#but that's not for me to make i'm just here for lore and folklore

[adarkrainbow]

what exactly is 'the bad “woke movement'. you mean Disney's attempts at political correctness in their casting choice? describing it as "woke" is a serious misuse of black slang.

I was a bit confused at first since I have switched the subject out of the Disney Snow White controversy some times ago.

I am sorry to inform you that the use of "woke" as a deragoratory term to designate the people we once called ironically "Social-Justice Warriors" is actually not a "black slang" anymore. In fact I didn't even know it was supposed to be a "black slang" originally, my perception of it was that it was originally a term that was created on the Internet in a positive way, to designate people that were actually fighting against all sorts of discriminations and social problems, and opening their eyes to the wrongness of societies and modern age... Only to then be switched, by the Internet itself at first, and then by the media who took the word back, to be used as a designation of extreme social-justice warriors, or people who'se extreme self-righteousness, mixed with either hypocrisy or just ignorance, resulted in them coming of as a more mad or harmful than helpful.

If you do not like me using the term, unfortunately for you you'll have to go after pretty much every American media, then after after European media - and I am not even counting the politics of both America and Europe! The term "woke" has left its Internet-exclusivity a long time ago, and now is used even in non-English speaking countries (such as France) to designate the extremes to which some people or groups carry on the "social war". Now the thing to be careful of is that many extreme-right or very hateful people will use "woke" as a way to degrade or humiliate rightful defenders of things such as feminism, transgender rights, homosexuality, etc, etc... So I want to insist: I am not susbscribing to any extreme-right ideology, and I know very well they are using this term for their own negative agenda.

But I am not of the extreme-left either, and as someone who saw very well the dangers of any kind of extremes, I have to recognize that there is indeed a bad, extreme "woke" movement, that ranges from the ridiculous to the hateful. It exists. To imagine that all fights for the right reasons are done with the right means is to be too naive.

A very recent case - which is not woke, because it isn't about social justice or social blights, but about ecology, however it illustrates VERY well the stupidity and hypocrisy of some of these modern extreme groups. In France there is an extreme ecological group that has been making a lot of noise and some extreme actions to alert people and authorities about climate change and asking for something to be done. Interesting, right? Good, right? Except that their actions are VERY dubious in effect. For example some times ago they did protests related to, I think it was the droughts and water supply handlings? I can't recall exactly the why of the protest - but they did so by destroying entire fields and putting several farmers in difficult position because they had their entire crops gone. It wasn't some big mass-industrial farming, it wasn't genetically modified stuff, it was just your regular farmer with his fields, and he had his whole crops destroyed by the group's protect - which wasn't even aimed at him (if I recall there was something about them mistaking his field for another nearby, or something). Now my memory of this case is very blurry as you can see - but one other case popped up just two days ago so I can clearly tell you the problem this time: a few days ago, the group protested against the instalation of a toxic waste disposal site near a city and precisely near a river that passed by the water's city. To protest that and alert the city's citizens, they poured tons of products in the river's water that turned it bright, glowing green - to show them the fear of toxic products reaching them by the water.

But what's the twist of the story? To make the water bright green, they poured ACTUAL toxic chemicals and colorants in the water, which resulted in killing numerous fishes of the river. It went viral on the Internet, the whole "ecologists kill fishes" thing, but it shows how by ignorance (here ignorance of the toxicity of the products you use), those who fight against pollution become the pollution-makers themselves.

Now, that was not related to social things so "woke" isn't to be applied to them - but it is a good illustration of how fighting one extreme can lead to another. But if you want a case of "bad woke" actions I have a perfect one for you - which is from before the term "woke" was taken back by the media. It was something that happened in the French part of Canada (and in general when you want some misguided and extreme woke behavior, you can go to Canada, they are very talented here at misguided good actions). It was a gesture done by Christian (Catholic) religious groups, related to the whole dreadful rediscovery of the horrors of the special so-called "schools" they had prepared for First Nations kids. You know, the ones with mass graves and such. To show that they wanted to bury the past behind them and reject the discrimination of Native-Americans, they decided to collect all sorts of old classics of French childhood literature that had depictions of First Nations people deemed offensive (for example Lucky Luke and Asterix comic books)... and they burned it in a huge bonfire.

Of course, thats CERTAINLY the best way to prove you want to help the people you have persecuted and killed for so long: do not give them money, do not change the laws, do not actually do something for them, just become book-burners! That's CERTAINLY going to help and that's CERTAINLY going to make you the "good guys".

You see what I mean by the "bad woke" movement? It isn't a movement in itself, but just the extremes these attempts at "good" and fighting against discrimination can lead to. Sometimes to the point of just coming off as a new form of discrimination. Another case, that was in France, and done in Paris. I personally think that it was a dubious idea, and maybe someone will disagree with me, but it was a project brought forward - to handle the help provided to rape victims. The whole idea was that man should be banned of all groups, organizations and help systems brought to rape victims, because in the politician's words, women had to stay between themselves, and rape victims had to cut all ties with men to get better. Another similar dubious "woke" incident (it happened, just like the one above, in Paris, because Paris recently went through a wave of bad-woke incidents and propositions thanks to the local government in power), was when a "set of safe space" was created, from which men were banned - all men - and which only welcomed... "Women and transgenders". The phrasing and formula might seem weird, and that's literaly how it was said, and it took not a long time to understand the problem: it welcomed all transgenders, and all women, but banned all men. Aka: transgender men either had to be banned from it, because they were men (so they lied upon saying they welcomed all transgenders) ; either they were allowed in, but thus not recognized as actual "men" and still considered women.

You see how there's some good intentions buried down there, but in effect it is twisted and warped in another form of discrimination?

When it comes to my worries about the new Snow-White movie, it isn't about an active, harmful, reverse-discrimination type of "bad woke". But I do fear about the "accidentally harmful" and "plain ridiculous" bad-woke. To handle the idea that a character named "Snow-White" is black is something that needs carefulness and intelligence - and Disney's had the bluntness and grace of a hammer wielded by an angry bear recently. I have one precise fear for example that I keep repeating around: if they choose to still refer to Snow-White's name as a reference to the fact she has a lighter skin and thus is beautiful because of it, and given they have chosen an actress with a light skin tone - it can result in a scenario enacting "colorism" fully. Aka, a practice and set of worldviews put in place in the slavery and discrimination-era America, about how the lighter the Black person's skin, the "better" and more "beautiful" they were. This resulted in practices such as putting "lighter" Blacks above "darker" ones, for example choosing Black people with light skin to oversee "darker" slaves and the "lighter" ones being given a less harsh treatment than the others.

Its a whole another cesspool of discrimination born of the horror that was America in this era - but it is still something that Afro-American people fight against and dislike today, and something many media have been accused of doing by putting "lighter skinned" Black characters in the position of "prettier" or "better" characters than "darker skinned" ones.

No need to tell you the whole dwarf issue is also a big "bad woke movement" move on the part of Disney. To answer to a loud minority that thinks the dwarfs roles in Snow-White is backward and insulting, they simply decide to erase them from the story... Despite the role of the seven dwarfs being something that many actors with dwarfism enjoy and defend because it was often their first entry into the acting world, and despite the fact that the original Disney seven dwarfs were positive and complex characters that were far more compelling and powerful than many other Snow-White adaptations (in fact, that's the problem, the reason the dwarfs are seen as "backwards" today is because so many post-Disney adaptations reduced them to goofy, joke secondary characters as flat as a cardboard cut-out). There are tons of ways of making the dwarfs strong and badass and cool and powerful characters - and it has been done before. (Just remember how the dwarfs in the original Disney movie are the only ones who stand up to the evil queen, and the only ones who make her VISIBLY AFRAID as they hunt her down to kill her in revenge).

So we come with the mixed and complicated result we have: Because a role is deemed "problematic", it is erased and replaced - but as a result, erasing an opportunity for actors with dwarfism to become famous and appear in a big blockbuster seen by millions is perceived as discrimination against said actors with dwarfism, as they are replaced by so-called "normal" people. They could have simply worked on making the dwarfs' characters a badass role the actors could have had no shame of playing, and they could have just gone wth what the original movie did - make the dwarfs the true heroes and protagonist of the tale. But they rather decided to close the door and make actors with dwarfism even less visible on screen.

I hope it clarifies my whole position on the subject.

#answer #snow white #disney's snow white #woke #the bad woke movement #i am always a bit tired of having to mix politics and fairytales together #but it is something one cannot escape because fairytales are so widespread and powerful #they become political tools so regularly #it is amazing to see how throughout times so many cultures and governments used them politically #and kind of frightening too #there is matter for a whole research paper about the political nature of fairytales #but that's not for me to make i'm just here for lore and folklore #snow white live action

[writingwithcolor]

Romani character portrayals in fanfiction

Rroma Dick Grayson, batman fanfiction

endoftheworldhere asked:

I wanted to write a fanfiction about what Dick Grayson’s life would have been like if he wasn’t adopted by Batman. It was going to have him dealing with the bad parts of Gotham City and interacting with various criminals and rouges, But I was worried that could come off as stereotypical or racist since he’s been portrayed as at least part Romani and I wanted to include some connections to his heritage as a way he clings his parents after they died so traumatically. Any advice?

The thing about Dick Greyson is that he was retconned into being part Romani, and the writers did so in a very stereotypical way. A lot of Romani people have talked about this, especially on Tumblr, and opinions do vary about how he should be written. Many think it’s best to ignore his “heritage” and just write him as white, while others disagree and think that his heritage is important representation and should be written, but more respectfully.

I honestly don’t know my personal opinion on this, but I will say that there is a huge stereotype about Romani people being criminals. If you do plan to write him as part Romani, make sure to avoid these tropes. Otherwise, I would just nix his Romani heritage.

-Mod Tess

Romani woman, curses and Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Anonymous asked:

I'm struggling a bit with a piece of fan work right now, and I was hoping you could weigh in. In Buffy season two, there's a character named Jenny, who we first meet as a techno-pagan computer science teacher, who helps Buffy and co deal with fighting demons and stuff. Only the thing is, she's Rromani. She's there to make sure a family curse stays on a vampire who killed someone beloved to them a century ago (mostly to protect people from him if Angel/Angelus gets uncursed), which everyone gets mad at her for not telling them when he loses his soul and goes on rampage.  Ordinarily, it's not hard to write her, because until that arc, she's a fun character who happens to be a Rroma woman, and as other characters use magic, that doesn't stand out. But the whole curse thing, and the depiction of her family we're given, (and the way a canon redemption arc for Angelus I can't stand starts with him getting a soul as a punishment for killing a Rroma woman in 1898), and the everyone being mad about deception all just feels like many negative stereotypes.  What would be your thoughts on depicting Jenny, and on what to keep in mind trying to rewrite how she was shown in the show. [Ask redacted for length]

Let me just start out by saying that I am not very familiar with Buffy, so thank you for the context. I think your best bet here would be to drop the curse plot line altogether, as that’s a huge stereotype about Romani people. I think it’s ok to have her do magic, as long as other characters also do, and although I do think the vampire stuff is also a stereotype (a lot of vampire lore is supposedly taken from some Romani folklore, and Romani people are often associated with vampires in pop culture), I think it’s fine given the context of the show.

-Mod Tess

#Romani #Romani women #Romani men #fanfiction #Romani stereotypes #Romani tropes #asks

[eclairris]

Drabbles from Re-Playing AOM

OKAY SO- woe Spoilers and speculations upon ye

I'm still reflecting on the card that's deliberately put into Alice's room underneath a picture frame of the Deross family. It's probably just cut and dry like "ohhh Alice is a sacrifice" but I can get more nitpicky with it

On the back it says "Welcome to Join the Hunting Game" which could be two things

Either A really poor translation on IDV's part, and is further saying the obvious that Alice is a sacrifice (Which would make sense given how we've pretty much gotten hunter versions of da capo excluding her, if you count Frederick being a hallucination influenced by Orpheus' exposition, and how Melly is on the near horizon).

Or it could quite literally be saying "Here pookie, stop running and succumb to the delulu" and putting hunter Alice into concretion But I think it's also probably just saying regardless that Alice is the direct sacrifice that Orpheus believes will keep the games going (clearly something went wrong) given how lambs are treated within religion and folklore.

I also did replay It and select every visit option I could for that sweet loredrop and I haven't seen anyone talk about this either.

The person literally saying that is young orph (orphan, If you will). The whole muse corridor points into details about the raid itself, which is odd because just a cutscene prior was Alice getting chased by hallucinations down that same corridor. It got me thinking about how IDV developers have considered giving Alice a hunter form.

So what do I know about this bird?? Uh the bare minimum actually but it can serve as some type of drop with how the story's going. He's not saying Alice is the Nightingale. He's saying she's better than it, which could resort to the potentiality of hunter Alice taking on the form of a "nightingale" if we go off the fact that most identity swaps with heavy lore (at least in da Capo's case) is based on either regression, repression, or insecurities.

Norton - Repression. He's not keeping up face when it comes to his identity swap. Literally chaos incarnate. Orpheus - Projection. Nightmare can quite literally be called Orpheus' Mary Sue oc. That's the post. Mary/Frederick technically isn't influenced more by Frederick himself but rather Alice's way of seeing it. Which fucks up a lot but let's not talk about it. I'd say it leans more towards Identification.

Melly could potentially have some correlation to the odd point Orph brought up

"After all, there's a price to pay for being unfaithful, isn't that right Mrs. Plinius."

Which is probably saying that Mr good ol plinius wasn't loyal and probably either had an affair or did something behind melly's back.

If the point of Alice being braver than the Nightingale is anything to go off of and whatnot then it could be safe to say her identity could be based off that if she ever gets one. It could play off of her bravery and need to look towards the future as opposed to Orpheus being stuck in the past. It could also explain why we haven't heard or seen much when it comes to Nightingale, because of two reasons

they're saving her for some big story update much like the rest of the da capo identity swaps.

Orpheus has been PROVEN to be an unreliable narrator. Surely wanting to dissect Orpheus under a microscope isn't delusional enough.

#identity v #alice deross #norton campbell #orpheus #idv theory #fan theory #ramblings #melly plinius #journalist idv #novelist idv #frederick kreiburg #composer idv #idv entomologist #idv #eclairs nonsense

[chans-muffin]

skz hyung line x taylor swift eras

hi stayswiftie ville!!

so, im hiperfixated on both subjects and i love associating taylors eras with the things i enjoy, so w skz it would be no different :) here's my opinion!!

only the hyung line bc i lost inpo during lmao

wc: 420

notes: grammatical errors, ts unbearably, perhaps a wrong view of their personality (?) & i went to far on hyunbini im sorry 😭😭😭 i love them

bang chan - speak now / reputation!! - bro went to a lot and talked about karma multiple times, rep is something made to perform and impact, at the same time as it has insecure and more of melancholic lyrics. of course all the members went through this, but it's just that is chan more yk. and sn is just. yes. "something in his deep brown eyes has me saying 'hes not all bad like his reputation'" & all of superman & never grow up & back to december 'bout chans room :( & LONG LIVE AND TIMELESS FOR SKZ !! &@,#, im gonna shut up now but i actually have a entire playlist with these and others songs, letmk if you wanna check out :))

lee know - 1989 - i see a lot of this album associated with seungmin. for me, i see more of minho, its just the vibe that he passes on to me, since i don't know him deeply. but it's something more hidden from the media, living your youth in strange ways alongside people u appreciates, idk if it makes sense but ok kansmwj

changbin - debut / taylor swift - oK LISTEN. I KNOW HES SO COOL AND GOD OF RAP AND THEY HAD TO TAKE THE POCKETS OUT OF MY PANTS BECAUSE I WAS JUST WALKING WITH MY HANDS INSIDE THEM bUT- have you ever seen him with THE cowboy hat in topline mv? 🥺 but it's about the beginnings you know, all the way from 3RACHA to stray kids, rock and country on the same album just like we have 'sorry, i love you' and 'thunderous' in noeasy or 'leave' and 'lalalala' (all produced by changbin) he deserves everything! and your talent and effort should be recognized as many times as necessary <33 (and deep down, i also love imagining changbin with a goat with a pink lacy bow on it head KABSEKDHEKJD

hyunjin - evermore - i stand by that so fucking much you have no idea . hyune has a huge impact on stage of course, tHE photos with the red hot chili peppers shirt also made me feel,, things. but he is so much more than that :( he is an hopeless romantic with such beautiful piece arts about love and feelings. he has also shown interest and lived answering philosophical questions in the bubble community (rip 🌷) *han also mentioned that he talked a lot about philosophers with hyunjin, right? i'm not sure now* his arts also have a lot of shades of brown, yellow, gray and black and personally, these colors are very fall colors and "omg i'm in tremendous melancholy" vibe aswell so = sad autumn = evermore. HE ALSO POSTED ABOUT BETTY FROM FOLKLORE AND THESE TWO ARE SISTERS🤓. i really want to someday be able to talk about the lore of 'no body no crime' for him, also talk about the sapphic vibe radiating from 'ivy' and he would love it so much, 'champagne problems' too!! and after that he can post a beautiful photo on insta with 'evermore' in the background ((yes i took the delulu pills today

#stray kids #stray kids silly thoughts #stray kids hyung line #skz hyung line #taylor swift #taylor swift eras #stray kids x taylor swift #stayswiftie #bang chan #christopher bang #speak now #reputation #lee know #lee minho #1989 #changbin #seo changbin #taylor swift debut #hyunjin #hwang hyunjin #evermore #stray kids bang chan #stray kids lee know #stray kids changbin #stray kids hyunjin #chans muffin #chans-muffin

[rainbowdaisy13]

Good morning, Rainbow! Here I am again with another question about lore and history. LOL I've noticed that anti-kaylors use "it's time to go" as almost a kind of mic drop in their arguments. I'm not trying to counter argue (that's a fool's errand, in my mind), but I'm wondering what this kaylor corner thinks about "it's time to go" and what the talking points about it are. What do you think?

As always, Taylor mixes in her own truth along with fantasy, things she’s read, media she’s viewed, her friends and family’s experiences, etc. Especially anything from folklore and evermore! This is intentional IMO so that she always has plausible deniability—things are confusing because bait and switches make it harder to trace a coherent timeline of anything

As far as ITTG—it’s funny to me how they can use one or two lines to confirm their beliefs and ignore the rest. To me, this song showcases many different instances in a persons life when they know they need to be done with a relationship—professional, familial, or intimate

IMO the sister/twin from your dreams line seems more applicable to DA than Karlie just based on appearance and the fact that we know for sure DA fucked with Taylors head a lot

The biggest verse for me that show Taylor is mixing folklore with her own truth are the following

“… Fifteen years, fifteen million tears

Begging 'til my knees bled

I gave it my all, he gave me nothin' at all

Then wondered why I left

… Now he sits on his throne in his palace of bones

Praying to his greed

He's got my past frozen behind glass

But I've got me”

This is so obviously a Scott B diss verse—also ties into my tears richochet to make it hit home even more for the people in the back. How can any of that be about Karlie? It can’t but if they want to stick to two sentences in one song that’s full of references to different kinds of endings when Taylor’s still writing KissGate anthems in the year of our lord 2023, I don’t know what to tell them besides good luck with that 🫡

[sophietv]

The Ultimate LSK Thread Of Koincidences (2021) Part 1

Here's part one of all the Koincidences that happened in 2021.

Those are all the Kaylor evidences I could find for that year. If I've forgot some, don't hesitate to tell me so I can add them!

If you haven't read the posts for the other years, I highly suggest you do before reading this one:

Fall 2019 (X)

2020 Part 1 (X)

2020 Part 2 (X)

As always, I'll include link to more informations on certain piece of Kaylor Lore as we go, so some Koincidences are easier to understand. When there's a (X) beside something, it's to give you more context and help you understand better.

Here's the link to the incredible Masterposts that helped me do this one: (X) (X)

Before starting 2021, let's just go back in 2020 for a second! I was at the picture limit on my 2020 Part 2 post and I think it's really important to add this one.

Decembre 2020:

Decembre 11th 2020:

Karlie post a video on Klossy about her 2021 Vision Board (X)

In this video, she has the book Untammed by Glennon Doyle on her Vision Board.

Untammed is Glennon's memoir where she talks about falling in love with a woman and overcoming comphet.

Decembre 14th 2020:

Taylor comments on a Twitter posts from Glennon's wife.

Saying how her book has been a huge help for her that year.

January 2021:

January 9th:

Right Where You Left Me and It's Time To Go are out in the Deluxe Version.

Most Gaylors believe that they are broken up. And Most Swifties believe that Karlie in fact betrayed Taylor.

January 10th:

Taylor posts about Olivia Rodrigo saying: That's my baby and I'm proud!

January 26th:

Taylor releases the "Dad hat"

It's the first time ever that she includes this in her collection.

(coincidently, she added a "dad hat" in her merch collection ealy in July this year...)

February 2021:

February 18th:

Taylor does a post saying: Cancel the DNA test.

February 21st:

Taylor releases Love Story as the first single of Fearless (Taylor's Version) AKA Karlie's favourite song.

Remember how Karlie used the same yellow heart back in 2020?

March 2021:

March 14th:

Grammy's.

Taylor does last minute arrangements on her dress.

Adding a sunflower and a little daisy. (There's a making off video of her dress and those two flowers are not on the original).

Here's a post about it: (X)

Levi's birth is announced while Taylor is performing that night (It's dated back only later to March 11th) :

People pick up on the Koincidences immediatly. Even the GP finds it odd:

On the pictures Taylor took that night, posted on Jack's Instagram. She is seen doing an 3 and a 11 (Levi was born on March 11th):

It was her third album of the year and her 11th Grammy....still odd...

Taylor wears a Daisy Guitar strap while performing that night:

She also performs for the first time with the Folklore's Cabin...wich is weirdly similar to the Castro Cabin in Big Sur (Where she and Karlie stayed): (X)

And at the moment she receives her award.

Aaron does a speech and thanks his wife and kids. Taylor becomes really emotional all of sudden when he mentions his kids.

You can see Jack trying to comfort her:

Starts at 1:50

April 2021:

April 2nd:

Taylor releases the Fearless Vaults:

As you can see in the picture. The 13th word to goes out of the vault is Baby.

The door handle is also really visibly a K :

And let's not forget the most important thing: The Swift-Kloss family crest is present on the vault. (X)

April 8th:

Taylor does a post mentionning her: two kids.

April 16th:

Taylor does an interview for Fearless (Taylor's Version) and explains how the meaning of the song That's When changed for her over the years.

Starts 11:22

April 23rd:

Taylor does for the first time ever a merch drop for Mother's Day.

May 2021:

May 20th:

Karlie does a photodumb of during her pregrancy and after.

She wears the same Levi's overalls that Taylor will wear not long after. Just in a different color.

And also. Eye theory: (X)

May 26th:

Karlie post a picture of her. And you can clearly see in the background a Santal 26 candel AKA Taylor's favourite that she has all over her house (it's been mentionned several times in secret sessions).

Ok!

I've reached the photo limit so I'll continue in another post!

I'll link it here when it done!

Here is part 2! (X)

#kaylor #lsk #koincidences #gaylor theory #gaylors #gaylor twitter #gaylor swift #gaylor #lgbetty

[thecourtjester12]

About, asks, au's and relevant nonsense!

About me!

Heeeeeello, hello, hello! I'm Jester! I use They/she/ey pronouns and am a 22 year old autistic, aroace, artist/writer/jack of all trades creative bean/gremlin.

About the blog

I namely post Smoon (aka the daycare attendent, Sun and Moon FNAF) and Au's, be it drawings, writing, random thoughts and sneak peaks! And of course fanart (be it canon fnaf (or my takes on charas) orrrrr fanart for other lovely creators daycare Au's!)

I reblog stuff a lot, I just LOVE sharing peoples awesome stuff!! So expect to see a lot of that, buttttttt generally that will be set on queue throughout the week (unless its something more time dependent!)

Please read the FAQ page before sending asks!

FAQ page!

Asks are through Ask the Jester! Ask status: OPEN

Additionally I take requests for a small writing series which can be found HERE for 'FNAF sensory writing requests' which are SFW canon FNAF and reader interactions! Please read the info page before sending in Requests.

Asks open doesn't automatically mean Requests are open. Requests status: OPEN

My Au's (I'll have things sorted eventually so y'all can click and see all of a specific au's stuff at once)

JDCAU Masterpost (Jester's DayCare AU...its a terrible name I know) All info and posts on this au! (Masterpost is mostly done...needs to be spruced up a bit!)

My take on Fnaf SB if the fire never happened and the plex was taken under better management, stuff for the Au will be tagged as #jdcau

J-TOL Masterlist(Jester's The Other Location, its very sparce atm...needs to be spruced up)

Same universe as JDCAU, there are two locations the second location never had the virus at all here, also under the same management now and have their own struggles! Stuff for the Au will be tagged as #j-tol

LOTC (Legend of the Celestials)

Siren/leviathan Smoon au, very mythology/folklore based, reworking this au atm...stuff for this Au will be tagged as #lotc or #LOTC

Currently under rework/work in progress so not much for it rn

REDACTED

Currently unavailable, please try again soon!

Under construction and not currently available to the public! (...Also just...have no clue on a name for it...I don't want redacted to stick...but it might :' D) Currently tagged as #REDACTED au (Reaalllllly need to name it >_<)

MIW (Monty In Wonderland)

Currently unavailable, please try again soon!

Under construction and not currently available to the public!

Any snippets that may appear will be tagged #miw or #MIW

LSAU (Lonely Star Au)

An AU where Sun Polaris is sentient but Moondrop is not and his frequent struggles. Lots of angst and making the boi miserable. This Au is also inspired by a prompt from my friend @sketchtxt ! :3 (...and both are a frequent object of friend wanting to smooch...you know who you are.)

Masterpost to be made! Anything for this Au will be tagged #lsau

NBC au (Nightmare Before Christmas Au)

Currently unavailable please try again soon!!! Currently this au is in early stages of brainstorming, what it is may be announced soon! :3 Currently tagged #NBC au

ESS au (Eclipse's Solar System au)

A human SB au that mainly focuses on Eclipse and their twins Nova and Callisto and all their friends! A very fluffy slice of life type au with silly shenanigans and bits of angst! I have an ask blog for ESS au found here! And anything will be tagged as #ess au

PDC au (Playdate Collector au)

An au where me and my friends @sketchtxt and @sir-qwillian-ferne are SMods and put a bunch of our Au's together because we want our various Smoon's+ to interact and made lore for it! We all have a blog for it that can be found here! Anything for it will be tagged #pdc au

CTAMK au (....you'll find out soon)

An in progress AU with my friend @sir-qwillian-ferne to make a wholesome rarepair ship work! Currently not available to the public, please try again later! Anything that IS available will be tagged #ctamk au ;3

Tags listing

List of the types of main tags and what they're used for outside au tags

#jesterposts

any and all post asides re blogs from other amazing creators

#jesterdoodles

any and all drawings, sketches, all art stuff

#jesterwrites

any and all writing posts, be it wips, sneak peaks and finished works for A03 or here

#jester rambles

just random rants and tangents and whatnot that are just me rambling on whatever

#jesteranswers

for when answering asks!

#canon #not canon Anything not canon to an au will be tagged #notcanon.

A03 and Other Stuff

Most AU based stuff will be linked with their specific Au master lists (eventually...) Any misc stuff outside that will be listed here!

My A03

My artfight!

My side blog where I post non Smoon content!

Moots and Friendos!

No order of importance or preference, just nice and alphabetical They're all super cool so maybe check them out! ^-^ (Sorry for the random tags y'all >_<)

@buggoblin2 @cero-sleep @crabsnpersimmons @cryptidbisexual @dragoncxv360 @flufflefleurry @ieatconfettiforaliving @just-a-floofy-catt @salemlucidsleeper @rayofmisfortune @ryobitheaxololt @sir-qwillian-ferne @sketchtxt @tinyfairart @trenchcoat-full-of-snails @voidedpumpkin

#jesterposts #about #masterpost #faq #about asks #au's #about me #tag list #moots and friends

[samwisethewitch]

REVIEW: Hoodoo Herbal by Starr Casas

One thing that I think sometimes gets lost when we talk about Southern folk magic is that there's a lot of regional variation within the Southern US. Appalachian folklore and folk magic is trendy right now, but Appalachian traditions are actually very different from what other communities in the South are doing. While authors like Rebecca Beyer and Jake Richards do a great job of documenting Southern Appalachian lore, I think Starr Casas is one of the most high profile authors who covers what I would consider Deep South folk magic.

I know some people have issues with Casas, and I personally don't agree with her on everything (for example, she uses the words "hoodoo" and "conjure" interchangeably, while I use "hoodoo" specifically to refer to African American practices), but she is clearly very dedicated to documenting traditional Southern conjure as it was taught to her, and I can respect that.

This book is an herbal, and like most herbals, it's somewhere in between a spellbook and an encyclopedia. This is not a Conjure 101 book. Instead, this is a book for people who are already familiar with the basics and who want a reference book where they can quickly look up the lore and uses of different plants and curios in this tradition.

Pros:

• Like Casas's other books, this is very authentic to traditional conjure in the Deep South. She covers things in her books I learned growing up here but have never seen written down anywhere else.

• Very comprehensive. This book covers most basic herbs, but also goes into how to work with houseplants, curios, and Biblical figures.

• Great breakdown of the hot/cold and sweet/bitter system used in conjure, and explains how to choose herbs for a work based on these properties.

• Easy to use as a reference book. It's easy to flip back and forth to find information about a specific plant or curio. I read this as an ebook, which made it even easier to look things up by searching specific words.

Cons:

• Casas is very insistent that conjure must be passed down in person from an elder and is kind of condescending about people who learn conjure from books. This feels... not exactly like gatekeeping, because I see the point she's trying to make, but it rubs me the wrong way. I mean, the people in my family who knew this lore and practiced these works all died before I was born, and my parents and grandparents weren't interested in learning. My only option has been to reconstruct a personal/family conjure tradition based on local lore, talking to other workers, and yes, reading books. And while yes, I think books alone can only take you so far, I think we should acknowledge that not everyone has access to an in-person teacher.

• The other reason this bothers me is because Casas says her motivation for writing her books is to keep traditional conjure alive as the tradition's elders are aging and dying. So if she's aware that elders are dying without passing on what they know, why the insistence that true conjure can only be learned in person? Why write the books at all, then?

Other/Miscellaneous Observations:

• Casas feels very strongly that Christianity and the Bible are essential to conjure. If you do not feel the same, this book will piss you off.

• Casas is from Texas, and while I definitely consider her work more Deep South than Southwestern, there are some regional influences there. For example, Casas works with Catholic saints in an otherwise very Protestant magic tradition.

• Despite the above observations, Casas makes it very clear that she is not overly fond of churches and does not think you have to be a church-goer to practice conjure. She also talks about how she has taught conjure to people who aren't Christian, in case anyone was worried about that angle.

Conclusion: This is a solid reference book and a great collection of plant lore from the Southern US. I'm always happy to add books to my shelf that don't just parrot Western European herbalism, and it's nice to read a book that has info on New World plants. I have more issues with the philosophy/politics of this book than I did with Old Style Conjure by the same author, but this book does do a good job of showing what traditional conjure looks like. I recommend this as a reference for Southern US plant and curio lore, but definitely balance your perspective by picking up books from other authors and looking at other sides of the conversation.

Rating: 3/5 Stars

#book review #books #starr casas #conjure #southern folk magic #southern conjure #folk magic #folk witchcraft #witchcraft #witch #witchblr

[buckets-and-trees]

haunting thoughts on Sacrificial

read it here: SACRIFICIAL

Fandom: MCU Characters/Pairings: Minotaur!Bucky x Botanist!Female!Reader Word Count: 3.5k Content/Concept Warnings: DARK, lulled into a trap, human sacrifice, dubious consent, fuck or die, public sex, exhibitionism, size kink, monster fucking, face fucking/oral male receiving, vaginal fingering/fisting, breast worship, rough fucking, possessive/pet, praise kink, dirty talk, cum play, marking, cream pie, choking

RECAP: If it seems too good to be true, it always is. Always. Too bad you had to go to the remote jungles of South America to learn that lesson.

After soft!dark Mob Boss Bucky, Minotaur Bucky is the next favorite.

I've answered some asks before about this story:

brief insight into what reader's life is like

physical composition of Minotaur!Bucky

easy and challenging parts of writing the fic

the writing of the story from concept to completion in one night

...but it's been a while and there's still a lot that I think about with this AU.

There's some suspension of disbelief for this story, right? Like a minotaur existing. But I really wanted to embed a lot of reality into it so that the unbelievable parts could work. I researched the kind of climate a minotaur should be living in according to folklore and compared maps for areas of South America since there's still places in the Amazon where I felt like the semi-remote village could be (enough information about the place that you could look up info but not find out much about it) and that it would make sense for there to be a research opportunity because there'd be an abundance of flora to still explore.

And one of the things I liked and knew that I was doing when I wrote this was telling a very specific story - you being offered up as a sacrifice to Minotaur!Bucky - but leaving a lot of things to explore. When I wrote it, I was writing for me with @rookthorne enabling me, and I was just taking on the premise as kind of a challenge to the types of stories I was used to writing and building at the time, and I had no idea it would hit with so many people. I'm not saying that to be modest - I was enjoying it, and I did think some people would also like it, but I'd written enough at that point to know that not every story lands, you just write what you want to, and then release it and see what happens. But anyway, I'm saying that because I knew I was opening up a lot of questions that weren't immediately relevant to tell THIS STORY but that I just told my brain not to worry about in detail at the time.

There's quite a sad backstory for Bucky, for example, and that motivates him and after years and years of bitterness, that's what's got him to the point where we land with him - scary, dark, selfish, mistrusting, manipulative - but he was a human man before he was cursed into his Minotaur form, so he's not heartless, but he's extremely guarded with any glimpse of that heart. Physical intimacy can be precarious for keeping that part of him unreachable though - and it will be rough for both you and Bucky to navigate that entirely uncharted territory. You're the first and only willing sacrifice, and there's not only Bucky to navigate, but why you agreed, too.

Plus the lore I've been building up and exploring in my "notes for later" on this AU since it did get some friends and people do like it...

↠ Masterlist | Aspen's Ask Box | Field Guide to the Forest

read more from the Dark Forest Fest

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes fanfiction #writer commentary #minotaur au #aspen's dark forest fest

[aerkame]

Sorry for the short spam of posts recently, I'm close to finishing some longer requests. :)

Anyways, I just wanted to leave this here because I know there will be a few people PMing or sending asks (I love asks, it gets my brain thinking) about this.

In the Finfolk AU I fully intend on making Home a straight up reference to Lovecraftian gods or one of the princes of hell, Leviathan. Why? Because a pattern I see in Finfolk lore (Orkney) is that crosses tend to keep them away or cause harm. I notice there's often a religious influence in some books and folklore in general (an exmaple being unicorns, dragons, fae, and those similar) and I wanted to give the AU a bit of some religion or a very big reason as to why Home is more dangerous than thought to be. I'm not making him an outright prince of hell, but I'm defiantly making him a pretty big threat to anything of angelic or holy in origin. (Again, inspired, not making him one)

Kind of think of it like the games Diablo. Diablo has demons and angels but they're in their own kind of universe. This can be applied to the Finfolk AU. It's a lot of Lovecraftian inspiration and just about every monster or myth exists in it.

Home could be a prince of sorts. A prince of what? No one knows or may never know. Maybe he just wants to protect what he has left, start a new life with subjects that he loves. Or maybe he wants them for something else.

I kind of just imagine him either being so powerful that not even the fae or angels know where he is or that he's doing the whole "You leave me alone and I leave you alone don't tear you limb from limb and consume your souls bit"

Personally, I think this is a good way to do world building in general. It's always good to take multiple inspirations!

You know what? I feel like making a moodboard for Finfolk AU Home. I'm gonna do that in the morning.

Also the ending for Diablo 4 just came out you guys seriously need to give it a watch, the cinematics were AMAZING.

#How do you tag for Home as in the character? #where do I put Home? #is it just welcome home home? #or just welcome home #Maybe I should just capitalize Home that way it's the name Home and not like a home home #welcome home #welcome home au #welcome home finfolk au #finfolk #au #Home #welcome home home #diablo #mythical creatures #folklore

[captainmera]

This is a weird or maybe nonsensical one, has Caleb ever seen or faced a Wendigo?

Out of respect for the Mohegan tribe of the Pequot people in Connecticut, I stay away from using terms like wen**go and sk**walk** in my fanfic.

Adding a read more so I don't clog up people's feed. 🙇

I'm not native American. It would be unwise of me to dig into things I dont have a greater understanding of. Especially when it involves things that marginalised people are still believing in and practising spiritually.

Although I research extensively; I'm not flawless in my execution. But in my years of interest in native culture, history, and contemporary issues - I have learned that those two words are often misused for shock value in stories. I don't want to contribute to that.

There is a wide smörgårdsbord of other native folklore that can be used that won't bring further mysticism onto a still existing and practising group of people, though.

If youre interested in finding out more, Here's one of my favourite channels on the topic!

https://youtube.com/@NavajoTraditionalTeachings?si=PSIL9Z7ZRiA9JZvG

Now, these are mainly from a Navajo perspective, but the various nations and tribes do share a lot of them.

I prefer when my sources are directly from first hand. Thankfully, there are a lot of YouTube channels like these now that make it easier.

I've bought books when I was younger that was written by outsiders looking in, and they're not always that good - I understand the irony, as I am probably in the same boat as them here (being an interested outsider, that is). But I think, what I've learned from those authors mistakes, academically speaking, are two things:

1) Be aware that you are speaking as a secondary source of information and that you are biased as an outsider. Remind people of this, and admit when you don't know something rather than start guessing.

2) Have respect. They are not some mystical group of people that once was. They are still here and practising their beliefs.

There's nothing wrong with including representation, and doing your best to be accurate and respectable about it, but the way I see it is that - do your best and don't let your ego get the best of you.

Yes, it would be fun to write Caleb encountaring dark forces of Pequot folklore, or dip into a Demon Realm lens of what those lores """really""" are (aka from the boiling isles) - but that's incredibly dismissive of the spiritual beliefs of those tribes.

I try to tread cautiously there. And so should you.

It's nice to have fun, but sometimes it's more important to be respectful. I'm against anything that snubs creativity, but if you think this limits you, then you're not seeing the opportunity for what it is. Force yourself to find something new and a bit more respectfully inclusive.

In my caleb fanfic, I've included a Mohegan man by the name Nashoba. Now, instead of using Nashoba as yet another overused trope of making a native person a mystical guide for a white guy - he's instead just some guy Caleb admires (bisexual panic, that is). So there's historical accuracy, including native people in a town like Gravesfield, without making it all about the "mysticism" of a tribe.

I also discovered that Gravesfield is pretty much based on Hartford, Wethersfield Connecticut:

So I'm getting most of my information from the official historical society website and the Pequot historical museum website. Amongst other academic sites.

*shrug*

Long story short, there are cooler and less disrespectful folklore to write about than that one in particular.

Not saying you're being disrespectful, I know you weren't. I'm just providing what I know and my reasoning why I wouldn't.

#tgb #tgb ask

[storiesbyrhi]

The slightest break in our usual Eddie Munson programming for me to scream about Teen Wolf: The Movie.

Spoilers below the cut.

I'm an original Sterek shipper from back in the glory days. I watched the new episode each week. I was queerbaited to death. In the year 2023, why must I continue to suffer like this?

You chose the villain most associated with Stiles, but can't convince Dylan - the heart of the show - to come back? The reason Stiles is M.I.A. is that he has his 'own fires to put out' with the F.B.I. Lazy?! Lazy writing! He would have come A.S.A.P., but especially after Sheriff was taken by the Oni!

"Maybe you should call your son." What the fuck?

You give me this shitty Stiles-free movie, and then make Derek's son Eli a) obsessed with Stiles' Jeep and b) have the personality of Stiles? And have Derek and Sheriff Stilinski buddy up? And have Sheriff kind of go all dad on Eli too?

Don't get me started on Derek's death. I'm very pro-major characters dying but Derek has suffered unbelievable cruelty and yet, he triumphs. He builds a real life. Then you kill him. Not just kill him, but send him to, what, hell?

"Derek had complicated feelings about that Jeep." Give me Sterek or leave it alone.

Also, on the subject of Derek as a hero - @thisdiscontentedwinter made a succinct and absolutely correct post about it here.

AND, you chose a villain heavily reliant on Kira, her culture, and her family but won't pay Arden what she's worth? You use Japanese folklore and Japanese-American history (e.g. internment camps in the U.S.) but can't even begin to service the meaning or legacy of that? Kira isn't even mentioned?

You replace Kira with Hikari, a young Japanese-American woman, and a Kitsune. Don't worry - she's also Liam's love interest! That means she's got character! Right?! RIGHT?! She literally is just there to deliver Japanese lore, be another body in the fight, and make foxfire and ramen. "We're here for our pain," she says. Yeah, Hikari, you sure are. (Hikari is played by Amy Lin Workman, who is not Japanese.)

Nostalgia couldn't even save this. When you bring something so problematic into the current year, all it does is draw attention to how fucking problematic it was to begin with. Jeff Davis' ego is far too big for him to admit mistakes and rectify them here.

The only good things were Jackson being so Jackson, the introduction of more gore and swearing into the Teen Wolf universe (sorry but I love a "fuck" where there were previously no fucks allowed), Peter's entrance (he's even campier now), and Lydia and Allison's friendship being important.

There's already a huge catalogue of posts on Tumblr about why the movie was so fucking shit lmao. I'm going to enjoy reading them. And, oh my god, am I going to start reading Sterek fanfic again?!

Also, why is everyone wearing flannel?

I miss Isaac Lahey.

How'd everyone else feel about it? Are we all crying in Beacon Hills?

#Teen Wolf #Teen Wolf: The Movie #Sterek

[indigosabyss]

kay the last post got like. 23 notes. which is all a bitch w a hyperfixation needs to start infodumping about the nuances and minutia of crossovers and how to build them and what you'll get out of them.

*drumroll pls*

Fandom Fusion Crossovers: A Guide (Part 1)

In the first Breakdown, I touched upon Fandom Fusions as a concept. I realized that I was a bit too brief in retrospect, but that was because unlike the others, I have already worked through my love for these types of crossovers in stories longer than Moby Dick.

But, I'm here to rant into the void so lets give a quick definition, shall we?

Fandom Fusion is the type of crossover where the two stories exist side-by-side, the worlds slotting together with some overlap, but overall not interfering with each other. Until the plot of the fic kicks off.

The most interesting thing about this crossover is its potential for worldbuilding, and the way the power structures of both stories are balanced amongst each other. You need to make them belong together, create common threads, but also a degree of separation, and its not always easy to do that. Takes a lot of creativity.

I'll start with the 'making sure the worlds mesh' aspect first. Then maybe move onto the 'making the characters meet' aspect in another chapter.

Meshing & World-Building

There are a lot of different types of worlds, and genres. A common rule of thumb is that if you want a Fandom Fusion, the worlds should be in similar time periods, and both should exist in the same plane of reality. Generally, this means modern day Earth, but it can change.

With fantasy worlds, its a little tricky. Because all the worlds and continents have different names, which makes it pretty hard to do.

Or, you could simply not care for canon and worldbuilding and just have the characters hanging out together. (I cannot do that, it makes me break out in stress hives) In fact, the fic that started off the MordeTwi ship meme was this type of crossover. There isn't a reason for a humanoid bird to be in a world filled with the talking ponies, but there he was. No one cared. Do that, if you want. Fanfiction is anarchy, my dude.

If you do want to stress about it, here's some examples and vague combinations of genres.

Contemporary w/ Contemporary By 'contemporary' I mean showing people in their regular lives. Going to high school and college and doing regular jobs, with no major worldwide repercussions. The biggest problem w this is the geographical element of your worlds, and how the characters are supposed to meet. I will be going into this later. Otherwise, its easy to believe that these two stories happened at the same time. Don't really have much to add on this from a purely worldbuilding standpoint??

Celebrity w/ Contemporary or Celebrity By 'celebrity', I mean stories about the rich or famous or talented. Everything from athletes to actors are included in this. I personally classify it as a different style because it would require different worldbuilding. Esp if you're meshing together two different high-profile fields. From personal tastes, I will point out Yuri! on ice x Sk8 the Infinity crossovers. The similarities between the two are striking. One is about skateboarding, the other is figure skating. Parallels are drawn, but the characters have yet to meet. The geographical element with such crossovers is slightly lessened, because at least one party has the ability to travel easily.

Fantasy w/ Fantasy Here's where it gets interesting. You need to make the magic systems and lore compatible. They tend to line up alright, but best to keep an open mind. As an example, think of an Artemis Fowl and PJO crossover. The faerie would be considered spirits of folklore like any other. The Mist can be excused as weak around them because of a feud between the faerie and more powerful beings, which is why they are more at risk from being seen. Simple explanations like that which add on to the history of this shared world you've made.

Fantasy w/ Contemporary (or Celebrity?) These are always fun. Not only is there no tricky magic systems to shove together, but you also need to make sure that the normal-world's stakes are felt as heavily as the stakes from the magic-world story. Both of their problems should feel equally real and important to the reader. Depending on the type of fantasy series you're using, the geographic element and communication problem could be easier or harder to navigate, and a close eye should be kept on the interests and themes and motifs connected to each character to draw comparisons of them and have them meet characters from the other world.

There's a lot more I wish I could say. Maybe this would be easier w a graphical element? I can't draw very well but tell me if I should sketch something out if you're a visual learner and are trying to figure out wtf I'm trying to say.

My brain is hardwired to associate things with each other lol so if you want me to connect fandoms together fusion style, just... put the two fandoms in my ask box and I'll give you something back.

I'm only doing the meshing aspect rn, and will move onto how exactly characters are supposed to meet and what plots tend to occur on a basic scale later. If anyone rlly wants to know lol. I just really really like the background creativity that goes into crossovers and I think more people should do them and want to give a jumping off point if you're planning a crossover? Then again, I might just want to talk about things that everyone already intuitively knows and no one even wanted this but whatever

If I get around to it, I will link part two here.

#fanfic #crossover #percy jackon and the olympians #regular show #my little pony #mordetwi #yuri on ice #sk8 the infinity #artemis fowl #analysis #i keep on having to be v vague bc i have no idea what fandom ppl are thinking of #if u give me a solid couple fandoms (no matter how separate) ill give u a better explanation on how to fuse

[huntunderironskies]

If (hypothetically speaking) a guy (not necessarily me, but whoever's doing it would definitely be very smart and handsome) were to make a game about were-creatures (guess what it's inspired by) in an urban fantasy setting (ft. a lot of fighting on both the social and physical front and sick-ass powers), how would you like the player characters to be handled in terms of mechanics?

For context: I'm planning on doing a splat type deal (like a character class if this somehow breaches containment from my normal sphere) with your species being your splat. This will determine powers and other benefits you'll have access to. Uncertain if it'll function on an x/y splat axis, this is still very early development phases and honestly I need to hack out just how I'm going to handle everything before we get to that step. I'm torn on whether or not I like the idea but I feel like the secondary solution here is to just do both.

And to be clear, I am very set on having a monster secret society here. I don't like the idea of them being individualistic or isolated, so having the splats be culturally cohesive in some way is very important to me. I'm also somewhat set on having a medium-to-high crunch system here, rules-lite monsters has been done a bit more extensively than I'd like. This will almost definitely be an in-house system as well.

So, with that said, here is my cost-benefit analysis for the three options. You might have to pitch me the secret fourth thing but I promise I will at least consider those.

Folkloric Archetypes

As you are probably very aware if you've heard me talk for more than five minutes, I really like religious studies. It's very easy to come up with general roles that certain animals can play within human folklore and mythology. Tricksters, warriors, psychopomps, and so on. The idea here is you get fairly abstract powers (like being able to talk to ghosts if you're a psychopomp) and get to roughly pick what species you might be that fits into that general archetype.

Bonuses: Permits a very wide variety of potential animal species. Lots of wiggle room in terms of what species can be what and I could just give general examples. Allows people to use their own animal species I might not have thought of.

Drawbacks: Extremely difficult to give broad archetypes any specific lore focus or concentrated society. My preference is towards simulationist systems and it'd be very hard to come up with ways to handle form bonuses since that will absolutely be a thing, what's the fun of a shapeshifter system if you don't get to literally go beast mode? Not as much room to expand on roles either since there's far less you can do with general archetypes.

Species-by-Species Case

Kind of self-explanatory. You get a grab bag of well-known species heavily associated with shapeshifting (wolves, hyenas, cats, bears, possibly seals, et cetera) and pick one you like. You'll still get at least some abstract powers, though.

Bonuses: Lends itself well to mid-to-high crunch simulationist thing. Easy to incorporate actual fun facts about what the animal in question is capable of and make those innate abilities. Easier to justify in an urban fantasy setting as having inspired various folklore bits IRL, meaning they feel like they have a natural place in the setting. A lot easier to justify each group having highly specific cultural practices, making the options feel more unique.

Drawbacks: Way less freeform in terms of character options, meaning player options are more limited. Simulationist usually means tons of tweaking stats and having to fuss over game balance while remaining somewhat realistic, so lots of cognitive overhead for the designer, who may or may not be me.

Both (usage of an x/y splat axis?)

Yeah. My first thought is that in this case the species splat would be like..."giant predator" or "stealth ambusher" or whatever, and then you have a cultural splat that's more like what your folklore role is (so the whole "trickster" or "psychopomp" thing.)

Bonuses: Best of both worlds...? Maybe?

Drawbacks: Not sure how to handle the way shapeshifter culture would work here. Justifying something like a trickster bear seems like it would be difficult which could lead to some incongruities. oh god so many powers to make

#not brave enough to put this in the tags yet #but feel free to reblog

[hyperray]

Just watched the finale and...

I almost feel nothing. I feel weird. I am both excited from the cool moments, and dissapointed by the cringe moments. Its like the cool matter and cringe matter met and they annihilated eahc other to zero. My mood swings about the finale is comparable to the infrared wavelength. Actually let me visualize this by showing the peaks as + and cringe moments as - +Vox laughing at the hotel's preparation -Vox swearing (Actually I'm giving a minus to all the swearing, which OH MY GOD!! There is so much of it, I have an extremely hard time to find this cool and interesting. Viv, STOP IT, PLEASE!) +General Pentious +Charlie's speech +The whole scene where everyone is enjoying themselfes before the fight -Besides Pentious expressing his feelings for Cherri (Which I do ship) the whole concept is rushed, she only appeared one time and when they are eye to eye the ship thing if forced quickly, and she only starts considering him after Angel tells her that he might have two dicks. Like, hmm, that would make it a very one sided relationship -The Charlie and Vaggie song having the same style as the Charlie and Lucifer song makes this all feel somewhat incestious. Am I the only one who feels that way? -Lute is being uncharacteristic with how she is swearing, feels a bit like the Striker treatement +I love everyone's battle outfits! I think Charlie's shield might be a reference to that one christian folklore how someone was using a shield made by Lucifer himself which later broke from another holy weapon +Alastor's shield -Yeah it is pretty weak how the angels can be killed with their own weapons, though I also find this interesting, maybe their own weapons can kill them not out of holyness, but from power-level essence, you get me? +++Besides the swearings and the Lucifer vs Adam fight, this battle was AWESOME!!! Especially Adam vs Alastor -Vox' hard on, or his entire appereance in the episode and Alastor swearing. I really hoped Al would be outside the swearing curse --"Vagatha!" "Not my name" I really feel like this is Viv's spiteful way of saying "Fuck you guys, the way I name my characters is completely fine and stop whining like there is anything wrong with it." +Angel Dust protecting the Egg Boi ++Pentiou's build up of attacking Adam and manning up to kiss Cherri ----------Pentious being casually whiped out by Adam in one pew and everyone imemdiately mourning for him. Seriously WHAT THE FUCK!!! That was the most UNDERWHELMING SHIT I've ever seen! +Razzle and Dazzle becoming Dragon and Vaggie vs Lute fight, as well as her speech to humiliate Lute +Charlie and Adam's fight and interaction +Lute ripping her arm out --The entire Adam vs Lucifer fight and interaction. Okay I expected there to be a large power gap between those two, it is Lucifer after all, but it felt too one sides, and I got second hand embarrasment for Adam by being so casually humiliated by all these silly animal transformations and insult ---Also did Lucifer really sleep with Eve too? That makes the whole view on the Morningstar family relationship so wrong. Luci and Lilith supposedly were deeply in love, but if Lucifer must've slept with Eve too it must've been soon after he met Lilith too, and Luci was trying to be a sort of prometheus figure to Eve, what a massive downplay on so many things! Though I hope he wasn't serious about it and just wanted to get under Adam's skin ----Lucifer saying "I'm going to fuck you" to Adam was the MOST VRINGE INDUCING thing here! --Adam's true face. Look I don't care if this is suppose to reflect his actor's face, why is he this white boy hill billy? Jeez, does Viv even care about the Bible lore and trying to make it more accurate than just the surface level stuff?Would it have been so hard to just make him more lore accurate? I'm seriously starting to think Viv might have a kink on that.

[irrigos]

okay, I finished reading Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett, and i have some opinions on it, and about Clay Men in Fallen London. Shocker, I know. Irrigos? Having opinions? I'm only 80% opinions by volume!

This is really long and rambling, and I WOULD apologize for that, but, idk man you chose to read it.

anyway, I'm gonna preface this by saying that I am not Jewish. I've been pretty forthcoming about that on here, I think, given that every post I make somehow becomes about how I was raised Catholic.

so... the Clay Men are golems, yeah? I don't think I really need to argue that that's so, and even if I did, I'm not really sure how I would (or, rather, I don't know how someone would disagree, beyond "but they're not CALLED golems")

I've always thought the Clay Men were such an odd addition to Fallen London, because like... why are there golems here? In folklore, the golem was made to protect the Jewish people (in the most famous story, the golem was made by Rabbi Loew in 16th century Prague to protect the Jewish ghetto from pogroms and blood libel) but like... there's no imperiled Jewish community in Fallen London. I mean, I don't think there's been any mention of any Jewish community whatsoever. So why are there golems? What purpose do they serve?

I know in canon, they were created by the King with a Hundred Hearts. But I'm not really sure... why. The lore wiki says that the Clay Men come into existence when the King dreams (but also, the article on Clay Men on that wiki doesn't cite any sources, and has a big banner saying it doesn't meet their citation requirements and might contain theories and headcanons. So I can't verify where in the game it says that). I know the King's backstory and all, and I know why he's a city, but I just don't really see why that resulted in the creation of a race of golems. Not really sure how his divorce was aided by the presence of an entire race of swole mud dudes, but... well what do I know

Anyway, the reason that I read Feet of Clay is because it's all about golems, and also... it's kind of the only answer I can think of for why there are golems in this game? I mean, golems aren't really a staple of the Victorian era, like Jack the Ripper or Sherlock Holmes, and they're not a staple of the cosmic horror genre (that the game at least makes a lot of gestures towards), like squid people or uncaring cosmic entities. And it doesn't seem like any of the FL founders were Jewish, or had any particular attachment to the golem as a folkloric character, so like... why? This is just a theory, and I might be totally off-base, but the best reason I can think of is that the Discworld books are incredibly famous and iconic and (especially in the UK) ubiquitous, and... they have golems, I guess? I don't know, I'm grasping at straws here because I have NOTHING. I understand all the talking animals and the fish people and sentient cities from space, but the golems? The golems confound me.

Especially after reading Feet of Clay, I just wish Fallen London would actually DO something with the Clay Men. There's been a few stories focused on Clay Men, but... well I've made no secrets about the fact that they've been the ones I enjoyed least. I think The Clay Man's Arm is gross, I think Factory of Favours is boring, I think the Comtessa storyline is... idk uncomfortably racially coded? ("Rich young white woman is kidnapped and killed by someone that is less than human but still undeniably A Man who claims to be in love with her" is uh. literally a plot point in Birth of a Nation? That really famous 1915 movie about how awesome the KKK are?)

The golems in Discworld are such a rich thematic vein-- they function as allegory for Jews, for oppressed workers, for automation, for the power of words in general. What is the narrative purpose of the Clay Men? What do they add by being in the story? What would be different if any given Clay Man that shows up in a story was replaced by a human? In Feet of Clay, you couldn't replace the golems with humans, because the story would cease to function. If you replaced the Clay Men in the Comtessa story line or in Factory of Favours with a human, or a Rubbery, or literally any other being that exists in the Neath, what would really be different, narratively and thematically? In my opinion, not a whole hell of a lot! So why are they here???

Anyway, I'm hoping that Mask of the Rose has more meat on this particular narrative bone. I know FBG has mentioned several times how much research they're putting into representing Jewish characters in MotR, and I know there's going to be a Clay Man lodging in Horatia's, too, and if David and Rachel don't have something to say about the fact that golems are real, I'm gonna riot.

Also, I couldn't think of a good way to work it into this post, but I really like this Jacob Geller video about the golem.

Thank u for reading all this mess. If you have any thoughts about Clay Men and what they mean, uh... well, let me know, because I'm stumped.

TL;DR:

#fallen london #i feel like i should make a tag for these sorts of posts but idk what exactly #but i love doing narrative criticism on fallen london #this game is my beautiful wife and i love her so much #but also i have to figure out how she works or my brain will grow mold