my knowledge to have ever used their sleeves as part of their powers. Guizhong sent forth Glaze Lily seeds from her sleeves, while the Goddess of Flowers poured fresh water from hers.

Also, the color of their clothing reference each other's flowers. Guizhong wears an indigo robe, which resembles the Padisarahs. The Goddess of Flowers, if Nilou's dress is to be trusted, wore blue and white clothes, resembling Glaze Lilies.

Part 3. In Conclusion

Given how many elements about Guizhong matches the Moon Sisters, Seelies, and especially the Goddess of Flowers, it's incredibly hard to now just look at these examples as happenstance, ya know?

I originally researched this topic because of Guizhong and the Goddess of Flowers' parallels in sleeves, but the more I looked into it, the more apparent the parallels became.

From their wisdom to their flowers, it just makes too much sense for me!

So here's the scenario that I'm proposing to end this theory:

A long time ago, when the nation of the Seelies and Moon Sisters fell into ruin, many perished from the disaster. Despite this, a number of Seelies managed to survive. They descended upon the earth in different parts of Teyvat, some even in the area now called the Dark Sea.

Two of these Seelies, each of whom resembled the Moon Sisters in beauty and ability, landed far from each other. And though their stories would deviate in some ways, their fates aligned nonetheless.

She who wielded the irrational wisdom of dreams established a thriving nation in the scorching desert, and she who wielded the rational wisdom of technology did the same amidst the rocky landscape. When they perished, their nations would suffer tremendously.

One of their friends would mourn and change his personality drastically, and another would sacrifice themselves, reverting into a smaller, weaker form.

The flowers that they oh so cherished would almost be wiped away, but friendship gives way to preserving your legacy.

Part 4. Closing Remarks

If you, the one reading this right now, have managed to make it all the way to the end of the post, give yourself a pat on the back!

My name is Noxis, and this marks my first, official post on Tumblr! This is part of a personal project I'm doing to interact with the Genshin Community, and it also serves as my first time actually visiting Tumblr regularly!

If you did read all of this, please excuse my way of organizing and discussing as I'm pretty new to the platform. I'll be sure to learn along the way however, and with it more Genshin lore speculations and theories >:))

#genshin impact #genshin theory #genshin lore #genshin seelie #genshin speculation #guizhong #goddess of flowers #my first post i am so goddamn nervous #pressing ctrl-z is killing my progress #genshin moon sisters

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deadmomjokes · 4 months

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Betwixt Christmas gift cash and Steam Family Sharing workaround shenanigans, the husband and I have finally started Baldur's Gate 3.

Went in basically blind except for knowing the names of the companions and the fact that Astarion is a vampire (couldn't miss that cultural osmosis).

We also came in on two different meta-levels as players.

He is very familiar with D&D, D&D-based games, computer games in general, and these sorts of games specifically. He's also that kind of person that plays things on Extreme Difficulty Mode for fun. He quits when something isn't challenging enough. His idea of relaxing, rewarding gameplay is ultra-hard-mode Elden Ring and Dark Souls.

I, on the other hand, am bad at games. Full stop. I have lost Wii Mario Kart to a 6 year old, repeatedly. I get hopelessly lost even when there's detailed maps, trackers, compasses, and flagged waypoints. I also panic in combat situations and have no strategic ability aside from "stand there, hit it, and hope it doesn't move." I'm more of a low-stakes visual novel sort of gamer. Stardew Valley is as intense as I get.

He is playing a Seldarine Drow warlock in a pact with an archfey. She's a noble with a ridiculously high Charisma score, a perfectly balanced spell loadout, and an even more balanced overall stat build. She's DPS without being totally squishy and helpless, and has advantage to almost everything. She also has an impeccable fashion sense and always looks put together, even when on death's door to a brain worm. Or, to put it in a way my husband would loathe, she got that drip.

I am playing a ginger himbo of a high elf fighter with -1 to Charisma and a -1000 to common sense. He's an impulsive maniac with, somehow, a +3 to intimidation despite being a truly gentle soul that believes every sob story he comes across. He's a sweaty, dusty, grubby little feral child (outlander background) with the world's messiest ponytail and greasepaint-turned-eyeliner that a 90s ex emo kid would be proud of. And that's him trying to look presentable. Despite having an impressive dexterity score, my natural disadvantage to dexterity (and Wisdom and Intelligence) as the player makes it so that this man bumbles his way into everything and only gets out by making horrifying threats he has absolutely no intention of following up on, or by being forced to stand his ground and take it on the jaw.

So this was going to be An Experience no matter what. And boy, it sure has been.

Thus far, we have:

Accidentally pacifism'd our way into every Goblin/Absolute aligned settlement we've encountered on the pure luck of husband's choice to play a Drow because he thought it would add an interesting dynamic. That interesting dynamic, he thought, would be difficulty. He thought being a Drow would make it harder because of the general hatred toward them. He's technically good-aligned, but, y'know, planet-of-hats racism means he was expecting it to work against him, which he likes because he likes when things are hard. Only now it's basically a free pass into all the areas we'd normally have to fight or sneak into. Great for our shared pacifist tendencies, but LOL

Lost a full hour of progress because my computer screen is tiny and bad at graphics and I hadn't learned all the controls yet, so while trying to investigate a hole in the floor of an abandoned church I tripped in face-first and got us into an unescapable, imminent-TPK situation, whereupon the game immediately autosaved for the first time since waking up on the beach. We have since learned to spam the quicksave button liberally.

Accepted a ton of mutually exclusive quests, half of which we have no intention of doing, just to try and get out of situations without combat, so now the mini map now looks like a cubist rendition of a simple sun drawing and I'm SO worried it's going to come crashing down and get us shanked in our sleep.

MET BEST BOY DOGGO I WILL DIE FOR SCRATCH 😭

Discovered husband's character is, build wise, a carbon-copy of Wyll. This was 100% unintentional and he's BIG mad about it LOL RIP

Impulsively pushed a button in a crypt without saving and woke up a bunch of skellies we weren't prepared for, but were somehow also saved by that same impulsivity because I had previously run around the entire area and looted every single skeleton no matter how useless it was to my character, so they all woke up without their weapons so HAH take that I TOLD YOU being a klepto would pay off

Immediately after this fortuitous stroke of fate, having learned exactly nothing, my impulsive maniac opened the shiny sarcophagus before consulting anyone or healing. Luckily it wasn't cursed or trapped or full of enemies (it was Withers, and I'm love), but I'm now not allowed to open or interact with anything bigger than a crate without announcing it first so husband has the chance to go NO WAIT LET ME SAVE FIRST

Sneaked into a secret underground passage, whereupon my husband sent his invisible'd familiar around to carefully scout the area, discovering the button that would turn off the overpowered guardian statue. My character then readied a crossbow shot to hit said button, but in trying to move out of the way of the other party members, stepped right into the statue's attack circle. I panicked, tried to move, but couldn't figure out how to unselect the attack I could no longer use, and tried to fix it by pausing. But all of that just resulted in me standing there, doing nothing, until I finally dropped dead. Luckily I passed my saving throws, and more luckily still, my husband managed to stop laughing long enough to eldritch blast the statue to pieces and come get me.

So anyway, we're having the best time. I know we're late to the party, but it really is so good. I may have even teared up a little during the dream sequence with the psychedelic neon light guardian warriors. This is going to consume my brain for the next few months, and I'm happy to have paid for the privilege. 10/10, absolutely deserves that GOTY and the $60 price tag both.

No spoilers please, we're only level 3 and just encountering the Goblin Camp. (We've met everyone but Karlach, I believe.) But rest assured, as we learn and discover more I will come yelling and seeking those who will screech with me. Probably mostly about my new sons that I've acquired, namely the lying purple sadsack trash wizard with some horrifying kind of chronic illness and/or addiction, and the prettiest most specialist murder machine who definitely won't admit it but is definitely gonna need a hug when I finish breaking down those obviously performative emotional walls.

Also, Lae'zel scares me. Please stop yelling at me, you cranky fish woman, I'm trying my best here 😭

#bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #no spoilers plz #also i love how the companions are:#scary women #and secretly messed up sadboi prettymen #i have so many sad sons

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yazzydream · 9 months

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Speculating What the 16-Registered Special Grade Curses Are

Geto mentions that there are 16-Registered Special Grade Curses, but we only ever got to see four! In all of Jujutsu Kaisen!! I want to know what they are at least, so here's a few speculations.

First, the ones we know.

Tamamo-no-Mae Incarnate, an Imaginary Vengeful Spirit based off of Tamamo-no-Mae.

Ah, a quick explanation of Imaginary Vengeful Sprits: They're Curses built off the cumulative fear humans share over a specific figure, like a famous yokai or ghost story. Kuchisake-onna is one... But so is Sukuna. Ryomen Sukuna is the "Imaginary Demon" with two faces and four arms, but he was actually a human who existed. So, I guess this means he was changed due to people's fears of him? This kind of makes sense when you consider that the Three Great Families are also decedents of the Three Great Vengeful Spirits. I mean... those are Curses too. Actually, we can probably count all of them as among the 16-Registered Special Grades now that I think about it.

Wow, what a fruitful tangent. Let's get back to it, shall we?

1. The legend of Tamamo-no-Mae is that she was a fox spirit under the guise of a courtesan under Emperor Konoe (who reigned from 1142-1155, Heian period). The same beautiful fox spirit who led to numerous rulers getting seduced into being terrible rulers throughout history. Because of course she was.

2. The Smallpox hag is a Disease Curse. Kenjaku lied about it being a deity, (src: Vol. 20 extra) but I assume it's still a Special Grade since it can use Domain Expansion. Disease Curses are born from the fear of a disease such as the plague. The way Akutami depicts something on it's stomach like it's distended is notable. I did find Sopona, the god of smallpox in the Yoruba religion, which might've been used as a reference point.

3. Kurourushi was a Registered Special Grade from Kenjaku's (I suppose Geto's?) collection of Curse Spirits he released for the Culling Game. A cockroach curse... At this point, I think it's safe to call it a Devil from Chainsaw Man.

I actually suffered through researching cockroaches a little for this list to see if anything caught my eye. It wasn't worth it. lol. There is a neat article about cockroaches in pop culture you can read to your heart's content if you like. Obviously, swarms of cockroaches attacking people are a common enough trope. Honestly, I'm also reminded of the beetles from The Mummy, only more disgusting.

It's definitely totally irrelevant, but Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, which is listed on that page, is about a man who turned into a giant beetle-like creature (usually thought to be a roach). I only bring it up because Mahito briefly discusses it in the first light novel.

4. An Asian God Curse not from Japan. Maybe Genesha, but more probably Kangetian, the Japanese equivalent. Kangetian has both positive and negative reception in Japan and has some Curse-like descriptions. Whereas Genesha seems like a benevolent figure... But Genesha is the one consistently depicted as pink with four arms... Y'know what, Curses are an amalgamation of human negativity anyway, I shouldn't stress about it.

From the Kangetian wiki article:

the Buddhist Vinayaka was (at least at first) negatively portrayed as the creator of obstacles and the leader of a class of malignant demons who obstructed Buddhist practice called vinayakas [...]

And there's this:

On the other hand, he is considered to be still bound by base passions and desires (kleshas) and thus is sometimes also regarded as a rather volatile, demanding god who is quick to punish those who have offended him.

The ones that are most likely part of the registered Curses.

The Three Great Vengeful Spirits, ancestors of the Three Great Families. There's no way they're actually around anymore, but this is just about being a "registered" Special Grade, so they had to have counted, right?

I'll try to be brief here, because somehow, this post has already ended up three times longer than I'd intended. (*edit: It did not end up brief.)

5. Sugawara no Michizane came from a middle-class family of scholars. He was considered a child prodigy, a genius, and held the second highest rank in the imperial court, right under the emperor. As you can imagine, he was the target of jealousy from other aristocrats. He was falsely accused of trying to abolish the emperor and died two years later in exile. (His greatest rivals were the Fujiwara btw, which is ironic considering what Uro thought Yuta was.)

After he died, everyone thought his enemies would continue to dominate the court. AND YET, a whole lot of them started to up and die from "accidents," illnesses, etc. ALSO, lightning repeatedly struck the imperial court and even more of his enemies died. The imperial city experienced weeks of rainstorms and floods. Anyway, everyone decided they needed to pacify what was clearly Michizane's vengeful spirit, built him a temple, and deified him as Tenjin. (Like "Raijin," god of thunder. Lol.)

6. Taira no Masakado was a samurai who's notable for leading the first recorded rebellion against the imperial court in Kyoto. Masakado worked for a powerful noble in the capital but returned to the east after his father's death. He ended up as a kind of "hero of the people" and declared himself the "new emperor" with half of Japan's land. Which, uh, obviously wouldn't fly with the imperial court. He died two months later in battle and his head was sent to Kyoto and displayed for the people to see.

But there were some strange rumors about that head... Its eyes stayed opened for months... You could hear it grinding its teeth at night... Most bizarrely, legend says the head flew back east to look for its body. Specifically, to the head mound in what would become one of the most expensive pieces of land in Tokyo's financial district.

Anyone who tries taking down the mound is faced with bad luck (including death), so it's well maintained to this day.

7. Emperor Sutoku was a puppet emperor from the age of 3 to 22; under the control of his father. After he was forced to abdicate, failed a rebellion, and forced into exile, he became a monk. Devoting himself to Buddhism, he copied scriptures and asked the court to have them sent to a temple in Kyoto, but the court sent them back claiming they were cursed. (Yeah, I know.)

Sutoku swore to become a yokai to avenge his grudge. After that, he never cut his hair or nails again. By the time he died, he looked like a demon.

Everything from the subsequent fall in fortune of the Imperial court, the rise of the samurai powers, droughts and internal unrests were blamed on his haunting.

(I found this neat series of articles about each of the Three Vengeful Spirits after typing this out, which go into them a little more: Taira no Masakado, Emperor Sutoko, Sugawara no Michizane)

8. Ryomen Sukuna needs no introduction. I will add this quote, though.

Q: It's mentioned that Sukuna was a human who actually existed, but was he a curse user when he was alive? Akutami: You could say he was a curse user, but I think he was closer to a natural disaster.

9. Rika-chan was definitely a Special Grade. And once she was discovered, she had to have been registered as the "Queen of Curses." The question is whether Geto counted her among the 16?

Tangentially, these are my own thoughts, but human Rika... Well, reading her character profile from Volume 0 and seeing her looks-- her long dark hair, the mole on her face-- reminds me of another certain malevolent curse-like girl: The eponymous Tomie from Tomie by Junji Ito. And considering we get an Uzumaki reference later in Volume 0, I don't think it's entirely a coincidence.

That's 9 out of the 16, so actually, we knew more of the Registered Special Curses then I thought. (Speculative though it may be?)

Finally, onto the reason I made this post in the first place.

☆ Because I was one of those children that ate up supernatural mysteries and fairytales, I really liked the legend of Yuki-onna. Something about the imagery... A beautiful woman in the mountain snow leading men to their deaths... Is super poetic. Lol.

☆ Sadako from Ring. She's so ubiquitous by this point, how could there not be an Imaginary Cursed Spirit based off her? The first Ring movie came out in 2001, and before that it was a novel series. Quick summary, this should be familiar to you: Sadako is a ghost who made a cursed video tape. Whoever watches the tape will die in seven days.

Notably, Sadako is a mix of two ghosts, Oiwa and Okiku. There's also Kayako from The Grudge. I can see all of them mixing together into a Special Grade.

☆ Since Mahito mentioned the nine-tailed fox (kyuubi), it would feel remiss not to mention it. Different from Tamamo-no-Mae, this one takes the more animalistic form.

☆ Genuinely terrifying would be an atomic bomb Curse. It would look balding and gaunt... It would have radiation related powers. It would be awful.

☆ I know the Darkness Devil is a thing in Chainsaw, but considering "the dark" is one of the most fundamental fears of the human race, I'm going to say that makes sense.

☆ A "white devil"/gaijin Edo period era Curse that stems from Japan's xenophobia, especially at the time. I imagine a lot of like, Christian imagery with it. Think Eva. Lol.

A few more...

Not even Kuchisake-onna was a Special Grade... It could do Simple Domain though, so it was probably a Grade 1 Curse at least. Here are a few more ideas that could be, at least, Grade 1 in my book.

★ Kisaragi Station is just my love for that urban legend. Hey, if oceans, forests, and volcanoes can become Curses, then so can imaginary train stations! Trains are also the way so much of travel is done in Japan, I legit think this could be a possible Curse. Kisaragi Station originated from a 2ch post in 2004. A woman asks 2ch for advice when the train she usually takes home doesn't stop... until it reaches "Kisaragi Station," anyway. There was a Mob Psycho OVA with a similar idea, where Reigan was basically trapped in a Domain, now that I think of it. Hahaha.

★ Hanako-san of the Toilet was also mentioned by Mahito. And frankly, not just in Japan, but around the world, the bathroom is a place of hauntings. Here's a really great video that talks about the fear of bathrooms in media that I recommend. And here's a post I wrote a few years ago about an episode of Shin-chan that made me apprehensive of dark bathrooms as a child. Lol.

Ideas for Curses from other countries

Like Kangetian, here are a few foreign figures too. I tried to keep in mind they should be of things people felt genuine fear or hatred towards. Obviously, each culture has a great many folklore and urban legends, so I'm only listing famous ones I personally knew of.

Jack the Ripper was a real-life English serial killer, but he's risen up into something of a mythical status. There are so many fictitious takes on him, in the world of Jujutsu Kaisen I'd be shocked if he hadn't become an Imaginary Cursed Spirit.

Baba Yaga, a Slavic cannibalistic witchy figure whose preference was children. Though this story is German, think the witch from "Hansel and Gretel." There were a lot of time periods of famine in that region of the world, so I can see starvation, the desperation to eat something, leading to that widespread grotesque fear.

Bloody Mary, I think of her as American, but there's rumors that she's based off of a European woman. I'm reading the wikipedia article right now, and boy is the ritual a lot more complicated and meaningful than it actually is. Basically, you just say "Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary"; repeating her name three times, in front of a bathroom mirror and she appears. Uh, I don't think there was a reason for it. It was just spooky thing to do. Speaking of reasons to be scared of dark bathrooms... I remember trying to call out to Bloody Mary as a child at a friend's house. I cannot for the life of me remember if I chickened out or not. Probably.

youtube

La Llorona, "the Weeping Woman," of Mexican origin. She haunts areas around bodies of water looking for her children, who she drowned in life during a jealous rage when she discovered her husband cheating on her... Another female phantasm. I suppose, women are so often wronged in life, it's easy to imagine them haunting us after death. As a Curse, I can see her springing up mostly due to the guilty feelings of men who have cheated.

Why did I do this to myself? As soon as I started writing up Tamamo-no-Mae I went on a tangent (as you can see) and I spiraled. OTL Whatever, I like myths and lore and it was fun even if this ended up... so much longer than I'd expected.

#jujutsu kaisen #my jjk #jjkdaily #jjk meta #jjk manga #jjk spoilers #let's try to be more bloggy shall we #long post #jfc

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tryslora · 26 days

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What I'm Reading Wednesday...

On the Duck Prints Press reading server, it’s What I’m Reading Wednesday where we all share what we finished in the last week, what we are currently reading, and what we think of these books.

I figured hey, why not bring that to the rest of the world for myself. Because I love yelling about my current reads. And I’ve always got several things in motion at one time, between physical, audio, and ebooks, plus things I’m reading for specific reasons.

Here’s the summary from the last week in visual format (the actual discussion is behind the read-more):

Fiction

I am currently reading Many Drops Make a Stream by Adrian Harley (from Duck Prints Press). There are so many things to love in this book. The world building packs so much into such a small space. The culture clash between human and shapeshifter is wonderful (and Harley’s shapeshifters truly have a culture all their own). I thought it was going to be a quick read because it’s short, but the language and depth of information have me going slower and savoring every word. That said, I’ve also reached the point where I want to take it in faster, so I find myself spending a little extra time every time I pick it up, just to get a few more pages!

Manga & Graphic Novels

I have one manga and one graphic novel in progress.

I’ve been reading The Complete Elfquest, volume 1 by Wendy & Richard Pini for a little over two weeks now. We have several of these volumes, and my intention is to read one chapter/issue a night, so I am able to savor them slowly, but also get through them. Reading this first volume is like coming home into a fandom from childhood. The first chunk of it was also collected in the original Warp Graphics compilations, and I can’t remember how often I read those back in high school. I’m reaching the parts now where I probably only read the individual issues once or twice, so it’s familiar, but not to the point where I’m like oh yes, I remember gazing at that panel for hours. I still love these elves, and this story, and I cannot wait to get home each day and be allowed to read a chapter. I’m looking forward to when I reach new-to-me material.

I watched the 24 episode anime The Apothecary Diaries and I wasn’t ready to let it go when it was over, so I started reading the manga by Natsu Hyuuga and Nekokurage. I finished volumes 5 & 6 this past week and am currently reading volume 7. I have the remaining already published volumes waiting for when I’m done with this. I adore Maomao and Jinshi, and am incredibly excited to get to the point where canon moves past what is in the anime. That said, getting to revisit events I already watched on TV and linger over what was said and the exact expressions has been soooo good. (And yes, I know the light novels also exist and will be rolling into those in ebook form after the manga; I might be a tad bit obsessed).

Audiobook

A while ago I thought “I should read some TJ Klune” so I checked the library list I had for audiobooks, and the first of his Extraordinaries trilogy was available in audio. I listened to it. I was addicted. I’m now on the third book—Heat Wave—and I find it very very hard to put it down. I can’t listen while working, only while commuting, walking, or doing chores—things that don’t require me to actually think so I can multi-task. But hey, it’s a GREAT way to get me to do my PT since it means fifteen minutes more of audiobook listening! Nick, the POV character, has ADHD and I flail a lot over pretty much everything he thinks and does. I love every character in this series. I love how Klune is using superheroes as an allegory for the queer experience and for racial issues, but at the same time, is actually addressing those issues explicitly. I both want to listen faster to find out what happens, and linger so it doesn’t end.

Ebook

I have been reading Wayfinder by CE Murphy, which is the second in a duology. This is a romance, yes, but it’s another fun culture clash book, this time between humanity and faerie, and I am so here for that. Murphy is an author I used to read a lot from, and I’m trying to work my way through her back catalog slowly because I’ve always enjoyed her style. Accessible and fun. This series is about a woman who has always been able to hear lies (a Truthseeker), and how her talent develops, and how she works with the faerie kingdoms to try to help them (despite some of them not wanting help, and the original situation not being the one she’s actually needed for).

Non-fiction

I have been working my way through three non-fiction books.

One is A Year of Zen by Bonnie Myotai Treace. I had been looking for a journaling prompt book, and decided to give this one a try. I made the difficult decision to write directly in the book itself, then the additional decision to let myself fail if needed. So if I don’t get to answer a prompt on a day, I just answer it the next day. One prompt per day. It’ll take me more than a year to go through it, but that’s okay. The idea is to have me think and write a short paragraph every day, and not feel guilty about messing up. It’s working surprisingly well. Learning to let myself fail has been a big part of my process this year, and hopefully I am learning to let go of some of the anxiety about things needing to be matched and rigid.

The one I am stalled on right now is The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris. It was recommended as a book that therapists like to use for themselves, not merely recommend to their patients, and it reminded me of the radical acceptance I’m supposed to be practicing (and apparently am, despite myself, according to my therapist after she listened to me). The problem is, it has exercises (doesn’t everything?) and I stalled out because I didn’t have time.

Time is a theme, y’know? And that’s what happened with the last non-fiction book. I’ve been working through The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, taking it as a self-guided 12 week course. I’m currently on week 5. However, I did a week of just doing morning notes before I really got started, then I took a week off when everything went haywire in my schedule because of the power outage. So it’s been about seven weeks so far. This week, as I worked on exercises, I found myself really digging in to my emotions about this book. And in the end, I decided that while I can see the value in some things, the book itself is giving me more anxiety about everything to do with my writing, while at the same time making it impossible for me to find time TO write (while following the advice it gives). So. I am no longer doing it as a course, with exercises, but I will finish reading it. And if an exercise appeals, I’ll do it. It’ll still take time, because I’ll probably still read one chapter each weekend, but I am already feeling WAY less stressed and I only made this decision last night.

So…

That’s it for me! What are you reading?

#what i'm reading wednesday #duck prints press #reading #books

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sophieinwonderland · 1 year

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got any good resources on endogenic systems? our ex-host was very against them and I'm trying to get him to change his mind. anything at all would be helpful!! thank you in advance 🫶

Endogenic systems are... a pretty broad category. There are some who believe they're born multiple. There are some who say their plurality is spiritual. There are soulbonders and daemonists, and people with parts that became more distinct through IFS therapy.

To hopefully make things simpler, I'd like to focus on tulpamancy for now if you don't mind.

Here are two great articles that feature a mix of both personal experiences of tulpamancers, and some commentary on psychologists and psychiatrists.

On the personal experience side, one article that I found especially informative on the relationship between tulpamancy and DID was this one written by a DID system who was also a tulpamancer:

For a denser and more clinical paper, there's also always this paper by Samuel Veissiere, a psychiatry professor at Stanford University:

These are good starting places for this one specific type of plurality. But tulpas are only a small piece of the endogenic community, and most endogenic systems aren't intentionally created like tulpas are.

Still, hope these help!

If anyone wants to add their own resources here, please do!

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mebemilena · 4 months

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Not like we have a date with destiny

You met Layla online and her visits to your store became more regular.

---

A/N:

it's been YEARS i don't post anything, just silently reading fanficion around. Gotta relearn how to use Tumblr again. I waited one year to watch Moonknight, always wait for the hype to pass because i know i get hyped too and my poor mind can't really take that. I absolutely loved Layla, that's a fact.

as usual, i'm just trying to exercise my english writing skills. I feel like this was a part of a bigger piece but I can't really develop much. Thank you for reading though. Life's been a bit difficult at times. Lots of anxiety and fear of the future. I wanted to get something light.

i'm starting a series, that's why Sersi is mentioned.

my AO3 link if you'd like to see.

You met Layla online. She sent a message to the store you worked at looking for a specific book. You attended her on the phone and she went to the bookstore shortly after, paying in cash.

"You're a lifesaver.", she thanked you.

Soon, her visits to the store became more regular. Layla would take her time to read the back of the covers or arrive with a specific request. You became friends over illustrated books though, specially the ones about ancient culture. You told her about your beliefs and about your own culture, finding it amazing when she shared her own story. There was no denying you had a great connection.

"We should go out for drinks.", Layla invited you. "We only meet when you're working or when I need something work related." she'd insist.

It was true. You had never met in other circumstances and knew very little about each other outside duty, except a few things you could notice by yourself. Layla was an interesting woman, she was gentle and polite. Maybe not very social but very friendly anyway. It wasn't hard to slowly fall for her but of course you decided to keep a safe distance. If she didn't like you like that by any chance, you were not up to spoil the friendship you were developing.

"Let's do it tonight then? It's Friday, tomorrow's my Saturday off", you agreed. Was it too soon?

Layla seemed to think for a moment. Almost like she didn't believe it had been so easy. All she had to do was ask. Simple like that. "Okay.", a smile ghosted her lips and she shook her head, as if getting rid of intrusive thoughts. "It's gonna be fun."

Around 6:30pm, when you had closed the store, Layla appeared by the door. She was supposed to text you her location and you'd meet here but she had other plans. "I thought it'd be nice for us to walk there, it's not far from here.", she explained.

Layla was uncaractheristicaly nervous. She was watching her feet as you walked to the bar and you could sense the thick atmosphere. Was she nervous?

"So, i think we could grab something to eat first.", She finally looked at you. "You know, so that we won't get drunk too fast."

You agreed, as easy as it sounds, and suggested a small cantina you liked. You had some pizza and decided to just try their wine, not wanting to leave the cozy place. You drank and ate and talked for hours, leaving only because the owner came talking to you saying it was time for them to close.

Layla walked you home, the cold air sobering you up way too fast. Your night couldn't end better, though you thought that maybe it could. If Layla kissed you goodnight.

You stood by your doorway and bent goodbye and Layla kissed your cheek when you hugged. It happened a few time after that. You went out for drinks or food, hanging out together for log walks, cultural programs and sometimes to watch movies at each other's place.

You were talking about your romantic life when you mentioned the last mess you got involved in. "She was nice and all. Really. We'd go to the museu, to natural parks. We had fun together, i thought we were fine. But then her ex came along and she just disappeared.", you told her, realizing that it didn't really hurt anymore.

Layla listened to you, giving the attention you deserved. There was a hint of something in her eyes and she smiled. "Just like we do? You seem to have a type.", she said, playfull.

You chocked on your drink.

Layla laughed at your antics and gave you a napkin. She kept looking at you, a smile never leaving her face. "I mean, you said she was a Historian, that she worked with museology, and i'm an archeologist. We both like going out for drinks and trying new food, we're both into ancient culture...", she explained.

Your jaw dropped, you were speechless. Layla looked into your eyes and took a big gulp of her wine before dropping the bomb. "We both have a close relationship with our exes, she told you. "I mean, i just got divorced.", her eyes inspected you for the smallest of reactions.

You felt your heart falling on the floor. If she had just gotten a divorce it meant she probably wasn't ready for any romantic bullshit. Part of you was okay with that, because you liked her a lot and were willing to accept what she had to give you. Another aspect she had in common with Sersi.

The other part of you was catching the bitter taste of rejection.

Layla was waiting for you to say something, you knew that. But there were no words for you to use. She seemed to understand the hint and started talking again. "We are friends though. Kinda.", she cleaned her throat. "We work together sometimes.", she explained and noticed you were still silent, which made Layla start to panic. Was it the wrong time? The wrong words?

She took a deep breath. "I don't know where this is going but i'd love for it to continue.", she smiled, almost shy at herself. You nodded and approached her side of the couch way too slowly , kissing the tip of her nose.

Layla relaxed and smiled larger. She placed her hands on your cheeks before kissing you on the lips.

---

#layla el faouly #layla el faouly x reader #moonknight fanfiction

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hauntedpearl · 1 year

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A lesser known fact about The Room (2003, dir. Tommy Wiseau) is that the iconic "Oh, hi, Mark!" scene is inspired by one of the charged confrontations that take place between Goncharov and Ice Pick Joe in the first act of the Scorsese film. Now, Wiseau is infamous for his poor directorial skills, and so, it's no surprise that this reference that he put in the movie was almost indiscernible as an homage by the audience. However according to this interview, it was something that was really important to him as he based Lisa's character off of Katya Goncharova, and also wanted to depict the relationship between Johnny and Mark to be similar to the one Goncharov shares with his not-so-trustworthy double-crosser of a right-hand-man Ice Pick Joe.

In the book about Wiseau and the filming of The Room, The Disaster Artist, his co-star and friend Greg Sestero writes:

Tommy was always very secretive about where he came from, or how he came by the fortune that he spent on the filming of The Room. He often vaguely alluded to time spent on the French coast or the vineyards of Italy while talking about his past, but he never did go into the specifics of his life, or his businesses. From these conversations, I got the idea that his life before he came to the States probably involved things that were either extremely illegal, or traumatizing, or both. Still, there's always been a dreamer in Tommy. It seemed that he'd clung to the idea of fame and the glamorous life of a Hollywood star to get him through those years.

In the early stages of the production, before we'd begun filming, Tommy and I were getting dinner at an extremely expensive restaurant in downtown LA. It was the kind of place paparazzi flooded in hopes of catching a glimpse of the elusive Elite in the business. Over plates of fish that cost more than my rent, Tommy told me about the kind of film that he wanted The Room to be.

"I watch this film when I was young," he said, a faraway look in his eyes that reminded me that for all that Tommy came off as the clown with too much money to burn, he had come from pain. "It was a Scorsese. We did not have it in English, so my brother and I, we watch this in Italian. I think, 'I am going to go to America, and I am going to make movie like this.' And look! Now I am!"

He was, of course, talking about the '73 Scorsese classic, Goncharov. It's not unknown that physical copies of the film were really hard to come by in the 80s, which is probably when Tommy and his brother would have watched the film. My guess is that they might have managed to find some illegal copies of the Italian dub of the film through personal channels. Debates about the differences in the two versions of the films aside, I understand what about that film drew Tommy into the industry and the glitz and glamour of it all. This story about love and power and betrayal and family, all set in the bustling streets of Italy — streets that Tommy was familiar with, I'm quite sure — that captivates the audience and makes them forget where their world ends and Goncharov's begins. It's a special movie, and Tommy is a special guy. Makes sense that he was moved by it. That it inspired him.

We toasted to this sentiment that night, and for that one moment, even though I knew that The Room was an unintentional parody of the genius of Goncharov at best, I believed in Tommy. I believed in his dreams. I hoped that at the end of this journey, we would make magic like that, too.

The book is a great read (would definitely recommend!!), and it's filled with these little moments where we see what it was like to interact with the person Tommy rather than the caricature Wiseau has become over the years. It's quite heartwarming to see how a film like Goncharov reached this little boy somewhere, and made him want to leap for the stars. Maybe we didn't get another Scorsese out of it, but we did get a cult classic that managed to have a huge cultural impact, all the same.

It's really fascinating to see the ripples Goncharov has caused in the landscape of film, the unexpected projects it inspired and continues to do so to this day. So. The next time you watch The Room, and have a hearty laugh about it, remember that there's a little piece of Goncharov in it, too. God!! Truly, what a masterpiece of a movie!!

#goncharov #unreality #The Room #bet y'all didn't know about the tommy wiseau goncharov thing DIDJA???#Tommy Wiseau #martin Scorsese #the Disaster Artist #actually have read the disaster artist tho it's a super fun book you should check it out #SPENT TOO LONG THINKING ABOUT HER ACTUALLY LMAO

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9w1ft · 8 months

Note

Thank you for your answer! Yup, a good chunk of people have a tendency to oversimplify things or take them at face value from my personal observations.

Red scarf = she compared it to her innocence = she's young = omg, it must be a metaphor for her V card!!! Let's ask Taylor about that theory and ignore that she gifts a red scarf to the bride in the IBYTAM m/v!!!

Bad Blood = is about her feud with Katy Perry over some back up dancers!!! Ignore the fact that the phrase "mad love" was used in romantic context in other songs in the same album!!

So I guess I can see why people may be inclined to think we're basically saying "Taylor and Karlie are together because they've carried the same bag this month!" and simply ignore all nuance or not ask why these information are being shown to us in this manner given how Taylor operates in a careful and strategic way ... like a Mastermind, if you will.

But I guess calling Karlie "poor" for "sitting in the nosebleeds" is much more fun 🤷‍♀️

thank you for your follow up!

yeah i’m not that great at explaining it but i’m glad we got on the same page!

i think the reason why things are simplified is one thing i have always found interesting about taylor and a lot of her core fans that grew up with her music

its that she in a sense raised them to be on alert to her easter eggs, and made this a part of her persona, but she did so while her fans were also firming very personal and real bonds with taylor in their minds, to the point that the easter egging became melded into the big ball of feelings a lot of people harbor for their image of taylor swift which is an extension of their own identities. the patterns which a lot of us have come to see as PR are also core easter egging memories for a lot of fans, growing up with taylor, and represent a sense of comfort and culture.

which is a wordy way of saying that, any suggestion that taylor does the things she does for reasons either than what they experienced.. it can feel like a personal attack.

what’s so fascinating or beautiful about all this to me is that—and i think this is a common tension of our times—when you go to look at things objectively or try to deconstruct institutions or concepts or biases or modernity.. it can come off clinical and cold and cynical to a lot of people, you know? sort of… ruining ‘nice’ things, right?

but the thing is, when you do this with taylor you instead open up a whole fascinating and lush world of true love and pain, deep stories and fascinating people, actual secrecy and high stakes, that feels incredibly historic and full of meaning. like i can’t tell you how much coming upon gaylor but also kaylor specifically in all its complexities and intricacies has made me feel so much more present in my life and grateful to be alive and to experience the world.. to be more introspectful and to grow.. there’s something so moving and… epic… epoch-ful… about their story. i’m not sure how self aware taylor was when writing timeless but my god, it’s exactly what it is.

so while i definitely understand the mechanics of how some of her core fans instinctively push away thinking critically about taylor, i don’t think i will ever stop feeling like i want to share it to more people because it’s like… if you can break through.. it’s so fucking beautiful 😭😭😭

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letstalkwhump · 1 year

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Let’s Talk Whump No.7

Welcome to Let’s Talk Whump, a series of interviews that spotlight the amazing people in our whump community. I’m Malice and I’ll be your host.

Today we have @kira-the-whump-enthusiast joining us to share his whump story!

Tell us something non-whump related about yourself!

Hi I'm Kira! I'm just a guy on the internet who has something wrong with him (affectionate). Outside of whump I do a lot of regular OC stuff! Though, it always ends up angsty. I draw a shit ton, I watch video essays, and I pet my cat. He's adorable and amazing, by the way!

What does whump mean to you?

God, I don’t know man. It's when the character gets hurt and it makes me smile, I guess. For me it usually ends up being brutal torture of the physical or mental kind!

How did you discover the whump community?

So I found the whump-culture-is blog, and I kinda skirted around the whole idea cuz I wasn't super comfortable with it yet. And then I stumbled upon Hazeshift by @whumpwillow!!! That was the story that got me into whump, it clicked a switch somewhere in my brain. And from there I started following more whump blogs, creating some OCs to whump, and eventually made a blog! Now I’m here.

It seems to be a common thread that everyone has a specific whump story that just clicked! Have you found that your whump tastes have changed over time?

I think my favorite tropes have largely stayed the same, same as my hard preference for OC over fandom. But I've gotten way more into making whumpy art lately! It's mostly on my art blog @kira-does-art-sometimes So, I haven't exactly been writing. I am still doing some though, I'm just really bad at finishing it.

And your favourite whump tropes?

May the devil bless my soul, I am not mentally normal about any of this.

First of all I am an avid whumper-turned-whumpee and villain whump fan. This is the Main Trope I enjoy because it is just so good. Look man, I just need to see the somewhat sympathetic (or not) bad guys get whumped and then maybe get a hug afterwards because even if they did bad shit before, they still don't exactly deserve bad things to happen to them? I dunno know, it's a bit soothing. Also god, there are so many good dynamics you would have. Reluctant caretakers, righteous whumpers, whumpees-turned-whumpers,,,, god, I am insane for this. Also the angst potential is ridiculous and I love it.

I am also a fan of sicko shit like cannibalism and gore and vivisection. Like yes, cut that guy open and eat his organs. I will never not be normal about cannibalism and also I believe it is completely ethical if it's fully consensual. Anyways, fucked-up cannibalism is very good too. I need the people to eat each other. I need blood dripping from mouths and staining smiles. I need the faux-intimacy of feasting on another. Vivisection is also great for similar reasons. It is very Intense and Torture and I think it's fun!! You can also eat the whumpee's organs. Food for thought, pun intended!

Glasgow smiles!I love those. I need to give more of my whumpees those. I just think it's neat and it's an alternative gag. You can't exactly talk without pain when your face has been slit open.

Immortal whump is the best. Because you can just do anything, really stretch a guy past their limits and then do it again!!! The fun never ends because they can't die, at least not permanently. Killing an immortal is underrated. And I don't mean permanently. I mean like bringing them back, again and again, and continuing the murder! Is that not fun?!

Isolation in whump is very underrated. Solitary confinement is a form of torture after all. I think there's something very resonant for me about the simple. Lack of anything to the point that it drives you insane. The only thing making you like this are the walls cutting you off from the world. How do you explain that to people? I also like other fucked up forms of isolation like when the whumpee pretty much only interacts with the whumper or people on their side. The way that it can fuck them up is very intriguing to explore in writing I think.

I realize this is somewhat sicko behavior. I have decided to not apologize for this. Also if the FBI is reading this, I um. I have little to no desire to do this in real life okay don't arrest me.

I think we’re all screwed if the FBI ever decides to look our way…I look forward to sharing a cell with you all! Do you have a favourite piece you've written?

I guess I'd definitely have to say Spirals and Solitaire is one of my better pieces!! Look. I just needed to write about a woman with depression. That's my favorite type of character. It combines a lot of my favorite tropes. A villain with angst for days being trapped in a room and slowly, slowly, going fucking insane. Getting way too attached to the only person that talks to them. And a bystander who doesn't help until it's too late. But better late than never hey?

Also I am still a fan of Midnight Meal which is really surprising since it's like almost a year old I think? I think it holds up! I just like the cannibalism. And the gore. And I have gotten the best comments on it. Thank you to the nice people who left comments on it! Definitely my most sicko piece out of all my writing. Isaac's my favorite whumpee and this is not even the worst thing that happens to him, by the way.

I also have this single series, Diamonds to Dust that I have definitely updated recently. I may or may not actually start writing the seventh chapter. I apologize for the radio silence on this lol. Storm and Zuri and Xavier are my beloveds. Also Lusik and Octavia are fucked up lesbians but I haven't gotten into that yet. My favourite toxic ship!

What's your writing routine like? Is there a must have drink or snack?

My writing schedule fucking insane to be honest. Kinda goes like:

- At a random point in time I get an idea.

- I ruminate on the idea for an extended period of time. From like a week to a year. Average is prolly a couple months.

- After the rumination I finally get some words on the goddamn paper! I write in fucking simplenote cuz I can access it on all my devices.

- The words never get finished on the first day. From then it is three days to two months until I continue the goddamn thing. Or I just don't. Sometimes that happens.

- And then the editing. Oh god. The editing. Suffice to say I hate it, I hate it, I hate it but it's necessary so I do it. Actually this takes like two weeks max cuz again. Hate it to shreds. I send it to my lovely whump friends for beta reading. I love yall!

- And then post. God help me when I do that.

This is why I never post anything sorry about that.

Usually I write in my very comfy bed in the evening. I don't really munch on snacks or drinks when I write.

Is there anything specific that you find easy to write?

I find that it's pretty easy for me to write characters with depression. When the character is just angsting and going through the emotional ringer, it's pretty easy for me to write stuff. Honestly that's probably how I got Spirals and Solitude finished so quickly. It's literally just like three thousand words of Wrenna having depression. I really struggle with writing like pure fluff. I dunno know, I just find it hard to create a good conflict when it's so lighthearted.

And do you have any current projects?

I have like a couple WIPs who are not finished yet. I may finish and post them one day. I am also always drawing. Probably of my OCs or fan art of my friend's OCs!

Bless us with some writing advice please!

You ask me??? For writing advice. Uhhhh I dunno man. Just get a little silly with it. Being Quality is overrated. Someone's probably gonna read it and get something out of it even if it's just like seven words in comic sans or whatever. Or maybe you are the one who reads it and gets something out of it! Self deprecation is overrated too. Your writing is probably fine. It is probably even good. Likely, it is even great and amazing!

Shoutouts?

Huge shout out to @whump-in-the-closet for being extremely cool and having the best OCs and writing. And also listening to my little sicko OC rants!

@whumpcloud has literally some of the best whump stories I've ever read like god! I go feral for their characters.

@zillastar13 has extremely amazing writing and very good taste. Love their art!

Anything you'd like to add? <3

Lowkey I think we as a community need more transgender characters. In any role. I just need to see more guys who are transgender. Who get a little funky with their gender. Who maybe even have their transsexuality impact the story in some way. Same for like, characters of color and female characters. I'd love to see whumpees with lots of different backstories and female characters in lots of different roles in the narrative. I personally don't think that the violence that women and minorities face in real life necessarily has to be analogous to the violence faced by a character in a story. I know it can go very badly but it can get a little tiring sometimes to only find stories with cis white male characters. Variety pls.

It was awesome to have you here, Kira! Thanks for stopping by!

And to all you folks at home, have a whump-derful day!

#whump interviews #whump spotlight #whump community #lets talk whump

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