#highly recommend researching the topic it’s very interesting

[frayedcircus]

happy 151 years since the mary celeste departed from NYC with 1,701 barrels of industrial strength alcohol, heading to genoa, italy

on board was captain benjamin spooner briggs, plus his wife, sarah, his two year old daughter, sophie, and 7 crew members

almost a month later, on december 5th, the ship was found floating around the mid atlantic. not even 1 of the 10 original passengers was on board, and we still have no confirmed theory of what happened to them

#thsi is the abridged version there’s a whole bunch of interesting theories #highly recommend researching the topic it’s very interesting #i’ve written like 2000 words on it for a school thing but i don’t think anyone wants that full version #mary celeste #mary celeste ship #ghost ship #mary celeste ghost ship

[dromaeocore]

@pisforpandemonium Absolutely!

So the first book I'm gonna recommend is Soteria by Loren Mosher and Voyce Hendrix. It's about the development of a home/intentional community for people with schizophrenia/psychosis. This home was very pro-autonomy, many workers had psychosis themselves, and they did use meds, but it was always the resident's choice and usually not the first line of treatment, as they found that psychosis often resolved on its own within a few weeks. Some of the methods used at Soteria were a little... wacky, being the 70s, but all in all it was very successful. There are now Soteria Houses all over the world.

Another one is Healing: Our Path From Mental Illness to Mental Health by Thomas Insel, MD. It's written by the former director of NIMH, and while I don't agree with every one of his takes, there is a great chapter about the Clubhouse Model, another peer support model created by a bunch of ex patients, by and for people with mental illness. People in the clubhouse are Members, not patients. They are assisted with vocational goals, food, etc, and most importantly, given community. It's a really interesting paradigm and there are hundreds of clubhouses all over the world now.

The Voices Within by Charles Fernyhough is a bit dry IMO, but it goes over the research behind voice-hearing and goes into the Hearing Voices Movement - another, you guessed it, peer support movement for voice hearers and other folks who have experiences not aligned with consensus reality i.e. psychosis.

Some others I haven't read yet are Geel Revisited after Centuries of Rehabilitation by Eugeen Roosens, and On Our Own: Patient Controlled Alternatives to the Mental Health System by Judi Chamberlin.

I'm also gonna rec a bunch of podcasts.

Heart Forward: Conversations from the Heart has a ton of awesome episodes about the US mental health system and alternatives to it. They have lovely episodes about peer respite and Trieste. It's such a compassionate and solution-focused podcast with a diverse amount of topics, I love it.

Patricia Deegan: Personal Medicine is a great one about Dr. Deegan's life and the Commonground Software she developed to help aid in joint decision-making with patients and providers, where patients have a solid say in their treatment. (I've listened to a ton of interviews with Dr. Deegan and she is an amazing, inspiring individual)

A Place of Safety? is hosted by an Italian psychiatrist who worked in Trieste (an Italian city with world-renowned mental healthcare) and he talks about a lot of problems with the NHS and how it relates to Trieste.

Alita Taylor - Open Dialogue is an episode about a highly successful mode of treatment in Western Lapland for people with psychosis and other mental illness. Here's a documentary I just found about the practice, haven't watched it yet but it looks cool.

Mad in America also has some interesting podcasts about many of these topics

Some articles:

Bethel House, basically Japan's version of Soteria

Hearing Voices Movement, as previously discussed

Hurdalsjøen Recovery Center, a "medication-free" hospital in Norway (meds are optional, not banned lol, and they also assist with tapering off)

Recovery Colleges, where struggling individuals, caregivers, and professionals all take an active role in learning about mental health

Obvs this isn't everything but I hope I've given you a good starting point!

#it's actually a goal of mine to write a book summarizing every one of these that I'm aware of lol bc afaik there isn't one yet #just every goddamn innovative and humane mental health practice there is :3 #pisforpandemonium #reply #psychiatry #mental health #psychiatry critical #healthcare reform

[rotdistressxox]

DARLINGGGGG GUESS WHOS BACK FROM THE PYSCHE WARD!!

im currently brainrotting over agito as you can see..can you write how you think he would meet reader and how their relationship would develop into romance with him? like actually i sat at work for like 15 minutes trying to think how but i actually cannot cook anything up.

(Also I'm seeing the ghost stuff and I'm interested...gonna have to do research for dis one☝️)

sorry if i keep sending you silly asks😞

—🪡 anon

JOIN US WE HAVE SEXY POPES WHO DOUBLE AS FRONTMEN AND FREAKY GHOULS. Listen to them, I highly recommend listening to the meliora and prequelle album before delving any deeper. Watch some YouTube videos abt the lore. PLUS THEY HAVE LITTLE EPISODES <3

Time for some more Cakemaster 9000

Phew, this took a while

Kanoh Agito: How does he fall for you?

• Like what I mentioned in one of the headcanons, you work for Katahara. While Agito doesn't directly work for him apart from beint his representative fighter, he's technically his family AND The Fang.

• However, you two hardly see eachother when on the job. BUT-

• You two visit the same coffee shop. He loves his morning Latte, and you love (insert your favorite Cafe drink here)

• When you first started working, you were surprised to see the Kanoh Agito at a small coffee shop.

• He usually greets and addresses you formally, not interested in any small talk.

• "Sheesh, what a stick in the mud" It's not that he was trying to be rude, but he did come off a little condescending when he greeted you. (He has tone issues)

• One day you woke up late and didn't have time to stop and get your usual.

• He notices your absence. "They can't be sick, they showed no signs of it two days ago"

• Long story short, he picks up your order and goes looking for you. Once he finds you, he stiffly hands it to you. "You were late I presume. I picked this up for you"

• Everyone in the room was shocked. The cold hearted Fang buying someone a drink? You smiled warmly and looked into his eyes "Thank you, this was very kind of you"

• His breathing hitched, and he felt speechless. Was he....flustered? "Don't let it happen again, you work for the Chairman afterall"

• You obviously didn't let it happen again....buuuttt it was super sweet how he seemed to care about you enough to get you something.

• To return the favor, you arrived earlier and got him his Latte. Listen, he was speechless before, now he was in shock. He didn't show it though. In his lifetime no one had ever bought him anything or returned a favor. There was a first time for everything.

• You saw through his attempt to hide the baffled expression on his face. It was kinda- cute.

• "Why have you done this?" "Why not? I'm just repaying you" "I-" "Shush, just take the drink, it's burning my hand"

• He has to get there before you now to ensure that he sees you. He's a bit friendlier with the greetings, too. Don't expect a smile though, just a softer glance in your direction.

• When he was around you, he didn't feel like he needed to be The Fang of Metsudo. You didn't hold him to any higher standard when you chatted, you didn't bother holding back a few curses. He felt as if his soul was on Earth instead of hanging in the balance.

• On one of your off days, the two of you get coffee and sit down for once. Finally having a slower paced discussion. It lasted a few hours, you did most of the talking while he had a response to almost anything. There was a lot he didn't know about pop culture.

• Coffee dates became your thing, even though it wasn't technically a date. More like two friends hanging out. Discussions got into deeper topics like pasts and whatnot.

• Agito decided that he could trust you, so he opened up about the Human Gu Ritual. He didn't know what trauma was, so you explained to him that his feelings and memories about that time in his life would be very traumatic.

• "I'm glad you could tell me that, but are you okay? If I had something like that on my chest I'd cry" "I'm quite alright, I'm not fazed in the slightest but I had no idea the caliber of the topic. I hope I didn't ruin the conversation"

• You tapped your cheek and sighed. "Have you ever been hugged before?" Agito thought for a second. The embracing gesture? The only physical contact he's hand was a pat on the shoulder or when he's fighting.

• "No, I don't think I have" "Well today's your lucky day, bring it in"

• He froze as you wrapped your arms around his waist, pulling him into you. His heartbeat raced as he thought of what to do. "Just tell me if you don't like it" you squeezed him gently. He awkwardly put his hand behind your back and rested it there.

• You let go after a few seconds, but he didn't want you to. "How was it?" You smiled.

• "I'm not sure" He smoothed out his suit, trying to relax himself after what just happened.

• A few days passed and you haven't seen him anywhere. He wasn't at work or at the coffee shop. You start to worry. Did you drive him away? Was the hug too much? Oh god was he dead?

• All the while Agito was keeping an eye on you from afar. Not letting you see him, but he could see you. He felt very fragile after that day, he almost felt ashamed. He wasn't good at managing his emotions. And what happened moved him in a way that frightened him.

• He summons the courage to talk to Katahara Metsudo about how he felt. He was the only parental figure he had in a sense.

• "You are a grown man. Is this really a difficult concept to grasp?" Katahara looked out the window of his office. "I'm inexperienced, these feelings are foreign to me"

• 'He's not referring to himself as we and us anymore, this must be serious' Katahara turned around. "To put it simply" he laughed "Tell (Reader) everything you told me"

• "I have a strong regard for you" Agito came clean. You know how I said there was a first time for everything? Well he had a hint of red on his cheeks. This beast of a man, blushing? Utterly adorable

• "So you're saying you love me?" That's the word. Love. He nodded. "Well. Say it then. There's nothing holding you back"

• He pauses for a moment, he's not exactly fond of eye contact. But this was for (Reader)

• "I love you"

• You wrap your arms around his waist again. "That's all I needed to hear"

• His lips curled into a smile as he looked down at you. You parted from the hug and tilted your head to the side. "Wanna go out to a restaurant sometime?"

• "Are you asking me out on...what is it that they call it...a date?" "Yes" you stated bluntly. Beating around the bush or teasing wouldn't get far in this situation.

• "We can talk about plans later, I have important matters to attend to" he look your hand and grazed his lips on you knuckles. Planting a small kiss on it.

• "Now where did you learn that?" "It's a romantic gesture they do on television" you bite your lip from calling him a dork.

• "I'll meet with you later about this date. Until we see eachother again" He leaves, and you're alone again.

• Man, you're already falling for him. It's not like you'd hate dating him. But you didn't want to be head over heels just yet. You looked at your knuckles and sighed "Ah what the hell, being love isn't that bad"

#kengan ashura #kengan omega #kenganverse #kengan ashura x reader #kanoh agito #agito kanoh #kanoh agito x reader

[hiswitchcraft]

I see a lot of beginner tips on the internet that seem to be for people who have already gotten started, how about some tips from someone who has no idea where to start at all?

Tips for Witches Who Haven’t Even Started Yet

Heads up this guide will be designed assuming someone has learned modern witches are a thing, is interested and maybe wants to be one, but has done none or very little research.  First let’s go ahead and get rid of some COMMON misconceptions people come into my DMs with when they’ve barely begun... 

There are all things you do not have to do to be a witch: 

Do evil things or be a “satan worshiper” 

Be a specific religion, because witchcraft is not a religion

Work with deities or spirits of any kind 

Be a woman, witch is a gender neutral term

Be Wiccan or Pagan

Pick a witch type 

Spend a lot of money 

Be in a coven or know other witches 

Have a big or pretty altar, grimoire, ect 

Have tarot cards or any tools for your practice gifted to you

One final disclaimer Another thing to go into your research with that you may not know if you’re just starting at the very beginning is that there are many paths, practices, belief systems, ect besides the eclectic form of witchcraft I teach here and that you will commonly see presented online. I feel a lot of people may benefit from a more structured, or different path. Keep an open mind. You might come across something more fitting.  So if the above is all false, are there any rules? The only rules I ever push around here are have an understanding of what you’re doing and its consequences, and do not appropriate from closed practices!  Okay, so I read all of the above, now what? If you don’t know where to start at all? Research. Research is always where you should start. That sounds overwhelming and may be something you’ve already seen a few times but it could be as simple as a google search to start and I will be here to make it as simple as possible with this guide. Also as usual my DMs are always open if you have questions. 

Onto how to do that research...  First here is a google doc full of links I’ve compiled that may give you somewhere to start! With that, here are some suggestions for what to research. 

Follow your interests For someone who has just begun I would highly suggest following your interests. What I mean by that is if anything interests you, keep googling, try Youtube maybe, check if your library has books on it, ect. Take notes on what it is, why it interests you and what you find. There are tons of practices and subjects witches study so just keep learning at your own pace and incorporating what works.

If you need somewhere to start, here’s some general topics I’d suggest:

Types of magical/Pagan practices

Cleansing

Charging

Grounding

Warding

Banishing & binding

Divination types

Tools & ingredients

Closed practices

If you’re stuck hopefully doing some searching on the above topics will get you down a rabbit hole of interest. Below is also a bunch of info on how to do GOOD research. Doing good research is very important to me. 

Research tips  Think critically and ask yourself questions like this while researching: 

What are the qualifications, motives and biases of the person giving me this information?

Who recommended this source?

Is anything they're implying or advising here a threat to my or someone else's safety or health? Do I know that this suggestion is safe? 

Does this line up with other things I know to be true? Like science, other factors about witchcraft, your beliefs, ect. Beliefs won't dictate fact but often in witchcraft personal belief is the only thing that will sway you towards one answer or another.

Does it make sense? Like logically does it make sense to you? Why? Just ask yourself why. Ask them why. Ask them for sources or an explanation.

Have I seen someone say this before? How often? Apply the above questions to that source or sources as well.

Here are all my other general research tips: 

Take time to take things with a grain of salt. Try not to categorize them as right or wrong until you're absolutely sure.

Cross reference everything you find. The answer you see the most is likely right. 

Understand that many things are up to personal belief and for many questions the answer will be "Depends on the witch." Both answers might be correct. This path is yours and often you have to dictate how things will work. 

Check out your local library.

Use books that aren't marketed as being about witchcraft or the occult. Folklore, local flora and fauna, nature, botany, gardening, foraging, geology, these are all useful subjects. 

Ask real, experienced witches. Do not rely on them as your soul mentor and ideally and contact multiple witches or groups, but do ask.

Don't worry about making a fancy grimoire or book of shadows or having all the correspondences in the world written out. That's the least of your worries, take notes on the essentials and things that interest you personally. Some things to include are the subject, date & source of what you're reading.  

Take notes, here’s how I mentioned note taking in there and I definitely have more to say on that! A lot of the time people get overwhelmed before they’ve even done anything remotely “witchy” because they feel like they need to have a big fancy grimoire. This is not the case. You can make a google doc or shove a bunch of notes in a binder. This tip has helped a LOT of people including me. I do strongly suggest taking notes, but take them your way. 

General Tips And finally here are some general tips to reference or keep in mind as you research and maybe start practicing witchcraft.

Don’t believe everything you hear and take information with a grain of salt. Most things to do with witchcraft depend on the witch. 

Lots of witchcraft supplies can be found or made. It doesn’t have to be expensive.

You can find supplies at mundane places, the dollar store, craft store, library, ect. 

Follow your intuition! One of the most important things here. To be a good witch and form a solid, personal path you have to know and be able to tune into yourself. 

Experiment! Try different things. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t. 

When you don’t know what to do, return to the basics. Whatever that means for you. Cleansing, warding, your deities, ect. 

If you feel overwhelmed, start with just one topic or two! You don’t need to take in witchcraft as a whole right away. Same goes for if you return from a break from the craft. 

Finally remember that you are always welcome to DM me for any reason with any question or concern throughout your research and practice! After my hiatus I’ve learned helping you guys one on one is my favorite thing, so remember I’m always here 💕 

#his posts #asks #anons #info #new witch #where to start #research #resources #witchcraft #witches #witchblr #witchy #witches of tumblr #magick #occult #baby witch #beginner witch

[seriousbrat]

quite contrary: mary macdonald + historical context, music

this is my Mary MacDonald playlist and I'd like to talk a little about my interpretation of her and her cultural/historical context! it might not align with fanon, ive no idea but idc frankly haha. I hope to have done my due diligence in terms of research (i'm an absolute research fiend) and in general this is a topic I'm personally highly interested in. because it's highly interesting and (ime) little-discussed. I'll be providing links for further reading. tagging @goldenromione bc she asked me to do this!

so in my fic Mary is a muggle-born girl from a British-Caribbean family in Croydon. Her family owns a Caribbean restaurant in Thornton Heath. She's rebellious and punky and gets a lot of this from her two older brothers, both Muggles; Toby, the eldest, is part of the Race Today Collective in Brixton, dedicated to the publication of a political magazine (Race Today) on race relations in the UK. The middle brother, Lewis (who has a fling with Sirius as a matter of interest lol) is a musician/DJ very active in the Ska Revival/Two-Tone scene of the late 70s-early 80s.

All this is very influential on Mary; she is very outspoken about muggle-born rights at school, and her music taste reflects her background. I do think she would like women-led punk especially x-ray spex, but also in terms of ska a group I think she'd have liked is the selecter, which features pauline black the coolest female vocalist i've ever seen in my entire life. just look at her:

this will be explored in the upcoming 4th part of my fic, in which we see Sirius in his Brixton flat, and Mary and Lewis both spend a lot of time there. Specifically, he lives on Railton Road, which was a very important street in terms of both Black and LGBT history in Britain. It was the scene of the 1981 Brixton Riot and the location of many collectives at different points like the British Black Panthers, the 121 Centre (one of London’s longest running squats, also housed anarchist groups and other orgs), the aforementioned Race Today Collective, the Pink Fairies/South London Gay Community Centre, among others. It was also the home of many important Black British activists and historical figures like C.L.R. James, Darcus Howe and Leila Hassan. A few links:

A Radical History of 121 Railton Road By the Waters of Babylon; The Battle of Railton Road; International Centres Today in London gay history: the South London Gay Centre evicted, Brixton, 1976 Activist Streets (on history in Thornton Heath, linked above)

If anyone is interested in this topic I cannot, cannot recommend enough the miniseries Small Axe on Amazon, which covers a few different important moments in Black British history from the 60s to the 80s. It's so incredibly good and the soundtrack is SUPREME. Another good one to get a feel for the period is In the Long Run, created by Idris Elba and set in London in the 80s, loosely based on his own childhood.

Lastly, a few images of how I see Mary under the cut:

this is simona brown, my mary fancast, though the image I used for my playlist is of brenda sykes who I also think is an absolute Mary vibe.

#mary macdonald #mary #marauders era #mine #the darkest days #idk how to tag this tbh im just leaving it like that #the stranglehold that typeface has had on london signage lmao #i always thought it was futura but its johnston apparently #Spotify

[newrisingsuns]

celebrating palestinian science

in the face of israels' targetting of scholars, scientists and intellectuals...

saw a tumblr post by @/anarchistfrogposting that got me heavythinking about the relevance of language and culture in chemistry and science, it's unfortunate english has been accepted as its' lingua franca and most other input is lost to the globalization of this change. formulae and structure are essential and in a subject so specific, the average chemist will need to memorize hundreds of chemistry-specific words, and it becomes a barrier past entry when direct translating gets murky. deconstructing the history of science will always lead to political waters as the politicization of science and populist anti-intellectualism ethos rooted itself since the beginning of the study and these implicit biases result in a lack of consensus amongst borders.

before wwi the geographical spread of language in science was much more diverse, a lot of french and german researchers were common in research publishing, but after the allies established new scientific institutions that excluded germans and the isolationist decades that followed suit, foreign-language education was reductionist and excised globally as a result of elitism, being a language considered spoken only 'by the educated'. english-language proficiency is undeniably a prerequisite when an inexaggerated count of 99% of natural science papers are published in english, starting since 2015. this is a /heavily/ debated and discoursed topic and is terribly intimidating to sink your teeth into because of globalization of english and the complexity of modern language but getting over this hurdle will blossom a culturally rich rabbit hole to go down and it is all super interesting. there is so much great palestinian scientific practices, not as in western scientists work imagined in palestinian hands, but palestinian-born theories and practices. i think it's really integral, to always, but especially during times like these to uplift the people of palestine and their beauty just as much as funnel hatred toward their oppressors and murderers.

==

[image ID: a lineup of various glass pots and vases, ranging in color and size, placed in front of a plain background. end]

this is a specific sort of glass called 'hebron glass' which is an extremely renowned palestinian practice and passed down traditionally through multiple families and businesses. dating back as far as the 100~s in BCE, their technique of glassblowing was far ahead of their time and not used commonly anywhere else until much further in BCE. the /exact/ practice of hebron glass is kept a family secret amongst palestinian businesses, but a metal tool called 'kammasha' is used to blow the glass. a palestinian artisan talks about the process in more length here, i would recommend doing extended reading directly from palestine:

the colors are so vibrant and beautiful, i am endlessly impressed by how elegant these pieces have been made since the middle ages. these pieces and techniques have inspired a lot of famous modern day forms of glassblowing and glass artistry, most notably the venetian glass of venice.

i include this under science as much as it is art because it often goes unseen how much temperature and calculation goes into this craft. its highly skilled and intense work to bend over the hot flames and handle the glass in such a vulnerable state that could easily shatter. the material is more than 1800F and the palestinian kammasha is very carefully timed.

==

[image ID: an online video call meeting titled 'School on Synchrotron Light Sources and their Applications' at the top. end]

what you're looking at right now is the SESAME initiative run by the international centre for theoretical physics. a famous alumnus of this school was sufyan tayeh, a palestinian scientist. he was a prominent researcher and mentor and advocate for international understanding through science, introducing: SESAME, an alternative vision for the future of peaceful coexistence and cooperation and offered a meeting point around the globe to speak the common language of science, making communication possible. sufyan tayeh was an inspiration and bridge builder for all of these young students and an entry point for future scientists. he was a winner of multiple awards for his contributions to science and was appointed chair man for UNESCO (united nations educational, scientific and cultural organization) and head of physical, astrophysical and space sciences in palestine. he was regarded as a leading researched in science and applied mathematics globally, and tragically was killed in the current genocide. this is one case of many, many palestinian researchers. the impact of their contributions are insurmountable and irreplaceable.

==

[image ID: a list documenting the 45 palestinian scholars killed by israel since october 7th: Sufian Tayeh, Mohammad Eid Shubair, Omar Ferwana, Taysir Ibrahim, Ibrahim Hamed, Naeim Baroud, Azou Afana, Mohammad Bakhit, Mahmoud Abu Daf, Salem Abu Mukhda, Mohammad Abu Asaad, Osama Al-Muzayni, Refaat Al-Areer, Wael Al-Zard, Ismail Abu Saada, Khaled Al-Ramlawi, Mohammad Al-Najjar, Saeed Al-Dahshan, Raed Qudura, Mohammad Abu Zour, Yousseff Jameh Salameh, Nidaa Afana, Moumen Shweidah, Saeed Al-Zabdeh, Saqid Nasaar, Ahmed Abu Saada, Mohammad Jameel Al-Zaaneen, Ismail Al-Ghamari, Razq Ali Arouq, Walid Al-Amoudi, Abdullah Al-Amoudi, Hassan Al-Radi, Mohammand Abu Amara, Mohammad Al-Louh, Khaled Al-Najjar, Sharif Al-Asli, Mohammad Hassouneh, Yassar Hdeib Ridwan, Jihad Al-Baz, Hazem Al-Jamali, Nasser Al-Yafaoui, and Jihad Al-Masri. end]

==

the fabric gauze was also invented in palestine. if you've ever stepped foot in a labratory, you will know what this is lol. used in surgery and in chemical labs for multiple functions: separating liquids and gases, strain acids from bases, filter substances at extreme temperatures, prevent contamination, and to treat water. it is also used to diffuse heat and help protect glassware, seriously, these guys influence in glassware was HUGE. i think glass would still be sand without palestinian input.

i've set this post just up as a basis summary of the sciences, i would love to give an add-on going more indepth into the scientific process of some examples i gave and also in the history of palestinian scholars listed above.. when i get the time! but i hope this was an apt introduction! may good things come in 2024. feel free to recommend things i should check out or correct. OH OH also there is a lot of palestinian sci-fi.. 'divine intervention' and 'the second war of the dog' are both good, iirc they won the international prize for arabic fiction. just random things i found while looking up things for this post haha but they're good

#free palestine #ceasefire now #chemistry #science #long post #VERY LONG POST

[junowritings]

Hello! If you could do another matchup with Gale, since you mentioned that you nearly shipped me with him too, I'd really appreciate it! Thanks so much sweetie ^-^

I'm an autistic girl who also has adhd, asthma and chronic joint pain. I work as a librarian currently and am simultaneously very smart and scholarly and also full of energy. I'm definitely the sunshine person in a group, I love taking care of people and I'm very good at making other people laugh, I have a very dry witty sense of humor. I'm also super short, 4' 10"/147 cm, but I can get kinda insecure about it when dating. I have a very boyish style, long wavy auburn hair that floofs up around my head, glasses and I'm pale and covered in moles and freckles. I also love being out in nature, and if I can't be I bring nature to me, I have tons of houseplants.

Thank you so so much, have a great day!!

Sorry this took so long hun! Had to take a quick break from working through matchups but I'm hoping to get a couple more done so thanks so much for your patience on this~!

With that being said here's how I think things could go with...

I know we talked about how Halsin would appreciate you, but we know who else would love you - Gale!

The lovestory here damn near writes itself, especially given your current occupation. I mean where better for Gale to stumble upon love than a place teeming with potentially valuable and intriguing knowledge? More than likely this is where the two of you first cross paths - perhaps he’s come in looking for information on whatever subjects got his head racing with a thousand and one questions that need answers; or maybe he’s searched high and low for a specific subject material and this is his next stop in the hopes of finding it. Whatever it is, the guy comes for books, and stays for you. Because gods if his first meeting with you doesn’t stop the wizard in his tracks.

Your sharp mind is absolutely the first thing that draws him to you. You match his conversation topics and questions with a certainty and enthusiasm that speaks highly of your quick wit. You’re eager to indulge him as well, a welcoming ear to pass the time as you work,and because you seem to actually enjoy listening to him talk. Perhaps he gets a little carried away talking your ear off, but you don’t mind do you? What really gets him in the end is the smile that you flash at him before he leaves. That smile of yours is blinding, like the sun itself crinkles in the corners of your eyes and the curve of your lips when it's directed at him.

Of course he finds excuses to come around after this, both before and after you’re together. If it’s before then it’s all under one pretense or another.  Oh, he just so happens to be out of interesting reading material! Perhaps you could recommend some to him? Or he needs some help finding a specific tome and the aisle that it’s located in (as though this man doesn’t know any library like the back of his hand by like the third visit - I mean this is Gale we’re talking about.) Even after you pair get together he’ll make a point to come and see you, but he’s far less subtle about wanting to do it just to see you - spending time with you on your breaks and departing with a kiss or two as an incentive to help you get through the rest of the work day. 

Okay this is a personal hc but I’m pretty sure that Gale often deals with joint and back pain himself, so he understands a little of what you’re experiencing. When the chronic pain becomes overwhelming he’ll insist on you resting, attempting to ease the aches in your joints as best as he can with the stuff he keeps on hand at home. Goes overboard with research into spells that could help to offer a modicum of relief for your pain, or find a potionmaker who can give you something to ease the severity of the discomfort that you’re in. Whatever it takes to take some of that pain away from you Gale will do it - he can’t help but worry that whatever he’s doing isn’t enough sometimes but the sheer care this man puts into your wellbeing means a lot.

You say you love making people laugh, but you know what Gale loves more? Hearing you laugh. He’ll always throw in your jokes with a couple of his own; granted most of them are groan-worthy and some downright terrible, but so long as they get a smile out of you he considers it a job well done. Just about melts at the sound of your laughter, as though your laugh alone is enough to make him fall all over again. Gets this love struck puppy look in his eyes drinking in the sight, but he will fluster if you ask him what he’s looking at.

Another guy who understands that while it’s a sweet thing that you enjoy caring for others, sometimes you’ve got to take some time to yourself. If Gale sees that you’re potentially overworking yourself he’ll just straight up guide you away from it, gently assuaging your protests or worries with assurances that whatever you have to finish will always be there once you return. That being said he is a huge hypocrite of losing time in his own work and needs to be reminded sometimes that he needs to take breaks, so hopefully you’ve got that down pat with the tactics you know to lure him away from what he’s doing. Also Gale strikes me as the kind of partner who would come prepared with the little things that come through in a pinch. Considering you wear glasses I just know that he’d carry some cleaning cloths for them around for you. You don’t always need the kinds of things he brings along, but the little proud ‘aha!’ he lets out when you do need them is just too cute. 

Another 👏freckle👏appreciator👏. He’ll try to be smooth, pointing out patterns on your skin that match constellations and patterns in the stars that he recognizes, offering to trace the shape of them along your freckles to show you the similarity. Really it’s an excuse to cuddle up next to you and bask in your warmth as his fingers glide over every freckle and mole that you’ll allow him to touch. Good luck if you’re ticklish; he'll try to feign innocence if you laugh or squirm when his hand slides over any ticklish parts, but there’s no way he can keep a straight face about it, trying to hide his smile in the crook of your shoulder.

Gale is very much a ‘bring the nature to him’ kind of partner, in the sense that he’s far more on board with bringing the aspects that you love from the outside back into a far more familiar environment. And who doesn’t love being able to nurture your love of nature in the comfort of you own home? He’s had one or two plants at his home that are mostly self-sustaining, but as time goes on and you begin to integrate yourself more and more with his life, this number will quickly multiply. Hanging plants become especially prevalent throughout the entirety of his home, both because they don’t run the risk of accidentally being knocked over, and because the life they breathe into the place makes his tower feel a lot homier and cozy. Will tell you now that Gale WILL have plant favorites - he will get invested in its care and will keep that thing on his favorite windowsill with adequate access to necessities. (you may have also caught him using his magic a couple of times to give the lil thing a boost when he thinks you’re not looking - a fitting use for a master of the weave I’m sure.)

#baldurs gate 3 x reader #bg3 x reader #bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #gale dekarios #gale x reader #bg3 gale x reader #bg3 gale #bg3 match up #baldurs gate match up #juno art #tolkien-fantasy

[chaos-bites]

Hello! I was wondering if you have any tips for someone interested in practicing both Hellenic and Norse/Heathen polytheism.

I’m interested in both but am unsure how to go about incorporating heathenry into my pre-existing Greco-Roman based practices

Hey there, Nonny, thank you for the interesting ask! (Adding "read more" due to length)

When it comes to worshipping multiple pantheons, just in general, I feel it's always important to first address your beliefs on multiple pantheons. Are you Omnist, where you believe there is truth to every religion just about? Are you a syncretist, where you believe there is only one or a few pantheons and the gods simply go under different names? These sorts of beliefs are important to address before moving forward, as it can heavily impact your practice, depending on what answer you come up with.

Outside of all that, I think the biggest thing is doing research on ancient Norse history, culture, and religion. My friend, @broomsick , has a lot of great resources on historical Heathen practices. They are one of the most well-read people I've ever spoken to regarding this topic and they can answer just about any question you have, from what I've both seen and experienced. I highly recommend asking them for resources on ancient Norse heathen culture and religion. There, unfortunately, is not nearly as much information about Norse mythology as there is about Greek mythology, mostly due to the fact that it was a largely verbal practice for the Norse and they didn't write things down often, but with the information we do have, you can at least learn a little bit about what culture and religion were like for Norse heathens.

A big thing to pay attention to while researching is differences in culture. For the ancient Greeks, culture massively impacted their practices and worship, and I would not doubt that the ancient Norse heathens were the same way, in that regard. Understanding the ancient culture will aid you significantly in also understanding the Norse deities that came from said culture (this is also true for Greek gods, or any pantheon, really). It will give you a better idea of how to approach them and even what may be considered taboo. A good example is that oaths were a HUGE thing in ancient Norse culture. To break an oath would be to become an oath-breaker, and that is the absolute WORST thing anyone could possibly be (maybe with some exceptions). Within ancient Greek culture, oaths are not held to the same standard. While it's certainly not a good thing to break oaths and promises, it wouldn't make you into someone that could never be trusted again, nor would it likely see you shunned for the rest of your days. The ancient Norse took oaths far more seriously than the ancient Greeks which is a notable difference in their cultures; this tells you that Norse gods will likely take oathing much more seriously and may be stricter about maintaining any oaths you make.

On top of all this, respect the fact that these deities come from separate histories. Even if you decide you are a syncretist, it is still important to respect that these deities were, at one point, separately worshipped by very different communities with varying beliefs. The only thing I recommend with this is to simply acknowledge it as a fact and respect it in your heart. I've found that acknowledging this has been beneficial to me, as it helps me to remember that the Norse deities likely expect different treatment from me than those of my Greek deities, or that they were at least treated differently in the ancient past.

Another thing to keep in mind, and something I've noticed, is that epithets don't seem to be as big of a thing in Norse heathenry. I still very much use them, and I see other modern worshippers doing the same, but overall, I have noticed that epithets don't seem to carry the same weight, at least not for the same reasons. As I said, they are still used, but rather than invoking a hyper-specific aspect of that deity or identifying who you are specifically speaking of, it seems that Norse deity epithets are meant more as respect and acknowledgement of a deity's power and status. Odin the All-father, Loki the Father of Lies, Freyr the Great General of the Gods - to me, these seem to acknowledge the power, accomplishments and status of these deities rather than their specific domains and aspects. Naturally, there are Norse epithets that acknowledge specific aspects, but knowing what I know of ancient Norse culture, I feel it is more with the intentions that I described above.

One last point I'd like to make is that I often see this stereotype floating around the pagan community that Norse deities are hyper-serious, especially in comparison to other pantheons (specifically in comparison to the Greek pantheon). This is, as mentioned, just a stereotype. Frankly, the Norse deities I've encountered have all been extremely kind, patient, understanding, and, believe it or not, fun to be around. Thor, for example, gave me this awesome "big brother" energy when I first encountered him. I felt like I could be myself and joke around easily with him. As another example, Loki has been tons of fun for me. They know how to cheer me up when I'm sad and have been an extremely comforting presence in my life. Of course, different deities will react differently, as is true for even different people, but overall, I find this weird ass stereotype to be entirely false, and I'm unsure where it stems from. You have nothing to be worried about when it comes to the supposed "hyper-sternness" of Norse deities.

I feel that's all the advice I can give without making this far longer than it already is. Genuinely, I advise seeking out @broomsick ; I know I mentioned them before, but they have been a massive help to me in my own personal journey with Norse deities. Remember that, regardless of the panteon, I always recommend being yourself with your deities and worshipping in a way that makes you feel comfortable. You don't have to be extremely serious and formal, if that doesn't make you happy. You also don't have to be extremely loose and informal, if that doesn't make you happy. Worship in the way that makes you comfortable because, just as with ancient Greece, many Norse clans (hope that's the correct term) worshipped differently from one another, and there were often contradicting beliefs between them all. There is no one way to worship or one correct answer; there is no set of rules you MUST follow. Worship the way you wish; it is your practice, after all, and no one else's.

Have a great day/night, and please take care, Nonny! Again, I hope this helps! 💚🖤

#norse paganism #norse pagan #hellenic pagan #deity worship #anon asks #answered asks #holy fuck i made this really long my bad 💀

[antimony-medusa]

Hi! I don't know if you've followed the debate on twitter these last few days (if you haven't, feel free to ignore this ask, I don't want to drag you into stuff) about whether themes of slavery can be depicted in fictional settings. I'd be curious to have your opinion because you have very based takes on the topic of fanfiction

Boy. I have been at a wedding so I have NOT been following, but a friend dug that one up for me, and boy. Isn't that something.

Okay, do I think that slavery can be depicted in fictional settings?

I'm gonna start this with a caveat of saying that I'm white, and as far as I know my family tree doesn't include any enslaved people. So slavery is an atrocity, but not a personal one for me any more than I feel personally about all atrocities, and your opinion on this subject might be different based on your experience, and that's completely fair. This is just the opinion of someone who thinks about content warnings and representation and exchange rules sometimes, and honestly if you want to take my answer as me saying "i'm white, anything I say after this doesn't really matter" that's a fair read of the situation. End post.

But further, the siren song of being asked a question:

My general stance is that there are very few things that can't be depicted in fictional settions, but there are a lot of things that should be depicted with care and research. And I consider major archive warnings to be one of these things. (I'm on the team that says that in an ideal world we would have a major archive warning for racism or slavery.) I don't think that there are any topics that are inherently off-limits for fiction.

If you're interested in writing professionally, there's a workshop called Writing The Other that does intros into writing topics that you don't share experiences with, and they do a really good job of breaking down the ways that you can analyze your work for cliches and stereotypes and other weaknesses, and ways that you can research to avoid them. It's an excellent workshop and I really recommend it— they even do scholarships, which is how I got to join! I consider them the industry standard of the question of "can I write about this", and as I remember it their basic answer is that the more outside of your experience a thing is, the more research you have to do to make sure you don't mess it up, and the more central to your story a thing is, the more you want to make sure that you don't mess it up. So sometimes you do hit topics and you go "am I the right person to tell this story, should I leave this topic to someone who knows it more personally, who's studied this". But that doesn't mean that you can't tell the story, it just means that to do it well, you have to put the work in. And that no one is obliged to trust you on the surface of things to have put the work in. I am probably going to trust an author who I know is disabled to have written disability well, for example, more than an ablebodied author. But there are authors out there that I know do their research and I pretty much trust them to deal with any topic carefully, if they want to take it on. A lot of the time, the more sensative a topic you are touching, the more you need a relationship of trust between author and reader, and sometimes you have to earn that trust carefully.

And boy is there fiction out there that deals with sensitive topics in ways that does not earn that trust. I have read things that I find highly distasteful. I have read published work that chooses to deal with real life atrocities in ways that I find wildly uncomfortable and I do not tend to recommend those books or authors.

I have also read nuanced and insightful explorations of horrific things, including slavery, including domestic violence, including racism, in ways that I felt enriched my understanding of the world and the people around me. I've read books that carefully touched on things like childhood sexual abuse and police violence and involuntary commitment, and that didn't make the story not a life-affirming and joyful experience, because the stories were able to take these things and make healing and catharsis out of them. Simply hearing that a story deals with a topic does not tell you if it's a story to recommend to others. We all live lives that sometimes touch on terrible things, and I think that trying to police who can tell stories about bad things leads into bad things like making people prove that they've suffered enough to write or shit like "are you black enough for this story", and I don't want that in my writing community. I have literally seen the bad end for going down that road, check out "helicopter discourse," and I'm against that.

I'm against that enough that I'm willing to endure people who do not share an experience writing badly about terrible things as the price we have to pay to allow people who have personal stake in the situation to be able to explore sensitive topics without harassment. Especially with fanfiction, we're dealing with amateur writers, so unfortunately most of the time when you have a subject come up the default assumption is going to be that it's dealt with badly. But I personally fall on the side that it's worth five people writing it badly to allow the one person who's personally impacted to write about it as much or as little as they want. My personal bugbear is terminal illness in children, that's my trauma, but I would personally rather have people write horrible tearjerker fic about aging down their characters and killing them off and it's so sad, even though I don't want that, rather than to say that that topic is off-limits to people.

On the topic specifically of slavery, this fandom, as many fandoms do, has a habit of including slavery and human trafficing as themes in their writing. A lot of the time this is not done well. We have a lot of baby writers who are deliberately writing the saddest thing they can think of or writing unjust societies for their guys to rebel against. This is not what I would say is a strength of the writing in the fandom, taken as a whole. And some people do their research and do it well! I've read great fics that pull from history in an informed way and do interesting things with it! But not everybody, good lord.

But saying that because a lot of people deal badly with slavery nobody should deal with slavery is not a path forward that I'm personally in support of. Do I think it should be tagged? Absolutely. Nobody should hit that unawares. But a lot of societies through human history practiced slavery of one kind or another! If you are drawing from roman history for your gladiator au, most of those guys were not there of their own free will. Tropes like fae folklore includes themes of posession and ownership, because that was the background radiation to the lives of the people who told these stories in the first place. There are a lot of tropes where these topics are going to arise, and I don't think that's inherently bad (though I personally would certainly feel a lot more comfortable with pulling on classical and medieval history for these stories rather than 1800s America, for example). And like, you can absolutely try your best to steer around these topics! That's an option! But honestly if you're doing something historic or historic-inspired, I'm not sure if it's more respectful to write a fantasy past in which greek history did not include slavery. That's whitewashing of history by definition. So if you want to avoid that, you're left with most of human history off-limits to write about, because of the atrocities? And I don't think that's ideal.

And like, I think with fanfiction you kind of just have to accept as background radiation that there are going to be a lot of people dealing with topics that they are not equipped to deal with. That's just how it goes. These are people writing with minimal research, experience, and editing, cause we're all here for fun, not professional development. You're gonna have people mishandle things. And that's why I think tagging is really really important, so that you can see the tags on a fic and go "oh I do not trust them with that topic" and navigate away, or filter the topic entirely. I have my touchpoints that I steer away from, and I have 100% clicked away from stories in horror going "oh no no no no no that's not good." But I don't think people should all be banned from writing about these things because some people do it badly.

Note: that doesn't mean that like, we shouldn't have conversations about how maybe if you put the minecraft men in your story where hybrid trafficing is a metaphor for the underground railroad, you should do that Carefully. We can still strive to do better. I have Seen Things and there is room to improve. There's room for discussion about people using slavery for cheap angst, in the same way that I've talked about the treatment of disability used for angst, and I've seen people talk about the agency allowed female characters, and the list goes on.

And that doesn't mean that I'm not going to 100% respect it if I get a DNW in an exchange where someone has said they don't want slavery or hybrid racism. People should be able to opt out of these topics (entirely! even if they're dealt with well!) and nobody has to read things they don't want to.

So in essense, when it comes to writing sensitive topics like slavery I'm going to do my best to think about what I'm doing and do my research— and I have written slavery and human-trafficing-type-deals before, I like gladiator aus and classical-inspired fantasy— and I'm going to tag so that anyone who doesn't trust me— and nobody has to trust me— can navigate away. But when it comes to policing what other people are writing, I don't think it does anyone any good to post callouts on twitter. At most I'm going to warn a friend that a certain fic deals with a topic badly. That's my viewpoint.

#cw slavery #cw genocide #cw child death #cw csa mention #cw racism #cw police brutality #long post #discourse #fandom meta

[larsnicklas]

on the topic of learning about hockey in a noncondescending and accessible way... along with the kraken broadcasts — super informative and very easy to follow along for newer hockey fans while still being interesting for people who are more familiar with the game — if you’re interested in the technical side of hockey i highly recommend dimitri filipovic’s hockey pdocast. along with discussion of teams’ playing styles and the state of hockey generally, he does lots of player breakdowns with accompanying video mixtapes of the players he does deep dives on! every ep he does is very thoughtful and well researched, but here are some of my favorite episodes from the past year or so

aleksander barkov’s defensive impact, and why it fuels florida’s success / barkov mixtape

elias pettersson’s brilliance on and off the puck / pettersson mixtape

projecting major junior play to the nhl level

simon nemec and driving offensive results from the defensive position / nemec mixtape

quinn hughes' monster season, and how he creates so much for the canucks / hughes mixtape

defensive environments are voodoo

breaking down willy nylander’s career year, and how he’s doing it / nylander mixtape

the magic behind nikita kucherov’s wizardry / kucherov mixtape

matthew tkachuk’s playoff run / tkachuk mixtape

this is a podcast that can uh sometimes be dry? because a lot of it is very technical breakdowns, and i know that's not everyone's cup of tea! but i enjoy it a lot as it's very straightforward and nothing is sensationalized, and dimitri and his various guests get so genuinely excited about the players they're talking about that it makes it fun even when they get lost in the sauce lol. would really really recommend this pod in general if you're someone who likes learning about hockey; this is a podcast that does a good job of giving the appropriate weight to analytics and what some people might call the eye test, and i've picked up a lot from dimitri and his work over the years!!

#meg.recs #unsuprisingly the sasha ep is my actual favorite pdocast ep LOL i just <3 #love a smart defensively responsible centreman!!! #anyway. felt like i shouldn't just complain about overly feminized for no reason guides to hockey lol #and then not offer up cool resources to learn about some more detailed aspects of the game. here's one of them!

[redgoldsparks]

November 2023 Reading and Reviews by Maia Kobabe

I post my reviews throughout the month on Storygraph and Goodreads, and do roundups here and on patreon. Reviews below the cut.

Frankisstein by Jeanette Winterson read by John Sackville and Perdita Weeks

This book has three different story lines, one of which is much stronger than the other two, which is making it hard for me to figure out how I want to rate the book. The opening story line, and my favorite, is about Mary Shelley during the period in which she wrote Frankenstein. These scenes especially in the audiobook are beautifully read and atmospheric, damp, melancholy, introspective, with engaging characterizations of Byron, Percy Shelley, and the other guests of the house. The second story line is about Ry Shelley, a trans doctor living in post-Brexit Britain who becomes entangled romantically and criminally with Victor Stein, a researcher focused on AI, cryogenic preservation and reanimation, and training robots to detect human diseases. Ry is fairly genderfluid, and is often described as both a man and a woman, or a boy who is a girl who is a boy. I appreciated having a trans POV character in this book, but wished Ry had more of his own ambitions and plot- he seemed to exist primarily to have conversations and sex with Victor, who insisted over and over that he wasn't gay even after falling for and sleeping with Ry. Ry also interviews and then is repeatedly misgendered by Ron Lord, a Welsh entrepreneur in the sex robot industry- there is a lot in this book about sex bots, including huge chunks of uninterrupted dialogue by Ron Lord that got fairly repetitive in audio. Ry is also the victim of a bathroom sexual assault near the end of the book that felt thematically unnecessary and punishing. I can imagine a different version of this book where Ry was the one conducting the research that Victor does in this book, and his love interest is a modern version of Percy, which might have interested me more. There's also a third partial story line about Mary Shelley meeting a man named Victor Frankenstein who claims to be the character from her book; these didn't add anything for me. Would I recommend this? Hard to say. It's a complicated queer remix of Frankenstein and I was engaged while listening to the majority of it but there were also pieces that fell short of my expectations.

The Hills of Estrella Roja by Ashley Robin Franklin 

High school senior Mari is woken from a nightmare about voices calling to her from a pit in a cave to learn that her grandmother is dead. Mari, her mom, and her little sister drive back to Estrella Roja, their small mysterious Texas hometown. Meanwhile, Kat, a college freshman who runs a podcast about the paranormal with her best friend, receives an anonymous email tip about the "devil lights" of Estrella Roja and decides to solo road trip to investigate it over her spring break. Kat can't find anyone in town willing to to talk to her... except Mari, who is both sad and bored, and can't seem to connect with any of her close-mouthed relatives. The two stumble across something in the desert that was spooky enough to make me wonder if I should be reading the book before bedtime. This story weaves a queer meet-cute with a dark family history into a very effective YA horror tale. The inking and coloring are absolutely gorgeous. Scary, but not too scary for me, a known scaredy cat!

The Dyslexic Advantage by Brock L Eide and Fernette F Eide 

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has dyslexia, is parenting a young person with dyslexia, works in education at any level or is just in general interested in how differing brain structures effect things such as working memory, 3D visualization, problem solving, and other areas of cognition. I've known I was dyslexic since I was about 8 years old, but I had never picked up a book on the topic. I found this very interesting and very easy to read (its printed in a san-serif font with large page margins, and also short well-structured chapters). It contains many real-life stories of people with dyslexia rising to the very pinnacle of their chosen fields as well as a good section of layperson's neuroscience of brain structure and some of the latest research on memory formation. The authors do an excellent job highlighting how so many of the things that are cast as weaknesses or drawbacks in dyslexic students' early education are often reshaped into strengths later in life. Multiple times the authors emphasized that while dyslexic students should receive extra instruction in reading in early childhood, that they probably won't catch up their peers until later in life, often in high school or beyond and that one of the most important things is never letting the dyslexic student give up on their own ability to learn, thrive, and succeed. Most dyslexics are late bloomers, but as the book says, "time is on your side."

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross read by Alex Wingfield and Rebecca Norfolk

Set in a kind of fantasy WWI, this story follows Iris, a young woman who had to drop out of high school after her brother enlisted and her only other relative, her mother, fell into depression and alcoholism and lost her job. Iris begins working at a newspaper, vying for a regular columnist position against her office rival, handsome and wealthy Roman Kitt. Iris has a magical typewriter, and she writes letters to her brother regularly, even though she's never received one back from him. She slips these letters under the door of her wardrobe and in the morning they are gone. What she doesn't know is that the letters are making their way into the bedroom of Roman, who also has a magic typewriter. They begin a correspondence and a budding friendship. But a series of misfortunes befall Iris and she decides to enlist at the front as a wartime journalist. Will Roman follow the woman he's beginning to fall for? Will he ever tell Iris than he is her penpal confidant? This story was fast paced and interesting throughout, but at the end I was left with some critiques. Primarily, the way the book simplifies war by making the cause of war a divine conflict outside of mortal responsibility. It felt like an extremely watered down version of a wartime romance, with none of the political questions that would have plagued the characters had the book been set in actual WWI or WWII. The book also has a cliffhanger ending, and sets up a plot twist that will probably delight some readers but which unfortunately falls into one of my LEAST fantasy favorite romance tropes. So I will not be reading the second one unless someone else reads it first and spoils some of the plot for me!

Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang read by Eunice Wong

What a delicious book, in many senses of that word! The unnamed main character is a Chinese-American chef from Los Angeles who is stranded in London by natural disaster. A toxic gray smog envelopes the majority of the world, killing most crops and animals. Countries close their borders as their populations being to starve. The chef is offered an unbelievable job in a billionaire's small private country, a mountaintop in Italy which still has access to some sunlight and caters to a set of unbelievably wealthy residents who bought their way in. The chef lies on her resume, padding it out a fictional degree from a French culinary school and experience at closed Micheline start restaurant. The chef is granted access to the country for a probation period and re-encounters a lush array of ingredients she thought were extinct from the world: fresh berries and greens, rich cream and butter, unpreserved meats and fish. Under the cold eye of her cruel employer and his charismatic and ambitious daughter the chef tries to prove she can cook dishes that will astonish the 1%. Little does she know she was hired as much for her skill in lying as her ability to cook well. This book had more queerness, more speculative elements, and more hope for a world destroyed by human greed than I was expecting. The descriptions of food, flavors, textures, and the intersection of appetite with pleasure are rich, powerful and evocative. I really enjoyed this and I particularly recommend the audiobook.

The Mysteries by Bill Watterson and John Kascht 

Watterson's first offering in many years is a strange little picture book. This fable opens with a kingdom surrounded by a deep dark forest. The people are fearful of mysteries which live in the forest, so the king sends his knights into the forest to capture a mystery. Most return empty handed, or do not return at all. One knight captures a mystery and it is not what the people expected. The art is quite elegant, black and white photographs of dolls posed in blurry but evocative settings. The story is very slight, and I'm not sure it delivered on the depth it seemed to be reaching for. Maybe check this one out from the library rather than buying it.

Everything is Beautiful and I Am Not Afraid by Yao Xiao 

I've been following Yao Xiao's work online for several years and I'm really glad I finally made time to read the collection! The brightly colored pages are full of small, poem-like comics that circle and return to multiple themes: self-esteem, coming out as queer, being a Chinese American immigrant living in the US, trust, taking up space, trusting in one's own strength and the love of friends and community. The artist draws themself as a small character with orange hair and a black elf hat and moves like a spite through urban landscapes, clouds, dreams, gardens, hopes, fears and other elements of the unconscious. There's no overarching narrative, but the many small experiences add up to a greater sum than their parts.

Fool’s Errand by Robin Hobb read by Nick Taylor

This book begins 15 years after the end of the Farseer trilogy. Fitz, the bastard son of royalty, trained as an assassin, who survived torture, a war, a coup, multiple attempts on his life, a long dangerous journey, deadly magic, and the death of his king and close friend, has retired to a small cottage near the sea. He lives a small peaceful life there with his old wolf, Nighteyes, his adopted son Hap, a pony, some chickens, and a garden. He's working on his memoirs. Then the world turns up at his door again, demanding as much of himself as he has to give, again. Kettricken's son, the Farseer heir, is missing and no one knows if he was kidnapped or ran away or something more sinister. This story was EVERYTHING I WANTED AND MORE! One of the best books I've read this year, a rich, emotional, satisfying return to the Farseer world. I love how this book deepened and complicated Fitz's relationships from the previous book: with Chade, Starling, Nighteyes and most especially with the Fool who is once again living at court in a completely new guise. Every character in this series feels so real, so grounded, so impacted by the events of the world, and the consequences of their own choices. I've been disappointed by a lot of the fantasy I've read this year, but this one not only met but exceeded my expectations- especially because I read this book once before, when I was 16, and didn't love it then. Now I am obsessed with it. I think I just wasn't ready to read a book about adults and the uncaring passage of time as a teenager. Literally thirty minutes after finished the audiobook of this book I started the sequel because I couldn't wait to find out what happened next!

#reading #books #comics #book reviews #audiobooks

[guillemelgat]

Hey hello I made a thing! As perhaps a few of you know, I have spent the last half a year being completely unhinged about Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin books, and I’ve always been particularly interested in the character Stephen Maturin and his relationship to Catalonia. I saw that there was a lack of stuff about this part of his identity, and, being me, I felt the need to fill it in the only way I could: compiling music and yelling about it for thirty pages. Hence this playlist.

You really don’t need to know anything about these books to listen to this playlist. You also don’t need to know anything about Catalan (I hope). Catalonia and the Catalan Countries in general (including Valencia, the Balearic Islands, and parts of southern France, Aragon, and Sardinia) have a really interesting musical and literary tradition, and I wanted to make that more accessible, so I put together a few songs I liked, translated them, and wrote a bit about each of their significance, including the most important cultural tidbits I could. Some things don’t translate super well, and I hope my Catalan followers will forgive me for trying to adapt them more for English-speaking audiences than perhaps would be preferable; I usually don’t choose to do that, but in this case I wanted to open the door, and not to intimidate people.

Now that that’s out of the way, here is a link to the PDF of the liner notes (graphic design is my passion, as they say): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MUpRM84W8aypznEIrt0eA1jG5OxaRZvz/view?usp=sharing

Under the cut I’ve included the ephimera and unnecessary commentary that you know and love, feel free to read or ignore it as you will

These roughly follow the order of the songs and are varying levels of seriousness

If you like "Sant Joan, feu-lo ben gran" then I'd highly recommend listening to the whole Tornaveus album. I almost included the “Stabat Mater de Sudanell” and the “Goigs de Sant Julià de Lòria”, which are both from western Catalonia, and they also have more cançons de pandero, in perhaps a slightly more traditional style. A lot of the other songs have interesting cultural commentary in them, especially on feminist topics, and they’re very well-researched because literally one of the members of the group is basically the ethnomusicologist of Catalan music at the moment. Anyways, if people would like the liner notes perhaps next time I’m home I’ll scan them, they’re in Catalan and English and very well-written. Also note the legendary Lluís Llach song which has been turned into a polyphonic piece lol (and I did not include the “Goigs de la Nostra Senyora de la Llibertat” but tbh that might have been a mistake on my part) (Blorbo side note that I think this fits Stephen’s childhood very well which is mostly why I chose it)

“L’Hereu Riera” is one of my favorite Catalan folk songs I love it so much and if you want to hear the Catalan version (as opposed to the Valencian one included here) and see the dance and also see a cobla, I am including a link to this version by Germà Negre which is tragically not on Spotify. I chose the Valencian one because (1) Al Tall and (2) I think it fits The Blorbo better (specifically I was thinking of his fiancée who dies before Book One who idk if anyone ever remembers shdjfhskf). That being said, Stephen would probably know the Catalan one (and almost certainly not the Valencian one). Also, on a memey-er note, Hereu Riera bisexual king and literal icon <3 love how he has to remind his girlfriend on her deathbed that actually he'd technically be interested in both her sisters AND her brothers if he wasn't so into her that he never wanted to marry anyone else

I literally did put in Roger Mas just so there would be at least one person with a Lleidan accent, #diversity win

Many points about the “Cançó de pandero de l’Urgell” and “Jo no canto per la veu” so here we go:

I put these two songs in mostly because I got very obsessed with the cançó de pandero from Alcarràs (which is a great movie that came out last year about a farming family in a village near Lleida that is winning all the awards atm). Anyways, since Carla Simón has been too busy winning things to put up the gotdam soundtrack, I did a bit of digging and it turns out that it was written for the movie?? By her brother??? It's excellent and very anticapitalist and you can listen to it here and see the trailer for Alcarràs all in one! (Includes English subtitles)

The original “Canto per un amic meu que per mi daria la vida” is probably from a Valencian cant de batre, although I could not get any confirmation on that. But regardless everyone should listen to Pep Botifarra's version of it, which I would literally marry if it had a physical form it’s so so good. (I posted it here back in ye olden days but it's been long enough I think I can post it again)

Valencian music side note because I can’t stop myself: the second pair of verses in the "Cançó de pandero de l'Urgell" (starting with “vos esteu ben acotxada…”) are sung by Miquel Gil, who is a very famous Valencian traditional singer, anyways you should listen to this version of him singing “Del Sud” by Obrint Pas (you want to go down a Valencian music rabbit hole so so bad)

I firmly believe that Stephen would canonically be obsessed with Ausiàs March, and the fact that he has not yet recited any of his poems is Patrick O’Brian’s biggest failing in my eyes. Anyways I have more thoughts but I’m saving them for other posts shdfjsd

If you read this before listening to the playlist please just listen to "El testament d'Amèlia" and follow along with the lyrics in real time before reading the blurb, it's such a good experience to let that song hit you as it comes. I won't say more than that but you'll get it when you get it. (Also obligatory listen to Marala they're so good <3)

From the Càntut album, I also quite like the songs "El pomeró" and "El divino vull cantar", and Càntut in general is an incredible resource, it's a database of folk song field recordings from northeastern Catalonia.

Brief pause to scream about the fact that Maria Arnal and Marcel Bagés WERE ON NPR??? AND NO ONE TOLD ME???? Anyways link in the sources section, also they're great and you should listen to their whole discography

As the #1 Roba Estesa stan blog on Tumblr, listen to Roba Estesa. And Ebri Knight. And El Diluvi.

I chose this version of "La presó de Lleida" because I like it but here's a more traditional one sung by Joan Manel Serrat, another Catalan legend. Here's another one in Catalan rumba style with Sílvia Pérez Cruz singing, the sound is a bit wonky but it's also one of my favorites. The Valencian version of this song is called "La presó de Tibi" and El Diluvi have done a very explicitly anti-monarchical rendition of it (the Balearic one is "La presó de Nàpols").

I'm sorry for never putting the Sílvia Pérez Cruz version of "Corrandes d'exili" but if you want it here it is. Also note that the statue of the Virgin in the poem is a reference to the Virgin of Montserrat, it literally all goes back to her shfjkshdf (also apologies for being very bad at Christianity and Catholicism, if I mistranslated things let me know)

HOO BOY SARDANA TIME

Okay so I have a whole essay to deliver on this that I've been holding inside for the past like two months or so, I apologize in advance for my excessive pedantry on the topic.

In Master and Commander, Stephen delivers this speech:

"‘Then I must tell you that on Sunday mornings it is the custom, in that country, for people of all ages and conditions to dance, on coming out of church: so I was dancing with Ramon Mateu i Cadafalch in the square before the cathedral church of Tarragona, where I had gone to hear the Palestrina Missa Brevis. The dance is a particular dance, a round called the sardana.’"

I hate to be a hater but it is very, very unlikely that anyone would have been dancing a sardana as far south as Tarragona in this time period. The sardana as the symbol of equality and brotherhood emerged in the Renaixença and would not yet have been a thing; Stephen could well have heard sardanas in Ullastret, but they would have been a more typical folk dance, and not anything like the way they're described in the book. It's very ironic, then, that they've become THE Catalan music style for Aubreyad readers, but hopefully this playlist can change that a bit :)

(also sorry for being a sardana-hater on main, someone bring me to dance a sardana and maybe I'll feel better)

Songs that didn't make the cut: La cançó del lladre, Rossinyol que vas a França, La balanguera, La gavina - I'm always happy for more recs!

Originally, this list was also going to include songs in Irish; I quickly realized that I was in over my head with that one, but the working list of songs is here (may be subject to changes so save songs elsewhere if you like them!). Also I would add "Fé Bhláth" by Imelda May and Kíla if it was on Spotify but alas it is not; and "Amhrán na Leabhar" which I have not had time to add but was kindly recommended by someone. I'd love it if someone was interested in actually doing a proper playlist for Irish though—it's a gap in my knowledge that I'd love to start filling.

Aaaaaaand that's a wrap. I hope. Final comment to say thank you to everyone who voted in the cover image poll, turns out you all won :) (Pirineus did win and take the cover of the liner notes though)

#my masterpiece is done i have peaked i'm retiring now #jkjk but i've been working on this since like. november #so it is kind of insane that's it's finally done #please notify me of any mistakes or corrections <3 #and hopefully this is enjoyable for you all! #it's a little funky at times but i think it works??? #it's not really a playlist. it's more like one of those weird compilation albums that i definitely didn't consume too many of as a child #did kind of want this to show up in the aubreyad tag but i wanted links more so rip :// anyways here goes nothing #aubreyad #catalan #catalan:general #catalan:music #catalan:reference #catalan:culture #general:music #general:reference #general:culture #there'd better not be any typos or i'm fighting someone

[littlemisstfc]

So...No LAYERS For The Decepticons: How RID 2015 Fails At Critiquing The Prison Complex

Welcome back to this side of the Hundred Acre Woods. It’s been 84 years since I have written a blog post here, so forgive my absence. 😭 By the way, I will be at TFCon LA 2024 on both March 9th and March 10th. Feel free to say hi to me, I cannot wait to meet more of you there as well as meeting more voice actors and artists. Anyways, let’s get onto today’s topic. So…RID 2015, my dear friend. 

After making that compilation of the purple icon and the moment Fracture, I began to have thoughts about RID 2015. I will be coming out with a video retrospective that will hopefully come out later this year. My collaborator is dealing with a personal matter at the moment, so I’m respecting their space. Think of this as a preview to what we have here. I thought about doing a video, but I feel like my strongest strength has always been writing. 

RID 2015 is an interesting show in the sense that it has so much to say, yet never got the chance to fully explore what it wants to say. If you know me by now, you know that I am one of the most hardcore RID defenders in existence akskskskdjdkd. Let me make it clear: it’s a show that exists. However…it is MY show that exists. Like, compared to the very worst of the worst that Transformers has to offer, this show doesn’t even scratch at the surface. It’s a mid show that manages to keep me entertained and engaged at least. However, at the same time, its flaws are genuinely that egregious, and as much as the writers tried, I feel like they’re held back from fully exploring its potential. Like I said, I will go into the gritty nitty detail at a later day, so at the moment, let’s go discuss what’s perhaps the main issue I have with RID 2015…it fails at critiquing the prison complex.

The Prison Complex...BUT WITH FURRIES.

In case you don’t know what RID 2015 is about, let me summarize it really quickly. RID 2015 takes place three years later after Transformers Prime ended, and it focuses on Bumblebee now. After getting a sign from Optimus’s spirit to return to Earth, he does so, along with a cadet named Strongarm and a delinquent named Sideswipe accidentally joining him. Eventually, they all ended up at Crown City and they found out a Decepticon prison ship, the Alchemor, crash landed near here, courtesy of the caretaker Fixit. Then, after taking care of one escaped Decepticon, they were then joined by Grimlock and two humans named Russell and Denny. So, the entire series is focused on Bee and his team capturing the escaped Decepticon prisoners, while also having to deal with the shady behind the scenes of the Cybertronian government.

Now that we got the main premise out of the way, on the surface, it seems like it’s a harmless monster of the week type show. For most of the time, it’s just Bee and his team capturing Decepticons, who are also animals in this version. Okay, Beast Wars aksksksks. It seems like there’s not much issue. However…when you really think about the circumstances of these Decepticons, not to mention how oddly it portrays the police force in a mostly positive light (and I say that loosely), the show did not age in retrospect. It does not do a great job at critiquing what’s wrong with the prison industry.

Now that I brought it up, you may be asking why I did so. It’s important to bring it up, because it ties into how this show tackles the Decepticons and the Cybertronian police state. In a nutshell, the prison complex refers to the relationship between the prison system and various businesses, specifically how they benefit from incarceration being the end-all solution in tackling society’s problems. It relies heavily on the surveillance and policing of the population in order to make the quickest profit that really only serves as a bandaid to the elephant in the room. In case you want to learn more about the prison complex, I highly recommend doing your research by looking up sources, especially from those who work in prison reform.

Back to RID 2015, the show makes it seem like the Decepticons should be treated as menaces to society because the government says so. Now, let me make it clear: I am in no way justifying what these characters did. I mean, there are legit serial killers and legitimate dangers to society in there akksksksksa. It’s called nuance, folks. However, at the same time…these people should be getting help for their issues and/or get rehabilitation instead of being treated as animals (no pun intended). You look at characters like Springload and Filch, who are individuals that show severe signs of mental illness that heavily impact how they navigate the world. Then, you have Decepticons who only really committed minor offenses like Bisk. Now, I’m not saying that they’re justified in doing those crimes. I’m saying that the consequences should fit the crime, yet for some reason, the show likes to say that brutal incarceration is the answer. In the world of the Aligned Continuity post Prime, you get labeled a Decepticon for your crimes and you;re packed off to jail until you die or something. 

Then, we have the head bitch in charge himself, Steeljaw. Now, I’m saving my thoughts on his character and how he wouldn’t go away at a later date, so for now…Steeljaw may be a character that the show stubbornly refuses to let go, but I’m sorry, he brought up good points about the way things are runned. He is basically TFA Megatron if he was a furry aksksksks. While his intentions are ultimately a power grab and the way he treats his pack isn’t justified, at the same time, you do see where he’s coming from. The show portrays the premise in a very strict black and white sense, in which the Decepticons are all evil and the Autobots are justified in throwing all them into prison. Now, we do learn about the actual truth behind the Council and Strongarm is a genuinely good person, but still, the show is so committed to the anti Decepticon status quo that it makes the premise much worse. It lacks the nuance that Animated and Cyberverse to an extent had in portraying the two sides, so it’s insensitive at best and actually quite harmful at worst. 

So…you may be wondering, “wait, but what about Grimlock and Drift?” That’s where they both come into the discussion. To me, those two represent the nuance that the show desperately wanted to convey, but isn’t allowed to explore. They’re both reformed Decepticons who showed that they are not defined by their past, and they put in the work to change. Hell, there was even an entire ass episode dedicated to the team realizing that Grimlock did change for the better. In Drift’s case, when he was confronted by a figure from his past, he made it clear that he also changed for the better. So, if the show was willing to offer both Grimlock and Drift second chances, then why can’t it offer the same grace to the Alchemor prisoners?

This then leads to the character of Scowl, whom I honestly believe that he is capable of having a genuine heel face turn if the show GAVE HIM A FUCKING CHANCE. The instant chemistry he had with Grimlock reveals that he seems to be a cool guy. I think that once he’s taught to learn right from wrong and is given a support system, he can be redeemed. Yet frustratingly, the show goes, “nah bro, he’s 100% evil underneath his bro bro act.” It’s kind of hypocritical that it allows Grimlock to reform, but it puts Scowl and a majority of the Decepticons into a black and white box. They’re not allowed to be their own characters in the first place, so they received the short end of the stick even more. Just…UGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Show, why do you test my patience sometimes? When I tweeted about this thought I had after I made the Fracture compilation, someone summarized it best right here:

"Legitimately, if RID15 wasn't aimed at kids, it would be a really nuanced show and likely would get recognized as better than Prime."

Kids are fucking smarter than we give them credit for. I was six years old when I watched Animated, and I noticed the deeper aspects of the show. I just didn’t have the words to articulate it until I became an adult. If RID 2015 was given the time and care it needs to explore this concept to its fullest potential, it would perhaps be the best well thought out show in the Aligned Continuity. I may get canceled for this, but it’s the LAYERS that Prime wants. However, because the higher ups wanted a toyetic approach and thought the kids are too dumb to pick up on LAYERS and nuance, we got this, and it honestly saddens me it turned out this way.

Conclusion: Even the most mid Transformers show deserves LAYERS.

Being a RID 2015 stan is the toughest battle God gives to his silliest little guys akskskskks. I criticize this show because I truly believe it deserves BETTER than what it was given to work with. You may look at me like I’m crazy for thinking about this way more than what a normal person would do…but I ain’t normal, lads. 

I'm saving my full thoughts for the retrospective like I said, but right now, the show has a lot to say, but it was sadly silenced. I honestly think it would've been one of those Transformers shows people will fondly look back on had it been given more time in the oven. This is why I appreciate fanfiction and fanon existing because they explore the LAYERS the show has underneath the silly vibes. I would do anything for this show to receive a comic book continuiation or a spinoff that explores its full potential.

Anyways, Pingu.

#transformers #tf rid 2015 #tf rid15 #val talks #tf discourse

[samwisethewitch]

what are some good resources for heathenry then?

(especially when it comes to freya’s and odin ecstatic genre of magic? have been interested in these aspects for a while but i never got around to researching norse topics)

When it comes to beginner's resources, a lot of the work of removing fascist influences in Heathenry is being done on blogs. Some that I highly recommend are Skald's Keep (@skaldish here on Tumblr) and North of Annwn (@north-of-annwn here on Tumblr -- currently on hiatus, I believe? but has a backlog of great resources). Skald's Keep is Norse Heathenry, North of Annwn is run by a Norse Heathen but also posts about other topics. If you're interested in Anglo-Saxon Heathenry, there's Lārhūs Fyrnsida -- this is a newer to me resource, but so far it seems legit and it's helpful for illustrating how different Germanic cultures were from each other.

If you're looking for books I absolutely recommend The Way of Fire And Ice by Ryan Smith. It's an introduction to radical Norse paganism and is the only Heathenry 101 book I've found that explicitly talks about how to recognize fascist dog whistles. I've taken some of Ryan's seidr classes and he is truly a delight and is very knowledgeable. I truly recommend anything associated with Fire and Ice Heathenry, which you can access on the site On Black Wings.

For more of a history/anthropology view of Norse culture, there are some great resources on YouTube. Jackson Crawford's channel is excellent for myth-busting, historical context, and explaining Old Norse language and literature (his translations of the Eddas are also top tier). The Welsh Viking is a delight who talks about more granular aspects of Old Norse social life and has several excellent videos disputing white supremacist appropriations of Norse symbols. I've had limited online interactions with Jimmy of TWV, and he seems genuinely delightful.

The ecstatic magic you're referring to is called seidr, and I've only recently found resources I can recommend for learning about it. Ryan Smith teaches classes on seidr, some of which I have taken and highly recommend. He also has a book on seidr coming out next year. The book Elves, Witches, & Gods by Cat Heath is an excellent resource, but it does require you to have a firm grounding in Heathen basics, and it does mix Old English and Old Norse traditions. Diana Paxson's book The Way of the Oracle is genuinely helpful and leans heavily into the ecstatic trance aspects, but is not without its issues. (See my previous notes on Paxson here.)

#ask #12th cup #heathenry #inclusive heathenry #norse paganism #norse pagan #resource #radical norse paganism

[lokiinmediasideblog]

Can you recommend me Loki books? (as in novels, not norse mythology textbooks)

I am not sure if I rated these correctly in terms of audience maturity. But I tried lol.

Comics:

Valhalla comics-Peter Madsen

Fun slap-stick re-tellings of the Norse myths. Children oriented?

Loki (2004) aka "Blood Brothers" by Robert Rodi & Esad Ribic

It's my favorite Marvel!Loki comic of all time. It altered my brain chemistry. You can read it for free on the links in my pinned post.

The graphic novel version of Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman.

There's also this webcomic I found as a teen that's ongoing to this day and I need to go back to following:

Kids:

Loki: A Bad God's Guide to Being Good by Louie Stowell

Diary of a Wimpy Kid but with Norse mythology! What's not to love about that?!

Eight Days of Luke-Dianna Wynne Jones

The book that inspired "American Gods."

Odd and the Frost Giants-Neil Gaiman

A boy named Odd encounters Odin, Thor, and Loki who have been turned into animals.

Teens:

Runemarks duology-Joanne Harris

Just keep to the first two books. You'll hate the rest. Let's just say it dealt horribly with Eating Disorders and Harris should have done research on heavy topics before writing about them. Her Loki in the first two books is very enjoyable and he rules over goblins for a while, among other things. I also thought the way rune birthmarks worked in here was fun.

Norse Mythology-Neil Gaiman

It's an entertaining overview of the myths. If you're unfamiliar with them it's a good place to start.

Adult:

Black Wolf: The Binding of Loki-Una Verdandi

I don't recommend if you want a soft!Loki or one that remains a decent person. Loki is interesting and feels like a force of nature. But let's just say he's like the Joker with all that implies. But I thought it was a worthwhile read (very long). It has probably the best Sigyn depiction I've encountered. She feels like a real person! I go more in detail here. I'd pay attention to the things I warn about in case they're deal-breakers or triggers. My review is not spoiler free but contains warnings.

American Gods-Neil Gaiman

Has very interesting premise and a multiple pantheons existing at the same time. It's fun how the deities adapt to the USA and modern times.

The Goddess of Nothing at All-Cat Rector

This book is basically a Norse myth whump fic. I would avoid if that's not your thing because I can see how someone else might hate it. I know I like it because making fictional characters suffer is my guilty pleasure. You won't be laughing at the mythology-based Loki memes. I don't think it's perfect. For example, I dislike that they have to make Loki's every action "justified", such as cutting Sif's hair because Sif called him fantasy racism slurs. Let him be a bit of an asshole just because. The disproportionate punishment makes it difficult not to sympathize with Loki either way. I don't know how I feel about her Sygin. It's the 2nd best Sygin I've seen yet in books. She has a personality, is likeable, and is not a doormat, but something about her and this Loki feels sanitized to me. Like the author was checking boxes for Sygin and Loki. I don't know how to explain it.

Father of Monsters-A. B. Frost

Short read. Loki is a loveable little shit that gets the Aesir into trouble and takes one for the team to get them out of it. I really liked this characterization and it had cute illustrations of Loki, Angrboda, and Jormungandr.

The Nine Worlds Rising Series-Lyra Wolf

They're not perfect. I think her Loki is very funny and likable but too sanitized. And Sigyn has no flaws other than caring too much for her no-good brother while the other goddesses are evil witches. But the author has a very comedic writing voice that is highly enjoyable and keeps the stakes high so that you want to keep on reading. I also like how one of the books starts with a very vengeful Loki and draws comparisons to Lucifer. Thought that was cool. Also, some reactions to some reveals didn't land the impact as well as they should. They do tease the Odin/Loki abusive relationship, but not with the toxicity I wanted, and Odin goes on a redemption path a bit too soon for my liking (while making all the goddesses evil witches...). There's also a lot of anachronistic language in here, such as Loki mentioning a Chihuahua.

Books I haven't read but I know of their existence:

Loki-Melvin Burgess (I saw a Sigyn stan complain about it, but I am not sure how seriously to take her complaints because she said shipping myth!Loki with say Balder or Thor or Odin was "incestuous" because Loki is Odin's "blood brother" despite Loki being unrelated to everyone but Narfi and Nari on Asgard). My standards for Loki don't require that Loki be a paragon of morality, unlike hers. UPDATE: A mutual told me it's horribly transphobic and has rape apologia.

Harbinger of the End-Nicki Chapelway (I've seen praise from Logyn shippers for this one)

Loki: Nine Naughty Tales of the Trickster by Mike Vasich

I saw an excerpt with a rather humorous joke, but the one other Mike Vasich Loki book I read bored the hell out of me. So I haven't given it a chance for that reason.

The Blackwell Pages by Kelley Armstrong and Melissa Marr

It's a children's book series where the descendants of Thor and Loki are the protagonists.

I might have some revies in "LokiBookClub" tag.

#anon asks #norse mythology #LokiBookClub #myth!loki

[pray4byron]

Hi I saw ur Hazbin mashups and I was wondering if I could get one. :)

Preferably MALE characters!

About me:

AFAB, They/Them, 4’10, Guatemalan, nonbinary & Pansexual. I have a bit of chub, and I dress in a more youthful style: hoodies graphic tee, etc. I’m introverted, I like to be around people I’m very close to and I’m able to hang out with said before for longer periods of time, usually I only am able to be around other people an hour or so in before I get tired.

I have lots of hyperfixations and will hop to one after another but when I get into a fixation I go all in. Very spacey at times and hard for me to sit down (adhd), I have anxiety so I tend to do verbal and physical stims, shake my hands/fist, repeat words, walk on my tippy toes. Often listening to music or YouTube to help focus and stimulate myself.

Personality:

Id say an overall good person. I like to talk to and listen to my friends about things they like as well as help them in anyways I can.

Very hard working, when invested into a job or project once I get into the grove I can stick to it for hours. Happy to do physical work/projects, as well as ones where lots of ideas and think can be involved.

A little naive at times, sarcasm goes over my head and I don’t get many jokes. I can take things to literal and to heart when I’m not supposed to. Also hard for me to express myself in tough situations, will often laugh when I’m not supposed to. I can also tend to overthink as well, which lead to paranoia. I am also highly sensitive to a lot of things, as my senses are very high. I only like certain foods, get overwhelmed by smells and sounds often and dislike most physical contact.

Very chaotic most of the times, somehow full of energy, talk really loud (I often don’t realize it) love to talk about random things I know or stuff I enjoy. I really enjoy getting compliments and approval from others.

Interest:

I’m an artist I like drawing and making up stories and characters. I also like to sing, though I’m not that good. I also kinda like to write as well.

Some franchises I really like are Trolls, Doctor Who, Marvel, Hazbin, Fallout, Analog Horror/Horror, Overwatch and TF2.

I really like sweets, such as Nerds. I love Arizona Green Tea as well. I also love Pasta and Cheese.

I like learning new thing and will often research and learn about new and random topics, like my YouTube recommendations is all over the place cus of how much I like learning and watching random things

Ty for ur time

hey friend! i match you with…

Husk !!

Husk tries to be softer with you, especially considering you don’t get sarcasm a lot, but sometimes he just can’t help himself from cracking a joke here and there haha

He also knows it’s hard for you to express yourself, so he comes to you instead, he’s the wise, old bartender. He knows you like the back of his paws.

Due to your naivety, he’s very protective over you, he tries to shelter you from the cruel and harsh realities of this world but yet there’s no escaping it

#reqs closed #x reader #mio’s writing ! ☆ #mio’s matchups ! ☆ #fanfiction #hazbin hotel #x y/n #x you #hazbin hotel x reader #hazbin hotel x y/n #hazbin hotel x you #hazbin husker #hazbin hotel husker #husk hazbin hotel #husk #husker hazbin hotel #husk x reader #hazbin husk #hazbin hotel husk #husker