#wintersrchild

[limelocked]

I feel like Tommy's character is so interesting when people stop buying into his narrative. cc!Tommy plays him very much according to protagonist conventions (which is a really clever move tbh, for various reasons), but dsmp being a roleplay story rather than a traditional narrative means the usual narrative conventions cc!Tommy is using don't actually apply to the dsmp world. This makes c!Tommy such a unique deconstruction of the whole protagonist archetype, in a bunch of ways.

*slaps my table real hard*

Y E S

tommy as the main character protagonist yada yada is tired as hell, tommy as honestly a selfcentered jerk who honestly believe that the world revolves around him and his One Best Friend fighting against the One Big Bad and that theres no world outside that narrative is just chefs kiss, we love it, extremely interesting and id honestly love to analyse tommy using this framework but ill be quite honest my dudes, im more scared of posting that then i am of posting dream positive posts in main tag

#c!tommy critical #again lovingly #tommy makes me want to watch love chunibyo and other delusions #wintersrchild

[ouyangzizhensdad]

RE: WWX and his arc being about trauma. I got into the fandom through CQL and the first time I saw it I actually read a lot of his actions post the burning of Lotus Cove as being influenced by his trauma. He's paranoid even before getting thrown into the burial mounds. He seems to be self medicating with alchohol (which WQ kinda calls him out on). He over-reacts to a lot things, which seems to me like a nasty case of emotional dysregulation as a result of PTSD. He avoids all kinds (1/3)

Of reminders of his tramua, his sword being the greatest example but there were other little things. He never gave much of a fuck about propriety but the way he completely igonres it (and the possible social fallout) later speaks to me less about not caring and more about not *having* the emotional capacity to care, much like what happens with depression. Plus, a lot of his behaviour can be read with various shades of being self destructive, and there are just in general a lot of points (2/3)

Where it's made clear that he's in a pretty bad headspace (him crying about being useless in the burial mounds for example), but none of that ever really gets dealt with so all of those issues are still hanging under the surface even if they're not apparent all the time. I mean, this is just my take, but at least imo WWX ticks a lot of the checkboxes for PTSD in the drama and it explains a lot about the way he acts and the bad decisions he makes. Hope this was helpful! (3/3)

I'm only referring to the drama btw, not the novel (which I haven't read yet). My memory is terrible so I'm not sure if I made it clear or not lol. Anyways, have a good day ^^

Hi there, 

I am always curious when people who have only engaged with CQL end up engaging with my novel-only meta blog but perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised: if CQL posts end up in the mdzs tag, why not the opposite? I’ve seen some of my novel meta reblogged and tagged with “the untamed” and “CQL” so maybe the answer is already out there, staring at me in the face! 

I’ll start by saying that I do not wish to really argue with people’s interpretations of CQL since I consider that MDZS and CQL are very different works because so many changes were made in the process of adapting the novel, and I personally have no interest in analysing CQL except wrt  how it can help us better understand the novel (seeing certain elements removed or changed may help us understand why they mattered in the first place or what their use was). So I will speak to the arguments that could be applied to the novel and why *I* don’t think WWX’s arc in the novel is about trauma, and why I don’t think that picking up certain behaviours that can be exhibited by people with PTSD (but not exclusively by people with PTSD) is enough in itself to support the idea that a character’s arc is about trauma/shaped by PTSD. That does not mean that my interpretation is the only acceptable one--I am aware that a lot of people disagree with me on this and see trauma as a central theme/central part of WWX’s arc--and so I expect that a lot of people will disagree with my points (hopefully after they’ve read this post in good faith). And that’s perfectly fine: how likely is it that we can find another person who will agree 100% with our own interpretation of a work of fiction? And having divergent opinions floating around the fandom, or having to develop counter-arguments is a good way to strengthen our own pov if we don’t find ourselves convinced by that other interpretation, so it’s all good. 

So first, I’ll address the biggest point of my argument before moving to address more specific points you raise in your ask. For me, WWX’s characterisation is not about trauma but about resilience. 

So first, let’s clarify some things. Going through adversity/experiencing a situation that is difficult =/= experiencing trauma. Trauma is a concept referring to a potential response to going through adversity/experiencing something distressing or disturbing. In short, trauma as it is conceptualised and understood is not universal: not only in the sense that is a spatiotemporally specific concept used to make certain experiences intelligible, but as the reaction to difficult events (as well, what is considered to be an experience that falls under that concept is not itself universal and can take many gorms, and the behaviours and thoughts associated with trauma are generally not exclusive to it, ie having certain behaviours/thought processes is not an automatic proof that someone is dealing with trauma/ptsd). So after all this word vomit I want to clarify that my intent is not to suggest that WWX doesn’t go through experiences that are likely to cause trauma, but that to me, what is being portrayed is a different reaction to these events: resilience (if a slightly more “fictional” portrayal of resilience than what it would be presented in psychology/psychiatry). 

Resilience refers to how people adapt or recover successfully from adversity/distressing situation/stress. That does not mean that people’s first reaction to adversity/distressing situations will be not defined by negative emotions, of course. For instance, I don’t think WWX’s heightened paranoia/emotional state directly after the fall of LP when he goes to look for JC is an indication of trauma because at this point WWX is still deep in the middle of that moment of adversity: he’s still a fugitive in the middle of a war, in the middle of danger. This also doesn’t mean that people cannot still have some temporary negative reactions to things that happened to them, afterwards: WWX having to pause when JC presents him with Suibian after he returns from Mass Grave Hill is not inherently an indication of trauma as it can be read that his sword a reminder of the difficult sacrifice he made--and the consequences he faced as a result (just because a situation was not traumatic doesn’t mean we enjoy revisiting it).

Why I think that WWX’s arc or characterisation is about resilience rather than trauma is because of many things, but mostly I want to point out two sections of the novel in particular. 

First, this characterisation of WWX through JYL that we get relatively early in the novel:

Most memories from back then were already blurred. Yet, Jin Ling’s mother, Jiang Yanli, remembered all of them, and even told him quite a few. She said that, after his father heard of the news that his parents both died in battle, he had always dedicated himself to finding the child that these past friends had left behind. After searching for a while, he finally found the child in Yiling. 

The first time they met, Wei Wuxian was kneeling on the ground, eating the fruit peels that somebody tossed on the ground. Yiling’s winter and spring were quite cold, yet the child only wore thin layers. His knees were already tattered, and on his feet were two different shoes that didn’t fit at all. As he was looking down, searching for fruit peels, Jiang Fengmian called him. He still remembered that there was a “Ying” in his name, so he lifted his head. Although his cheeks were both red and chapped from the cold, he still wore a smile. 

Jiang Yanli said that he was born with a smiling look. No matter what unfortunate thing happened, he wouldn’t cling on to them; no matter what situation he was in, he would be happy. Although it sounded a bit heartless, it really was not bad.

This refers to a time of his life that is extremely difficult: he lost both his parents suddenly, at a young age, became suddenly homeless with no means to feed himself except to beg, and yet the only trauma he seems to carry from this experience is related to dogs. To me, this is a clear move from MXTX to position WWX as the kind of protagonist who can face a storm and keep his smile on his face. I can imagine that some people take it perhaps as a subversion, as the text telling us that WWX is weathering it all with a smile but underneath it all he is just a bundle of unaddressed trauma. And that’s certainly a possible interpretation, but it’s not mine. In this case I think the text is being straightforward. What we see of WWX also seems to support that: the way WWX just rolls with being brought back from the death, how easily he finds a way to adapt to things, etc.

I also find it meaningful that the novel choses to include in its ultimate chapter this discussion as part of its wrap-up of WWX’s journey and of Wangxian’s relationship.

After they left the shop, Wei Wuxian still sat on Xiao Pingguo while Lan Wangji held the reins in front.Swaying left and right atop the donkey, Wei Wuxian took the flute from his waist and placed it by his lips. The limpid notes flew across the sky like birds. Lan Wangji halted and listened quietly.

It was the song he sang for Wei Wuxian when they were stuck in the Xuanwu cave. It was also the song that Wei Wuxian just so happened to have played at Dafan Mountain, the song that enabled Lan Wangji to confirm his identity.

When he finished, Wei Wuxian winked his left eye towards Lan Wangji.

“How was it? Beautiful, huh?”

Lan Wangji slowly nodded. “For once.”

Wei Wuxian knew that ‘for once’ referred to how his memory was good for once. He could not help but smile.

“Don’t always be so angry about it. It was my fault in the past, alright? Besides, my terrible memory should be accredited to my mom.” Wei Wuxian propped his arm on Xiao Pingguo’s head, spinning Chenqing in his hand. “My mom said you have to remember the things others do for you, not the things you do for others. Only when people don’t hold so much in their hearts would they finally feel free.”

This was one of the only things he remembered about his parents.

Of course, this is not a direct reference to resilience as it is explored in psychology. But to me it speaks to that idea: one of the biggest lesson WWX has kept with him, one of his only memory of--and thus legacy from--his parents, is this idea that we should not hold so much in our hearts. It also reframes his bad memory as being the result of a philosophy, of an approach to life that not just about being grateful/paying your debts to others, but also a form of resilience, in a sense. 

As well, I find that a lot of people who go with the trauma interpretation see WWX’s actions and thoughts processes dyring his YLLZ’s days as being the result of his ptsd, where I personally read it as the influence of modao. I am aware as well that some people do not think that modao actually harmed WWX during that period of his life, but I don’t think that LWJ would have been worried if there were not reasons to believe it would:

One against two, Lan Wangji still refused to back off. He gazed at Wei Wuxian, “Wei Ying, for cultivating an evil path you would eventually have to pay. Throughout time, there has not been a single exception.”

Wei Wuxian, “I can pay.”

Seeing how unconcerned he seemed to be, Lan Wangji lowered his voice, “The path would not only damage your body, but your heart as well (此道损身，更损心性。)”

So now, onto the specific points you raised in the ask.

Self-medicating with alcohol: WWX is shown to enjoy and drink large amounts of alcohol before the fall of LP and after most of the events of the novel have unfolded. In the novel, while WQ tries to make WWX stop drinking, it is as likely to believe that it is for his health (now that he doesn’t have a golden core) than it would be because she was worried he was self-medicating. As well, heavy drinking is a very normalized behaviour (although most physicians don’t think it’s a good thing) in a lot of cultures and times, and considering WWX’s higher tolerance and his general demeanor while imbricated, his drinking is not shown to have a negative effect on his ability to live his life. The line between “self-soothing” (normal aspect of being humans dealing with emotions and hardships) and “self-medicating” (pathological) is hard to trace with alcohol consumption. As well, just because people with PTSD may self-medicate with alchohol doesn’t mean all people who self-medicate with alcohol do it because of PTSD. 

He's paranoid even before getting thrown into the burial mounds. As I mentioned briefly before, WWX is at the time a fugitive in the middle of a war: he’s still in the middle of those stressful events and his paranoia is not necessarily a maladaptive response since they are still very much fugitives in the middle of a war. Trauma is not really your reaction during but in the aftermath. It would be more telling if WWX were still exhibiting signs of paranoia in situations where he would have no reasons to. 

He over-reacts to a lot things, which seems to me like a nasty case of emotional dysregulation as a result of PTSD. I’m not certain at which reactions you are referring to here, but especially considering that some of this might be chalked up to acting choices since this is based on CQL, I probably won’t address this one point too much in relation to the novel. I do want to emphasize though that we’ve seen prior to Sunshot campaign that WWX can be quite impulsive in certain situations (hitting JZX for insulting Shijie, which he does both before and after the events of the Sunshot Campaign). As well, I do think it’s important to remember that he is still in the middle of the war during the Sunshot campaign, and that he is also hiding something pretty important from the people close to him and living a sort of double life, on top of experiencing fatigue/hunger in a way he hasn’t for years due to the loss of his golden core. In short, there are a lot of things going on that can be used to explain what can be seen as “over-reactions” without necessarily going with PTSD.

avoids all kinds  reminders of his trauma, his sword being the greatest example but there were other little things. I’ve broached in my previous discussions, but it’s also pertinent to remember his mom’s philosophy: we can also see this as WWX trying to leave in the pass this difficult sacrifice he made in order to move forward. 

He never gave much of a fuck about propriety but the way he completely ignores it (and the possible social fallout) later speaks to me less about not caring and more about not *having* the emotional capacity to care, much like what happens with depression. I have to disagree with that interpretation of WWX and WWX’s actions, but again this might just be a case of CQL-only vs novel-only interpretations of the character. One thing WWX thinks about being reborn in a “lunatic’s” body is that he’ll get to have fun, the way he never could when his actions reflected on others. So while at times WWX flaunts propriety, he is aware of how his actions can impact others and show in different situations that he is aware of propriety. His choice to protect the Wen Remnants goes against that, for sure, but it isn’t necessarily a case of not understanding the possible social fallout so much as putting other things (ie his life-debt towards WN and WQ) before propriety, as we can see for example in this exchange.

Jiang Cheng, “I’m the one who fucking wants to give you a thrashing! Yes, they helped us before, but why in the world don’t you understand that right now any remnant of the Wen Sect is a target of criticism! No matter who they are, with a surname of Wen they have committed a most heinous crime! And those who protect the Wen are at risk of being condemned by everyone! All the people loathe the Wen-dogs so badly that the worse they die the better. Whoever protects them is against the entire world. Nobody would speak for them, and nobody would speak for you either!”

“I don’t need anyone to speak for me.”

[...]

Swords unsheathed, the two stared at each other for a while. Neither was willing to take a single step back. A while later, Jiang Cheng spoke, “Wei Wuxian, have you still not realized what the situation at hand is like? Do you really need me to say it out loud? If you insist on protecting them, then I won’t be able to protect you.”

“There’s no need to protect me. Just let go.”

Jiang Cheng’s face twisted.

Wei Wuxian, “Just let go. Tell the world that I defected. From now on, no matter what Wei Wuxian does, it’d have nothing to do with YunmengJiangShi.”

“… All for the Wen Sect…? Wei Wuxian, do you have a savior complex? Is it that you’ll die if you don’t stand up for someone and stir up some trouble?”

Wei Wuxian stayed quiet. A while later, he answered, “So that’s why we should cut ties right now, in case anything I do affects YunmengJiangShi in the future.”

a lot of his behaviour can be read with various shades of being self destructive Which ones, specifically? I’m not trying to be obtuse, but I’m not sure which ones you mean. 

he's in a pretty bad headspace (him crying about being useless in the burial mounds for example) It needs to be said that the crying is only in CQL (it was an acting choice by XZ). My memory is playing tricks on me, but I think pre-rebirth we only see him cry after he kills JZX and after JYL’s death? Someone please fact-check me on this. 

Since I don’t believe it was MXTX’s intent to make WWX’s characterisation and arc about trauma, I do feel like interpreting the different behaviours as signs of his PTSD might lead us to miss out on other potential interpretations or meanings behind these choices, if we put aside the PTSD angle. It may also lead us to deny the text the possibility to signify something different through these behaviours and signs, especially on a thematic level--to explore something about how events and emotions shape us in a manner that exists outside of modern psychiatric classification.

TLDR (because god this got long): My point is not that WWX is unaffected by the things that happened to him or the things he’s done during this portion of his life: of course he is! Especially as they are happening to him, or when he is still stuck in a very difficult situation. But I don’t think his character and his arc is about trauma but instead about resilience. That, at the end of MDZS, WWX is still the person JYL described: No matter what unfortunate thing happened, he wouldn’t cling on to them.

#wintersrchild #mdzs meta #mdzs #wwx #maybe i should tag this as unpopular opinion? just in case

[wangxianficrecs]

Do you know of any good fics where WWX teaches others demonic cultivation? Or even just ones where he has students of his own.

The storm comes and goes (and I keep walking) by Naamah_Beherit (my post here) in which wwx dips out of the Burial Mounds before he dies and takes A-Yuan with him.  He hooks up with Mo Xuanyu on the road and becomes their qainbei as well as their dad.

bloom into the ground by tattletold (my post here) has wwx teaching demonic cultivation kind of on the side as he spends a decade trying to revive lan wangji, who died instead of him in a role reversal fic.

Safe in the Arms of a Demon by Starlight1395 (my post here)  in which Jin Ling goes to attack the Burial Grounds to avenge his missing friend and discovers that it’s just a happy little sect.

There’s another where wwx teaches both Mo Xuanyu and Xue Yang -- as a rogue cultivator, I think -- but I can’t find it.

There are also a number of Yiling Wei Sect fics [including this one by @scifikimmi which frustratingly won’t appear in the tags] where they’re teaching a combination of Lan/Jiang/demonic ways, but the teaching is never a main focus.

Does anyone know of any others?  I feel like none of these focuses exclusively on wwx sharing the art of demonic cultivation, they just glance against it to varying degrees.

~*~ ETA ~*~

the magpie flies in open skies by LunaChi_KuroShihone, Poofy_Kakapo, says @airmidcelt, “The one where Mo Xuanyu finds himself married to Lan Wangji (and Wei Wuxian, what is his life even?!) in an arranged marriage of convenience and escapes Koi Tower politics and finds love on the way. There's mention of WWX teaching.” (I’m TOTALLY subscribed to this one!)

And @porcupine-girl says, “Death of a Ghost by Gotcocomilk has him teaching Mo Xuanyu. It’s definitely not the focus but it’s not just a passing mention either.” (my post here)

#wintersrchild #wangxian fic finder #wangxian #mdzs fic finder #demonic cultivation #demonic cultivator teacher wei wuxian

[elfpen]

I just read your post about that medieval eyesalve and it was super interesting! (I mean that whole reblog chain was cool, but your addition in praticular.) I wonder if by any chance you know some good books about the topic, or even just some interesting places to start with?

Of course! Do bear in mind that most of these books/articles are pretty academic-y, and you might not be able to read them for free unless you have access to a university library or a really eclectic public library:

Regarding Bald’s Leechbook, the eye salve, and Anglo-Saxon (or early medieval English, if you like) specifically:

Cameron, M.L. “Anglo-Saxon Medicine and Magic” in Anglo Saxon England 17, 191-215. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988.

Cameron, M.L. Anglo-Saxon Medicine. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,1993.

Harrison F, Roberts AE, Gabrilska R, Rumbaugh KP, Lee C, and Diggle SP. "A1,000-Year-Old Antimicrobial Remedy with AntistaphylococcalActivity." Mbio 6, no. 4 (2015): 01129. doi:10.1128/mBio.01129-15. [This one is available for free online]

Meaney, Audrey L. “Variant versions of Old English medical remedies.” Anglo Saxon England vol. 13, 235-268. Cambrdige: Cambrdige University Press, 1984.

Rubin, Stanley. Medieval English Medicine. New York: Harper & Row PublishersInc., 1974.

Talbot, C. H. Medicine in Medieval England. London: Oldbourne Book Co Ltd.,1967.

Van Arsdall, Anne. Medieval Herbal Remedies: The Old English Herbarium andAnglo-Saxon Medicine. New York: Routledge, 2002.Voigts, Linda E. “Anglo-Saxon Plant Remedies and the Anglo-Saxons.” Isis 70, no. 2(June 1979): 250-268

Regarding magic and medicine in medieval Europe:

Kieckhefer, Richard. Magic in the Middle Ages. Cambridge Medieval Textbooks.Cambridge England: Cambridge University Press, 1989.

Getz, Faye. Medicine in the English Middle Ages. Princeton: Princeton UniversityPress, 1998.

Ankarloo, Bengt, and Stuart Clark. The Middle Ages. Witchcraft and Magic inEurope. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002.

Of all of these, would particularly recommend Cameron’s ‘88 article, as it’s short and probably the most concise/groundbreaking commentary on the eyesalve, and also Kieckhefer. Kieckhefer is less concerned with medicine than magic, and does not focus his discussion to early England, but for an academic monograph, the book is very short and to my knowledge is still regarded as an essential primer for new history students of the topic. 

If history monographs aren’t really your thing, just google “Bald’s eyesalve” and you should come up with a bunch of shorter more editorial-style articles, some good, some bad. If memory serves I think NPR has something on it? Also, here is the AncientBiotics twitter page! It’s not all about Anglo-Saxon or even medieval stuff, but they post interesting stuff once in a while.

#anglo-saxon #medicine #magic #medieval europe #history #wintersrchild

[itsclydebitches]

Which idea did you like best from the volume? Not in the execution, but the potential of it.

Hmm... probably Penny’s return and her subsequent framing. Just because I was always poised for her to come back---robots don’t “die” in the same way a human or faunus would and therefore it never felt like a cop-out to me to resurrect her---and once she did her character was just chock full of potential. What precisely was Penny built for? How is she meant to save everyone? Will this cause any tension within the group considering they think of themselves as Salem’s would-be killers? What does it mean to give the Maiden powers to someone who will presumably never die of old age? Will anyone realize that Ironwood is modeling Ozpin by giving Mantle a guardian? How will Jaune react to Ruby getting her dead loved one back? How will this tie into Ruby’s own grief? Will Penny’s naturally (perhaps even “artificially”) optimistic nature be the thing that helps re-inspire hope in the group? Once she’s framed will they have to return that favor? How will this tie back into Yang’s framing at the tournament? Will that encourage her to befriend Penny? Remind her of how Ironwood stood by her side, thereby undermining her suspicions? Will anyone ever talk about the connection between an AI and their own robotic nature (Yang’s arm and half of Ironwood’s body)? What will the framing accomplish politically? Surely the concept of Penny as a real, autonomous person with rights ties into the continued racism against the faunus... 

Basically the second she came back on screen there was a whole MESS of questions that popped into my head. So many ways that Penny could forward things for the group and the story. And then that just... didn’t happen lol

#rwby #mymetas #wintersrchild

[tangledbea]

Heya! You seemed to know a lot about TTS. Do you by any chance know the production order for s3? I've been looking around but so far nothing.

I think the S3 production order is accurate to the airing order.

#Tangled #Tangled the Series #TTS #Season Three #Production Order #Answered #wintersrchild

[thestuckylibrary]

Do you have nay good fics where Bucky thinks Steve and/or the Avengers are his handlers?

try this blog search for handler \o

#mod julia #wintersrchild

[avannak]

One of the things I thought was really beautiful in httyd3 but haven't really seen people talking about was just how much Toothless adopted human traditions. It's a great counterpoint to Hiccup who basically found a way to be a human dragon (what with the flight suit, and burning sword and explosive smoke bombs...) idk why but I really enjoyed that part.

YO YO YO YO I TALKED ABOUT IT!!

In The Courtship and Right Here. The human influence over Toothless was key to him landing the Light Fury, especially in lieu of him being (very likely) separated from other Furies at a young age and not even recognizing his own species mating rituals.

He hugs, he walks on two legs, he understands human play and body-language as much as he understands dragon... and other dragon species at that. Not his own.

So yeah, Toothless has heavily adapted to his human environment and I’m here for it.

#HTTYD #HTTYD3 #Toothless #Night Furies #wintersrchild #Thank you for asking #im actually spending time answering things this morning #because its finally a day off

[yangingaround]

I saw your theory that Yang's fire might be magic a while back, and now that we know that magic is hereditery it seems even more likely.

yeah that was something that stood out to me in this recent episode, so i am hoping this is an intentional trail of clues leading to a resolution, as Yang is currently the only member of the present day cast with a parent who has magic (and specifically had magic before Yang was born)

-Mod S

#rwb/y6 #rwb/y spoilers #spoilers #wintersrchild

[captainofthetidesbreath]

Do you have an ao3 account?

I do have an ao3 account! I’m at TenTonParasol there. However, there isn’t much on it right now, especially not Overwatch.

I’m hoping to change that this year, though.

#wintersrchild

[zaraegis]

I've been looking for some decent King Dice fic for ages and then I stumbled onto your blog and found your come at the king au, which is simply amazing. Do you plan to write more about KD? It would be so wonderful~

aww thank you!! I’m happy you liked my lil’ fic!

I do have some ideas for some other fics in this verse, mainly a bit more around some more pre-Cuphead shenanigans in the Casino. And some post-Cuphead. 

I mean. These kids are strong yeah. But then again, King Dice never fights them directly does he? Maybe there’s a reason previous mercenary King Dice doesn’t just take out a machete (which he still carries to this day btw) and finish ‘em off.

It’s kind of strange for me, as I’m always for characters using lethal force. But Dice abstaining from it to become someone who doesn’t let his past define him is an interesting thing to write.

#I can talk all day about this dice #sorry for blabbin haha #also how will wheezy react to getting put out with one #thankfully stilleto free foot? #in this friendship au? #who knows #come at the king!au #wintersrchild

[daylighteclipsed]

The thing about Gunmar is that I get the feeling that humans, as they are currently, could take out any army of troll relatively easy? I mean the show itself already established a couple times that tech can take down trolls. From the UV lights (imagine people using the big industrial one during the night. Trolls wouldn't be able to get out at all!) To cars, to even that (rare) exploding rock, as grenades have the same effect and are pretty common. And any army has a way deadlier arsenal.

I don’t think the UV lights can kill them though? It hurts but they could fight through the pain to destroy the lights. But unless the exploding rocks are infused with deadly magic, yeah, grenades could blow them up…

The problem is most humans are totally in the dark about the supernatural. They can’t prep for war ahead of time if they don’t believe what they have to fight exists. And…you know, I bet there are changelings stationed undercover in the military and government. That could be good or bad, but right now it looks like most of them are against Jim and humanity, so…

#wintersrchild #right now? bad

[dreamsclock]

I noticed a while back that some of your tags are broken and I think I realized why. You start most of them with a "->" but tumblr url uses "-" sign to signify the empty space between words, so when I try to go through a tag the site reads them as " >" or ">" which counts as a different tag. All you would need to do in order to fix the problem is just remove the "-" from your tags and they should work as normal.

OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

the thought of having to go through and change all my tags ,,, agony ,,,

maybe i’ll do it but don’t hold out hope :’) i have no patience when it comes to doing stuff like that guys i am so sorry ,, i’ll start removing the - from my tags now but my earlier ones will be lost to the void </3

tysm for telling me !! this was helpful :]

#> my asks !! #> my faq !! #-> wintersrchild #&gt; my asks !!

[itsclydebitches]

Thank you for delving into the salt mines of rwby so we don't have to. I can now watch the latest volume with my brain turned off and enjoy the pretty animation and the fights and the cute little moments without my blood boiling over how stupid everything is.

Woo! Yes, just flip the switch in your brain to “OFF” and enjoy the pretty, pretty animation. 

Meanwhile, I’ll be laughing at the image of me pick-axing my way forever deeper into salt mines... 

#rwby #sweet messages #wintersrchild

[mikkeneko]

1) is there a story you’re holding off on writing for some reason?

A couple. The one that’s been on my mind lately has been the sequel to Rise From Ash that I always planned but never wrote. The main reason I’m holding off on it (well, aside from general laziness/have other things to write) is because it’s been like five years dude, I seriously doubt anyone would care any more.

#wintersrchild

[writingwithcolor]

Showing Culture: POC Representation Speed Round

Representing POC in Ancient Fantasy Scotland

@adoliin submitted:

hello there! i’m an artist currently working on writing a high fantasy comic. the story all takes place in a made up country heavily based off of ancient scotland (i’m scottish and white). i want to include plenty of poc in my comic, but religion and culture within this setting (which takes place entirely in one small country) is fairly homogenous -  not many people visit and the church is totalitarian, which is important to the plot. 

my initial plan was to create people who happen to be poc but otherwise don’t differ in their culture or religion from the white characters, but of course that are unique in other ways. but i have no idea if that’s a good idea or not -  i’m very aware that the culture and religion that are in the story are based on things practiced by ancient white people, and don’t want to whitewash characters in this way - if that is what i would be doing. 

should i definitely make room to represent other types of cultures and religion in the story, and not just skin tone? any advice is very appreciated.

Yes to your last question. The thing with POC in Europe is like, they gotta come from somewhere! Because of some form of migration, they ended up from the places they were originally from. So your world has to account for the existence of these other cultures. Even if the POC characters’ are multiple generations away from the initial diaspora, they’re still going to have remnants of that original culture embedded in their home life and customs. Since your main setting is already based on a real-life place, just code your POC with other real-life identities. 

Here’s a link on avoiding White As Default and incorporating markers of POC identity. Also see Emme’s response in the very last ask in this post. 

~ Mod Rina

Coding Effectively, “Indonesian Culture?”

@wintersrchild submitted:

Heya! In this fantasy story I’m writing I do a lot of detailed worldbuilding and history for several different cultures/countries over a long period of time (on the scale of centuries). Because I can’t really cover every aspect of life I want to base those countries on existing cultures (especially so I could use already existing languages for names), however I want my countries to still be their own independent thing affected by the events in my story not just irl culture+magic, kinda like how most fantasy is based on medieval europe without actually being europe. 

My question is how should I go about this without coming across as disrespectful? Since I am essentially using that culture only for inspiration/aesthetic and want to leave a large space for my own creativity, which feels like it could very easily come across as insulting if I’m not careful. If it matters any I plan on using Indonesian culture for basis and if that’s the wrong term it’s because I still need to do most of the research ^^“

Read more fantasy that codes multiple cultures effectively (I like Tamora Pierce, Nahoko Uehashi and N.K. Jemisin). Without further detail, we can’t provide advice. Don’t be afraid to do your research, do your coding and then come back to us for our opinions.

- Marika. 

Re: Indonesia, as far as I’m aware this is just a national border and says nothing about the religious and ethnic diversity within. I also prescribe research!

~Mod Rina

Showing Nationality Where There’s a Disconnect from All Nationalities?

@alduranattackdog​ submitted:

So, I’m writing a story with the main characters having come from a nation cut off from every other country, such as China and Mexico, meaning that race indicators for them are unconnected to any nation. Is there a way to say “This person looks Dominican”, for example, without using nations that doesnt stem around foods and colors?

I have already stated the dangers of equating coding to racial appearance by nation (Post here, scroll down to my commentary). However I think the bigger problem is I don’t understand what you are asking us. 

- Marika 

I’m confused. If you’re cut off from every other country to the point you’re completely disconnected, then why would you describe someone as a certain nationality? If I’ve never heard of China as a country, then I wouldn’t describe an Asian person as Chinese. In fact, I really wouldn’t describe people by their nationality at all.

- SK

Indicating POC Race in Urban Fantasy

@genotaurus said:

I'm fearing I might be oversimplifying things for me when trying to write PoC characters. I for example write a multi POV Urban Fantasy where there is a magical society still on earth with the same countries and everything, but with highly different view points on, for example, sexuality and gender. "Normal" humans exist, but don't do much. Now, the story takes mostly place in Germany and I have written two prominent black characters, one protagonist and love interest. But I don't really indicate race in my story. I'll describe the skin, hair and eye color of every character (+ details like scars if they have any), but not really much else. Am I creating some type of unnecessary out for myself by making their descriptions so simple?

I think that (even if your story’s world doesn’t contain elements of racism/xenophobia) the fact that POC tend to keep their native cultures even with assimilation, is a very normal thing among diaspora. It’s not something that people would have a problem with reading, and actually much more realistic than having 100% culturally-assimilated POC (especially in a West-European country like Germany). 

I celebrate American holidays and whatnot, living in the United States. At the same time, my family also speaks Chinese, celebrates Lunar New Year, and lives by Twn/Sgp-Buddhist principles. 

While people living in one country generally share many cultural elements, you should remember that (especially with POC in a West European country like Germany) diaspora from other places of the world retain a lot of their original cultures, even in assimilation (myself a prime example). I’ll link you to our tag on assimilation where you can look for OwnVoices feedback to asks pertaining to this.

In fact, there are really simple ways that you can represent us beyond physical appearance! It doesn’t take a lot of work to do as these are really just small, everyday things.

Foods that they eat at home, restaurants that they frequent

Holidays and cultural occasions that they celebrate

Music that they listen to, instruments that they play

Language: name, culturally-specific phrases/vernacular English, other languages that they’re fluent in, name honorifics (which can also be used to indicate relationships between people!)

So many more: religion, principles, parenting styles...

I also encourage you to read the coding tag on our blog-- we have plenty of asks about coding tastefully if you’d check that out. :)

Although choosing not to write about POC cultures is something you can get away with your world still being called (ethnically) diverse, there’s also that facet of cultural erasure with not allowing us to celebrate the elements that make up our (socially-constructed) races. It takes a long time and some very specific situations in which POC retain their ethnicity/typical physical traits of their people, while being 100% integrated into a completely different society.

If you’re still on-the-edge about writing this, I urge you to check out our post on braving diversity from a while back. I think that a lot of your oversimplification of things stems from fear of misrepresenting us; However, with the right effort and work put into research, I think that including the little everyday things that POC do, can truly let you write something different, grow as a writer, and allow others to feel represented in fiction. :)

~ Mod Emme

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