#its v good i will reblog it for easy access

[bellaslilpapercut]

What smeyer accidentally taught us about cults (and herself):

part 2 of this meta! If you have not already read this post by @fuckmeyer and this post by @witchyangela please do! They tie into this half of the meta.

In the last couple of paragraphs in part 1, I mentioned that I believe smeyer was writing from her own experience in describing Bella’s hollow relationship with the Cullens. I would be willing to forgive that if, at the time she wrote Twilight, smeyer was simply too inexperienced to write believable relationship dynamics. However, the friendship she captured between Jacob and Bella during New Moon felt organic- we know she can do better. Furthermore, nothing fundamentally changed about the Ed/Bella relationship between Twilight and Midnight Sun despite smeyer’s fifteen years of additional writing experience and feedback. Smeyer has also made no claims or changes to canon that indicate any recognition of the half-hearted nature of Edward and Bella’s relationship or the Cullen’s familial ties. She believes that she has written a love story. 

In the progression from Twilight to Breaking Dawn, I think we can see smeyer’s own personal journey with her relationship to LDS. In New Moon, Bella comes dangerously close to recognizing the nature of her relationship with the Cullens and, by extension, smeyer comes dangerously close to criticising mormonism. I don’t think smeyer meant to draw such an obvious parallel but it’s difficult to ignore. Bella never feels like she is good enough to be in the company of the Cullens until she is one while she feels immediately at home in Emily’s kitchen, welcomed as she is by Jake and the pack. Bella- and by extension smeyer- never makes the connection that we as readers do between Edward’s callousness and Jacob’s warmth. Sure, she brings them up both plenty. But Edward’s coldness is routinely linked to his perfection- it is never stated that he himself is a cold hearted, cruel, unloving person. Despite mounds of textual evidence that Edward is cold-hearted, that he doesn’t really love Bella, that he is a predator by nature, smeyer does not want to risk casting him as the “wrong choice” for Bella. They’re soulmates! She said so! This also ties in to the infamous assassination of Jacob’s character during Eclipse. 

One of the primary differences between cults and other social groups is the inability to question authority and teachings of cult leaders. This is true in LDS as well as in the Cullen family. I believe we see smeyer challenging LDS throughout New Moon and Eclipse by using Bella’s choice between Jacob and Edward. Edward, as a Cullen, represents LDS while Jacob represents “freedom” (freedom here in quotes because I cannot think of a more suitable word choice). In New Moon, as @fuckmeyer points out in the linked post above, Bella’s choice is framed as life (Jacob) or death (Edward). By the end of Eclipse, the choice has been reframed as life or eternal life- eternal life for those that follow Carlisle Cullen’s teachings. *I forgot to include this in part 1 but @witchyangela mentions it in the linked post: one of the factors that puts the Cullens into “cult territory” is isolation- the Cullens rarely interact with other vampires until BD and Edward regularly paints other vampires in a negative light. Vampirism is close to perfection in smeyer’s world but the Cullens are truly Made Perfect by the teachings of Carlisle.*

Smeyer made this thematic shift in Bella’s choice in part because she was conflicted about her own choice. As I said, she was dangerously close to the revelation that the love the Cullens showered on Bella could not hold a candle to the love and family Bella found with the pack- and that would mean recognizing that the “community” within LDS was flawed as well. It was ultimately a revelation that smeyer could not afford to make. While she likely could afford the lawyers you apparently need to leave LDS, there are greater tolls in leaving a cult than the mere financial cost. We see Bella make a similar choice in Eclipse, once the theme has shifted to “life vs eternal life.” For Bella, giving up on her dreams of vampirism, on finally being fully accepted into the Cullen clan, would be akin to smeyer giving up the keys to heaven. Neither could afford to lose the surety that comes with the promise of eternal perfection and bliss. 

Now, I fully believe that this was all subconscious on smeyer’s part. I believe that she was really pushing herself to expand the series to include New Moon and Eclipse and that she needed to pull inspiration from deep inside of herself to write these novels. But I also believe that the themes are there. Everyone who has read the saga critically has noticed the eeriness of the Cullens and the inconsistency in their characterizations- sometimes they are the perfect predator, sometimes they are the perfect family. I’m all for complex characters but the Cullen’s simply do not read that way. Bella is never truly afraid of them- only other vampires. When they are criticized in-text, it is by characters that smeyer wants us to dislike, like Leah. Seth Clearwater is sunshine boy because he loves the Cullens too! We’re supposed to love them. But they often come across as, like I mentioned in part 1, eery pantomimes of humanity rather than the real deal. We don’t really know them so we can’t truly love them. And when we watch Bella insist that she knows them, that they are good, that they love her, it’s frankly unsettling. 

We see smeyer’s failure to confront LDS again in Breaking Dawn. The saga built to a massive confrontation, promised a battle, a shift, a change, something. And in the end, the two sides meets and... walk away from one another. No deaths, no battle of ideologies. The Cullens stay together, no one questions Carlisle, no one punishes the vampires, suddenly there are dozens of non-Cullen vampires around but there is no great clash there either. The ending feels unsatisfying because the rules were changed on us- the conflict is not between life and death anymore. We have suddenly returned to the conflict of Twilight, Bella wants to be accepted into the Cullen’s world. In Breaking Dawn, she is. Had the series remained a duo, this would have been satisfying enough. We wanted Bella to be accepted somewhere and then she was- happy ending! But in writing New Moon, smeyer had to pull from elsewhere and the themes did change and her beliefs were being challenged. 

New Moon still feels like the most comprehensive book in the saga. The relationships feel real, Bella feels more real. We’re adding layers to Twilight- maybe the Cullens aren’t perfect? How could they do this to Bella? Are we finally seeing the downsides to vampirism? This is all thrown away. I do recognize that a large part of this is because smeyer is not a great writer, she was attached to her planned ending and by g-d she was going to get there. I also recognize that the similarity between the Cullens and LDS, Carlisle and Joseph Smith, the little hints of herself that smeyer scattered throughout the series, are all too manyfold to ignore. Smeyer was building to a satisfying confrontation. She wanted to show us the downsides of vampirism with Bree Tanner, with the New Moon storyline, with the Eclipse backstories. New Moon and Eclipse quite literally feel as if she is telling us “all that glitters isn’t gold” (pun intended). But Bella chooses eternity, uncritically, unflinchingly. And smeyer, who was building to a conflict with her own beliefs, ultimately cannot sacrifice to sever those ties. She chooses mormonism. 

#twilight meta #the twilight saga #twilight renaissance #bella swan #smeyer #the cullens #cults tw #long post #if this reads a little hectic its bc my brain isn't working as well today lol #but i wanted to finish before i forgot what i was talking about #the tagged posts are critical reading! #also as a follow up check out witchyangelas post about renesmee as the second coming of christ #its v good i will reblog it for easy access #other metas by witchyangela fuckmeyer and therealvinelle are also tangentially related to this #if you want more Content #my post

[charliehoennam]

patch-ups at 2

A/N: omg i am so sorry to the anon that requested this. took me over a month to get around to this, i hope they’re still around to read it lol. sooooorrryyyy, my friend. hope you all enjoy it! request can be found here. If you liked my work, please show support by reblogging. Sharing is caring!

Warnings: Open wounds, blood, probably poor info on first aid, attempted murder by drive-by

Pairings: Jackson ‘Jax’ Teller x gn!reader 

Word count: 1,151

SHARING IS CARING, SO REBLOG!

Due to the overwhelming stress and pressure brought on by fatherhood, the club and his tiresome relationship with pretty much everyone around him, sleep definitely did not come easy to Jax. When it did, he’d surrender himself to it and pass out wherever he was to enjoy the peace that came with his slumber. Tonight was one of those nights where he’s fallen to sleep on his couch, dressed in nothing but his white cotton boxers having been too exhausted to waste further energy on anything other than a hot shower and a quick meal.  

The used dishes still sat on the coffee table, a couple of empty beer bottles stood beside them and a half full ashtray with a mixture of joints and stamped out cigarettes. The TV was still on with the volume low, informercials being the only source of light in the living room. He wasn’t sure what time it was, but they reassured him it was very late when he woke up to the knocking at his door. Whoever was there obviously wasn’t bringing any good news.  

He sat up rubbing the sleep from his eyes, quietly waiting to see the person outside would at least state a name and checking the time on his phone. The knocking simply continued, growing a little more desperate each time. Feeling the adrenaline rush through his body to keep him alert, he opened the small drawer underneath the coffee table and grabbed the gun he usually kept hidden for sudden emergencies. He stood up gripping the glock; his shoulders hunched with tension. With cautious steps, he made towards the door and dipped his head down to peer through the magic eye. He sighed, relieved to see a familiar face - one he welcomed at any time or moment – and opened the door, releasing the tight grip on his weapon.  

“Jesus, y/n. You scared the shit outta me” he stated swinging the door open. His golden locks still damp from his late shower and messy from his sleep. “It’s 2:37 in the morning, sweetheart. What the hell are you doing here?”  

“I-I need your help.”  

You didn’t really have to say it. The paleness of your face and your hand tucked under the black leather jacket you wore were enough to worry him; he offered no hesitance on inviting you in and quickly shut the door behind you, turning the locks for assurance.  

“What happened?”  

His voice was calm, but the way he ushered you quickly to a chair at the kitchen table expressed his concern.  

“I was on my way home. A car pulled up behind me and opened fire. Son of a bitch hit me in the shoulder.”

You were still furious for being completely blindsided. You knew you couldn’t go to the hospital; gunshot wounds have to be reported to the police which would open up an investigation on you and possibly put the club at risk. Everyone knew that. Jax was no doctor, but he was the nearest person you could of that would help.

“Lemme take a look at it.”

He was quick to help remove your jacket, pulling the sleeve your uninjured arm first in order to pull the other sleeve down carefully enough to not inflict more pain. Your white v-neck was drenched in blood circling the small hole in its’ shoulder as he accessed the wound.

“There’s no exit wound. I’m gonna have to take the bullet out. I won’t be able to do it with your shirt on, I’ll have to cut it off.”

“Do what you gotta do, just get this fucker out” you winced.  

Pacing through his house to collect the things he deemed necessary, he tried to remember what the guys would do. Sure, he’s seen gunshot wounds and bullets being taken out of others. Had he actually done it himself? No, not at all. And to be honest? He was scared shitless, but he couldn’t tell you that right now. You were panicking enough already so he had to stay calm and at least act like he knew what he was doing.  

He knelt before you, placing all his gatherings on a chair he pulled closer to serve as a little table.  

“Please tell me you got a good look at the sons of bitches who did this to you.” He said firmly already eager to get his revenge as he took a pair of scissors to cut up your shirt.

“No, I didn’t. And even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.”

“Why the hell not? I’ll find out regardless, the easy way or the hard way. I’d just prefer the easy way.”  

“You got enough to deal with already.” You paused, hissing in agony as he carefully stripped the white cloth from you in the same way he’d done with the jacket. “Fuck... I really liked this shirt.”

“I’ll buy you a new one, doll. Don’t you worry. I don’t want you holding things back from me out of pity though. You know you mean the world to me and anyone who hurts you is fucking dead.”

“I appreciate that, Jax. But I’d rather you get into my pants instead of getting into trouble.”

He smirked up at you and placed a kiss on your lips.  

“This is gonna sting a bit, sweetheart. Try not to scream.”

“That’s hard to do with you involved” you smirked softly at him.  

Once he washed the blood away with some water, he took a vodka bottle to pour it over the open wound. You groaned, squirming at the searing pain of the alcohol.  

“It’s pretty close to bone. Extracting it gonna hurt more.”

“I can take it.”  You nodded at him to continue.  

Folding a belt in half, he placed the leather between your teeth to allow you to bite down on it. It muffled your cries enough for his neighbors to not hear. Digging the bullet out was the most excruciating pain you’d ever felt; you believed you would even faint from the shock and pain, but thankfully he pulled the metal out. Praises spewed from his mouth to comfort you as best as he could.  

“There you go, sweetheart. I got you.” He whispered stitching the wound close before placing gauze over it. “I’m so proud of you, you’re one tough ass peach, ain’t ya?”

“Learned from the best, didn’t I?” You smiled tiredly.  

“You sure did.” He chuckled, glancing at you as he finished dressing your shoulder. “You did a great job staying awake, but you can get some rest now. I’ll get you a shirt and some anti-biotics from the medicine cabinet. You take one per day and you’ll be alright, okay?”

“Thank you, Jax. I’m sorry for waking you up in the middle of the night like this.”

“Hey...” he whispered placing a hand over your cheek. “I promised I’d take care of you, doll. I meant that.”

#jackson teller #jackson teller imagine #jackson teller fic #jax teller #jax teller imagine #jax teller fic #jax teller x reader #jax teller x y/n #jax teller x you #jax teller x gn!teller #sons of anarchy #soa fic #jcwrites

[wri0thesley]

many many anons under the cut bc i didn’t want anyone to feel like i was ignoring them and i wanted to respond to u all! warning for small text too, it was so long i wanted to make it look smaller fgbnjkgkjn

Anonymous asked: NAT... you can write WHATEVER you want! It's your blog, and I hope that rude anons can learn to respect that. I used to be on your blog just for jjba content too, so when you started getting into jjk I was indifferent but eventually you dragged me into jjk so hard!! I already like bnha, so seeing you write for it only made me happier! I hope that you continue to write whatever make YOU happy:) ❤and yes, longer fics certainly doesnt mean it's better, quality over quantity

ahh i’m happy that you are here for all three!! i always feel so accomplished when someone is like ‘your constant screaming made me think about jjk <3′. all three of the fandoms are fairly popular and i tag everything v carefully so i hope people who do use the filtering find that useful!!! 

Anonymous asked: Goodness gracious. People really be out there thinking they're entitled to dictating what kind of content you should be making

i think part of it might be that i do take requests so people feel like they have like . . . a certain right to certain kinds of my content? i take requests mostly bc they keep me motivated, i like making content for ppl who cant find what they want bc i’ve Been There, but maybe people think i am a pushover? idk i am just trying to have a good time!!!

Anonymous asked: Hi. I only started following you a few days ago but please ignore that rude anon. People are so fucking entitled towards writers it's insane. I recently had someone throw a fit for "spoiling" something in my fanfic, even though the fic was about a manga-exclusive character, so what did they expect?? Overall I've really enjoyed your writing so random assholes coming to guilt you is just a shitty thing that happens. Keep going with what you wanna do.

ah gosh anon i’m sorry about that :(. i’m always super careful tagging spoilers and stuff but like, if someone clicks on a fic about say, naoya or the steel ball run boys and is mad that i spoil something they havent found out yet . . . yeah thats on them fgbnkjgfkjn

Anonymous asked: That...that anon had the nerve to say "we". The fuck?! No no no anon, YOU'RE the only one talking and you're just talking for yourself, don't you dare try and lump us other anons/followers up with you to make yourself look like you're right. We love you nat and we appreciate you. It's your blog, you're allowed to write about whoever and whatever. This brain dead anon just needs to either go read someone else if they're that salty or write their own stuff if they're that impatient.

gosh i WISH some of my mad anons would just write their own stuff honestly. idk if this anon thought they were talking for everybody but i guess they expected anons to agree with them and not be mad at them. i appreciate u anon ;_;

Anonymous asked: Just want to say that ily and you’re one of the best jojo fanfic writers in my opinion 💗 I don’t think you’re half assing jojo fics and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with you being multi fandom. A lot of jojo blogs have started posting about jjk so it’s not as if you’re the only one. I’m not sure why you get hate like this but I think it’s just because you’re one of the popular writers and that makes people bitter for whatever reason. Keep being you and posting about the things that make you happy 💕

honestly after so long writing for jojo - i’ve written well over 200 jojo reader insert fics - sometimes it feels like i’m retreading stuff, and that’s when i take a break bc i dont wanna half-ass stuff!!! i love all of my fellow jojo friends who are posting about jjk too, i appreciate them <3. 

Anonymous asked: Hey my dude, ur writing has really grown since the jojo days and its better and awesome seeing u become happier to branch off and write in different fandoms 🤌🤌 those stupid anons are just boring farts that couldnt be bothered making their own content 😤😤 is it possible to block them to ease ur mind?

hello anon!! i run a statcounter for IPs but it doesnt always work for ppl who access through the tumblr app, i don’t think; a lot of the anon hate i get i just use the ‘block’ option, but last night got to me because i’ve been getting that kind of writer a lot which is . . . a bad look for the jojo fandom who are, as a whole from the ones i’ve interacted with, lovely!!! <3

Anonymous asked: People often forget, the person behind art or writing, is just another regular fan. You deserve to be happy with what you create and we should be thankful you share your talent with us. You also have right to change your main interests, and it's very normal thing. Jojo is one of the MANY things that you write for and all you get from that is a like or share. Its not your job. It's your fun thing to do, in spare time. You haven't betrayed anybody. That person was just rude, selfish and bored.

i am just a person doing my best!!! anime fanfic is one of many interests i have and i already devote a lot of time to it honestly, i love when people tell me they’ve enjoyed something i made bc it makes it feel worthwhile but equally it gets to me a lot when people are rude because i am usually trying my hardest. 

Anonymous asked: Bro that jjba anon... the entitlement🤮 Fam, you write whatever you want to write😤 -Saturday

dfnjbkjnkgf i find most fic readers are NOT entitled at all and are just grateful but when they are . . . oof. 

Anonymous asked: It's funny how people throw "we got you popular" and they think you start apologize and cry. Your writing and passion made you gain few numbers on a follow counter, nothing more. I think I'm too old for stuff like this, we are nothing more, but +1 on a number scale. You ow us nothing, we ow you nothing. Popular... Funny word. You just write for fun of it, fake scenarios about someone's manga characters. It's not that deep. Have fun and don't listen to people like this. I knew it's not that easy, but they are really not that important as they think they are.

extremely fun fact for people who think ‘popularity’ is important to me: i would 100% rather have 10 people who regularly comment, reblog my fics with tags and interact with me than 100 people who read my fic and either leave a like or simply move on. i think this is true for the VAST MAJORITY of writers tbh. i’m glad that people think i am a ‘popular’ blog (i am not in the grand scheme of things, one of my ex-best friends used to run a kpop reader insert blog with like 30,000 followers) bc it gives me an ego boost lmao, but i really just want people to read and enjoy the stuff i write!!! 

Anonymous asked: I followed you a while ago for jojo and when my friends started getting into jjk i was like...eh sounds like work...but now that I see you writing for it I feel really motivated to get into it!!! I really enjoy your writing and I want to be able to read the new stuff too!

ah anon i really hope you like it!!! it’s only one season rn if u wanna watch the anime and there isn’t too much of the manga to catch up on either but it is a lot of fun and it’s nice to be in a fandom that’s like, excited about a new chapter and new plot developments every week!

Anonymous asked: Pls dont reply if u dont want to! <3 I'm not sure if this will be of any help to you or not but this is the kind of thing that often helps me and is the only way I know to try comfort others so I wanted to give it a go~

Now im not gonna say 'dont feel bad pls' bc I know that's not really useful but what I do think is useful is just discussing why that anon and many others feel the need to respond that way. As someone who follows a lot of writing blogs myself and have done for a long time, i've seen my handful of favourite writers come and go for different reasons, lose motivation for a while, gain motivation for a while, go from multi to single fandom, or single fandom to multi. Often times as a reader it can be upsetting when things change but it's also important as a reader to understand that some things aren't in anyone's control, I can't control what my favourite writers become a fan of or lose interest of, I can't control things in their personal lives that may motivate or demotivate them to write, but what I can do is support them as long as they're active, and if they move on to do things i'm no longer interested in or i'm the one that changed interests, rather than being upset that they're evolving to do other things or that they're not evolving with me, I think it's important that I still feel thankful for the works that I enjoyed while we were still on the same page and this is how I personally deal with those negative feelings. I think the anons that lash out at you probably just dont know what to do with themselves, maybe they got attached to your works while you were still only a jjba blog and now that you're evolving they're upset, while I understand how they feel, they're going the completely wrong way about it. I've learned to take these things and turn them into something positive for myself or at least something bittersweet that I can move on from but the anons that lash out at you for whatever reason probably haven't learned this yet. Maybe it's because i've moved on and changed interests a lot myself that I know how these things go for both writers and readers but those anons maybe haven't experienced this as much so they dont know what to do with themselves other than complain that you've changed and throw insults at you in an attempt to get you to revert back. None of this is because of the quality of your writing like they want you to believe, it's literally just because you've evolved and while some of your old followers might not like the new content for no reason other than it not being their cup of tea, it's definitely not regressed at all. You are pumping out a lot of content right now but every single thing i've read has just been better than the last. Things that really stand out to me is how well you get characterisation down to a T and all of your dialogue is just on point and from the pov of a reader I think those things seem the hardest to get right so I am such a huge fan of your stuff at the moment and I can tell you're really putting so much thought and care into each and every fic no matter how fast you're producing it, I think the fact that you're also proud of what you're writing at the moment really shines through as well and I just adore the passion that radiates from every completed request as well as in the responses for the subsequent thirsts resulting from these works that appear in your ask box later (I know i've sent quite a few by now~)

Just to be clear i'm not defending those anons in any way, while I can understand what they might be feeling/why they're reacting in the way they are I still believe it's just so immature to be hateful online point blank. Even during a time where I still got upset with writers if they started doing something else I still never targeted that negativity directly to the writer and sending rude or hateful comments whether on anon or not never something i'd stooped low enough to do even when I still had an immature way of thinking, however, I hope that it might make it a little easier to brush them off if we try and understand what they're really upset about, and that they're just putting the blame for their negative feelings onto the wrong thing rather than coming to terms with change themselves.

hello anon!! i appreciate the long message. i do feel bad for people who have no interest in what i’m currently producing and i get that they feel upset about it; i’ve watched a lot of fellow jojo writers move on completely or just stop posting, honestly. this kind of thing is why i was so intense about asking people if it would be better if i made a separate blog but the resounding answer seemed to be ‘i’m just vibing with whatever happens and i’ll block tags as needed’. 

i often return to works by my favourite reader-insert writers who no longer write for the fandoms i like (and i read stuff bc it sounds interesting or i trust the person who writes it), but change can be difficult and i guess at this point i’ve - whether u like me or not lmao - been a fixture in jojo reader-insert tumblr for a While so it’s probably kind of jarring. 

anyway i really appreciate you and the nice words! <3 

Anonymous asked: hi nat! I just wanted to pop in and say that regardless of what fandom you write for, the love and care you pour into your writing and into interacting with followers who care about your work as well is really obvious. you're doing this for FREE and people should appreciate what you've given us so far, since ultimately this blog should be for you, whatever that means to you at any point in time. it's ok to jump fandoms! the important thing is that you feel good about what you're producing and that it makes you happy. everyone else is just a bonus - but, seeing you on my dash certainly makes me happy : ) I hope you feel better soon!

thank you anon! i’m feeling much better and happier today. birthdays are very difficult for me (i did not think i’d be alive at eighteen, much less 25!) so this event is definitely kind of a way for me to concentrate on something else, and i’m a little bit extra sensitive atm. i appreciate you so much, thank you for the kind words!!! <3

Anonymous asked: Hello! I just wanted to say, write what YOU want and make YOUR writings as long as you'd like. 💖 To the anon who is like "We mAdE yOu FaMoUs dOnt HalF asS iT" stfu, let people do what they wanna do. If you think they half do it, write something better and longer you asshat.

this is an open invitiation to that anon to send me a link to their writing blog and i’ll hype them up i promise <3 

Anonymous asked: nat i'm so so sorry about that ask please know that your older followers don't share the same opinion :( sometimes people forget about the living, breathing person behind the screen smh. you are not a machine. you absolutely should not restrict yourself to posting about one fandom forever. yes, we're first pulled in by your amazing content, but we stay for your wonderful personality and work ethic. please just keep being you, taking up projects you feel comfy with! <333 bless u

ahh thank u anon! unfortunately i actually am a writing robot, i’m sorry u had to find out this way. my jojo chip has been removed, please send it back so i can continue to not half-ass my jojo work. fgnjkbgjkfn thank you so much angel!!! i appreciate you ;_;.

Anonymous asked: i don’t think it’s fair for other people to say shit about what you choose to write about because on tumblr and other writing platforms, writers are constantly developing how they write and the fandoms that they write for. it’s not fair for someone to criticize that “you don’t care about jjba blah blah blah” because you can enjoy new shows/manga. and like you said you’ve grown so much!! proud of you nat and im glad that ive been able to read your works (sincerely other nat)

i am STILL waiting for you to come and fight me other nat fgnjkbnf. it’s nice to be enjoying different things! i am constantly learning new things and reading new works and making new friends and improving and i think that’s important. i do care about jjba - a lot! but i can care about other things too! <3 

Anonymous asked: I may not be one of your oldest followers, but i've been here for almost 3 years. Yes, i started following u for ur jojo content, but let me tell u, ur newfound motivation and enthusiam for other fandoms was honestly contagiuos for me. And i say this as a person who finds very difficult to move from one interest to another. Jojo is great, but so are other fandoms. Please don't let some faceless scum rob u that motivation. This is ur blog and u r always free to write whatever u want.

honestly, i have been there! i am autistic and i have special interests and watching other people move on to stuff i’m not vibing with has made me sad in the past, but i want people to be happy more than anything and sometimes that means new things and change! <3 

Anonymous asked: Hi Nat! I saw that rude anon message & I just wanted to pop in & say that they're wrong. You're not betraying anyone & you should write whatever it is you want to write. I followed you for jojo & I'm not familiar with the other fandoms that you write for, but personally it makes me SO happy to see you enjoying new things! It's always good to find joy wherever you can, so keep writing what you're interested in. There a lot of ppl who want to see you happy and healthy <3

honestly the idea of it being a GRAND BETRAYAL is so funny, i am just writing anime fanfic here and thriving!!! tysm anon! <3

Anonymous asked: Those anons can piss off! They have no right to judge how long or how short your writing is. If they want longer content write it their damn selves. I think your writing has improved wonderfully and I originally followed for Jojo and I'm enjoying all the content period. I don't even watch jujutsu ( not my cup of tea personally) but I love seeing the creativity and the interactions. You write what makes you happy Nat and that's on that! You don't owe anybody anything! I know how hard writing is and when your consuming new content it's hard to make content for something else. That doesn't mean you don't like it any more your just doing something different for a while. Love you and your content and I'm enjoying the love your putting into your content whether long or short. ♥♥💕 Sending love your way!

honestly my idea of ‘short content’ is still over 1k words, i’m not good at reeling myself in! i guess it’s bc they see like, 1.5k jojo fic versus 5k jjk fic but it’s not that i didn’t enjoy the first fic, just that the point and the story came a lot quicker and so did the natural end! thank you anon, i appreciate you ;_; 

Anonymous asked: Hello! Just wanted to let your know that I think your writing is awesome, and that you should write for whoever and for whatever you want to! You dont have to stay loyal to one fandom or anything, and your followers shouldn't expect that from you! It's not like they are paying you to write, you are doing this for free, and because you enjoy it and it makes you happy! If they dont like your stuff, they dont have to follow you, they can go to other blogs that cater to their taste, and they definitely don't need to be sending you such hurtful comments, and they dont get to make you feel sad about your writing! Just because they followed you during your earlier stages of writing, doesn't mean you owe them some type of loyalty or compensation! You can write literally whatever you want as long as it makes you happy! That's what your hobby and your blog are for! I hope you know that alot of your followers love your work and think that you are an amazing writer and are down to support the work that makes you happiest! 💖💖

ahh thank you so much anon!!! i am always so bowled over by how many people are nice to me when something like this happens, i am sending you my love <3

Anonymous asked: don’t listen to them!! we love you as a writer no matter what you write, because you’re a good person and a talented writer!! you shouldn’t have to change what you write to please a bitter person, and if they only want jjba, they can go to another blog instead of bringing you down. you’re doing amazing and they should be thankful you grace us with your talents!!

to be totally honest, if i was half-assing or not vibing with content i was making i just. wouldn’t post it. like you’d be able to TELL when i was half-assing stuff just to get words out (source: i have re-read my own nanowrimo works). there are lots of great jjba blogs who could do with more followers n interaction!!! i hope they do find them and i hope they’re nice to them :(. 

Anonymous asked: Please don’t pay attention to that anon. People only have that confidence when they have anon turned on. Them looking through your blog despite feeling that way is peak fan behavior and speaks to how addicting your writing is. Naturally, you can’t please everyone and there will be people who are irrational and feel entitled to tell you what to do or what to write no matter what. Trust me when I say they’re a small minority and are more likely probably passing viewers rather than regulars. I check your blog about three or more times a day because I love reading not just your fics but also your takes, banter with other anons, or even random updates. Brainrot posts? LOVE TO SEE IT!!! Desk update? AMAZING!!! With that being said, don’t feel pressured to continue pushing out content for others. Write what makes you happy! You’ve been writing for JJBA for 4 years and it’s completely normal + healthy to get into new media. I’m not sure if it would mean much, but your love for JJK has gotten me excited to start it too!!

anon i really hope you enjoy it!!! sometimes these anons remember stuff i’ve posted and said better than i do tbh, i am living in their heads rent free i guess! 

Anonymous asked: I've been following you for a couple of years and honestly it would always be a joy to see when you posted. Your writing has improved and I'm very happy you're enjoying yourself ! I know it hurts hearing and seeing stuff like that but I'm happy you're here. I'm honestly blessed everytime you post. Your writing is phenomenal. I love reading it even if its characters that I dont care for. You capture their essences so well and weave an amazing tale within the prompts and whatnot. You're amazing nat!

wehh thank you so much!!! re: the improvement, i really don’t feel like it has and then i re-read something i wrote when i first started and i’m like oh my god maybe it has. did i really write about jotaro acting like that. 

Anonymous asked: Hi Nat. I recently became a follower of yours and I'm really saddened to see you get hate. You seem like a genuinely sweet person with amazing talent! I'm a writer myself and, unfortunately, get the same kind of comments. And when you get those comments, it doesn't leave you feeling motivated. People need to understand that people can and will, at times, grow out of fandoms. (1 Not just that but you're doing all of this for free. Again, I'm sorry you got such a comment. But please know that I'm proud of how far you've come. I'm proud that you're living a life that makes you happy. And no matter what fandom you may find yourself in next, I will always enjoy your writing. Take care of yourself. (2 end

HELLO NEW FOLLOWER I LOVE YOU (i get a lot more a day now than i used to and i feel guilty about not being able to look through so many blogs but i do try and follow back other writers for my fandoms!! ;_;). i’m sorry you get the same kind of comments! i’m always just happy to see people i like enjoying new things, even if i have no interest in it (hello to all of my mutuals who write for hunter x hunter and haikyuu, not interested but i’m sure you’re having a great time and i support you!!!). 

Anonymous asked: I'm sure you're getting a barrage of supportive messages now (at least I hope so) but I figured I'd add my voice, because I'm a longtime follower. Your writing is, and always has been, wonderful. I've been so happy to see you and Haz get to a place that works for you both. Idk if it's obvious for everyone, but you seem like you're emotionally in a pretty good place most of the time these days, and it makes me really happy to see that. I followed years ago for JJBA content, but I stayed because regardless of what content you put out, I find your wit delightful. And I'll stick around even if you move fandoms entirely, because whatever content or editorializing you produce is going to be worth reading, regardless of what it's for.

ahh, anon!! thank you for sticking around so long, sorry if you’re old enough to have been around the vore and jorts and spider rohan fiascos! <3 i am definitely a lot more stable than i have been and - barring the Pandemic Related Mental Health Issues - happier! i’m glad that it’s noticeable! <3

Anonymous asked: It actually makes me mad how entitled some people are. Nat, you're not a content creating machine and those who expect you to be are not worth wasting a thought on. Your love for something is not measured in word counts and for you to write every day without getting burned out in the slightest you really must have a burning passion and huge dedication to your craft. If others decide to send hate then allow me to send admiration because I can feel your love and hard work in each post you make!

i try and write every day bc it’s super good for my little ocd/autistic brain to have routines and distract itself, so i’m glad other people can enjoy them because that makes me motivated to carry on! like, i write for myself mostly bc the content i want i sometimes get find, but filling requests and writing for other people also leaves me with happy warm fuzzies too! i appreciate you!! <3 

Anonymous asked: If people only care about your writing for the jojo porn that’s on THEM, not you. Your writing was amazing when I followed about a year ago, and it’s only gotten better and will continue to get better! I think it really comes through when you enjoy what you’re writing and it adds a whole other layer of worth to it, because not only are you making free content but you LIKE that content and we can all gush about it together!!! More than just fans, I think you’ve created a community here and we don’t just stick around to read smut, I promise you that. -Reronon

i do miss having a discord community bc it was nice to talk to everyone in real time but it was hard work, i am glad that people feel like they can just come into my askbox and gush! i’m not very friendly in real life and people tend to think i am cold and stuck up so i work very hard to try and seem friendly and approachable online, which is much easier for me because i get to think and re-draft before i type! <3 

Anonymous asked: Hi Nat! I’m sure you’re getting a lot of messages like this right now but I just wanted to say for what it’s worth that, as a person who originally followed you for jjba content and hasn’t watched/read any of the other series you’re currently writing for, I’m honestly still along for the ride. This is your blog and you’re allowed to do what you want with it and put out what content you feel like writing. Sometimes??? People acquire new interests??????? Shocking! I know absolutely nothing about jjk or bnha but out of curiosity still read some of your posts about them and even though I might not Get It, I still enjoy them because I think you’re a very talented writer! Honestly, as long as you’re still writing, I’m still down to clown, and whenever you take breaks (which are important!) I’ll still be waiting for your return or supporting and respecting your decision to stay away longer. Don’t let the entitled assholes get you down. Utilize YOUR blog and YOUR space however YOU choose. Your talent and kindness speak for themselves. Love you!!! ❤️❤️❤️

anon i care about you and i am so appreciative of you and everyone for sending me such nice messages! i am running out of ways to say it but it’s true, it really does mean a lot to me ;_; <3

#nat.txt

[ask-de-writer]

DARING DO and the ADVENTURE of the X'IBIAN VASE! : MLP Fan Fiction : Part 4 of 21

Return to theMaster Story Index

Return to MLP Fan Fiction

DARING DO and the

ADVENTURE of the X'IBIAN VASE!

by

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck) @ask-de-writer​

And

Carmen Pondiego @askcarmenpondiego​

Cover Art by

Doctor Dimension

52630 words

© 2020 by Glen Ten-Eyck

Writing begun 08/26/15

All rights reserved.  This document may not be copied or distributed on or to any medium or placed in any mass storage system except by the express written consent of the author.

//////////////

Copyright fair use rules for Tumblr users

Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights.  They may reblog the story.  They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions, provided that such things are done without charge.  I will allow those who do commission art works to charge for their images.  

All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fictions is actively encouraged.

///////////////////////

Horsetense looked up from reading a romance novel, to judge by the cover art.  Smiling, she replied, “I really did not expect to see you again, after yesterday’s little upsets!  Here, let me send it up!”

She took Daring Do’s envelope and put it into a vacuum cartridge and dropped it into a tube.  With a whoosh, it was gone.  In a few minutes there was a whoosh and clunk as a cartridge returned.  It held a copy of the original document and a note:

“This is the ONLY acceptable agreement.  We will not back you at all if you do not sign!

Isa Robber

Mystic Overthrow

Crule Tyranny”

Reading the note, Daring smiled and wrote across the Document in deep soaking indelible marker, “These terms are the sort of toxic trash that the composting facilities will refuse!  I do too!  Find another sucker!  D.D.”

Horsetense looked sour as she returned the document with a clack and whoosh.  She observed, “The Partners won’t like that!”

Daring Do patted her hoof and replied, “They don’t seem to like anything that is honest.  I hope that you find a better position than this one soon.”

She turned on her hoof and was leaving when the system did its whoosh-clack.  The note in it said:

“Our generous offer is withdrawn.

Good luck in your year long wait to sell your latest major find to the Royal Museum! R.O.T.”

Daring Do smiled serenely, showed the receptionist the note and told Horsetense, “See this? You might find the noon news amusing!”

She sauntered out, the note safely in her saddle bag.

She was about to return to the Adventurer’s Guild for a nice luncheon when her brows drew down in a V of concentration.  Not only the waiter’s news but many other things began to fall out of their accustomed places, making a mess of her orderly mind.

It was a feeling that she knew well.  It had led her to almost all of past expeditions.  When things are not as they should be, the first stop is the Royal Library.

As she climbed the steps, she admired the allegorical carving of the doors.  The sun and moon arising together over the field of knowledge.  The doors, obeying an ancient spell, opened impressively for her.

Inside, she was greeted by the wonderful odor of books, scrolls, manuscripts, codices of many sorts. This was the scent of her true heart.  

Lurking in the overall scent, was the recent addition of fire proofing and extinguishing spells. They were a wise precaution whose necessity was shown by the Golden Oak Library disaster of Ponyville.  Some still wondered how one of the most magically powerful beings of Equestria, Twilight Sparkle, could have forgotten something so basic as fire suppression spells, just when she most needed them.  That, however, was not germane to her visit.

She walked up to the research desk and presented her Royal Pass, personally sealed by both Luna and Celestia.  “I need full access to the Closed and Sealed Stacks, please,” she smiled at the young librarian.

Wide eyed, after staring at the pass, she turned and almost galloped to a Senior Librarian.  She whispered, pointing back at Daring Do.

The senior came over and asked, “Reason for your visit, Antiquarian Do?”

“I have come across some discrepancies in research concerning the ancient X'ibian Empire.  I already know, from previous work here, that the answers are not to be found in the ordinary open or closed stacks.”

The senior took Daring Do’s pass and inserted it into a spell reader.  It chimed.  The four nearest Closed Research Stacks simply faded away leaving a huge pair of doors appearing to be iron bound ancient oak.  Daring Do was not deceived. She knew that the reality behind the glamor spell was four tonne Military Armor Grade steel, sealed from forced entry or exit.  She also knew that there were excellent reasons for being sealed against both!  This was not a library for the faint of heart!

Resuming her pass, she asked, “May I have Apprentice Librarian Blendin to assist my studies, please?  He and I have worked together before this.  I have found him to be an excellent assistant.”

Before setting the opening spell, the Senior Librarian made a note and called over a Magic Net system, “Apprentice Librarian Blendin to the Canterlot Main Doors, please.”

It took a few minutes before the signal that he was present lit.  The Senior Librarian tapped the opening spell.  The great doors did not swing or retract, as one might expect.  They became a thin seeming vapor.

Daring Do trotted through it without any problem.  She smiled at her half brother and said, “We have a fun one!  The Heart of Discord not only might be real, it might even be something that belongs here or in the Warehouse!”

Blendin’s brows shot up.  “I would be laughing right now, Sis, if it was anypony but you who said that.  What brings this on?”

Daring Do snickered and replied, “Disorder in what I thought I knew and a conversation with somepony from an organiation that I ran into while searching for the Darkling’s Tomb.”

Showing a side that was rarely seen when he was off work, Blendin promptly asked, “The Ancient Guardians?”

“Exactly.  One told me today that they lost the location of Im Farst’s tomb during the Chineighese invasions of a thousand years ago.  In short, THEY are certain that the Heart of Discord is there.  They just don’t know any longer, where, exactly.”

Blendin’s eyes got a far-away look to them as he dug through the encyclopedic knowledge that even an Apprentice Librarian needed.

“Where do you want to start, Sis?”

“At the beginning.  With the death and funeral of Im Farst.”

Blendin nodded briskly.  “That is easy, then.  There are only three contemporary documents of it. They are followed by the wall painting but it is later.  It will take a few to access them.  Are you willing to use a Twilight Closed Reading spell to keep from disturbing the actual documents.  They are very fragile.”

“If you recommend it, Blendin, yes.  What are they?”

“One is an actual scroll painting on lotus root paper.  It is likely the most delicate.  It is a traditional Xibian landscape with a weeping dragon and a eulogy to Im Farst.  The eulogy is signed Wisdom.  The other two are thin sliced bamboo fold books, both with fire damage.”

He actually went to an OLD physical card file and leafed gently.  Puzzled, he checked again.  “I wonder how long ago this happened?” he inquired of empty air. “There are FOUR things here.  I found two cards stuck together.  I will have to speak to a Senior Librarian about that.”

Daring Do overheard him and looked up from her magically generated pages of perfectly duplicated documents.  They WERE fascinating in their own right.

“What did you find, Blendin?”

“A carved stone inventory made at the time of interment.  It is cracked across but otherwise intact. I assume that you want it?”

“Absolutely!  Also, any provenance or location of finding!  Not only the stone, but everything known of it!”

Blendin smiled sadly and gave her a thin file.  “The stone was found in a Chineighese open air market about eight hundred years ago and given into Royal Care.  Not much help there.”

He did develop the copy spell, giving Daring Do all of the visible surfaces of the stone, top, thin sides and back.

Daring Do began to scan the stone, her brows knitting now and again as she found and solved an ideogram that was new to her.  She pulled out a magnifier for much of it.  The ancient engraving was surprisingly small and tightly compacted.

Blendin watched his half sister’s reading with awe.  “How can you do that, Sis?  I know at least a hundred scholars of Ancient X'ibian and not one of them can just snap out the meaning of a new ideogram like that!”

She looked up for a moment. “It’s really not too hard, Blendin.  The construction of ancient X'ibian ideograms follows a rigidly logical system from about a hundred bases.  Once you know those, the rest follows, except for bad handwriting, of course.”  She grinned.  “That is nothing new at all.”

Blendin nodded agreement and then brightened up.  “I need to do an advancement paper in the Library.  Mind if I take that tip and develop it?”

Absently muttering, “Be my guest,” Daring Do returned to her study.

“Pardon, Sis.  I need more space for you.”  Blendin grabbed the end of the Library table and pulled.  It stretched out another three meters, growing extra legs as it did so.

Daring Do raised her eyebrows as she watched.  “Handy trick, that!”

“You know it, Sis.  I needed the space to set out the more modern works, you know, from four hundred PNW to the End of Exile.”

“Four hundred Post Nightmare Wars?  Nothing earlier?”

“According to the Master Index, nope.  A long dry spell there.  Then the liter-ature explodes.  All the mystical shit and such.”

She nodded and returned to deciphering the fold books and the painting.  She was nearly done with the painting when she asked, “Can I get modern paper copies of these old documents?  I just spotted something curious.”

“Not a problem, Sis.  I will do a contagion duplication on them.  You will be able to take those copies if they pass the Security of Information checks.  I did not bother looking at that info when I set them up for you.”

Blendin was systematically setting out the later documents by date when he stopped cold.  

“This makes no sense at all, Sis.  Check me on this.  When Im Farst was buried in his hidden tomb there was no trace of the Heart of Discord.  

“Then, IN EQUESTRIA, the tales of the Heart of Discord begin to show up in print about four hundred PNW.  The wall painting that is the only known documentation of it was not found until 653 PNW.  

“It gets worse.  The tomb that the painting is in dates quite exactly.  It was made 150 years after the death of Im Farst but not found until 653 PNW.”

Daring Do stared at Blendin’s work in rising excitement.

“It makes perfect sense after all!  Who was the wife of Im Farst?”

Blendin actually took time to consult the Index again.  “Her name was Wisdom.  Legend says that she was a dragon.  How does that make any sense at all?”

Daring Do took a sheet of paper and a writing brush.  Inking it professionally, she wrote a character.

“First, remember that there were no male or female names in ancient X'ibian.  This thing called a SHI was added to a surname or single name to indicate female and left off for male names!  It was silent in ancient X'ibian.

“Now look at this!”  She quickly drew another character.  “That is the ancient character for Wisdom.  This one is Discord, the Dragonequis.  Add a Shi to Discord and what do you see?”

Blendin stared at the two characters in consternation.  “Wisdom!  Discord with a Shi and Wisdom look the same!”

“Right!  Im Farst really was married to a dragon.  Eris, the female form of Discord.  

“The Vase of Wisdom is in all of these inventories!  A hundred and fifty years later, on a tomb wall, the vase was named without the Shi and the Heart of Discord was born!”

Blendin looked carefully at his time-line of publications and written down tales.  He thoughtfully accessed the Index again.

He added a whole selection of more material from the Last Nightmare War onward.  

Softly, he said, “Here she is. It all begins with the Tales of Aleax the Blind.  This dates to only 115 PNW.  Eris, the Dragonequis, is asked if ever she knew love.  Her reply is, ‘In a land far to the East, I left my love a vase that I made.  I left my Heart in his tomb.  Im Farst was his name.’  She shed a few tears and asked what reward was wanted for bringing her that memory.”

Daring Do sadly offered, “That explains so much.  Blendin, I need these inventories, including the stone’s upper surface and that landscape painting with the Im Farst eulogy on it.”

Blendin went to the Index and lifted a very modern Magic Net mirror up from a concealed pocket.  He tapped codes and looked carefully at the results.  Grinning, he tapped a whole set of new codes.

“They will accept my paper on the reading of Ancient X'ibian ideograms!  They also cleared modern paper copies of the things you asked for.  They are now locked to the papers that they are on.  Feel free to take them, Sis!”

Returning, Daring Do saw the enormous steel doors simply go to mist again.  She paused long enough to say, “Best of fortune on the paper, Blendin.  It is going to keep you busy, I promise it.”

With a grin, he replied, “I know, Sis.  I do know.  Thanks for the tip.”

Daring Do walked out to the Research Desk and Logged out, showing her copies to the Senior Librarian.  There was no sign behind her of the massive secret doors. Just the ordinary closed stacks.

If Daring Do was walking like nothing of any importance had changed, her mind was racing!  It WAS real!  The Vase, the Heart of ERIS, rather than Discord, was there. The tomb of Im Farst was a fact!

She was pretty sure how to find it too!  That, she had failed to mention to her half brother, Blendin.  Best not to give any possible rumor a root to grow.

Ensconced in the Adventurer’s Guild’s secure communication room, Daring Do tapped up codes on the Secure Magic Net Mirror there.  She was greeted by the surly face of Count Umber.  He still had a plaster on the bruise over his right eye from their earlier altercation.  He reached to cut off the call.

With a smile that could have flash frozen a polar bear, Daring Do said serenely, “Please do, Count.  Princess Luna audits all incoming calls.  When she finds that you cut off a Private Antiquities Emergency call, you will be in so much hot water that you will be lucky to retain your County.  Luna herself gave me this code after the debacle of the Golden Necklace of Pharow Underrock.”

Putting the knife in deeper and twisting, she added, “That was at the same time that she gave you your present work.  It is amazing how much better the Museum Acquisition Policy has become.  I have already been paid for the balance of the Pharow Underrock Collection.”

With a growl that would have done credit to hungry bear, Count Umber put her through.  Princess Luna was sitting in a bath up to her withers, gently fanning her wings in the warm water.  There was a squadron of blue bath duckies hidden by lumps of bubble foam.  They were preparing to ambush a similar squadron of yellow bath duckies.

She looked up from her bath game and said, “What is the problem with the Underrock Collection? Umber has noted that you are calling about it.”

“With due respect, your Highness, he is absolutely wrong.  I am calling about a thing connected to the legal firm of R.O.T.”

Princess Luna sat up suddenly, water cascading off her shoulders.  “COUNT UMBER!  GET OFF THIS LINE!  ALL CALLS ON THIS CODE GROUP ARE ABSOLUTELY PRIVATE!  You were given strict instructions about the call system.  YOU HAVE VIOLATED ONE OF THE MOST BASIC ONES!  We will discuss your position in Canterlot when this call is done!”

She tapped a few codes in her bathroom mirror.  “There.  The nuisance is removed.  By Royal Guards.  Now we are private.  What do you need to discuss?”

“R.O.T. is mounting an expedition to X'ibia, in the far desert regions of the Chineighese Empire.  They are searching for the Heart of Discord.  Their care with priceless antiquities  was shown during the break in at my University office.”

“There have been many expeditions to search for the Heart of Discord, Daring Do.  None has ever succeeded, lending much credence to the notion that it is legendary.  Why are you so concerned now?”

“Because, your Highness, today, doing research at the Great Library, I discovered that the Vase of Wisdom is perfectly real.  Wisdom was Im Farst’s wife, the Dragon Queen of ancient X'ibia.

“How well do you know the writing of that ancient land?”

“Excellently, my dear.  So, what you found is the connection between Eris now and Wisdom, the Dragon Queen then?”

“You do not seem surprised, your Highness.”

“Only saddened that it will arouse such heartbreaking memories in my friend.  We must tell her that the secret is out.  How much more do you know of this matter?”

“I believe that I know where Im Farst’s tomb is.  Wisdom painted a landscape with a weeping dragon and inscribed her eulogy to him.  I have a copy from the Library.  I am fairly sure that it shows the tomb’s hidden location.”

Luna sort of sank into her bath. “You are correct.  We must tell her.  Now.  Together.  I cried with her for many nights when he died.”

Stiffing up, Luna tapped some other codes to the mirror.

The call was answered by an amazingly lovely pony with one perfectly centered cyclops like eye. “ERIS, Inc.!  How may I direct your call please, Princess Luna?”

“Hello, Cy.  I hate to interrupt whatever Eris is doing but I have urgent news for her. Just tell her that Wisdom has been found.  She will know what I mean.”  

“Wisdom has been found.  I will tell her.”

Almost instantly, the mirror switched to show Eris, wearing the silken robes of the Chineighese. An eye as trained as Daring Do’s saw that they were in the style of ancient X'ibia.

There was a copy of the Wisdom Eulogy to Im Farst hung to the wall and both incense and tea being offered before it on an ornate, low table of black wood, richly inlaid with natural woods of many colors.

Eris asked mildly, “Luna, if it was any but you calling, I would have required them to wait.  What do you mean that Wisdom has been found?”

Daring Do spoke up.  “A Shi is supposed to be silent and only indicate gender.  A Shi added to Discord, the dragonequis, makes Eris, that is you.  It also turns the ideogram into Wisdom, the name that you used when you lived your life with Im Farst, whom I see that you still love.”

There was a small tear at Eris’ eye.  “That is true, all of it.  What do I need to know beyond the fact that you found it out?”

“The law firm of R.O.T. is mounting an expedition to X'ibia to locate the Heart of Discord.  Of course, THAT really is legendary, the result of twisting the words of Aleax the Blind to say that you left a Vase, your heart, in his tomb. That is where the legends of the Heart of Discord come from.

“Even with the trickery that they use, they have begun to set up the expedition.  R.O.T. could find the tomb.”

Eris said softly, “Their care with Antiquities is amply shown by the break in at your office.  I see.  What do you need from me?”

Daring Do smiled and replied, “Two sorts of things.  One is your permission to open the tomb and conserve the things in it.  The other is a little more personal. Anything that you can think of that might mess up the R.O.T. expedition and throw them off the trail.”

Eris began to smile hugely around her fang.  “Doctor Do, I know your reputation in detail.  I will trust you to open my love’s tomb and conserve all as well as it can be done.  Expect my document of permission within the hour.  Cy will deliver it in person.

“As for your other request, let us say that I will consider it favorably.

“Now, I have much to attend to, including letting my love know that you are coming.”  The mirror blanked.

Luna’s bath duckies were all joined into a large squadron, attacking the bath bubble foam furiously!  She looked up with a serious face.  “While you were talking to Eris, I set it up with my sister, Celestia.  We are putting your Expedition under the Royal Wing.  

“You mentioned being able to manage the cost.  You will not have to.  We will cover it all with letters of credit and passage permissions that are being prepared now.  Celestia has summoned the Chineighese Ambassador to prepare your documents for free travel and official assistance.  All the papers should arrive in a few hours.  They are addressed to you at the Adventurer’s Guild.”

“Thank you, your Highness.” Daring Do blanked the mirror and emerged from the room.  The waiter from this morning was there, tears in his eyes.  “Our long Guardianship is over.  We have heard from the most exalted one. Wisdom herself has put us at your disposal.  What then shall we do for you?”

Daring Do gave him a deep formal bow and replied, “We will need you still.  There are more than Im Farst to guard.  If you will come with me, I will show you what I mean.”

Deepest concern in his voice, brows drawn in honest worry, he asked, “What will become of Im Farst and all of his things?”

Daring Do replied honestly, “I do not know.  I will gather him and all of those things and they will be given to the Most Exalted Wisdom.  She will then decide what may be kept for study, placed in museums on display and what she will keep for her own.   All will be a gift of my Princesses to Wisdom. This plan has been made and will be kept.”

He needed no thought.  “This is the best that can be hoped for.  He will be reunited with Wisdom. May they find all the joy that can be between Mortal and the Dragon.”

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#DARING DO AND THE ADVENTURE OF THE X'IBIAN VASE #Part 4 of 21 #MLP Fan Fiction #Written by De Writer and Carmen Pondiego

[allthefilmsiveseenforfree]

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

So I may or may not be a little behind on reviews right now. But joke’s on you, there are a bunch of scary movies that have been released in 2019 (and very few being released in theaters this October) so you can enjoy some seasonally-appropriate spookiness right on schedule like I planned it that way and not at all because writing reviews for 119 movies is really hard and time-consuming. Everything’s going according to my master plan.

Hey, so do you remember the 90s? Between Goosebumps and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, kids in the 90s basically just wanted to have the bejeesus scared out of them. Enter Alvin Schwartz, who produced a couple of collections of folk tales and urban legends that were unsettling but fairly bloodless and combined them with the nightmare-inducing artwork of Stephen Gammell. BOOM - generation of kids traumatized. I know all my fellow #90skidsremember and probably have very high hopes for the spookiness of this movie. Does it deliver? Well...

Mostly, but it misses the mark somewhat. What’s worse, I think some different choices could have really propelled this into blood-curdling classic status. As it stands, those stories we knew and loved as kids have been roughly strung together into a PG-13 horror flick held together by a somewhat clumsy connective narrative about a young girl named Sarah Bellows (Kathleen Pollard), who was tortured and abused at the hands of her family, locked in a basement, and took her revenge by writing scary stories that came to life and killed all those who tormented her. Now it’s Halloween in 1968 and a group of teens (Zoe Margaret Colletti, Michael Garza, Gabriel Rush, and Austin Zajur) investigate the derelict Bellows house and find Sarah’s murderous book - and then start dropping like flies as Sarah’s stories start to come to life once more.

Some thoughts:

The movie theater we saw this in was an independent theater recently acquired by a big corporate chain, and as such, the employees could not figure out how to turn the lights all the way down. And we were in the biggest auditorium they have - think almost IMAX size - so the lights were those really strong spotlight kind recessed into the super high ceiling, but dimmed to about half strength. This is all to say that my experience was less Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and more Scary Stories to Tell in an Office Building Past Nine.

The soundtrack is absolutely banging. I really, really enjoyed the extended intro sequence to “Season of the Witch” particularly.

Ok, hard and fast rule - don’t throw things that are on fire into ANYONE’s car, even if they’re a bully.

How are all these walls of cobwebs not a deterrent even if a scary murder basement isn’t?

You know, I don’t think I had overbearing parents in high school by any means, but even my friends with hippie parents could never have come home absolutely fucking WASTED and just be told, “go deliver eggs.” In the middle of the night. On Halloween. Like people do.

Harold was always the scariest story in the collection to me, and Harold himself is not fucking around here. His character design is deliciously creepy, plus the fact that he’s isolated in a huge cornfield at night. Anyone who grew up in the middle of the country will tell you - one of the scariest things on God’s green earth is a field of corn. Listen to this and listen well - cornfields are full of blood and old magic. Don’t. Fuck. With corn.

Glad to see they’re not underplaying the racism that someone with the name Ramon Rodriguez would be experiencing in a small town like this in 1968. Or now.

I can’t help but feel this would have been a far better movie if it was A) rated R and B) about a half hour longer. I’m all for short and snappy when the movie calls for it! But things moved SO quickly that nothing had much room to breathe. There were entire plot lines that felt dropped, or completely breezed past. Example - there’s a whole subplot about our Final GIrl Stella’s strained relationship with her dad (Dean Norris) that could have carried a lot of the emotional weight and really underscored some themes of the movie about generational trauma...but Stella and her dad have I think 2 very brief scenes together? Maybe 3? It feels like a LOT was cut from their arc. Even small details that could have been fleshed out into something really creepy feel dropped or missing - like, the corn in Harold’s field? Completely green and thriving on Halloween night, dead and yellow the next day. It feels like a scene is missing or that lines illuminating this choice were cut - even something as simple as “What could do something like this to an entire field of corn?” and the answer is E V I L.

I’ve been around lots of teenage boys before, I’m not a nun, but seriously who eats stew of all things that 1) people told you they didn’t make (and that you know YOU didn’t make) 2) that is COLD and 3) when people you love are saying DO NOT EAT ANYTHING OR YOU WILL DIE. I’m willing to concede 1 and 3 through sheer stubbornness and stupidity but COLD? COLD STEW? Cold, chunky, brownish stew??? Disbelief unsuspended.

There are a number of Very Good Dogs in this movie, including a beautiful Doberman, some excellent police K-9 units, and a Very Good black dog named Trigger! And I’m happy to report all of the dogs make it out ok!

“You don’t read the book - the book reads you” might be the worst line I’ve seen in a film this year. What does that even mean?

Why did Chuck say “My sister’s gone” - based on what we see in the film, the implication is that she actually survived? Unless there was a scene establishing her death definitively that was cut. This is what I mean when I say that the brutal to-the-bone editing to keep it PG-13 really makes the plot and continuity suffer.

Why would you throw away that perfectly good clipboard? Hospitals aren’t made of money, young man!

But maybe this hospital is, because they own a fucking gramophone?? And for the record, it has never been that easy to find any hospital records in the history of ever, so maybe this is a magic hospital, idk.

In terms of the actual scary stories come to life, the red room lady (see gif above) is really the only one that feels the same way the Stephen Gammell’s original artwork feels. All the other scary stories embodied in the film either rely too heavily on CGI to look convincingly real (Me Tie Dough-ty Walker) and therefore lose their dreadful creepiness or the character design, while scary, doesn’t really resemble the look or feel of the original illustration (Harold).

Speaking of Me Tie Dough-ty Walker, that part really rubbed me the wrong way. He moves super fast, and is so violently in your face - it doesn’t at all fit the tone of the books or the creeping dread of Gamell’s art. I understand you need to escalate the action as you’re heading into the climax of the film, but this move felt completely wrong to me, like it came from a totally different (and lesser) B-horror movie. He’s loud and gross and terrifying looking, like The Toxic Avenger doing parkour and shit, and that is not at all the vibe that any of these urban legends have.

Did I Cry? I teared up a teeny bit during Stella’s phone call with her dad. Dad-daughter stuff just gets me, ok?

It feels weird that they’re so clearly trying to set up a sequel, especially when the scariest story the movie tells is that Nixon wins the election and Ramon is drafted to go to Vietnam.

Overall, this could have been something pretty great. The acting and characterizations are solid, and there’s some rich thematic material to make this feel less like an anthology collection cash-grab. There’s even some pretty profound messages about trauma at the heart of Stella’s confrontation with Sarah Bellows - Stella understands that Sarah is only a monster because she is lashing out in pain, but she’s hurting innocent people. All Sarah wants is for her trauma to be heard, acknowledged, and remembered - all she wants is her story to be told. And while it doesn’t always reach its highest potential, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is still certainly a story worth listening to.

If you liked this review, please consider reblogging or subscribing to my Patreon! For as low as $1, you can access bonus content and movie reviews, or even request that I review any movie of your choice.

#119in2019 #scary stories to tell in the dark #ssttitd #scary stories to tell in the dark review #alvin schwartz #stephen gammell #zoe margaret colletti #michael garza #gabriel rush #austin zajur #dean norris #movie reviews #horror reviews #Film Review #Horror Movies

[heywaitiknowthatsong]

Technology Cannot Make a Platform, But It Does Help

The web literally exists to share content. The first web browser was also a web editor. And ever since then, programmers have been working on ways to make publishing easier and better. As such, there’s no shortage of existing technologies that a new platform can build off of.

A brief aside about the nature of technology and its place as a part of a whole

It’s easy to think that the right technology will change everything. That somehow, the right code will make all the problems with Old Blue go away and we will live happily ever after in our new paradise.

It’s easy to forget that Posterous existed around the time of Old Blue’s ascendency. It was blessed with better technology, including a dedicated URL shortener and the ability to post via email. Old Blue arguably had inferior technology. But it won. The right technology came together with the right design and the right people at the right time, and the lightning in a bottle struck.

It takes more than good technology to change things. It takes good design, good timing, and a good understanding of the problems being solved. But the right technology can enable change. And as we talk about the technologies that can enable a new platform, it’s important to remember this.

The Interface Is Hot

So, for this essay, let’s look at some interfaces. These are also called “protocols” or “standards.” The general idea here is a group of people have written down, in technical language, how a thing should be accomplished. The most obvious of these would be the HTTP standard that governs how web browsers and servers talk to each other.

We’re not talking about code yet, just the ways we can use it.

oEmbed

This is what turns https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ into the embed code that makes all your friends hate you. It involves a few steps:

Blog gets URL from user.

Blog looks up oEmbed endpoint for the URL, either

Matching the URL to a list of known endpoints, or

Looking for a particular link tag in the page’s head.

Blog hits the oEmbed endpoint and gets back the code required to embed the content from the URL into a page.

While this was likely originally intended for video websites, it has since grown to encompass all manner of sites, including Old Blue herself. The maintainers of the standard have a (non-comprehensive) list of sites using oEmbed on their website.

The takeaway: Reblogs worked on Old Blue because everything was still happening within the platform. Old Blue was able to enforce attribution and keep social information flowing back to the original poster of the content, no matter how far from the original it traveled. On the open internet, however, the distinction between “reblogging” and simple plagiarism can be hard to see. The ability to embed posts from other blogs, however, can re-create the idea of reblogging while maintaining attribution and social information.

RSS / JSON Feed

RSS has been used for nearly 20 years to allow other sites and programs to read updates from blogs and other regularly-updated websites. It’s evolved slowly, but its simplicity has allowed it to remain relevant even as most internet users don’t realize they’re using it.

Today, though Google Reader has shut down, RSS readers can still be found in services like Feedly and Feed Wrangler. It’s also used to populate stories in the Apple News app. Most prevalently, though, it’s used to deliver every podcast episode to their many listeners.

JSON Feed takes the same principle as RSS but uses the more JSON instead of XML as its primary syntax. This makes the format easier to understand at a glance, and it helps make the format more resilient in some edge cases.

The takeaway: Old Blue’s dashboard allowed you to follow other blogs on the platform. A decentralized platform would need a standard way to follow other blogs, and it already exists in this.

oAuth

This is the authentication flow that allows external, third-party apps to tie back into a platform. By now, it’s hard to exist on the internet without using this to connect one app or website to another. Whether it’s signing into a mobile game with Facebook, or connecting Old Blue to Twitter, everyone’s familiar with “An app would like permission to connect.”

The takeaway: No social network can exist in a vacuum, at least not anymore. Any new platform is going to need to exploit connections to other networks, even if only for cross-publishing posts.

Webmention

Webmention is a new standard that allows posts that are responses to others to link to each other automatically. It is patterned after the similar functionality found on social networks.

The takeaway: Once again, getting the same social information normally found on a monolithic platform would be key for making a decentralized platform feel like a “normal” social network. This is a relatively new standard, and care would have to be taken to make sure that spam and harassment wouldn’t overwhelm they system.

When a Plan Comes Together

None of these technologies alone will make a new platform successful. Even all of them together doesn’t guarantee success; in fact, if the different parts are not integrated well, the end result will be worse. Much worse.

Many of these technologies are in use by the IndieWeb, and all of them have open-source code that can be used by any platform. There is work being done to make these technologies more accessible and usable. And I am particularly impressed by the Micro.blog platform that has taken many of these technologies and others and made them into a plausible alternative to Twitter.

A new platform has to be aware of how these technologies interact. As I mentioned earlier, Old Blue won not on the strength of its technology but in how it used that technology to meet the goals of its users. Any potential replacement for Old Blue will need to take the same path: choosing the right technology and presenting it in the best way to allow people to understand it and use it effectively.

Design is a hard problem.

#from wordpress #analysis