#(but a lot of them are either written without context or nuance)

[star-shard]

I pull rank in 1 situaiton

#elvis #silence brand #(all in good fun i get it article writers r just doing their jobs and getting that paper) #(but a lot of them are either written without context or nuance) #(if ur gonna be so quick to judge u better know ur stuff)

[homunculus-argument]

Hey! Another Finn here but I want your English speaking audience to be able to understand as well.

For background information, I've been thinking a lot about nuances in pronoun usage in Finnish language ever since I had a brief discussion about genderless third person pronouns with an English speaking friend. I wanted to share what I have uncovered so far about the information that is instinctive to me.

For our English speaking folk, we have our official language (sometimes referred to as written or formal language) and a bunch of dialects and slang (collectively referred to as spoken language). They can vary vastly and pronoun usage is one of the most obvious indicators of roughly where a person is from. The spoken language examples I'm giving are from Southern Finland (not the capital area) as that's what I use. Also, because of the nature of Finnish language, the words can change their sound and written form when there's information added and sometimes pronouns are not needed as a separate word in a sentence at all.

In written language the singular pronouns are as such: minä (I), sinä/te (you), hän/he (he/she/they) and se/he (it)

Plural pronouns are: me (we), te (you), he (they) and ne (they when used as a plural for "it")

In spoken language it's a bit different: mä (I), sä (you, singular), se/hän (he/she/they/it), me (we), te (you, plural), ne/he (they)

You probably noticed something peculiar already and we're getting there.

When I started learning the written language in school, my teacher told me that hän refers to a human person while se refers to everything else. Also, if you want to sound formal and/or respectful when referring to someone you use plural forms when referring to them even if you're referring to a singular person, hence the use of te instead of sinä and he instead of hän or se. However, if the goal is to still sound as formal/respectful as possible you would not use ne instead of se, because ne implies a lack of personhood. It's always more polite to imply personhood even if you're not talking about people, but people will probably find it odd if you do imply personhood to things that aren't alive. So, with inanimate objects it's either se (singular) or ne (plural).

And there in lies the foundation for many nuances.

Some Finns are indeed taught that in written language hän can be used to refer to all living things while se can be used to refer to all non-living things, but that's not the case with me.

Hän implies personhood. Personhood implies consciousness and agency.

As a result, in spoken language hän is only used when you want to underline the agency of the person/living thing you're talking about. We also generally use se when talking about people because we can often hear from the context that this is someone with agency hence emphasis on agency is not needed, so it would be weird to do that. But when speaking about animals, if someone refers to an animal as hän and you don't also switch to hän it can leave the impression that you don't think this animal has any agency or anything else that comes with personhood, like emotions. Alternatively, it implies that you see animals as "lesser" and their emotions as "not important". Doubly so if the animal is a pet. It's polite to use hän when speaking about an animal, especially to the owner of said animal without prompting. It's rude to insist calling an animal se when someone has already referred to the animal as hän. But if you refer to a human as hän in casual conversation it has a whole another connotation.

As stated before, hän is used to underline agency in spoken language.

"Hän päätti nyt näin." He/she/they decided so this time. This implies that the speaker does not necessarily agree with the decision, made even more apparent by the speakers tone.

"Se on hänen päätös." It's his/hers/their decision. Less friendly and more frustrated sounding version of "se on sen päätös" which means exactly the same. The latter implies more familiarity or warmth between the decision maker and the speaker and doesn't really imply frustration in the same magnitude. The first one can imply frustration either towards the decision maker, the situation or the one who is spoken to. Both mean that the speaker is not responsible for the decision, but while the first one implies that the speaker can't change the decision makers mind it even if they disagree with the decision, the second version implies that the speaker doesn't really want to change their mind even if they could try. Either way, the ultimate decision making power isn't in the hands of the speaker in this case.

But there's a secret option that has become more popular over the years. It's using hän when referring to non living things to imply agency in a way that's humorous. Like in a conversation I often heard and had in my home:

A: "Mä kolautin itteni pöydän kulmaan." I hit myself onto/ran into the corner of the table

B: "Hyökkäskö se pöytä sua päin?" Did that table attack (towards) you?

A: "Joo. Hän hyökkäs aika kovaa." Yeah. He/she/they attacked quite hard.

The "joke" was started when person B implied that an inanimate object can attack (which is an action requiring decision making) and then person A continued the "joke" by confirming that this table has a personhood and indeed decided to attack. It's not meant to make anyone laugh, it's meant to lighten up the mood and save person A from further embarrassment by implying that the whole ordeal was the tables fault.

But if the person B had answered in another way instead, they could have tried to further embarrass person A.

B: "Miksi sä hyökkäsit sitä pöytää kohtaan? Hän oli ihan viattomasti paikallaan." Why did you attack that table? They were innocently staying still where they were supposed to be.

This doesn't only imply that person A was at fault, but also that the collision was a malicious act towards an innocent person, who was just doing what they were supposed to do. While it's more likely to get a laugh out of people in the vicinity, it's not polite to try to further embarrass someone if you don't know they can take it from you.

Also, when someone is representing or speaking for a group, they are referred towards as if the representative is the whole group. The representative can also more easily to make clear their stance with the group. If they constantly use he when referring to the group, it means that the representative is not part of this group they are speaking for. If they use me, they are speaking as a group member or as someone who agrees with them in the matter at hand. If they use any version of minä, they are making clear that this opinion/experience is their own or at least not something the whole group agrees with.

Also, corporations, even single person companies, are spoken about as if it's a plural collective. When I'm asking a small business owner where can I find more products or info about the company, I use te. If I would use any form of sinä it is taken as an interest in the person behind the company, unrelated to the company.

And when speaking or writing in a formal manner, keep in mind that being overly polite can easily be mistaken for sarcasm. Finns are generally very casual. When writing personal emails, text messages etc we use the spoken language. Written language is only spoken if you are reading a book aloud or you happen to be a politician doing your work.

I might have missed something but this has gotten too long already cx

All I can add to this is that this is literally a real language. All the completely nonsense-seeming bullshit about the finnish language you encounter on tumblr is legit things that are a thing in a real language spoken by like 5 people in one corner of the world, and not a whole and full "yes and" goncharov- style bit.

[baiwu-jinji]

i apologize in advance if this ask sounds kinda weird, but i'm kinda curious to hear your thoughts on how the narrative treats qi rong, mostly because i think interacting only with the eng version/fandom might take some context from his character. i've seen people complaining that some fans woobify him too much, others complaining that some people treat him as a pure hate-sink when he's more than that. while i do think he's a multi-layered character, i do sometimes get the feeling that mxtx did not go easy on him, with the revised version being even crazier than before (some even say he was given a bit of onesided incestuous subtext with xl, but i wonder if that interpretation isn't just the result of weirdly translated lines in eng). i think this might be because he strikes me as a meta personification of sorts for toxic fans who place their identity and self-worth on just one person they completely idolize, and when that person is shown to be imperfect they immediately turn against them, and we know mxtx has had experience with those kinds of people.

i do think he's largely meant to be seen as unsympathetic overall, though i think there's strong nuances with his character as well. since his childhood he always lacked something and never really had a well formed identity, his prince name being symbolic of his life. he projected himself onto xl in life, and he kept on absorving the worst traits of the people around his life without really understanding them in order to feel powerful and important, from the xianle nobles to the signature traits of the other calamities. he also strikes me as very... "little brother"-coded, in the sense that he keeps looking for any sort of recognition and seems unable to mature. even when he hates xl i think he still somewhat craves his attention, and qr only developed a bit when he was forced to let go of this role by accidentally becoming a father instead. i think it's also interesting that he started out a lot like his father, but ended up sharing the fate of his mother.

i do wonder how the cn fandom views him and if he's nearly as divisive as he is here. i'd also be pretty interested in seeing some meta about him from cn fans. again, it feels like some context is missing by not speaking the language the book was originally written in...

Hi! I think the narrative basically takes the same stance as Xie Lian in its attitude towards Qi Rong, which is the sort of "I can't love you but I don't want to hate you, the best I could give you is indifference". I agree that Qi Rong isn't meant to be lovable, but MXTX isn't dismissive of him as a character either - she devoted almost an entire chapter to Qi Rong's death, let him speak his mind, and gave him some form of closure.

Qi Rong having onesided incestuous subtext with XL (!!) in the revised version is...very interesting haha, I haven't read the revised version so I can't know (someone please tell me where to get the revised version ><). Although I want to speculate that even if there is some incestuous vibes, it's not truly sexual - it's probably libido directed the wrong way when you're lusting over someone else's identity, but not over that person per se. Qi Rong lusts over XL's identity in the sense that he wants to be XL - or rather he wants to be perfect, worshipped, all-powerful etc. (bit of digression, there's an underrated psychological thriller called Cracks starring Eva Green, if you watch it you'll know what I mean)

I don't have the impression that he's truly divisive in the Chinese fandom, but then I don't engage with the Chinese fandom that much so I could totally be wrong. And I don't think any context is missing for English readers either (except maybe the humour of QR's obscene language might be lost in translation?) because human nature is the same everywhere, and Qi Rong's distorted psyche is more a matter of human nature than cultural context.

As for Chinese fandom's view of QR, there's this great meta I translated and posted a few days ago, and I found some other opinion pieces about Qi Rong on Zhihu (Chinese equivalent of Reddit), as you'll see they're quite diverse.

A lot of Chinese readers say that what stands out most about Qi Rong is his comedic role in the story because his cursing and name-calling are really funny; a lot of people also mention being really touched by his self-sacrifice to save Guzi. I found this one post that has a similar view to yours, which is QR represents MXTX's toxic fans:

"I always felt it's the author admonishing her fans in an implicit way not to be as crazy as Qi Rong [...] My guess is that the author can't ask her fans outright not to act in this way because that would hurt people who support her but are immature, however she can't turn a blind eye to these people going around provoking more resentment, so she creates QR to remind her fans not to be like QR, or they'd appear as unlikable as QR to the public. But the author still feels symathy for thse fans, so she didn't depict their representation in the novel as totally incorrigible - QR retains some humanity and is a little adorable when he starts to care about people."

I also saw opinions about the narrative (or rather Xie Lian) not going easy on Qi Rong, like this one:

"Xie Lian is clearly a very good person but why is he so heartless to QR? He eventually treated QR as a joke and a burden, but QR was once a true follower of his. At first I thought XL was perfect and cares about everyone, but he never really cared for his cousin. When I read that XL felt neither joy nor sorrow when QR died saving Guzi, my heart chilled. If XL could forgive the masses who betrayed and reviled him, why can't he forgive his cousin who once followed him whole-heartedly?"

There're also people saying that Qi Rong's potential divisiveness is what makes him a great villain, like this post:

"What MXTX's well-received villains have in common is a tragic childhood and not being loved growing up, and they only have a soft spot for one person. Although these villains did horrible deeds and are unrepentant, they all reserve some kindness in their heart for the only person who's good to them. This contrast is striking and touching, yet most likely to cause controversy. Therefore, MXTX knows very clearly how to create a memorable villain, and I admire that."

Someone else says when they read about Qi Rong they "don't know whether to laugh or cry" (XL's signature emotion hehe). They add that "this is where MXTX is successful in writing a villain - you both hate and pity him; he's infuriating, but you don't really want to see him die either."

Another view is that since Qi Rong has no filter, he sometimes serves as the truth-telling voice. For example, when XL wanted to keep Lang Qianqiu in the dark about the truth of the Gilded Banquet Massacre, Qi Rong blurted out the truth.

There's also a question posted on Zhihu that asks why people like Qi Rong, and there're some interesting answers. There's one post that says "I find him attractive because he's depicted as alluringly ghostly in a lot of fan art like vampires in Twilight" haha

Another post says they like Qi Rong "because he's guilelessly wicked, while XL and Hua Cheng are hypocrites" emmmmm

Another one says they like Qi Rong because "being Xie Lian is exhausting, he's so wronged but he just endures it all, while Qi Rong just launches verbal assults whenever someone rubs him the wrong way, it's so cathartic. The most difficult thing in the world is to be a good person, because as soon as you do one thing wrong, everyone criticises you; but if you're a bad person, even if you did just one good thing, everyone praises you for it and shows you pity".

#qi rong #xie lian #tgcf

[grey-sorcery]

What is Witchcraft?

Witchcraft is an aggregate term used to describe the act of performing an action that results in the indirect causation of the intended effect. Whether this action includes deities, tools, rituals, ceremonies, correspondences, sounds, voice, thoughts, sex, sleep, consumption, and/or other living organisms is entirely up to the individual practitioner.

Witchcraft does not imply that the practitioner is religious, nor does it dictate any type of value judgment or lifestyle upon them. However, the term does imply that the practitioner has faith in the idea that their aforementioned action(s) could/can/will affect not only their reality but also the reality of others. A very common misconception is that a practitioner of witchcraft (Often called a witch) must be psychologically, emotionally and biologically female. Whereas in reality, a practitioner of witchcraft can be born any biological sex as well as identify as any point on the gender-identity spectrum. Witchcraft also does not denote any specific sexual orientation.

Forward: A personal note

Let me start by saying that this information has been accumulated from various sources and/or is my personal interpretation, definition or method. Do not view this post as an authoritative guide. This post is meant to help others reach an understanding of their own craft or act as a trailhead for those fledgling witches who don’t know where to start.

This being said, please note that this post contains information related or belonging to *closed cultures (Meaning that the traditions and practices of these cultures are protected secrets). This information is to help give you a frame of reference. I am not going to reveal protected prayers, ceremonies, or practices but will go over tools and basic concepts within these traditions. Please do not practice traditions you do not have permission to practice, it is disrespectful to the current practitioners- but even more so to their ancestors.

THIS POST CONTAINS A LOT OF INFORMATION- I recommend taking it in smaller doses. I will be making individual posts about each topic covered that will be more in-depth. This post is primarily for those just starting on their path.

All information that belongs to a closed culture will be marked with an asterisk*

How to research Witchcraft Where do I start?

You can start here! The purpose of this post is to give people who are looking into witchcraft a good starting point. However, if you’re looking for posts beyond this post, I’d highly recommend you read through the rest of this post. 

What are the best sources?

When it comes to witchcraft there is no such thing as a primary source of information. The subject matter is so subjective and aggregate that there is not one definitive source of information. 

What information can I trust?

None of them and all of them. If you want to get the best information possible, my recommendation would be to study as many sources as possible and find out what they all have in common. There is a pattern to what cultures throughout time and space have in common. Here are two articles I have written about how to safely research witchcraft online: Responsible research & warnings

I want to research a culture, but it is closed?

If when researching you come across, or seek out, information that belongs to a closed culture or tradition (Meaning that the culture as a whole does not feel comfortable with outsiders using their practices as it could lead to a plethora of problems) then you should do two things: 1. Acknowledge the information as not yours to have, but remember it. 2. Do not ever use the information. Only use it as a guide or boundary for your own craft, but also to help that culture dissuade others who mean to utilize it without permission. 3. A vast majority of information you’ll find about closed practices online are either wrong or lack critical nuances and context. 4. It is ALWAYS best to talk to a practitioner of that practice and let them decide what information is appropriate for you to know. It would be very unwise to believe that information found anywhere else is accurate, respectful, and reliable.

This also applies to cultures that are semi-closed; meaning that only persons who meet certain criteria may practice; as well as certain religious practices (I.E. If you do/have not actively practice(d) that religion- DO NOT APPROPRIATE FROM IT.)

I have made a fairly thorough list of closed & semi-closed cultures/practices here.

Tools from across many forms of Witchcraft

Words that are in bold are defined in this list. Words that are Italicized are defined elsewhere in this post.

Alcohol- Used to lower inhibitions and increase the passion and presence of a practitioner. However, it also decreases a practitioner’s ability to maintain intent.

Altar- A sanctified table that is used to hold other sanctified items. Some Altars may be devoted to deities or spirits. They are places where a practitioner can place their intents and offerings for the workings of a spell, ceremony, and/or ritual. 

Altar cloth- A cloth that is used to cover an Altar’s surface.  It may be used as a sign of respect towards the Sanctity of the altar because many altars are made of wood and are often ornate and unique, the cloth may then be used to protect the altar surface. In other cases, the cloth serves to beautify a rather mundane construction underneath. 

Altar Stone- A flat stone/sheet of metal that is placed on top of an Altar. Some may act as Talisman or Idols in order to connect the practitioner to a specific idea or deity or entity. Some merely act as a fire-resistant surface for Cauldrons or *Salmadors.

Amulets- A necklace or trinket that is made of metal (typically). Used to hold intent, energy, and/or spirits. May contain facets for crystals or stones. Often worn for protection. Interchangeable with “Talisman” in some traditions.

Anchor- An object that is filled with energy. Normally filled with Elemental energy that the practitioner can draw from later.

*Asabikeshiinh- (*Ojibwe traditions)also known as dream-catchers by way too many people. They are traditionally made with willow on which a web is strung. Is used to prevent malevolent spirits and spells from entering a space. It’s also known as *asubakacin. 

Athame- A small dagger that is used to direct flows of energy and make energetic contracts. Used to bind energies to objects and people alike. Rarely used to draw blood. 

*Ayoyotes- (From *Mexica Traditions) Small nut shells that are bound with leather to leather ankle and wrist cuffs. worn by leaders of the dance to keep rhythm. They are also worn to keep the wearer grounded during Ceremony.

Beans- Commonly used in Cleromancy types of Divination.

Bell- Used to open and close sacred spaces when working with spirits. They are rung to catch the attention of desired spirits and pull them into the space. Then they are rung again at the end of the ceremony/ritual to release them from the space.

Besom- A broom made from natural materials. Used in energetic cleansing and curse weaving. They are not used to actually sweep a floor, but rather are hung on walls as a Talisman of protection when not being used.

Black Mirror- A simple mirror and an easy one to make that is used for Scrying types of Divination. To make one, just buy a small frame from a thrift store that has glass in it and some black paint. Paint the inside of the glass black and reinstall it in the frame.

Boline- a knife that is used for preparing herbs and inscribing wood and wax. Rarely used for bloodletting.

Bones- (*Hoodoo, *Voodoo, and various European traditions.) Commonly used in Cleromancy as a tool for divination. Are also used in various spellworkings and as a means for types of ancestor work.

Brick Dust- Typically used in *Voodoo/*Hoodoo but can also be found in Central American and Native American traditions like *Curanderismo. Typically used to block energies and prevent spirits or energies from entering a space. (Is interchangeable with salt in this regard. Brick Dust has several other uses but they are culturally protected.

Candle- Used to represent the element of fire. May also be used as the vessel of a spell or entity that is activated/released/captured gradually over time. They are also very helpful in maintaining Headspace. Also, the different types and colors of various candles have correspondences. 

Cauldron- A metal pot with a handle. Used as a censer for burning incense and other materials for spells or cleansing/smudging. Is almost never used in potion making unlike what pop-culture would have you believe. 

Censer- A container used for burning incense that is vaporized through the use of coals. They are typically metal, ceramic, or shell.  

Chimes- Used to draw in Fae. They are also used to maintain a space and headspace for specific types of spells (Typically blessings). May also be used for cleansing via sound.

Cingulum- Mostly used as a signifier of rank of initiation in Wicca. Also used in Knot Magic.

Crystals- Used to give and take specific energies defined by the type of crystal being used. Crystals have a very broad range of utility. Being one of the most in-depth fields of study within witchcraft, I’d recommend starting by researching crystals and their attributes. 

*Cuauhxicalli- (Used in *Mexica Traditions), see Offering Bowl.

Dice- Used in Cleromancy as a tool for Divination.

Dirt- Used for a plethora of reasons in spell casting. Most spells that call for dirt that you will find probably are directly from or stem from *Voodoo or *Hoodoo. However, dirt is literally everywhere so don’t feel like you can’t use it in spells that you create.

Dream journal- A book used to record dreams for uses in self-reflection and Shadow Work.

Drugs- (DISCLAIMER: I am not condoning the use of illicit drugs) Drugs have long been used to reach Altered States and/or to increase Headspace throughout many cultures. However, all drugs help in some areas and hinder the practitioner in others. I do not recommend using drugs for spell work unless you’re experienced in using said drug for ceremonial or ritualistic uses. Please be safe if you do decide to use drugs and remain ever mindful of their potential addictive qualities. 

Essential Oils- Used in place of certain herbs for cleansing, kitchen magic, candle making, salve creation and much more. Please be careful and do research before ingesting or topically applying Essential Oils, as a lot of them are toxic or can cause irritation. 

*Feathers-(Certain uses of Feathers belong to closed cultures such as Curanderismo, Cherokee tradition, and several more. Such as Prayer Fans) Feathers are commonly used to represent the Element of Air, and used to help move a smudge over surfaces. 

Flame- Fire is commonly used as an agent for releasing energy or cleansing something. Flames can also be used for the activation of Sigils and Spells.

Goblet or Chalice- Used to hold communion with deities or spirits. May also be used for sanctifying water or wine for consumption. Also is used as a representation of feminine energy.

Grimoire- A book used to record spells, ceremonies and rituals and the processes in which they are performed. Often encoded to protect them.

Headbands and Belts- Used to protect the practitioner from outside energies during ceremonies and rituals.

Herbs- Used for their chemical and energetic properties in holistic remedies and spell work.

Horcrux- An object that is imbibed with the soul of a practitioner. This object acts as an extremely personal type of Anchor. 

*Idols- (Some Idols may belong to closed cultures, be sure to do your research) Idols are representational of Deities, Spirits or Ideas that assist the practitioner in connecting with said entity. 

Incense- Used to represent the element of air. May also be used to hold a sanctified space as it is a mixture of all four elements. Some incense may also be used to smudge or cleanse. 

Ink- Used to record information. May also be sanctified and used to create sigils, spell circles, etc. Also used in sacred tattoos. 

Knife- Used to let blood. May also be used to cut cord.

Lens- Can be used for scrying and can be enchanted to create a Fae glass or seer’s lens. 

Mandalas- Drawn to center the mind and ground yourself. It is also an act of temporary beauty. Some Mandalas represent the seats of the gods in some Buddhist traditions.

*Medicine Bags- a bag that is used to store sacred objects and tools used in treatments in many different traditions, mostly from the northern and southern Americas.

Mirror- Used for scrying. Also commonly used as a conduit to create portals.

Misc. Objects- Certain found objects can hold significance in certain cultures or even to a secular practitioner. 

Mortar & Pestle- Used to grind herbs, resins, foods, and minerals. Can also be used to make pastes from/for the list above. 

Music and Rhythm- Used to help enter a good headspace in order to increase passion and focus. 

Offering bowl- used to give offerings, most commonly to spiritual entities. 

Oils- used to create infused and sanctified oils in order to enchant or sanctify object and the body. 

*Olin- (Mexica tradition) This symbol represents the eye of the creator and/or the spirit of the compound Tezcatlipoca. Similar to the Evil Eye, it is used often to dissuade malice; people who wish harm, and evil spirits.

Paint- used often to create various designs, spell circles, Sigils, and glyphs for spell work. It is not advised to burn anything that has been painted on.

Pen- Similar to paint, Pens are used to create designs. However most inks used by pens are relatively safe to burn. (Be sure to research the type of ink. 

Pendulum- A weight on a string or chain, used for divination by holding it still over a board or mat of some kind that has markings on it. Then, with eyes closed, waiting until it begins to move parallel with an answer of the board or mat. It is common practice to rotate the pendulum clockwise or counterclockwise before doing a reading. It is important, when using spirits for this practice, to swing the pendulum along all the answers before starting.

Pipes- Used by many traditions, some of which are closed practices, in order to give offerings, cleanse the spirit, and smudge.

Prayer Beads- Used by various religions and traditions, some of which are closed, in order to assist in entering a meditative space. They can also be used to enter a good headspace for spell work.

*Salmador-(*Mexica traditions) A censor made from ceramic, stone, or shell. It is used in order to smudge and maintain sacred spaces.

Salt- Used according to various correspondences; but, most commonly used to prevent spirits from entering a space. 

*Sastun- (various Central American and northern South American traditions) They are found objects, in which a practitioner to gaze at or hold over a person to help diagnose or divine what is ailing another person before treatment or cleansing. 

Scourge- A whip used to ritualistically inflict self-harm as an offering or show of devotion. (I do not promote, recommend, or support self-harm.)

Sigil- A symbol that is made in order to enact a magical effect. There are various ways to create Sigils, the most common is the Spare Method. Depending on the mode of magic, some are spell work and some are subconscious cues. You can read more about them here.

Singing Bowls- (Used in various south eastern traditions) a bowl that when rubbed with a lightly textured mallet or rod creates a loud tone. These are used in order to hold the space and create ambiance for chants. 

Smudge- (not a part of any closed traditions) The act of burning/vaporizing resins, herbs, and or incense in order to cleanse an object, space, or body. 

Solid Containers- Used to hold various objects, herbs, resins, and herbs. They can also be used to hold sanctified tools. Often placed on altars. 

Staff- A long straight stick that has an approximate girth of 5-8”. Used as a medium to cast or throw energies. 

Stones or rocks- Often used as a representation of elemental earth. Often found on altars. 

Taglock- A personal object, photograph, or the DNA of a person or place you wish to cast a spell of sympathetically. 

Talisman- An object that is usually intricate in design that is used to maintain a desired effect on a space or person. 

Tarot Cards- A deck of 78 cards that are used for divination by placing them in a spread and read accordingly. 

Tea- herbs steeped in hot water. Typically used in spell preparation and in divination. 

*Tulpa/Thoughtform/Servitor- (from Buddhist and some Taoist traditions) An artificial spirit that is created by the thoughts or emotions of a person. *Tulpas are typically considered to be emanations of negative emotions or of divine/enlightened entities. Thoughtforms can be made to be sentient, though this takes a lot of time, focus, and preparation. Servitors are not conscious and exist to perform simple actions. 

Wand- a short thin stick, typically carved or thrown on a lathe. They are used as a medium to channel energy. (I will be making a post about wands and the different ways to use them)

Water- Typically used to represent the element. It is also used to cleanse. Water has many correspondences. 

Terminology

Altered State: A trance or meditation induced in order to improve the passion and focus to do spellwork. 

Astral: And energetic form as well as a dimension of energetic space. The energetic space is typically uninhabited with the exceptions of a sparse amount of spirits and emanations of the subconscious. 

Blessing: a spell or wish of various intensity intended to aid or improve the life of the targeted person or object. 

Champion: An individual who has been chosen by a spirit as a representative. 

Changeling: An individual who was once a Fae that has been swapped for a human baby. Their existence is taboo and isn’t commonly acknowledged outside of the British isles. 

Channel: The act of moving energy or spirit through the body or an object. 

Charge: The energy that is stored in a magical object, person, or symbol. 

Cleanse: The act of washing out negative energies, spells, and/or spirits. 

Communion: Communications with an entity within a closed/sacred space. 

Core Energy Points: Referred to by various closed/semi-closed cultures as *Chakras, though Chakras have significant cultural context that is not encapsulated in the western appropriation. These energy points are the foremost connections between the subtle and physical bodies. 

Correspondence: The sympathetic associations between concepts and: Objects, herbs, colors, seasons, directions, planets, astrological phases, planetary phases, etc. 

Curse: a spell or wish of varying intensity that is intended to harm or inconvenience the target. 

Divination: The act of using a medium such as cards, pendulums, bones, and tea leaves to get a glimpse of: the future, the past, the psyche, communication with spirits/deities and, the remote present. 

Dreamwalking: The act of entering the dream plane while conscious, though the Dreamwalker is not bound to remain in the dream plane. You can read further on the subject here. 

Empathy: The psychic ability to feel another’s emotions as if they were your own. 

Energy: A minute aggregate substance that permeates all of space-time. Similar to what the ancient Greeks referred to as Eather. 

Energetic Block: A blockage in a conduit that connects two energy points. Typically caused by the subject’s own thoughts or emotions. 

Energetic Break: A severance of a conduit that connects energy points. Typically caused by the subject experiencing trauma. 

Energy Point: A point within the subtle body in which energy pools. Channeling energy through specific points programs the energy in specific ways. Evoke: The act of calling to/summoning a spirit by force and holding it in the space until the spellwork has been done. 

Fate: The great fabric of space-time in which entering a given temporal branch is made inevitable by preexisting variables. 

Field: An area of space in which energy moves and holds form. 

Gnosis: The ultimate trance in which the practitioner enters a deep waking meditation on a single thing or concept. 

Headspace: The clearing of one’s mind as to maintain focus on a spell. May also aid with holding passion. 

Hex: A spell. 

Incantation: A chain of words in various languages that may or may not rhyme. These words are of magical intent and are used to channel intent and passion into a working. 

Invoke: The act of calling for a spiritual entity, deity, or higher emanations of the self in order to hold communion or petition. 

Kin/Otherkin: The belief that one’s spirit is of an animal. 

*Limpia: (*Mexica traditions) A ritual cleansing. 

Meditation: An Altered State in which a given state of mind is achieved. Typically is done in a quiet sacred space. 

Offering: The giving of foods, water, or objects to a spiritual entity or deity. When working with human spirits, it is recommended to only give colder offerings as warm or hot offerings may excite them too much. 

Possession: The intensity of emotion that is backing a working. 

Prophecy: A story, dream, or divination that is of the future that is said to come to pass, and often does. 

Reiki: An Eastern energetic practice of cleansing the subtle body. Originating in Japan in the 1920’s, it has become very popular in the west via the New Age Movement. 

Root Sigil: A Sigil that is used as a focal point in a spell. 

Sacred Circle: A circular space that is opened and sanctified by a practitioner in order to hold ceremony. 

Sacred Space: A space that has been cleansed and sanctified for the purpose of spell or spirit work. 

Sanctify: The act of blessing, programming, and cleansing an object or space through the use of oils, water, blood, and/or smudging. 

Sight: (Also known as The Sight) The ability to see spirits and energy as of with the naked eye. 

Sigil Chain: A vertical string of Sigils created in order to create a very specific meaning or intent. 

Soul Retrieval: The act of mentally and astrally viewing traumatic experiences of a person’s past in order to find and comfort their inner child. 

Spirit: An energetic entity. 

Spell  Seal: The line-work in the center of a Spell Circle that describes how the root symbols or Sigils relate to each other and/or how they are to function. 

Spell Circle: A circle drawn that is used in spellcraft. They typically contain symbols or Sigils, a spell seal, and an incantation. 

Threads: Most commonly used to describe Fate Strings when discussing Fate Magic. 

Ward: A protective magic against any given force, energies or, awareness. 

Well-Source: The central energy point in which all energy in the subtle body originates. 

Fundamentals properties of Magic

Practices

Alchemy: The act of transmuting energies or elements of the psyche. 

Astral Projection: The act of projecting the raw energetic form of the subtle body. 

Astrology: A complex form of divination that involves studying planetary bodies and distant stars relative to each other and one’s position on the Earth. 

Divination: The act of using tools or psychic abilities to glimpse at something unknown. 

Dreamwalking: The ability to enter an Astral form while in the dream plane. Giving the walker the ability to enter other people’s dreams, glimpse into the past or future, or visit any other dimensions. 

Elemental magic: Magic that involves or requires either periodic elements or the classical elements. 

Enchanting: The act of placing a spell onto an object. 

Energy work: The act of manipulating energies within the sublet body and the environment. 

Glamours: A spell placed onto the body or an object that changes the perception of that body or object by others. 

Herbology: The study of herbs and their medicinal and chemical properties as well as their correspondences. 

Kitchen magic: The act of using cooking or baking as a medium for spell casting. May or May not be casted directly onto food and drinks. 

Psychic Abilities: An ability that originates in the connections between the brain and the subtle body. 

Shadow work: The magical and/or mundane act of introspection and self-care. 

Sigilwork: Any magical working that uses or relies on Sigils. 

Spellwork: The act of performing a spell.

Spirit work: Any act involving or relying on spiritual entities. 

Magical Books

Beastiary: A book or record of animals, insects, arthropods, etc within a magical context. 

Book of Connections: A book to record any and all magical connections, contracts, and agreements made by a practitioner. 

Book of Mirrors: A book for self reflection and shadow work. 

Book of Projections: A book to record information acquired or spells cast via astral projection. 

Book of Shadows: A book of correspondences, magical notes, divination, and occasionally spells. 

Book of Visions: A book of prophecies. 

Dream Journal: A book to record dreams. 

Grimoire: A book of spells and information required to perform spells.

Tome of Spirits: A book to record spirits that have been observed or interacted with. 

Correspondences

Why they’re important

Correspondences are often considered an integral aspect of spell crafting. They are what help connect all the aspects, concepts, emotions, memories, intent, and energies. Correspondences do not need to be of a physical object. They can also be of concepts. 

How to use them

To use correspondences requires either research or ingenuity. Though, a healthy amount of both is optimal. You use correspondences by finding or creating them for the objects, herbs, plants, time, seasons, colors, gestures, numbers, Sigils, words, music, actions, and astrology that you should use for your spell. 

You can read further on how to use correspondences here.

How to research them

If you are a beginner, I don’t recommend creating your own correspondences right out of the gate. They all follow a similar current. To research them, search for the object or concept followed by “correspondences”. Then, read and compare all of the results for your search. If none of the results are correspondences, take a note of the search and try the next one. Once you’ve compiled a good list of correspondences for an object or concept, and how often they appear, you can start to glimpse at the current that all correspondences follow. 

Fundamental Correspondences: Elements, Directions, and Colors

These are my personal correspondences. But they may give you a good basis to start looking into how to compare and develop your own.

Air: Change, Perspective, Support, Innocence, Permeation, Temperate

Earth: Stability, Mindfulness, Grounding, Unchanging, Staganation

Electricity: Fast, Raw Power, Danger, Ingenuity, Thought, Instant, Light 

Fire: Creativity, Passion, Destruction, Sacrifice, Love, Force of Change

Spirit: Being, Perception, Connection, Balance, Divinity, Truth, Source

Time: Experience, Change, Aggregate, Creation, Cycles, Destruction

Water: Expression, Life, Healing, Power, Emotion, Illusion, Combination

North: Wisdom, Ancestors, Guidance, Knowledge, Experience, Memory

South: Innocence, Inner child, Purity, Playful, Joy, Creativity, Excitement 

East: Creation, New, Idealism, Life, Goals, Dreams, Inspiration

West: Destruction, Change, Realism, Death, Endings, Completion

Red: Fire, Mars, Blood, Action, Courage, Passion, Health, Sexuality

Blue: Water, Moon, Throat, Astral, Calm, Dreams, Immortality, Patience, Wisdom

Yellow: Air, Mercury, Liver, Adventure, Flexibility, Innspiration, Positivity, Joy

Green: Earth, Venus, Heart, Acceptance, Growth, Life, Fertility, Compassion, Vulnerability

How to make your own:

There are a plethora of ways to develop your own correspondences. In the beginning it is important to reference the current that all existing correspondences follow. However, once you gain more insight from experience and experiments you can start to bend that current as needed. 

Most correspondences are based on physical attributes and/or how something has been used in spellcraft, ceremonies, and superstitions. These can also be referenced. However once you move into correspondences for concepts, they become exponentially more subjective and mailable. 

All correspondences are a form of abstraction. This abstraction is so that there can be a sympathetic connection between the actions, tools, concepts, and energies you are using to perform a spell in order to accurately form and place the spell where it is desired to go. “all of my correspondences derive from the law of signaturese.g. malachite’s toxicity in water and association with mallow? it’s a death stone in my mindlapis lazuli’s being a product of contact metamorphism (intruding magma into cooler stone)? that and the night-sky-ness is why it’s an astral journeying stone, moonstone diffracts light (plus the moon in tarot signifies illusion), so it’s also good for illusion/glamour, rosemary is intellectual because its extract extends the stability of omega-3 oils“what is above cannot escape what is below” (and vice-versa) is a saying from Cultist Simulator (aka occult game of the year), and it defines a lot of my practice”

A quote taken from @ysabetthemoth​

The importance of Sacred Circles and Spaces

Why are they important?

Sacred spaces are an energetic barrier between the practitioner and the outside world. This barrier prevents any unwanted energies, spirits, and/or spellwork from interfering with the casting. 

Methods of casting a Circle

A basic circle can be done by:

Smudging/cleansing and physically cleaning the space

Defining the spaces boundaries, which can and often are marked physically. 

Filling the space with an energy that is conducive for the working. 

Calling in any spirits you wish to be a part of the working. 

How to sanctify a space

A space can be sanctified in a plethora of ways. If you’re fresh to the game, it would be wisest to sanctify your space or tools by:

Smudging and cleaning the space

Blessing water either through a divine being or by infusing it with your own pure energies. 

Ritualistically applying the sanctified water to the space’s boundaries or the tool either by submerging it; by dipping your fingers in the water and wiping it on; or spraying/flicking the water. 

Ward the space or tool. 

(Optional) saying a prayer or performing an act of observance or devotion. 

Maintaining a Sacred Space or Circle

In order to maintain a sacred space that is intended to be permanent, it is advised to:

Enter and leave the space in the same cardinal direction every time, North is the most common. 

Perform regular smudging and working within the space. 

Smudging anyone before they enter the space. 

Petitioning a spiritual entity to protect your space. 

What is a spell?

Basic components

A spell is any action taken to effect change without direct interaction. 

There are three basic components to any spell:

Gnosis (Headspace + Focus)

Passion

Intent

Without any one of these components a spell cannot function at all. There are two further components that are a bit more complicated (Nodes & Thresholds) and you can read about them HERE. 

How tools help

Tools in witchcraft are used to channel energy. And while they are absolutely in no way necessary, they can aid in spellwork by:

Aiding in maintaining headspace/vibe

Programming energies as they leave the subtle body 

Acting as a node in your web of correspondences

Helping guide the practitioner's focus as they cast. 

A few types of spells

Hex bags

Spell Jars

Dance Magic

Enchantments

Candle Magic

Astral Spells

Snap Magic

Imprinting

Spirit Binding

Possession

Kitchen Spells Thoughtform Creation

Wards

How to build your own spells

See THIS POST. 

Key to successful spell casting

The key to successful spell casting is and always will be designing your spell to take the path of least resistance. Think of your spell as being a small domino at the start of a chain. Design a small but specific spell that starts off as a subtle change that will eventually evolve into the goal you wish to accomplish. 

Here is a guide to basic spellcasting

What is a Ceremony or Ritual?

What’s the difference?

A ceremony is a sacred ritual seated around the observations of tradition and practice, whereas a ritual is purely a set of repeatable actions backed by faith or belief. 

Basic components

A ceremony must include the faith, belief, and context of an existing tradition. 

A ritual must contain a concrete set of actions, components, and/or scheduling. 

Developing your own

To develop your own rituals, start by designing a spell and recording all of the elements and actions required to perform it. Then, by only doing what was written and nothing else, see if the results are repeatable. It is important to include as many variables as possible. 

Tips for building headspace

Headspace is one of the most crucial aspects of spellcraft in the beginning. Until you get accustomed to the processes involved with witchcraft and the mindsets required, it is highly recommended and almost necessary to hold a space in which you can easily hold your attention on what you’re doing. 

To build a headspace, you have to consider a few things and adjust them to your needs for any given spell:

Sound: how loud is your environment? Would a specific song aid you? Would any background sounds aid you? What auditory phenomena would help you hold your focus on your task?

Lighting: how is the lighting in your space? Would a change in lighting help you hold your focus or get into the zone? Would casting in sunlight be beneficial for your working? Would candle light?

Clothing: are the colors you're wearing important to your spell? Are they comfortable enough to where you can perform all necessary movements without them hindering your focus? 

Emotional state: is your mind in the right space to do your working? Do you have the appropriate emotions to fuel your working? 

Language: is the working something that can easily be memorized so that you don't have to break in order to refamiliarize yourself? 

Divination

Types of Divination

There are hundreds of types of divination. Wikipedia has a wonderful list of them you can view here. But I'll list a few of my favorites:

Cartomancy: The use of cards

Cleromancy: The use of thrown objects

Scrying: The use of reflective objects 

Astrology: The use of planetary bodies

Tasseomancy: The use of tea leaves or coffee grounds

Shufflemancy: The use of a music playlist on shuffle

Carromancy: The use of melted wax

Nephomancy: The use of clouds

Cledonomancy: The use of overheard words

Cryptomancy: The use of omens

Dowsing: The use of rods

Hyomancy: The use of 30-50 wild hogs

Basic Principles of Divination

Divination, when done in good faith, should incorporate a few ideals:

Bias: Try to only do divinations about subjects you know nothing about. Having prior knowledge about the details of the question will lead you to skew your interpretation and there is no avoiding that.

Honesty: If your immediate interpretation is something you would deem negative, share it anyway. It is not in good faith to withhold or modify information.

Transparency: It is important to acknowledge your own lack of understanding or knowledge that may pertain to a reading. It is of equal importance to state that divination is in no way absolute.

There are also a few modalities in which one can do divination. They pretty neatly mostly fall into the contemporary models of magic: Spiritual, Energetic, Psychological, & Game Theory.

Spiritual: Divination done to commune with or is aided by spirits.

Energetic: Relies on the energy of both the diviner and the client in order to ascertain the results.

Psychological: That the true divination is actually in the psyche that is doing the interpretation.

Game Theory: There is no such thing as coincidence, everything is connected. Thought the result was random, it has shown itself for a reason.

Tips

Be sure to smudge all of your divination tools

It is wise to do divination readings within a sacred space.

Remain aware of your own confirmation bias

Be wary of any entity you commune with

If doing a divination for yourself or receiving one, always get a second opinion/reading. It is also in good practice to recommend this to those you give readings to as well

Energy Work

What is Energy Work?

Energy work is the act of manipulating the subtle energies that are within and without the subtle body through the use of the subtle body and the mind. Energy work is necessary for 100% of all magic regardless of tradition or practice. It can also be accomplished by petitioning spirits. 

Energy work is significantly more than what you’ll find most commonly on google. Many energetic practices are terrible at defining their terms or having any sort of standardization. On top of that, most results will also have the barebones basics, Reiki included. If you really wish to learn about energy work, I highly recommend doing your own experiments and trials with it. MY blog will also contain extensive information on the subject.

Basics of Energy Work

I have broken down energy work into seven different categories, each necessary to master the next. They are:

Release: The act of releasing energy from the body

Absorption: The act of absorbing energy from your environment into the body.

Form: The application of the prior two in order to create a basic energetic construct outside of the body.

Density: The act of increasing or decreasing the energetic density of a construct.

Precision: The act of changing the size of a construct.

Multiples: The act of creating and maintaining multiple energetic constructs.

Frequency: The act of consciously manipulating the properties of energy to exactly what you desire.

You’ll know that you've mastered an aspect of energy work when:

Release: You can release energy from a specific place on the body, with any given surface area, at a controlled rate.

Absorption: You can absorb energy into a specific place on the body, with any given surface area, at a controlled rate.

Form: You can move the construct through space without altering it at all.

Density: You can change the energetic density of a construct without altering its size or form.

Precision: You can change the size of an object without altering its density or form.

Multiples: You can control at least 5 constructs individually and simultaneously, even if they have different trajectories, velocities, and rotations without altering them in any way that is unintentional. 

Frequency: You can modify the properties of multiple given constructs within their given trajectories, velocities, rotations, forms, densities, and sizes intentionally. Also by this point, the minimum number of constructs you should be able to control should be between 10 & 25.

The basics are 1-3, which are all that's covered by a majority of resources online.

Uses for Energy Work

Energy work is used in every single spell, regardless of the model the spell falls under, as the subtle body is ever present. However, it makes the most impact when used intentionally and in a controlled manner as a cornerstone of your working.

Energy work can be used for:

Warding

Enchantments

Glamours

Divination

Cleansing

Acts of devotion

Meditation

Shadow work

Gnosis

Astral projection

Headspace

General spellwork

Opening and maintaining a sacred space

Offerings

Reiki & Visualization

Is the most common result you’ll come across when researching energy work. Reiki was invented in Japan in the 1920’s and migrated to the west. The practice itself wasn’t initially appropriative, as it operated within the local cultural context of Buddhism and the traditional Chinese concept of qi. This practice has been hijacked by the New-Age movement and most of the information you’ll find is a melting pot of misinformation, fraud, and appropriation. I have never met a reiki practitioner who actually does energy work. I highly recommend you take all information about energy work that originates from Reiki with a hefty amount of salt.  You can read more about this in this article.

Advanced Energy Work

Advanced energy work (5-7) requires a very well developed energetic awareness. This means that you’ll need to expand your awareness to a point where you can feel energies around you with precision and accuracy from a decent distance. You should be able to accurately perceive the energetic constructs created by another practitioner, as well as their emotional state and the vitality of their subtle body. I will; be making an in-depth article about energy work soon. Frequency could have it's own novel because of how many variables it covers.

You can read further about energy work in the articles I have written: Fundamentals & Intermediate.

Enchantments

The purpose of Enchantments

Enchantments are spells that are placed onto an object. Not to be confused with Glamours. The purpose of an enchantment is to aid a person in doing a specific task, holding sacred space, anchoring a spell or spirit, and/or projecting a specific effect onto the wielder/viewer/space.

Basic Elements of an Enchantment

Enchantments can vary wildly in design and purpose. However there are some elements that are good to start off with:

Sigilwork: applying a sigil to an object

Energetic connection: creating an energetic conduit through which the spell is applied.

Blessed or hexed liquids: placing a spell into a liquid and then applying it to the object.

A specific purpose: The goal of the enchantment needs to be rigid and unchanging.

Charging: Most enchantments will gradually wear off as the energies used in witchcraft do have a half-life. Enchantments should be charged periodically.

Area of effect: Most enchantments are made to be active only while being worn or carried on a person. However, some can have an area of effect that needs to be well defined at the moment of casting. It is best to do this with a projection of an energetic replica of the space in 1:1 proportion.

List of possible enchantments

Improve focus

Ward against malevolent spirits

Decrease anxiety in a defined space

Transmute energies that pass through the object into a specified energy.

Bind any spirit that the object comes in contact with

Improve memory

Aid in recovering lost objects

Improve psychic abilities

Sigils, Glyphs, & Other Magical Symbols

SEE THIS POST.

Metasigils & Hypersigils

Metasigils are works of art that are created and charged in the same way a sigil would be, meaning they have a magical presence and/or effect.

Hypersigils are like sigil-chains or a collection of sigils that are used to create a more specific meaning/intent.

Glyphs

All sigils are glyphs, but not all glyphs are sigils. A glyph is any intentionally made mark, and in a magical context that means that it is any mark that is made with the same intent as one would a sigil.

Other Magical Symbols

Other magical symbols mostly are derived from old or ancient orthographies. Runes are the perfect example of this, as well as ogham. 

Spirit Work

Types of Spirits

Due to the wide variety of spirits that exist and the cultural context that is required to accurately name a vast majority of them, a context that a majority of us do not and should not have, I have broken spiritual entities down into different categories that exist on a spectrum- as all things do.

This spectrum exists on two axis and includes other variable. The two axis are Sapient to Natural Law and Newly Born to Ever-present. 

Other variables include: 

Their place of origin (Earth-born, Death-borne, Light-born, Self-generating, Thought-born….. And even Blood-borne)

Their relative size, meaning their energetic density- not their height or weight, as they do not possess these qualities outside of the parameters of the human conceptualizations of them. 

Their demeanor. How they interact with other spirits and living organisms.

Why work with spirits?

Spirits carry a lot of weight, and that metaphorical weight has a great impact on our physical world as well as other dimensions such as the dream plane. By petitioning a spirit to carry out a task, you forgo the need to cast a spell yourself. However the dependability of that type of working will be highly variable depending on the spirit. A great number of practitioners, especially practitioners of color, use spirit work to connect to their ancestors. Which helps many connect to their diaspora and gives them the means to honor those who came before them. A lot of ancestor work has a wide variety of cultural context that most practitioners will never have and that's okay. 

Communicating with Spirits

 Communicating with spirits is very challenging for a lot of practitioners. The easiest means of communicating with spirits is divination. Pendulums sre good for simple communications and don't require a lot of time to process. For more complex communications tarot works well. I would recommend eventually developing your own divination system to communicate with spirits. I also recommend looking into claircognizance. 

Creating an Inner Circle

An inner circle of spirits can be formed over time by coming to agreements, creating contracts, and forming bonds to spiritual entities. This circle of spirits is optimal for support in spellwork as well as for protection.

Astral Travel

SEE THIS POST.

Psychic Abilities

Types of Psychic abilities

Telepathy

Clairaudience

Clairvoyance

Claircognizance

Chronokinesis 

Retrocognition

Precognition

How to develop psychic abilities

Psychic abilities can be difficult to develop and everyone learns differently. However, most of them are just specified expansions of your awareness into different spatial dimensions. This can be done by studying higher dimension topology or through rigorous meditation and usage of gnosis. 

Psychic abilities and witchcraft

Psychic abilities aid significantly in witchcraft. From assistance in divination to having more lines of communication with spiritual entities. 

However, cognitive bias can become a real danger here. It is important to verify information received through the use of psychism. This can be done by getting a reading done by a friend without giving them too much information. Merely ask them to verify something and give them nothing else. 

Chronokinesis can aid significantly in developing a temporal awareness and claircognizance can aid in developing an energetic awareness. 

Familiars 

What is a Familiar

A familiar is an animal or spirit that has a close bond with a practitioner. This animal friend may or may not be magically impactful. Most familiars are protectors for the practitioner and can add onto the already existing wards that a practitioner already has. Familiars may also be attuned to their own energetic awareness and act as alarms for approaching spiritual entities.

How to identify a living Familiar

An animal familiar will be able to almost have entire conversations with their practitioner through eye contact alone. They may be able to accurately announce when a spirit has entered your vicinity. They will be very attentive when their practitioner is casting and may even try to participate. If not, then they will sit as a silent observer.

How to identify a spirit Familiar

Spirit familiars are difficult to identify as there is a ton of potential confirmation bias. These familiars would not enter into a practitioner’s life without reason and would require consistent interaction in order to form that bond or contract. Spiritual familiars will almost never appear as an animal to a practitioner unless it was requested as a part of a contract. Spirit familiars are in no way related to *Spirit Animals or *Animal Guides. Spirit familiars will also never be thoughtforms or *Tulpas, as the mechanisms that drive them tend to be very simple and it is extremely rare for them to be sapient.

Deities

Pantheons

Pantheons are a collection of deities in polytheistic belief systems. The most common pantheons used in witchcraft are those from dead mythos like the Greek (Hellenistic) and Egyptian (Kemetic). Though, these are not all that exist and one can have relationships with individual deities from monotheologies and polytheistic pantheons. Doing so would form a pantheon in and of itself. This is how my personal pantheon was formed. 

The right pantheon for you

I am not going to recommend any theological beliefs to anyone, but rather give some advice for when you’re first starting. Approach all existing pantheons with a grain of salt and a mound of respect. The common mythos are filled with tales that put their deities in a rather bad light. Most followers will tell you that they are metaphorical and not to be taken literally. While this could be true, I would advise that we leave that up to the discretion of the person who is thinking about following. If you don't find a pantheon that resonates with you, you’re fine. They aren’t at all necessary for magic, nor are they for everyone. It’s okay to want to do something but not have any available path to it. 

If you're interested, here is wonderful post by @coinandcandle about deity dedication and worship.

Fictional Deities/ Personal Deities

These deities are most commonly created from pop-culture. While this concept is debated, ridiculed, and hated by many practitioners, I do not see a reason why they can't function for someone who wants it badly enough. At worst, they create a thoughtform and at best they create an egregore. I’ve met many practitioners who developed their own deities from scratch and many that have adopted a deity from pop-culture. Magically speaking, they are functionally the same- especially as time moves forward. 

Philosophies within Witchcraft

Philosophies in magic

There are a great deal of conflicting moral and ethical philosophies in and about witchcraft. All are valid so long as they don’t endanger the lives of people around you or entire groups of people. What is most important is not to proselytize your personal philosophies to other practitioners. There is a delicate dance between sharing your views and asserting that yours are the only correct ones. However, if you do come across someone proselytizing a harmful philosophy, it is super important that you don't interact with them at all. Do not give them a platform. Some of you may remember This Isn’t Magic. They are a perfect example of what I mean. But this also applies to ideas such as Fascism, Racism, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Misogyny. A lot of which are very common in larger magical practices like Thelema, broader Ceremonial magic, Heathenism, and Wicca. 

Philosophies for balance

Within my own personal philosophies, I find it best when my ideals help balance my approach to magic. I have called my personal philosophy Equalibriumism, which I will be making a post about if you’re interested in getting a glimpse into my mindset when it comes to my approach to magic. I recommend that each practitioner does some serious introspection about their personal philosophies and how they affect their magic, relationships, and society at large. 

Philosophies in practice

Philosophy makes its way into every aspect of a practitioner’s craft. From the way they approach curses and spirit work to their emotional state when casting spells. Philosophies should be able to adapt to new information and new methods of spell casting that a practitioner is really interested in. Without this, practitioners run the risk of feeling stagnated or conflicted about their own interests. I have dealt with this delma myself somewhat recently. 

Your philosophies should help fuel your intent, passion and focus during spellwork, and if it isn't then I’d recommend introspection and adaptation. As an example, my curses are typically derived from wanting someone to develop a sense of empathy. As such, my curses are built with a backdoor that is opened when empathy is achieved. When that door is opened, the curse turns into a blessing that supports that change in them. This drive to help someone understand the perspectives of those around them is a powerful drive for me when casting.

Coming to your own understanding of the forces of nature

All philosophies are rooted in each person’s understanding of nature, and by nature I mean the entirety of everything that has ever existed or will exist. For some that is their current view of human nature, for others it could be their understanding of physics and mathematics. Regardless of your point of origin it is important that you study as much as you can about it. Do so in a serious manner as the more information you have the more your philosophies surrounding it will change. 

Coming into the Witchcraft internet community

Taking your first steps

The first thing you need to understand is that the internet is full of a lot of misinformation, misguidence, and proselytization. Take everything you read about with a healthy amount of salt. There is no “one true way”. Find communities in which there is the availability of free open discussions from any point in experience and/or learning. Be wary of cults, groups of people who all share exactly the same beliefs- typically with a central leader whose words have influence over everyone’s beliefs.

It is important to cross-reference all information you come across, while also giving some faith to your gut instincts. It is equally as important to come from a place of openness yourself when meeting people and discussing magic with them. Give them the space to express what they want to. The magic community has been wrought with people just talking to each other and not listening to each other.  

Tips for success

The internet is a big place. It can often feel like there’s too much information out there and you’ll never be able to make sense of it. I know that feeling well. It is important to start out by picking a subject of magic that is moderately appealing to you at first and study only that. Once you have a thorough understanding of it, then you can branch off of it. If you start with researching the thing that attracts you the most, it is highly possible that once you understand it you may burn out. Study one subject at a time. Allow your understanding to be fluid and your personal philosophies to change as you learn.

Things that are not okay

Giving harmful ideas a platform

Asserting that there is “one true way” 

Doing spells on other practitioners without their expressed consent

Doing divination readings in bad faith

Appropriating practices from closed or semi-closed traditions 

Claiming someone’s original ideas as your own- especially if that person is a POC

Lying, spamming, doxing, and harassing.

Safety

General safety

When you are just starting out, it is important to start small and work your way up to the grander spells. Spells that go wrong can have dire consequences, especially when performed at a larger scale. 

Talk to people. Tell people about things you’ve read or heard and ask them for their opinion or perspective on it. The more viewpoints you have, the less likely you’ll be sucked into cults and other harmful philosophies. 

Try to do small experiments with new ideas. Apply the scientific method. Try not to involve unaware bystanders. Informed consent is important, and you can inform people of an experiment without giving them cause for confirmation bias.

Please read this post for more information.

How to protect yourself from unwanted energies and spirits

Smudging, cleansing, and cleaning are all good practices to have, but they are best for removing energies and spirits and not so great for protection. The best tool you can have for protection is awareness. If you cannot feel what you are trying to protect yourself from, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to protect yourself from it. 

When dealing with spirits it is best to not give out your true name. By true name, I do not necessarily mean your given name as a great deal of people do not identify with it. Do not blindly trust spiritual entities. Always get at least one other outside opinion without giving them any information that could lead to confirmation bias. When dealing with energetic vampires (People who absorb as much energy as they can from the people around them and their environment), it is best to form a ward around yourself that acts as a repelling force for their sense of awareness. Many of them aren’t even consciously aware that they do this and it most commonly is a result of trauma.

There are various items for protection outside of wards. These are objects you can keep in your home or on your person such as:

Iron (nails are most common) these can be on your person or over thresholds into a space.

Red, white, and/or black cloth

Lining thresholds with salt, brickdust, and/or limestone dust.

Labradorite, or the witch’s stone, is great for giving cause for spirits to stay away.

Dried sprigs of romero can be hung over thresholds as well.

The evil eye, though while some versions are protected, others aren't.

Covering mirrors when they aren’t being used, unless they’re made from silver.

Talisman or charms

Horseshoes hung over thresholds.

But nothing is more effective than having wards. Wards can be created and anchored on jewelry, house foundations, altars, and your own subtle body. If you do not know how to ward, I would highly recommend that it be the next thing you study.

Other witch blogs I recommend following 

@coinandcandle

@wolfofantimonyoccultism

@the-mori-witch-blog

@themori-grimoire

@strangesigils

@tarotfey

@witches-ofcolor

@ualthum

@sylvaetria

To read up on further beginner witch tips click here.

To read about me, see my planned and posted content, ask a question, or commission a Sigil click here. To see a list of my planned and posted informational posts click here

#informational post #baby witch tips #baby witch #beginner witch #witch tips #witchcraft resources #divination #spirit work #energy work #witchcraftguide #Gintro

[bluesadansey]

🔥 anything tsc related

the biggest problem with Queen of Air and Darkness to me is that it really should have been two books. I really enjoy the grief exploration in that book in the wake of Livvy’s death felt cathartic to me on reread and I find Julian’s switch-off arc in relation to that fascinating. I enjoy Thule in terms of how it ties into the main arc with the blackthorns although I’m not crazy about the twp set ups from it. Basically there’s quite a bit in that book I do like but as a finale it’s rushed and disappointing. I also do think either Julian or Emma or both dying would have made the ending slay and I say this as someone who clearly looooves them both and Blackstairs (considering how much I love blackstairs as it is think I would be even more insane about it if we got full tragic potential realized).

Grace x Lucie is thee toxic yuri dynamic in tsc and I think ya’ll are cowards for not paying attention to it. Literally the only reason I would reread tlh is to write fic about them ChoI era because someone should.

on a related note Lucie Herondale reads as a lesbian to me, she says at one point she’s never been attracted to a boy other than Jesse who is kind of a phantom she can make into whatever she wants / project storybook romance tropes onto in a sense for most of the books and she reads as more attracted to Cordelia with the whole ‘Beautiful Cordelia’ fanfiction and like I said her most interesting dynamic with the most chemistry is her and Grace, so yeah I get comp het vibes personally I know that’s my subjective read.

I’m pretty neutral on Clary sometimes I really liked her sometimes I was frustrated by her but I do think this counts as unpopular since most either hate or love her. I do think she falls into the 2010s heroine who is written to have an overly romantically focused arc but all her interesting bits of characterization are about tangential platonic dynamics that the author doesn’t care to elaborate on much… but also this could be an ungenerous or overly generous assessment since it’s been years since I touched og tmi. I do side eye some people for giving Jace a lot of grace to be ‘complex’ and process his trauma and be dismissive of how much she goes through in the books ( I kind of hate Jace. without nuance)

I think I deserve one on one Tessa and Julian interactions in twp, not for any logical reason I just think I deserve it since they’re my two favorite tsc characters. And there’s a lot of fan service in recent tsc anyway… let me have this.

Kieran is overrated I don’t dislike him and enjoy him in the context of Kierarktina and as a foil to Julian, but I don’t fervently love him the way a lot of people do. (I also really disliked his fandom when the tda books were coming out so that might influence this).

I want Thule! Emma to come into play in twp … I’m very interested in the idea of her in the aftermath of Thule Julian and Sebastian’s deaths. I had an idea for a fic about her but didn’t write it partly because of laziness partly because I felt I’d have to go back to tmi to remember endarkened lore for that.

Grace Blackthorn discourse was kind of unserious… not because I don’t think people can have valid reasons to dislike her obviously those exist. What she did to James was sexual assault and of course fans who hate her for it are valid. But I COULD NOT with some of statements about her especially on twitter that were like ‘well if she was a Male Character ya’ll would never forgive her and she would never get a redemption arc she only does cause she’s a pretty white girl’ like GORL. GORL what universe are you living in what paranormal/fantasy media do you consume and engage in fandoms for if you think that a male character who does a nebulous magical consent violation is going to get Less grace (no pun intended) from the narrative and fandom than a female character and would NEVER get a redemption arc. I can’t even ya’ll are dumb. If I’m being really generous maybe they just don’t read/watch a lot of paranormal media other than tsc because otherwise I…

Thanks for the ask <3

(send me a 🔥+topic/fandom and I’ll give some unpopular opinions)

#asks #tsc #tda #tlh #tmi #chaosandtwo #mutuals #sa mention #sorry but me as someone who blogs about TVDu reading that: you have to be Kidding me 😭 #more like if she were a man she would have ended up with the love interest she violated and gotten everything she wanted #s speaks

[time-is-restored]

more whinging bc i got negative hours of sleep last night and i need to stay awake somehow lol

cw: discussions of misogyny + abuse

god the more i think abt it the more exhausted i get by the gender politics of ted lasso.

like god i do genuinely think that rebecca's arc in s1 is one of the best depictions of a mean + cruel woman ive ever seen on TV specifically bc it manages to thread the needle so well? like they never tilt her balance too much and doom her to being either totally fucked up + evil OR totally soft and sweet and harmless. and ted's 'divorce makes u crazy' response to her apology STILL makes me crazy wrt the sheer. understanding and empathy there, and she's just. given so much more depth than ive come to expect, especially for an ensemble cast sitcom w a (then) p short run time.

but my fucking god. we literally don't learn a fucking thing about michelle. im pretty sure the one (1) concrete thing we know about her comes in the fucking finale, and it's that she's a teacher for... something. the two most important people in ted's life and we don't know anything abt them! they're literally just empty symbols representing the importance of Family™, and that vacancy does nothing but weigh ted's storyline down!

like, i liked michelle's episode/storyline in s1, bc the blinding novelty of a woman instigating a divorce not being the Actual Devil, as well as a just. generally very empathetic + nuanced take on how divorce shakes out between two ppl who really care for each other, was so 'WAIT TV CAN DO THIS??' that i felt satisfied with that being Her Arc™. divorce happens, life happens, people fall out of love, and it hurts but its ultimately okay. the show, at the time, was ultimately abt a football club and how caring abt that football club helped everyone around it.

but then the show sticks around, and her continued absence just... raises a lot of questions? how did the conversation abt ted going overseas happen? what conversations did they have abt henry? how long term was it intended to be? did money really not factor into it all? like it's one thing for a character's backstory to be vague when it's not really the focus of attention (s1 was ultimately rebecca's story before anyone else's), but when it's the load bearing stone of their '''''''arc''''''' in s3...????

like. god. and then it fucking infects every other woman on the show!

sassy + nora? well sure we'll give you a softball - you can have one (1) scene where a woman is able to resolutely and firmly reject a man asking her out without immediately being seen as cruel or gameplayey (not that the audience will see it that way! she's already a lecherous temptress for them!), but neither of them will ever be able to speak to rebecca onscreen again, even after the heart-wrenching scenes in s1 CLEARLY establishing them as a beating heart of rebecca's arc.

shandy? nope, don't even think abt her motivations/drives, just forget her. simi? LMAOOO imagine a black woman getting a personality beyond righteous anger. jack? three-four episodes, and we learn so little abt her that her conflict with keeley - which SHOULD'VE have been a huge emotional beat - just feels like a kick in the teeth (and while, yes, i absolutely agree that in a real world context, jack's rejection of keeley would be largely motivated by class, in Ted Lasso Land™ rebecca is just as rich - if not richer? - and we're never once encouraged to interrogate her priorities).

barbara's the one that really makes me miserable, bc i feel like on a show with less run time, she could've played REALLY well. she's a great contrast to keeley, has an amazing delivery, and the scene where keeley + her first discuss the snowglobes shows that she has the potential for some really moving vulnerability + pathos. but instead they give SO many of keeley's scenes to characters who ultimately get written out, so when barbara stays it's like... okay? sure? like, i was so stoked that barbara survived the Mass Exodus of side characters that i didn't wanna look the gift horse in the mouth but... wasn't the last thing we saw of her and keeley's relationship like. general resentment + distrust abt the shandy debacle? when did that improve? how???

i don't think i'll ever have enough mental real estate to explain how disappointed keeley + rebecca's 'arcs' in s3 made me, and at least there's the saving grace that. virtually no one other than jamie got a coherent arc this season, so at least it was on some levels an egalitarian screw up. but fuck dude. keeley was just forced to react to bad things that were happening to her, and we got to see her do her job (which, unbelievably, does actually involve things other than being an awkward manager!) precisely one (1) time.

i even like rebecca's arc on paper - i think it's really cool to see a character backslide so intensely in terms of obsessing over and struggling to come to terms w a past relationship, especially an abusive one, bc like. yeah! that shit sticks with you for longer than a season! and beyond that, seeing her regain her sense of self and what SHE actually gives a shit about was oftentimes just as sweet as s1. but her scenes were poorly connected, and she had to carry WAY too much of a burden as the Resident Speech Giver for any of her internal characterisation to make sense. like, sorry, but it's kind of hard to believe a character's Going Through It™ when they have to spent near 100% of their screen time giving Take It From Me, Kid, speeches. and then she's not even given a real opportunity TO fuck up + sabotage her relationships, even when she starts getting really weird w ted! it's all just so meaningless and like nothing that she does is ever going to matter. she never speaks to zava again, we don't get to see her interact w bex or kate, her pleas to ted get COMPLETELY shut down...

but the thing that REALLY makes me sick is this complete lack of interiority absolutely butchers the characters of jade + jane, who are otherwise RIFE with potential. like, jade is a completely unflinching, unapologetic asshole to nate + his family, and that's never interrogated. even in Sitcom Land™, it's more than reasonable to view jade's actions as racist, especially when she doesn't give the same treatment to others (at least not as i recall? honestly i usually watch the taste of athens scenes while peeking out behind my hands, so i could 100% be wrong here). and yet, suddenly, and completely inexplicably, she's charmed by nate. she wants to give him the time of day. she finds him attractive, and wants to date him, and generally take control of his life and force him into a decision that is literally the exact opposite of what he expressed wanting to do. except even that LAST thing isn't allowed to be interrogated, bc god FORBID a woman is enough of a fully realised creation to actually be culpable of the terrible shit they do!

and fucking jane??? beard's so head-over-heels for this woman that the emotional abuse + extremely controlling tendencies don't even make him bat an eye, and we don't get to know anything about her? she's literally just the suggestion of an alluring woman! good at sex! good at chess! fuck you if you wanna know more, even though the show ENDLESSLY hits you over the head with how painful their relationship is for beard - beard who is given virtually no other storyline. like, i literally can't read brendan's refusal to label jane as abusive as anything other than like. that bio-essentialism shit where ppl 'women are better than men <3' so hard that they end up genuinely and wholeheartedly arguing that someone's sex defines their morals - or worse, that their sex is a deciding factor in determining whether someone's actions are good or bad. not context, but a legitimate 'add points if woman, take away points if man' variable.

like that's so feminism 101 it's legitimately almost worse than nothing. that's like getting as far as 'hey so you know how we're all inundated with both implicit + explicit messaging abt what is Valued and Good for women vs men to-' before shoving ur earplugs in and going 'if you are oppressed by society we'll automatically stamp a 'good person' label on ur head and now we don't have to think abt any of our biases + internalised beliefs ever again <333'. the most useless and fucking pointless stand against the patriarchy ever, especially coming from the same show that ENDLESSLY slots characters into the 'loving gf/wife' archetype and then give them Literally Nothing Else. my comrades you have literally just done madonna/whore 2: oops all madonnas! this is not liberation!!!! this is a miserable cage!!!!!!!!!

im just. higgins' wife. mae. trent's daughter and anonymous 'her'. the women at the hotel and the restaurants and the firm and the fucking physios, fuck - dani's gfs! who are they? what do they want? where do they go when the camera stops rolling? can anyone hear me?? hello??? hello???? brendan hunt i am OUTSIDE YOUR HOUUUUUUSE

#ted lasso spoilers #ted lasso meta #ted lasso critical #dead girls by p.enelope s.cott has been stuck in my head for approximately a month bc of this fucking show #its so fucking nuts being treated to rebecca + keeley in s1 and then slowly realising w dawning horror that its literally only down from #here. and also listen nothing but respect to my comrades out there who can take michelle + henry as written #and immediately + painlessly extrapolate from their significance in ted's life to viewing them as like. important figures narratively #but to me they literally never got beyond the carboard cutout stage? like. yes thank you if u love ur family its sad when u leave them. #why'd he leave them then lol. #LIKE. if both michelle AND henry are just these. passive vessels who are neither invested in ted staying OR leaving london #and the only motivation we're EVER given for ted's move is 'michelle wanted space'. like sorry for wanting an actual deconstruction of ted' #motivations rather than the worst mystery box of all time! if i wanted a story abt 'man misses family :( please don't ask any questions abt #the family in question-' i could just close my eyes and imagine a stock image of a sad business man. #wagh. ted bud they gave you so much potential + so many demons and then just wiped them away w no exploration outside of like. two #scenes w sharon. u are also in this cage king but at least u got a good two seasons of mc character energy before they locked the door :( #something something sorry for having an ace attorney witness stand breakdown when the show i liked Was Bad. do u still want to be mutuals

[qqueenofhades]

there definitely is the lack sympathy and solidarity between the oppressed groups of people around the world.

ethnic russians have been colonizing the central asia, the western asia, the caucasus, the eastern europe and oppressing the natives of these lands for CENTURIES!

russia has established the hegemony of the ethnic russians and hierarchy where the people of the caucasus and central asia are not considered as white thus are discriminated against. even other slavs like ukrainians and poles (who are indeed seen as white in the russian power sphere) are percieved as lesser disposables.

if the westerner leftists understood that the social constructs and power dynamics around the world are constantly changing, have changed throughout history and are different depending on the region and depending on which country/people are the global powerhouses in said region, the discourse would be much easier and more productive.

i'm west asian myself who used to be naively optimistic about the us anti-imperialist leftists, but ever since the war in ukraine, my delusions have shattered beyond repair... the us americans live in their own bubble and want to see the world through that usa-centric bubble's lenses. you see someone try to educate them about the situation and realities of other place and people and said usa americans will accuse those people of horrible stuff bc usa americans hate it when their simplistic worldview ideologically rooted in puritanism is being challenged.

a good example is how the middle easterners are either talked about as "white" or "poc" depending on whether or not the us americans want to sympathize with them and admit that the middle easterners are the victims of oppression/imperialism.

i can't blame the people of africa, latin americans and other people who suffered bc of europe and the us for falling for russian propaganda, but seeing ourselves as the only katniss everdeens of the world won't solve anything.

I mean... yeah. As I've written about a lot, the perspectives of so-called "anti-imperialist" American leftists, both in regard to the Russia-Ukraine war and overall, are generally absolutely fucking dismal. Both because they lack any sense of historicity, nuance, or attempt to deal with complex issues, and also because they are, as you note here, still myopically fixated on the US as the center of the world, the only agent of actual change, and the cause of everything bad ever. They are good at weaponizing the language of social justice and accusing everyone and everything of racism, but they rarely seem to have a sense of what that actually means outside the American context, and frankly for that matter, inside it.

A lot of "anti-imperialist" leftists are only opposed to American empire, which they think is the only empire to ever exist (as if European colonialism and empire didn't create America; as if the Roman Empire didn't create Europe, etc. etc.) Because the Republican right opposed the Soviets during the Cold War, plenty of modern leftists have now decided that that means the USSR/Putinist Russia is actually good after all!!! It's a meme ideology with absolutely no substance or internal coherence, because it's completely based on shallow and distorted mirror-images that they adopted solely out of contrarianism. They borrow the language and symbols of Marxism-Leninism in their fantasy online lives, they decide that this makes them Communist Visionaries, and they trade purposefully-misinterpreted jargon in their Twitter echo chambers without ever attempting to consider either what it really means or how these extremely fraught symbols were interpreted and used in the real world. They want to proclaim that Communism Good!!!, so they do that, and any and all nuance or actual example to the contrary is just Neoliberal Corporate Bootlicking. Or something like that.

What's funny, of course, is that the "anti-imperialist" leftists are still relying completely on a sense of Western exceptionalism and intellectual imperialism, wherein their own interpretations are always to be preferred over anything that the Savages might be saying; the Misguided Natives just need the Wise Western Man to correct them and show them why Tankie Communism is Good! Which, of course, is the exact vernacular of European Christian white-supremacist colonialism from the 16th to 19th centuries, and seriously calls into question any remotely accurate claim to being "anti-imperialist." Like, do you know what those words even MEAN? Or like, ANY words?

As I have said in earlier posts: yes, it's understandable, if disappointing, that people from Africa/India/Latin America, all of which HAVE suffered extensively from actual Western imperialism, have proven susceptible to Russian propaganda about how the current conflict is all the Evil West's Fault. But it's even more disappointing that presumably educated and "enlightened" Western leftists who trumpet their anti-imperialism have become such cheerleaders for a genocidal fascist imperial regime, simply because they think that anything America opposes is morally and/or structurally good. Which is just so facile and stupid on so many levels, not to mention ignores the reality of the Ukrainian war and its root causes on pretty much every front, but for them, that's basically par for the course.

#anonymous #ask #history #russia ukraine war #politics for ts

[fastidious-and-a-mess]

I keep getting disappointed by how often I serch for riz fan content only to see Fariz (or other Riz ships included in it) I started watch fh cause I heard people talking about riz being aroace, good aroace characters are hard to find and I love all of them that I do find. so to see so much of the fandom just dismiss Riz being aroace in favor of their ships is very disappointing

disclaimer; in writing this response, i tended to lean more towards talking about fic and less about fanart because that’s where i’ve seen the most of what you’re talking about. also, in some places i strayed to talking about aroace characters in general and not just riz, which honestly i feel is appropriate because what happens to him happens to a lot of characters.

i totally understand what you mean. as an aroace person, it can be really disheartening to see things like “aroace people can still be in relationships!” etc etc.

honestly a lot of the fabriz content i’ve come across has been with demi!riz, which i don’t have too much of an issues with? in canon, he’s never had close friends like the bad kids before, so he’d never formed that close bond with anyone that would lead him to discovering his sexuality. i’ve read a few fics that do this pretty well, and in this context personally i think putting riz into romantic relationships is fine. not great, but not flat out erasure either.

although, sometimes it does feel like an excuse to be able to put him into relationships. like someone interpreting riz’s kind of vague sexuality in a way that allows them to write him in a ship without technically erasing his aro/ace-ness. and you’re absolutely right, that can feel very dismissive.

there’s a similar thing with people writing him aroace and still writing him into qprs. like, yes aroace people are often involved in exclusive and intimate relationships that, although explicitly not romantic or sexual, often involve a lot of the same mechanics as those relationships. but sometimes people just use that as an excuse to effectively write him into a traditional romantic/sexual relationship. they’ll think it’s fine because they’ll say he’s still aroace and it’s a qpr but i can tell there’s a very subtle difference between actually aro/ace people writing him in a qpr and allo people writing him in a qpr.

but then there’s so much riz content that just. chooses to ignore it completely. they’ll write riz into relationships with absolutely zero consideration for how he canonically is some flavor of aroace. to his aroace-ness implied or coding and not explicitly canon because they never label it would be like say fig’s queerness is only implied or coded because they never label it. fig kisses girls, and without labels that’s MORE than “enough” for her to be acknowledged as canonically queer, but riz has conversation after conversation after offhand comment about how he isn’t into the whole crushes relationships kissing thing, and for some people it’s STILL not enough to “earn” him a queer label. some people are quicker to accept a bisexual gorgug headcanon, which to my knowledge was never implied or suggested in canon at all, than to accept riz’s very canon aromantic/asexual identity. and it’s frustrating.

WHOOPS this was longer than i intended. as always. but anyways TL,DR: there are some instances where, when given proper nuance, depth, and care, riz can be appropriately written into a relationship without erasing his aroace identity. however, all too often people attempt to do that or say they attempt to do that and instead use those practices as an excuse to write him, effectively, alloromantic/allosexual. people just flat out ignoring and erasing his canon identity for the sake of their ships is also a common problem. so, even though there are a few nuanced exceptions, by and large i completely agree. aroace characters just don’t get the same respect for their identities that other queer characters do.

#ask #anonymous #you’re absolutely right anon. it’s disheartening #riz gukgak #riz fantasy high #fantasy high #dimension 20 #anyways shout out to everyone who’s written something under the ‘asexual riz gukgak’ tag on ao3

[vampxrebarbie]

an entire fucking thesis could be written on the evolution of vernacular and linguistics in online social culture among the 'online generation(s)'

like. text is flat, which is why punctuation is ungodly important in written fiction. use it right and the audience will read it with the right mental inflection.

that's why tone reading falls flat as soon as you hit online social spaces--we arent narrating in places like tumblr or twitter, we're TALKING. sure we've got exclamation points and question marks and periods and all, but there isnt anywhere near enough punctuation marks in existence to properly convey every little nuance present in speech. in text you have no vocal intonation, no nonverbal communication (expressions, gestures, tics) to further clarify what's being said behind what's being actually said.

so those of us present in online social circles invented our own social intonation to help each other communicate as many of the little nuances not present in text as possible.

like, i'm putting a flat period here at the end of a sentence.

just one.

to most of us who've been communicating online for years, that 'flat' period reads as incredibly harsh and borderline hostile depending on context, so a lot of us tend to omit it entirely in casual dialogue.

the more punctuation marks you use at once, the stronger the 'tone' it conveys. for example:

this topic is so exciting??? i love it so much???

doesnt so much read as a question as the mark implies. willing to bet most people in online social circles will 'hear' disbelief, shock, or excitement from an overabundance of question marks.

overabundance of exclamation points? you are feeling A WHOLE LOT and just NEED TO GET IT OUT!!!!!! doesnt matter what it is you're feeling but you SURE ARE FEELING IT!!

periods? well they sure do draw things out...........and depending on context can function either like a comedic twist on the traditional use of ellipses or a purposeful extension of spoken Dramatic Pauses those traditional dot-dot-dots just don't properly convey.

then there are the little oddball vernacular rules such as:

using a question mark at the end of what would otherwise be a flat statement because, somehow, our brains translate that to a verbal uptick in tone, basically the text format of a shrug, and if someone asks what for all you can do is say "idk it just feels right?"

keysmashes. we all know. we just do.

you're in the middle of typing something and decide you Need To Capitilize These Specific Words. why?

and jumping off of that:

MEMES oh my god. memes. m e m e s. let's talk about memes. i love memes as a method of communication i love them so much. why?

because i can post this

and theres a good chance a majority of you who've been around online social spaces (specifically tumblr) for long enough will know exactly what This Specific Meme is saying without needing a caption or context to infer it.

you just know.

you know the origin of it, you know how it was first used or have seen it used the way it's been traditionally used before, and because of that you can pretty much context clue your way into understanding what it's conveying when used at any other time provided it's being used in a similar way.

and that brand of communication can stack!

take any meme that began with a subtitle/caption that's been in circulation long enough for your brain auto-translate it on sight, have someone else add another caption-less meme in response, and anyone who knows the vernacular of online social spaces will know exactly what the two of you are communicating without a single word being typed/spoken.

we've reinvented fucking hieroglyphics, people!!!

all because us humans are so gosh-darned SOCIAL as a species that we're willing to rearrange our own learned grammar structures and methods of speech for the express purpose of communicating as clearly as possible in a medium that wasnt originally and to an extent still isnt meant to be used for casual dialogue and interaction with complete strangers.

this is why there's such a hard disconnect in online communication between anyone who spent most of their life offline versus those of us--primarily millenials and Gen Z--who grew up online.

we are literally speaking a completely different language from older generations.

#and this isnt even getting INTO the topic of how pieces of media can influence someone's personal spoken/written vernacular #there's a reason people who've been Online long enough can pick out the people who identified A Little Too Strongly with dave strider #i fucking lOVE LINGUISTICS #language tag #ishusteedus

[south-sea]

You've talked a little bit about Black Doom in your Second Chance AU, so now I've gotta ask- what's Metal's reaction to Black Doom wanting to get closer to Shadow?

good question.

i'm so far behind i haven't actually written some of this down yet, so buckle up because there's some nuance and clarifications i need to get through first:

metal was in stasis at the time of shadow's namesake game, but was brought out of it shortly after.

the only relevant black doom in terms of second chance shadow is alt doom.

there are no plans whatsoever for second chance shadow to meet aruna. this is absolute nonsense that means nothing, and i kind of regret it because it sets a weird expectation of aruna's character/their dynamic that has long since been inaccurate. it was a shitpost and should be disregarded in the context of any AU.

so the thing with alt doom and second chance shadow is it's less that alt doom wants to get close to him, and more that shadow just kind of accidentally's into meeting him.

alt doom and his kind have advanced so far beyond thoughtlessly preying on sapient species by this point that they're like just any other random multiverse species themselves, having established small settlements here and there. they don't even really live in a hive/comet anymore. instead they have various stores and restaurants (it's not all just human meat i promise; the whole point is they've diversified and like catering to multiple species for the sake of networking) that you'd expect of any other reasonably-sized community. they're socially progressive and have a keen sense of protection/looking after their own.

shadow, always going here and there just for fun and sampling food along the way, ends up in one of their settlements/restaurants totally unaware of who or what they are. he is not with metal during this first visit.

he has a reaction to something in the food that would only have an effect on other black arms (think like the good feelings dark chocolate is said to provide, but amplified twofold on account of shadow being "black arms but to the left" and therefore metabolizing it differently. dude ends up a blissfully sleepy purring heap in his nest like an hour later. to a regular black arms, at most it would just relax them a bit). obviously he knows that was not normal. comes back later to ask the restaurant owner like hey what the fuck was that. cue a [leo points at tv] moment where the owner realizes the implications here.

word spreads like wildfire through the hivemind, and alt doom is alerted. shadow was not present for his own game's events, but does by this point have his own medical/creation records, so he's aware of the basic gist of who black doom is and is shocked to see him show up. it immediately clicks and puts a lot of things into perspective. alt doom technically never even got to meet his son, but is very much aware of everything, and knows exactly who he's looking at (without quite realizing they are in fact from the same timeline).

they Talk. technically not even about what went down on earth, but about the ARK and various other personal things.

alt doom is not particularly thrilled by what he hears. he's also a bit troubled by the whole "this kid, who could literally be his own kid if not another instance of him, straight up died". either way, shadow is part black arms. the protective instincts in alt doom are reasonably strong, so he more or less extends an offer to just Be There for shadow in some parental capacity, especially given certain other grievances shadow has.

that said, alt doom isn't overbearing about it or anything. at most, he offers, and shadow is welcome to reject it/drop by whenever for advice or whatever. he doesn't push for more than that, and doesn't indicate he wants more than that. alt doom is superficially warm and excellent at mimicking sincerity, since that makes him and his kind more agreeable to other species who might be interested in beneficial arrangements, but he is personally neutral about Most Things. while in this case he does genuinely care about shadow to some degree, in general he's mostly operating based on what's socially beneficial for his kind.

shadow's just relieved to have someone who can help teach him about the more niche aspects of his existence that literally no one else has been able to up to this point. he doesn't pull a 180 and suddenly become reliant on alt doom's presence/guidance or anything, he's just comforted in the knowledge he, in a peaceful capacity, exists and is accessible.

so now we finally get to metal's role in this. it's easy to forget he's originally from semi-modern's timeline. and on that timeline, semi-modern shadow was very much present for his namesake game's events.

metal himself was also present, but in stasis. he does not personally know what black doom normally looks/looked like, but passing glances later on after he was reactivated ensures that he knows what the mobian one (aruna) looks like, mostly out of context. point being he does not have context to assume alt doom = A Former Enemy by visuals alone at first.

he does later visit the alt arms settlement on occasion to pester unrelated store owners, so he's aware of what they are, but it never particularly bothered or worried him. from his perspective, these people are going above and beyond in terms of looking after shadow's wellbeing in their own way, and they are not the same as the black arms from his own home timeline. alt doom is included in this assessment, even after learning who he is relative to "shadow in general" as a concept.

alternates are alternates, he reasons. just look at how different semi-modern and second chance shadow are.

not a single one of them even give a hint of malicious intent. metal is meticulous and thorough, and in short, every one of them passes the vibe check. he has no reason to be worried. they're allies, for a few reasons, especially on the "helps take care of his charge" front. metal does not care about them, or alt doom, on a personal level, but he values what they all bring in terms of utility, and is not interested in jeopardizing their collective arrangement with baseless concerns.

if he had more of a personal involvement with a black doom prior to any of this, or if alt doom was any amount of pushy to keep shadow around more often, then he'd be suspicious. but ultimately he concludes that the alt arms at large are not a threat.

you don't smack a beehive when they're just peacefully going about their business (and providing nice things to your favorite person).

#sea answers #measlyfurball13 #second chance au #alt doom is a decent guy on the surface and is a deliberately comforting presence (he is Choosing to appear as such) #but aruna somehow still beats him as most genuine in terms of core values/parental instinct/self-awareness #which is just fun and slightly irrelevant trivia because the aruna brainrot is Real and i cannot help myself

[sixstepsaway]

Some grist for the class/work ethic issues vs homophobia/femmephobia mill - while namby-pamby and ponce are both used as homophobic slurs now, namby-pamby originally meant weak and maudlin speech, and still means lacking courage, strength, and energy, ineffectual and weak. Sure this can be short-hand for "ew, gay" but reducing it to that strips it of context, of things like the individual characters and their dynamic and situation (that's what I find all of these reductive readings have in common actually - the depersonalization and dehumanisation of the individuals involved. They become empty shells you can slap a neat label on and move them around the board like game pieces).

Ponce? Wasn't used to mean "male homosexual" until the 1930s. Before that, in British slang, it meant a pimp, as in a man supported by immoral earnings. Unknown origin but possibly from the French pensionnaire - a person living without working.

Is David Jenkins using words that are really no different from f***** now, or is he using words that had a different more nuanced connotation then and play into the class issues and Izzy's fear of softness (not femininity and god I wish people would stop equating luxury with feminine). I have no idea.

Is he using those words as an audience shortcut to "Izzy simply thinks 'ew, gay'"? I don't see how, looking at the totality of the character and Con's performance (and later scripts were written with Con's performance in mind).

Is he using words that at first glance make us think "oh a homophobe" and if you don't think about it any further than the words used Izzy's story in S2 might be more of a surprise and if you do it might be more satisfying? I hope so.

Gonna start here because it's applicable to the whole rest of my thoughts:

that's what I find all of these reductive readings have in common actually - the depersonalization and dehumanisation of the individuals involved. They become empty shells you can slap a neat label on and move them around the board like game pieces

It isn't just depersonalization and dehumanization of Izzy and Ed, either, it's depersonalization and dehumanization of the people writing and participating in the show, too. I made the mistake of opening the Izzy Hands tag and I immediately found people arguing about racism from Izzy again and, like, saying why people should be "cautious" or "careful" about shipping him and Ed because of it, specifically talking about the scene where the people of color are moving the anchor and Wee John is sitting down (a scene Ed wasn't even in, mind), and one of the writers had explained that scene? And why it was done that way? And their take was to comment on how things can slide past the writers so easily? And I was just like-- but-- the writers wrote it-- I dunno. It feels very... "You can't write deliberately, you can only write how we see it."? I'm not sure I'm phrasing this right. It just seemed like a way of handwaving the reasons for the scene being the way it was because they wanted to keep seeing what they were seeing, I guess? I see a lot of that, in fandom, and they do the same thing re: Izzy being supposedly homophobic.

(I think if the entire cast bar like three people were white and Izzy was very specifically framed as cruel to those three people and the three people were doing hard labor and all the white people were seated and doing nothing, that...? would be different? but you have to frame the scene in question against 1x05 (Lucius) and against everything else Izzy has done so far? And it's... a dishonest reading, in my opinion (and as I've said, the opinion of fans of color who can and should talk about this far more than I can or should), and it's the kind of reading where they extract a singular scene from the entire show and then present it without context to say "Look! Bad!" and honestly you can do that with everything? You could extract the scene where Stede is bossing Roach around re: the hostages on the beach and show it without context and say how that is racist too, and how when Stede bosses Lucius around in the first few episodes he's being homophobic, or the way Stede reads stories to the crew and you could crop only the people of color into it and say he was infantilizing them, and so on.

When you divorce scenes and clips from their context, you, well, lose context, and it strips not only the characters and writers of their agency but also the actors who consented to take part in those scenes and deliver those lines.)

But that just comes back down to the essay I keep referencing that said it does the show a disservice to badly contextualize in this way, and people seem to think everyone should be a hive-mind about everything else, be it whether a show or scene is homophobic/racist/sexist/whatever or whether a character is likeable or not, even though everyone will always have differing ideas, including in reference to their own marginalization.

By the same token, when you take something like 'namby-pamby' firstly out of context and secondly pretend it's on the same level as the f-slur, you're just being disingenuous as fuck.

It's like that clip of some right-wing show I remember seeing, where the guy was like, "Is saying cracker as bad as saying the n-word?" and the overwhelming response was, "My dude, clearly the fuck not, since you said cracker and went with 'the n-word' instead of saying that. You knew it wasn't on the same level, or you would have said both equally and ya didn't."

So when they say, "Oh, well, Izzy said namby-pamby but we all know he was calling Ed a f***," they're being deliberately disingenuous to paint Izzy as worse than he is. You can do that for just about every line in the show if you want to, you can say, "Well, Stede said I'm your friend but we all know he was saying Please don't kill me."

Well, no, they mean different things. They are different words. Words mean things, and they are chosen deliberately, especially in a writing context! People choose words deliberately when they're speaking (so, the characters in question), and writers choose words with even more deliberate care and attention while writing.

Izzy didn't say the f-slur because the f-slur is not what he was saying.

Now, I know that the anachronisms in the show are a popular conversation to laugh about, so although you are absolutely right about namby-pamby not meaning what they imply it means, although it can be used in a homophobic manner as you say, but I'm willing to say that technically, they're probably using it in a more modern manner.

That said, it's still not equitable to the f-slur, and considering the use of 'donkey' earlier in the show, which was very specifically used to show the character in question as racist and then that character was immediately dealt with in response to that racism, I find it hard to believe that the person who wrote this line (David Jenkins, I assume, since it's 1x10) 'was actually meaning the f-slur'.

There's also the context that a queer man using a queer slurs against another queer man is miles different to a straight dude using a queer slur. Reclamation and all of that. So even if Izzy had used the f-slur, it would still be different in context (him also being queer, which is frankly canon due to the scenes with Lucius and the face touch with Ed, even without David Jenkins' word of god saying he's in love with Ed) than just a guy using a slur.

The ponce one amuses me especially since it was used against Stede in 1x04 and I mean, yeah. I know our Stede isn't a slave owner (thank god), but he's a landowner and the class slant of looking at Izzy using 'ponce' to refer to Stede in this manner is excellent to mull over.

Is David Jenkins using words that are really no different from f***** now

I meaaaaaaan, as I said above, if it really was no different to the f-slur, I think you would have simply written the f-slur out, much like you wrote out namby-pamby. Instinctively we all know it's not the same.

is he using words that had a different more nuanced connotation then and play into the class issues and Izzy's fear of softness

Far more likely. Far more likely. When Izzy said 'namby-pamby', I heard it more as comparing Edward to a foot kicking teenage girl on his bed pining after his schoolgirl crush than picking on the fact his schoolgirl crush was the same gender as him. I also heard it more as a comment on the fact he was literally walking around in an undone silk robe with literally no armor at all and was exposing his squishy inner core for the world to see.

It also meaning 'gay' did not occur to me, I think because although homophobia very clearly does exist in the OFMD universe, it doesn't quite exist in the same way on the Revenge, because most of the cast on that ship are queer.

See also: Jim being revealed as a woman and then being revealed as not a woman but not a man either, and the issues the guys have with that is "women have crystals in their bodies" (Frenchie, when he still thought they were a woman), "Can I be Jim if you're not Jim anymore?" (the Swede) and "Can I go back to being mute?" (jim). We were still in muppet comedy when Izzy did his namby-pamby thing, we hadn't genre shifted yet, and the muppet comedy of the Revenge doesn't have homophobia.

Yes, the show does. Yes, the show discusses it in its own way, but the crew of the Revenge does not. No one comments on Lucius and Pete, who are not subtle. Pete says that Lucius has naked-sketched most of the crew. Lucius outright hits on Fang to get him to let him draw him and off of barnacle duty without a single fear he'll be hate crimed for it. Lucius hits on Izzy because he knows Izzy might punch him for hitting on him, but it won't be because he's a dude, it'll be because he's pushing his damn luck.

Is he using those words as an audience shortcut to "Izzy simply thinks 'ew, gay'"? I don't see how, looking at the totality of the character and Con's performance (and later scripts were written with Con's performance in mind).

If he wanted a true audience shortcut, using a term that's far less common would not be a shortcut. The f-slur would be the shortcut, imo.

Also worth noting that my search came up with this for namby-pamby:

Definition of namby-pamby 1 : lacking in character or substance : insipid. 2 : weak, indecisive.

and I mean-- it's not that far off of Ed in his red robe. It's not a very nice word to call someone, but there's far worse to use out there.

Is he using words that at first glance make us think "oh a homophobe" and if you don't think about it any further than the words used Izzy's story in S2 might be more of a surprise and if you do it might be more satisfying? I hope so.

I hope so too.

#ask #treesofgreen

[chicago-geniza]

Have once again discovered a very good Slavic-language poem about death through a laurel-wreathed, prestigious-publication-lauded poet who unfortunately did a hack job on it. Had only heard the poet’s name in passing because the uber-parsimonious uber-ironic aphoristic style of the new wave is something I can only really take in small doses. However this poem (Ewa Lipska’s ‘Study Death’ / ‘Ucz sie smierci’) packs a lot of layers into its language that the translator didn’t make an effort to relay at all? For example:

Ucz się śmierci. Na pamięć. Zgodnie z zasadami pisowni wyrazów martwych.

Pisz ją łącznie jak rzeczpospolita albo lwipyszczek.

So! 

Translator has this as: 

Study death. Learn it by heart. Following to the rules of spelling dead words.

Spell it together like commonwealth or toadflax.

Let’s do Fardibekt’s Reading Comprehension Corner! We can deduce from context that she is writing either in the PRL or right at its end, the late 80s/early 90s. ‘Dead expressions’ are those that “już dawno wyszły z obiegu,” i.e., spoken language, have fallen out of regular use. When we encounter them in philological studies, they tend to come with disclaimers about semantic ambiguity, “dwuznaczność,” two (or more) meanings. “Lacznie” is like, as a spelling rule, write it as a single word without a hyphen or a space. Rzeczpospolita written lacznie = republic (the Second Republic is Druga Rzeczpospolita); rzecz pospolita written separately is “ordinary thing.” [Ok - yes it’s commonwealth, and common/wealth does preserve the duality. I redact my earlier complaint. You can’t translate every nuance and there’s of course no way to render the matrix of constructs that is “X pospolity” in both taxonomy and ironic vernacular usage.] Now Lipska moves us from historical-political gravitas to the pastoral. First of all I don’t know why the translator chose “toadflax,” it’s a snapdragon in English, which works surprisingly well to convey the secondary meaning--lwie paszcza, lion’s mouth. The flower is so named because it resembles a lion’s mouth. Later on in the poem she plays with flowing inside of a single line--in two idioms--from the figurative to the concrete to the figurative again. Moreover she lays out her literary genealogy in the poetic form itself, this poem about death, specifically, from the Pokolenie Kolumbow back through the Awangarda Krakowska to Tadeusz Pieper. 

The translator ALSO doesn’t notice that the poem begins and ends, like a fugue, with two colloquial expressions that she anchors into the space of the Polish past-present--”na pamięć / na żywo.” We are moving out of memory and into life.

#translation tag #NISHT REBAGELN

[alrightsnaps]

I tried to casually comment on got back when it was airing but it seemed useless without reading the books first and i wanted to wait until grrm was done (I'm a dreamer i dream a lot i know) but what finally broke me was this one video on YouTube about how the show completely dismissed the political conflict between Sansa and Daenerys (Dany trying to use an existential threat to the North and her dragon power for her own political gain, making her a conqueror essentially) I'm just starting agot so i don't know how these characters will evolve and how they will clash who knows if grrm knows atp i just realize now that for Dany aging her up (as good as Emilia's portrayal could be) erases part of the context of Dany's choices like in the book is said over and over again that the one in this situation with all this power is a literal child like u are nor supposed to forget that... I know Robb and Jon are aged up too so it's probably similar... iwonder what you think about this. Anyway good hotd day and let's hope they learned something and we get complex Alicent/Rhaenyra

Oh yes, Game of Thrones definitely removed so much of the complexity we see in the asoiaf characters to make them more "palatable" to mainstream audiences! I basically started reading reading the books halfway through the show (around season 4 I think?) and I was already a diehard Daenerys fan (literally from the first episode lmao) but I was taken aback by how much of the nuance we see in book!Dany didn't make it to GoT... I basically fell in love with Daenerys all over again! Same with Arya, I didn't truly appreciate her character until I read the books.

In aging up Dany they removed much of the context that shapes her character. Book!Dany is essentially a childbride who in using her dragons to dismantle slavery finds herself in the midst of a turbulent political situation (dealing with the aftermath of the collapse of a slavery-based economy) while barely a teenager. And it's not just the age thing either cause the show went out of its way to dial down much of the softness Dany exhibits in the books in favour of more "badass" moments. It's a real pity imo cause you can see from the way Emilia talks about Daenerys how much she adores her character (and she has also studied the source material too) so she would have delivered a more soft Dany beautifully.

What they did with the asoiaf books is essentially the reverse of what they're doing with Fire and Blood. In Game of Thrones they had some very rich source material in their hands and well developed characters, leading in much of it getting lost in translation; with Fire and Blood while the "historical" events are there, it lacks the three-dimensional characters of asoiaf due to its format (fake history written by a biased third party years later as opposed to thousands of pages of pov character narration) so the show has had to step up and be creative.

I definitely agree about Rhaenyra and Alicent! I think exploring their younger versions and letting the audience see how their experiences as teenagers shaped them into the women they'll be during the Dance was a smart move.

#house of the dragon #game of thrones #asoiaf #fire and blood

[seraandthebees]

OC question (not really a question but whatever): pick a work written in classical Greek or Latin to recommend to each of your OCs! What would they enjoy reading or which works would include valuable information for them?

Ohhh this is a good one!! Thanks Vanamo!! You know me well so you’re not gonna be surprised when this is a long answer 😅

I think Herah would really love the poetry of Sappho. I know this is kind of an obvious choice but I think the personal nature of lyric poetry would suit her well. The sense of community and the performance context are things I think would remind her of her Tal Vashoth community. I’ll probably do a post on this at some point but, since it’s relevant here, I think that the Vashoth probably have an oral tradition given that that’s an important part of almost all communities ever. It’s a way for members of a community to connect to one another over common stories/experiences, a way to impose a moral code, and to define how we ought to treat each other and what happens when that goes wrong. Connecting with those ideas and exploring how another culture is similar/different to her own would be really rewarding for Herah.

Also hearing Sappho communicate directly with Aphrodite, reading her symptoms of love, listening her play into existing myth and look at it in new ways would be really appealing to Herah. The differences in language and metre would also give her the opportunity to get stuck in and do the kind of close analysis that she loves so much. She’d really be able to dig her teeth into it and see all the nuances of word order and emphasis, and admire how compact and economical these poems are.

I know this is cheating but I just wanna add that I think Herah would really love to read some Athenian comedy with Sera. They’d have so much fun with the Cyclops with all its sex jokes and taking the absolute piss out of Odysseus as this self-important war hero whose fame means nothing without a social framework in which to operate.

After much debate, I think I’d recommend to Naerselle the Iliad. She’d really like the close descriptions of battle (I almost said Julius Caesar’s Gallic Wars for that reason) but I think she’d really understand the sorrow of Achilles, his attempt to defy destiny, how his action (or inaction) hurt a lot of people, but in time he realises just how much that cost him on a personal level. Not only that though, I think she’d also relate to Hector at times, not because of his nobility (in the moral sense) but because of how alone he is at times even when he has such an extensive family. She and her own family are mostly at odds and I think she sees something of them in Paris making her by extension a Hector-like figure.

Given that she’s Andrastian (probably my OC with the strongest sense of faith), I think she’d enjoy how present the gods are in this text, even if they are perhaps portrayed as ambiguous at times. Her faith doesn’t necessarily mean that she thinks that the Maker has a strong sense of right and wrong which he imposes upon the world. She sees it more as he has an overarching plan (like Zeus’ Βουλή in the proem) which may indeed require suffering along the way.

I know Senna would love historiography so I think I’d recommend Sallust’s War on Catiline or Jugurthine War. Sallust’s style is moralising and very self-conscious as his discussion of events often reveals either explicitly or implicitly where he himself lies politically. It’s also pretty important to him to justify why he’s taking the time to write history when he maybe should be dedicating time to politics. The position of being stuck between personal pursuit and political duty is something Senna could relate to, being at the centre of politics for as long as she can remember. Sallust, in my opinion, has this surface view of binary morality, but also his deeper ambiguity on whether we are right to accept the official narrative (particularly in the Catiline). I think that’d feel familiar to Senna, especially after her exile from Orzammar.

I also think it’d be helpful for her from a rhetorical and political point of view as seeing the shades of grey and how people might do bad things for good reasons or vice versa would give her perspective on how she herself should or could view the world around her. The end of the Catiline is particularly striking because all of the remaining supporters of the Catilinarian conspiracy fight valiantly and to the death — notably within no wounds to the back (ie they didn’t flee from battle). Seeing a political opposition be so sure that what they’re doing is right might make her question her own actions and think about how she’ll be remembered in history.

For Nesiril, I’m stuck between either Euripides’ Medea or Aeschylus’ Agamemnon. I think they’d like to see how gender roles can be pushed and even totally disregarded at times and she’d definitely take the reading of extreme support of the women in these plays in the face of the abominable actions of the men around them. Moreover, I think they’d see Jason and Agamemnon as parallels for the Templars in the Circle — controlling, power-hungry, and neglecting their duties or outright contradicting them.

I think she’d also see herself in Medea in particular from a gender point of view because there’s this scene in which Medea renounces her femininity and basically steps outside of the gender binary. Given that Nesiril is non-binary, I think she’d find this a really powerful moment and really gender affirming.

#answered asks #thanks for the ask! #dragon age #oc: herah adaar #oc: naerselle cadash #oc: senna aeducan #oc: nesiril surana #hannah talks classics

[shadyomen]

Concerning censorship on ao3, where does it stop?? If you ban what is considered pedophilia or cp then where do you stop? Do we now ban every single drarry fic that features them having sex while teenagers? Every sterek fic? Dramione? A lot of Percy Jackson or Heros of Olympus fics might fall under this as well. Do we say 15 and above? 13 and above? Many ao3 writer's are teens themselves, do you expect them to write adult fics?? A lot of people use writing fics as a way to explore their own identity or as a way to work through trauma. I've read many fics that features child rape in order to explore their own trauma or to explore how this might affect their character, a lot of fics that include underage sex aren't condoning child porn because they aren't writing it as child porn. I've written fics that include underage sex because I was 12 when I wrote them, i wasn't writing them with the intent of them being read like that, they were a way for me to explore my sexuality and express myself. I feel like there is no way to create a full ban on writing underage sex without censoring self expression on ao3. And the point of ao3 to me has always been about self expression and to explore stories through the lenses of different people. I love ao3 and I honestly can say I would probably be dead without it, I think that there can be a way for people to permanently exclude tags they don't want or to report fics that don't tag underage sex. I've found that most ppl who are arguing for the banning of underage sex are also against stories containing rape of any kind or fics that contain extreme fetishes. Then the lines become even more blurred, do we ban dubcon? What is considered dubcon?once the censorship starts the thing that makea ao3 amazing and unique (individual self expression) is erased. Everything written is fiction and someone's self expression. If you don't like don't read. Even fics based off of real ppl are fiction, I don't read a lot of fics like that, and i personally don't read them. I think fics features porn about children who exist in real life should be able to be reported and then deleted. I think fics like that are different because it can cause real life harm to children. I don't condone the sexualization of children but honestly I think that censoring anything on ao3 is a slippery slope that never ends. I've seen others post these points and get shit down with the phrase "are you defending child porn? " And it's very hard to argue against this. The phrase "child porn is bad" cant really be argued against, however using it in this context is ignoring a lot of the nuance happening in this scenario. Either way I think a lot of people who donate know that censorship is a slippery slope so I place my trust that they will vote accordingly. The internet is a public place, accessible by everyone, even the weirdos (including pedophiles). Ao3 has made it very easy to block out what you don't want and to search for what you do want. Be safe out there y'all ✌️

#ao3 #writing #otw elections

[janiedean]

With this new show airing, what are your thoughts on the relationship between Rhanerya and Daemon? Everyone is torn between calling it either the hottest or most disgusting thing on earth, and I thought maybe you'd have a more nuanced opinion, having read the books ^^

okay so having just finished watching episode 7 I can answer you sorta properly sooo okay I'mma just gonna premise the following:

I don't think the narrative means for you to be like... extremely realistic about targ incests in the sense that like the whole f&b/targs narrative is based on the concept that they marry within each other half of the time and the incest part is not considered BLERGH by them at least and this is within a frame where if you can read the text it's obvious the author is telling you HEY MARRYING YOUR BLOOD RELATIVES IS A THOROUGHLY SHIT IDEA because the more they do it the more they're unhinged/they obviously have issues™ and not even the ones that seem to not have them are safe anyway (AEGON V JFC YOU WERE SUCH A NICE KID WHYY) so like... you gotta buy the fact/roll with the fact that for them it's a normal alternative/an alternative they actually consider

also like obviously with the blanket premise that I think irl incest is always bad and I think I don't have to say that you're talking to someone who when it comes to the main series is absolutely not into any of the possible incest pairings canon or not, in f&b there's... a certain degree of difference like some of those targ incests (see: maegor/rhaena) are blatantly written as abusive/horrid/forced/etc while others (not going into jaehaerys/alysanne which I mean... you gotta take it the way you do, but baelon/alyssa ie daemon/viserys's parents are described as mutually in love/having grown to love each other and after she dies he doesn't go with anyone else/kicks his other sister who wanted to seduce him out of the room like... IDEK THEY HAVE ISSUES LIKE THAT) so like tldr idt that you can just write off the whole of them as 'it's incest so it's bad™ WITHIN THE NARRATIVE' bc said narrative is telling you some are shit some are not but as a whole it's a pretty crappy idea and they only do that because they think they're demigods and idt you can have a discussion on any targ incest without that context. also f&b is written like a roman history chronicle which means that everything is out of control everyone is drama™ and relatives backstab each other all the time and everyone is problematic™ so there's that too;

neither daemon nor rhaenyra are cracking my top five f&b characters (everyone in f&b that'd make top ten sadly was before the dance of dragons so rip me unless they do the prequel of the prequel) and while as a general thing when it comes to book stuff I think she was in the right wrt her succession and he was entertaining until he did one thing that made me go OKAY I CAN DIG YOU NOW which I'm not spoiling for anyone who might not wanna know, but like I'm not particularly invested in either of them nor into their romance like... it was obvious they were gonna be a thing from the get-go and since at that point I was rolling with the targcest punches I just went and took it as a granted thing.

now having said that... neither? In the sense:

I don't think it's particularly disgusting within the above frame it's... okay she's his niece but then again dany is jon's aunt and that shit's gonna happen in asoiaf too at some point so okay yeah it's made a lot better by the fact that jondany didn't know each other/didn't grow up with each other blah blah blah but as we saw them first in a context where she was already sixteen and put him in his place in episode two the moment he stepped out I think the narrative wants you to see them as more or less equals in that sense so... like if someone is objecting to the incest at large okay I get the objection but as stated imvho targcest is to be taken like ^^^ so honestly I'm not particularly put off

I also don't think it's the hottest thing in existence because as stated none of them is my favorite character in f&b or in the show itself anyway and like... I mean as stated in other occasions I've occasionally shipped sibling incest stuff in my long fandom career if the two people in question had a dynamic that appealed to me outside of that factor and then if it happened they were sibling-related I went with it but it's not the type of badwrong I'm interested in for the sake of it so like I don't find it hot because of the badwrong and their dynamic in itself isn't exactly something that makes me go !!!! in itself like they're both off the rails and they're both kinda made for each other in that sense and btw it gets worse as the whole thing goes on like rhaenyra is an a+ character but at the end of it their morals are equally not great (no book spoilers more than I already have but like she done fucked up too XD) but like... ngl daemon/viserys's parents were a lot more my thing as a ship than daemon and rhaenyra could ever be so it's not the targcest whose hill I'd die on let's put it like that

but I also think the show is doing a decent job with them? like I think the narrative framed it really well and the pacing was good and the way they're building it up really bodes well for how they're gonna drive the full-on war narrative later so like tldr I think that the show is adapting them well/not making the source material a disservice COUGH DIFFERENTLY FROM WHAT GOT DID SINCE SEASON 3 AT LEAST WHEN IT CAME TO LITERALLY ANY ROMANTIC COUPLE EVER COUGH but I'm not gonna go actively shipping it/being invested 100% in it nor I'm gonna go EWWWW THIS IS DISGUSTING bc as stated idt the latter is correct but it's also not the general dynamic I'm invested in so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

also like I think the actors are selling it pretty well regardless of the fact that I'm not 100% sold on matt smith's approach but it grew on me in the last few episodes and if other people like it then it means he's not doing bad so like I can see why ppl would be into it because they do have chemistry and they're acting the shit out of it in both pre and post timeskip so there's that too but yeah tldr you're not gonna find me running a ship blog for them anytime soon but I'm not gonna go anti on their ass at any point ever, just... I don't get people discoursing about it because it was pretty much obvious from the get-go and almost everyone involved in the diatribe is a problematic™ person and they're gonna turn into murder™ power couple in like... well idk how far they're getting with this season but if viserys dies at the end of it then next season it's the darkest shit you'll ever see so I don't think the incest is gonna be what people are gonna be up in arms about honestly X°D

#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #incest cw #house of the dragon spoilers for ts #house of the dragon for ts #honestly the only two words i'm gonna say are blood and cheese #and i'mma shut up #if you didn't read f&b don't google that DON'T #if you did you know what I mean #XD