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thedreadvampy · 3 years

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Ok like I'm sorry for all the Elias discourse but stepping off from OGlias for a moment I legit saw someone saying it was a mischaracterisation to assume Jonah Magnus was himself a rich white dude which

Let's leave aside for the moment that Jonah Magnus not being wealthy and privileged utterly sucks the meaning of of a lot of what the podcast has to say about class and exploration because hey, that's a matter of interpretation

What do we know about Jonah Magnus (from all statements mentioning his original incarnation)?

1816: Interacts as at least an equal with Albrecht von Closen, who has at least one family estate and an aristocratic pedigree and thus could be expected to be at least middle class if not wealthy. This is relevant because Georgian class was very stratified and cross-class mixing heavily discouraged, 1816 is probably fairly early in Magnus' career, and Albrecht doesn't address him as one would a social inferior.

1818: Established the Magnus Institute, apparently without external funding partners because he's the only one ever mentioned in connection with its organisation and his friends talk about it as his own project; it certainly isn't associated with an existing university or academy as far as we can tell.

1824: not a lot of additional information, except that again Magnus' friends are all moving in wealthy, upper class circles

1831: In a position to hire professionals for Millbank under good terms. We learn more about Albrecht, he's definitely painted as wealthy old money, which continues to speak to this association

1841: reasonably close friends with Sampson Kempthorne, workhouse designer, who expresses the expectation of Magnus agreeing with him about workhouses and the treatment of the poor through work. At this time, Magnus is living in an Edinburgh townhouse, by which I'm guessing we're talking about one of the New Town Georgian 4-floors-plus-servant's-quarters which that name implies. Those aren't mansions, but they weren't where a clerk or shopkeeper would live - they were built for ship owners, lawyers, doctors, the upper-middle and upper classes, and as the name townhouse implies they were generally occupied as one of several estates, with the usual occupants being likely to also have a country place.

Beyond specific statement letters, Magnus largely crops up via his association with his wee gang, all of whom are wealthy upper-middle or aristocracy (Smirke, Rayner, Lukas)

He has the resources and social clout to devote his time to pursuing what is, effectively, a hobby; his interest in the supernatural doesn't bring in much income and, conversely, often costs him to chase up. He doesn't appear to have a full-time job at any point; he works on Millbank with Smirke but he doesn't appear on the records, meaning this is unlikely to be a paid management role. His friends refer to his supernatural work as a hobby or interest, not a job, and make it clear that at least by the 1830s-40s this is his whole life (he's "rattling around with his books and letters") - ergo he does not have a need to support himself beyond that.

He had the resources and funds to, by himself and for his own purposes, not only shape the building of Millbank but also to set up an independent academic institution which is still running 200 years later

Like, is it explicit that he's a rich white man? Not per se. Would all of this information make sense if he wasn't? I suppose it's possible but it's a reach, and one that I'm not sure why you as a writer would make without making pretty clear. To be able to move comfortably in moneyed Georgian circles without being born to money, and to be able to do the things Magnus does without having substantial disposable income - that would be exceptional, and would surely merit some sort of comment.

(I've talked about the race politics of Georgian Britain as relates to Jonah Magnus before, but just to sum up: in a time before the abolition of the slave trade and during massive colonial expansion into Asia, being a British man of wealth and not being white was pretty unusual. We can see this in the description of Rayner; he's very specifically described as Black, but also his Blackness is notable to a contemporary narrator. so again, not impossible for Jonah to be a person of colour, but definitely unexpected and it would be an interesting choice to write that unremarked)

just by way of historical context, as I say, class was very structured and immobile in Georgian Britain for the most part. It was also, as I understand it, much more discrete. Whereas now, the lines between working class, middle class and upper class are pretty fuzzy, in the 1800s they were a lot more clear-cut - the working class worked for little money, had little to no education past basic literacy and numeracy, and the entire household would work; the newly developing middle class made a living through highly-skilled jobs (artists, doctors, lawyers, clerks, shopkeepers, factory owners, shop owners and pub landlords, for example) and would have enough disposable income to buy property; and the upper class/gentry may work (but only appropriate to their station; academia, law or the church, largely, and of course a lot of them in the 1810s made bank from Caribbean plantations and their imports) but substantially they lived off the profits of investments, ownership and estate management, built off heritable wealth.

There’s a big range of middle class though, although it was a small segment of society. At the bottom end, you have your grocers, pub landlords, shopkeepers, clerks and so on - they probably own their homes and business and have money to buy things outright rather than renting. At the top end, we have some really pretty substantial wealth - we’re talking multiple houses and estates, large-scale business concerns, tens of permanent staff, and only one person in the family needing to work. The difference between upper middle and aristocracy isn’t necessarily in quality of life, aside from blood it’s really just a question of whether the majority of your income comes from work or from investment and property management. So for example, Smirke is upper middle, but very wealthy - he has a career in a high-profile trade, he’s notable and welcome in high society, but ultimately his wealth is dependent on him continuing to get work. Von Closen may have more or less material wealth than Smirke, but his money is old money and he does not work; he’s very much a gentleman of the upper crust. Particularly with Industrial Revolution and the profit that the slave trade and the expansion of the Empire were bringing in for traders, the middle class was abruptly getting a lot richer in at the start of the 19th century and if anything class was getting a lot more discrete - urbanisation and industrialisation meant the poor were getting poorer (and less able to exist outside a monetary economy) and the working rich were getting a lot richer (until of course after a couple of hundred years the upper middle class almost eclipsed the idle class as the Rich and Powerful)

So the gentry/nobles/old money/upper class were the only class whose wealth wasn’t to a high degree reliant on them working, and so honestly being a Georgian gentleman was stultifyingly boring. That’s why so many comedies of manners crop up from the lower end of the upper class - you have to find something to keep you busy and social politicking is something. But it also meant a lot of gentlemen scholars - men with time on their hands and nothing they desperately needed to be doing, who got really into eccentric hobbies and niche interests (like social engineering, or art theory, or the occult, or unpicking weirdly specific theological concepts, or a bit earlier experimenting with light and lenses, or a bit later investigating the origins of species, or getting super into a specific aspect of the classics). The idle rich weren’t the only ones doing academia or research, but they had the time, money and resources to devote to really deep dives into things without much financial use.

So my personal take is that, given that by 1818 Jonah Magnus had the capital, the social heft and the time to found and run an independent academic institution focused on his relatively niche interests, and to do so with enough resourcing that it still runs 200 years later, the safest bet is that he was born a gentleman. At the very least, all the people he socialises with are securely upper-middle or gentry; he has a visible disdain for the poor; he owned substantial personal property by at least middle age (the Edinburgh townhouse); he had the social clout to get involved behind the scenes in a major social architecture project - it seems like the lowest this could possibly place him is mid-to-upper middle class at birth (he could have made that much money from working and lucky investments, but to get into a position where by middle age you can afford to become the Idle Rich, spending all your money and time on an obsessive personal interest, you would need to have started off with at least the capital and clout to get a high-level education and/or make significant business investments (say, buy a series of factories or build a shipping empire). You could make a case that he could work his way up from being born to a middling-middle-class family - maybe a country vicar or a shopkeeper - but friends can I show you some numbers I googled?

In the 1810s, being mid- or upper middle class (fourth or above) meant you were richer than 94.5% of the civilian population. Upper middle and above (like literally every person we know of who had social ties to Magnus except maybe the architects)? Literally top 1%. (well. 1.25%).

The middle class in Georgian Britain was the elite. They weren’t the elite of the elite, but they had money, land, property, staff, clout and privilege. You can’t project the class politics of 2021 onto 1818 (that is, in fact, why pure Marxism still requires an updated reading, bc in even the last 150 years the specific distribution and attributes of class and wealth has changed substantially (although the same people do stay at the top and bottom)).

I think our perceptions are altered by the worries and perspectives of popular contemporary authors. For example, Austen characters often bemoan their lack of wealth, and are firmly Middle Class, and compared to the upper middle and the gentry they are living frugally and on a budget, but with “cottages” that are often six- or seven bedroom houses with several parlours and one or two servants, plus a town house, and with only one breadwinner per family and enough invested wealth to live entirely off the interest (that’s what the incomes of these characters are), they are living in a degree of wealth that would be unthinkable to 95% of their contemporaries, and it would be fair to assess them as rich by modern standards.

You can argue that Jonah Magnus wasn’t aristocracy. You cannot argue realistically that he wasn’t rich. Not only does that make no thematic or character sense (again, that’s a matter of interpretation, but it seems to me to be Pretty Key to his character that he’s an examination of inborn privilege) but it also makes no contextual historical sense.

#pls pay attention to me i spent way too long on this #p r o c r a s t i n a t i n g #also. there is an argument that class mobility was increasing #but uhhhh that doesn't mean it was a plausible thing to jump from penury to princedom #example: in the 1810s my ancestor walked from Edinburgh to London to seek his fortune and escape starvation at home #his was a remarkable rags to riches story #but his 'riches' was a job as a low-level law clerk and an undergraduate degree from Cambridge #he owned a flat I think #but he wasn't out here with the personal wealth to set up an independent research foundation #(I don't remember which ancestor but I think great grandfather?)#anyway the point is this is a wild take #I could talk at length about how it ALSO makes no thematic sense but I feel like I've tapped that one enough lately #tma meta

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lucifer-is-a-bag-of-dicks · 2 years

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so I just learned that my great grandmother was an Aboriginal/Islander woman, like not white passing either, somebody in the family has discovered a photo of a woman who has been positively identified to be my grandfather's mother, and even in black and white she is very much very obviously very indigenous

my grandfather doesn't take after her at all, he's all Scottish like his father, and she either died before my mum and her siblings could meet her or when they were too young to remember

the reason that this is such a big deal to my family is that my grandfather had never mentioned it, and my grandmother would swear up down and sideways that her mother in law was not black if her ethnicity was ever brought up, which apparently it had been by I presume some other older members of the extended family who had met her before

my mum and her siblings never knew why there was a rumour that she was a black woman, any time they asked my grandmother she wouldn't shed any light on the situation, she would just continue to insist until she was blue in the face that she was absolutely NOT Aboriginal or Islander, and my grandfather would just say nothing on the matter at all

finally having evidence has kinda put a real spotlight on my grandma, now we know the reason she was so defensive was because she knew damn well that her mother in law was a black woman, and she chose to hide that from us, presumably out of shame if I had to guess

I don't know if any of my family has called her out on it yet or even shown her the photo, but I can't imagine anyone's particularly keen to be the one to do it, it would probably be a hell of a confrontation, I know my mum would kill me if I did it (I'm not very good at being diplomatic with this kind of thing and that side of the family is volatile)

I love my grandma, I have spent a lot of time with her growing up, she's always been wonderful to me, but like many grandparents I always knew she had the touch of old folk racism in her, she is an adamant defender of being able to use the N word however she likes despite all of our attempts to educate her

but I always sort of assumed that that was where it ended, that she wasn't really racist, she was just old fashioned, maybe assumed isn't the right word, hoped might be more accurate

so finding out that she kept a huge part of our family heritage a secret out of shame, a heritage that wasn't even hers, it's got us all a bit shaken, does my grandad feel ashamed? did she make him feel ashamed?

it sits in stark contrast to my dad's side of the family, who have bent over backwards to track our family tree and all know the exact name of my grandpa's one very distant aboriginal ancestor, he was a good few generations away but they're all proud to know his name, even if that's all they know

if we'd known about our great grandmother we could have learned a lot more about our family tree, gotten in touch with our indigenous heritage, we might have even known who our tribe was or what language they spoke

I would love to look into it now, but since I was never raised to feel like I belonged with that community, I wouldn't know where to start, I would feel out of place, I don't look indigenous at all, I don't feel indigenous at all, I don't feel like it's okay for me to claim my heritage since I was never raised in it and I don't even look like I belong there, I wonder if that would have been different if I had known from the start

I want to know more about my family history and culture, but I don't know how to do it without being disrespectful, without feeling like I'm pushing myself into somewhere I don't belong

I don't know if I will ever learn more about her side of the family, I don't know if my grandad will ever talk about her, and even if he wanted to my grandma probably wouldn't let him

it's disappointing to know that her racism was that deeply rooted, that it didn't just stop at the N word, it was probably naive to ever think it did

#lula's life #tw racism #not an angry rant this time I'm just sad

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heavensenthearty · 3 years

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Starting to realize why people claim Fire Lady Katara is racist, however their reason is flawed. They think that if Katara is Fire Lady, she has to renounce her Water Tribe heritage entirely, force to live in the Fire Nation only and never see her birth home again, and her kids will never learn of their Water Tribe heritage. Which...why would an Ambassidor do that and what makes people think Zuko would put that on her? And also, half that shit happened in canon after she married Aang, their kids are ignorant of a lot of their heritage and she was forced to stay in one place.

Am I crazy to see this?

I can guarantee you you're not crazy, A! 😉

Now, about the reason why people would think all of that... I don't know. Maybe it is their obsession with race and blood purity. Maybe it is xenophobia. Maybe it is that they have that much disdain for multicultural families 🤷🏽‍♀️

Nevertheless, whatever their reason is, it is very, very, very blinded to the realities of multicultural families.

Like mine! ☺️

My great-grandmother — the mother of my grandmother — came to Venezuela as a Spanish immigrant (yes, for anyone out there, Spanish) and she had children with a wealthy man here, my great-grandfather. Many years later, she became a gardener and agriculturist, and my mom told me she taught her, my aunts and uncles how to care and grow all plants native from her hometown back in Spain.

So much for immigrants forgetting their roots, huh? 🙄

That was my great-grandmother. My very grandfather — the husband of my grandmother — was born in Trinidad and Tobago, but his mother died giving birth to him, so my great-great-grandfather took custody of him and raised him... in Holland.

Yeah, my veeeeeeeeeeery white, veeeeeeeeeeery European great-great-grandfather had a daughter with a Trinidadian woman. She inherited a very dark skin-color, so did my grandfather.

Anyway, when my grandfather grew up, he studied abroad in many countries, including Trinidad and Tobago, before settling in Venezuela with my grandmother. He learned a language for every country he was in, 7 languages in total.

Seriously, people. Multicultural families, and their children, and the children of their children do just fine with the mix of races and countries.

Everyone in my family is perfectly aware of our European and Latin American heritage, we even remember our ancestors last names from before they had to change them for entering this country.

The only way that kind of dynamic could become a racist interpretation is if one of those heritages would be deliberately hidden or one took dominance over the other which is not what Zutara shippers — for the most part — do with the Fire Lady Katara trope, antis just jump to make conclusions of their own because they have no idea how these family dynamics work and they are not interested in learning because when people like me try to tell them, they tell us to shut up.

Sure, someone could write the trope in a harmful way, but antis can rest assured that those people have more in common with them than what they have with the rest of the Zutara fandom because they don't know, listen, or understand people from multiracial lineages.

It shows in the way they assume adult!Kataang was written just fine despite Bumi and Kya knowing little to nothing about Air Nomad culture. According to them, it is fine because it bored Bumi and Kya.

Dude, how fascinating do you think it is for me to learn about 1900 Holland?! I'll tell you: not much, but at least my parents take the bother to be honest with me!

Not to mention that argument completely ignores Bumi and Kya's feelings as well, since they very clearly resented Tenzin because Aang had only taken the bother to take him under his wing.

They think the way Katara was put in her marriage with Aang was okay because she stayed in the Southern Water Tribe "where she belongs", according to them. The impact and recognition she could have had on a world scale be damned!

Oh, and I hate to break it to them, but apparently The Southern Water Tribe wasn't anyone's priority for a loooooooooong time as these girls — whoever they are and however the heck do they fit in OG canon — stated:

They are supposedly Katara's childhood friends from the Southern Water Tribe. This comes from The Rift trilogy and they are furious at Katara for staying away from their Tribe way after the war ended in favor of helping her peace-loving boyfriend to end conflict all over the world.

Oh, I mean, I should make more emphasis as they did: all over the world but the Southern Water Tribe.

Now, leaving to the side whatever issues I may have with their characters' conceptions, they are there to call out (and tell the audience) Katara's abandonment of her home tribe due to her focus on Aang's own work. And, listen, nobody is blaming Aang for this, it is his work and maybe he just can't put the Southern Water Tribe as a priority right now — not all political decisions can be done based on personal feelings. But we are seeing whatever issues there could be with Zuko and Katara's fanon relationship already took place in Aang and Katara's canon relationship.

Perhaps we should be grateful for it, now fanon shippers know exactly what not to do when writing romances.

#zutara #anti kataang #pro zutara #tw discourse #angel answers 🤍

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shinobirain24 · 2 years

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Jaune for Battle of Remnant stuff?

RWBY Battle of Remnant: Jaune Arc Dialogues

Vs Ruby Rose

1) Ruby: Remember when we first met in Beacon?

Jaune: Yeah, there's like a lot of explosions when you sneeze at dust.

Ruby: Can we not bring that up?

2) Jaune: You remember my nephew, right?

Ruby: Adrian? Yeah, how is he?

Jaune: He has grown up into a great huntsman.

3) Ruby: Cinder is too dangerous to be let go.

Jaune: We can make her pay for everything.

Ruby: Together, she won't stand a chance.

4) Ruby: Anything about the mysterious world we traveled?

Jaune: One with a guy dressed in black and a woman in white with swords, and monsters being pixelated?

Ruby: Guess we were not dreaming after all.

5) Ruby: I'm sorry I couldn't save Pyrrha

Jaune: Cinder planned this, not you.

Ruby: Still, let me help you train.

Vs Weiss Schnee

1) Weiss: There are still a few sessions to be learned from, Jaune.

Jaune: I've improved so far, Weiss.

Weiss: In that case, let us see what you have.

2) Jaune: Remember when I asked you out.

Weiss: I turned you down for you to notice Pyrrha

Jaune: I regretted not seeing this sooner.

3) Weiss: What happened to Pyrrha wasn't your fault, Jaune.

Jaune: I hated myself for it looking back.

Weiss: In that case, do what you have to do to honor her.

Vs Blake Belladonna

1) Jaune: So you became High Leader of the White Fang?

Blake: Someone has to step into Sienna's place.

Jaune: That was seriously cool.

2) Jaune: So your dad was High Leader?

Blake: He left for good reason.

Jaune: At least he made the right choice to leave it to you.

3) Blake: Has Cardin been picking on you again?

Jaune: We parted ways on good terms.

Blake: It better be.

4) Jaune: You and Adam?

Blake: I have regrets meeting him.

Jaune: Well you were right to head to Beacon.

5) Blake: You're a fourth generation, right?

Jaune: Fifth, actually. My great-great grandfather fought in the Great War.

Blake: That's some info.

Vs Yang Xiao Long

1) Yang: You know, something messed up?

Jaune: What, Yang?

Yang: You ignoring Pyrrha's feelings.

2) Yang: You know, my parents met at Beacon.

Jaune: Forgot your mom is a bandit tribe leader.

Yang: She's dead to me long ago.

3) Jaune: Just looking at you reminds me of one of my sisters.

Yang: Really? Which one?

Jaune: Sapphron, I think.

Vs Lie Ren

1) Jaune: How did you learn how to fight and hunt?

Ren: Nora and I learned some techniques from our master.

Jaune: You had a master?

2) Ren: You can't win this, Jaune.

Jaune: Cinder has to pay and you know it, Ren.

Ren: It won't bring Pyrrha back.

3) Ren: My father taught me that taking action takes time also.

Jaune: I thought it means to make haste.

Ren: There is a difference.

4) Jaune: Getting all huggy with Nora, huh?

Ren: I don't know what you mean.

Jaune: Ren, you know you can't hide that.

Vs Nora Valkyrie

1) Nora: What up, fearless leader?!

Jaune: Don't hold back, let's practice.

Nora: Whatever you say!

2) Jaune: If I win, you have to taste my pancakes.

Nora: But I like Ren's better.

Jaune: Trust me, it's my sister's recipe.

3) Jaune: You remember my nephew, yes?

Nora: Yep, he was such a cute baby.

Jaune: Wait until he turned 17.

Vs Mercury Black

1) Jaune: The sight of you sickens me.

Mercury: Please, I always scare people.

Jaune: No today you're not.

2) Mercury: Jauney.

Jaune: Only Cardin gets to call me that and live.

Mercury: The guys' a bigger idiot than you.

3) Mercury: You and Pyrrha really have a death wish.

Jaune: Don't you ever say her name.

Mercury: Your loss, Blondie.

Vs Cinder Fall

1) Jaune: Cinder.

Cinder: The failing coward shows his face.

Jaune: I'm not that guy anymore.

2) Jaune: You'll pay for what happened to Pyrrha.

Cinder: You have a death wish.

Jaune: More like you do.

3) Cinder: I kill little boys like you.

Jaune: This one won't be next on your list.

Cinder: This is the end of your bloodline!

Vs Sun Wukong

1) Sun: Did Cinder became Salem's vessel?

Jaune: Yep, clearly Cinder hasn't read the final print.

Sun: Haha! Good one, Jaune.

2) Sun: How many ancestors fight in the wars?

Jaune: Four generations.

Sun: Cool!

3) Jaune: How come you never joined the White Fang?

Sun: From what I heard, they killed their own men.

Jaune: Yikes.

Vs Neptune Vasilias

1) Jaune: I didn't know you have a brother.

Neptune: Salem turned him against me.

Jaune: How many more turned on us?

2) Jaune: Heard your mom is a lawyer.

Neptune: Whatever you need, her files are open.

Jaune: Think you have one of Mercury?

3) Neptune: The ladies seemed to be out for ya.

Jaune: Jealous, Neptune?

Neptune: I'm surprised you changed a lot.

Vs Jupiter Vasilias

1) Jaune: Hold up, you're Neptune's brother?!

Jupiter: So you met my little bro?

Jaune: Thought the blue hair is hair dyed.

2) Jupiter: Your bloodline descends from warriors.

Jaune: I heard one of your ancestors killed my great-great grandfather, Mirak.

Jupiter: That's a first.

3) Jupiter: I know what is like to lose a loved one.

Jaune: Says the guy who helped Cinder destroyed Beacon.

Jupiter: Join the Black Vipers and you will take your vengeance.

4) Jaune: You betrayed your family.

Jupiter: Family always hold me back.

Jaune: That was your own fault, Jupiter.

#rwby #rwby fanfic #rwby battle of remnant #rwby jaune arc #rwby jaune #jaune arc

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the-bee-graveyard · 2 years

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Ok I get this is a very weird thing that be ruminating on, especially on Christmas Eve but whatever. As a white canadian with eastern european ancestry I get kind of sad sometimes that I've been separated from my families original culture. Like I get that the reason this happen was because of white supremacy and due to white privilege my ancestors could blend in as long as they lost their accents, languages and customs and it's nothing compared to the racism that POC face. But it makes me sad how much was lost to time for my family personally, my dad and I both only know one word of Polish because his dad didn't teach him and I'm assuming my great grandfather didn't teach my grandfather but I'm not sure. My great grandfather died when I was a baby. And yeah sure I could ask my grandfather but something has always stopped me. I don't know why. My dad has memories of his grandmother making him Polish dishes but he doesnt know how to make any of them because she never taught him. (This is probably due to the sexist nature of seeing cooking as "women's work" so both my grandpa and my dad weren't taught). All of my great grandparents were dead by the time I was born and my grandparents live in Ontario and I barely see them. But they don't make any Polish dishes or follow any Polish customs that I can remember. And again I never brought it up because I guess I was kind of afraid to. I have no idea why. And yeah sure google exists, I could always just do my own research but it always feels like I'm on the outside looking in and I don't know if that feeling will ever go away. And I get so jealous when I see Polish people on this app talking about being Polish I just get so jealous and sad. Maybe it's stupid, but idk I feel...disconnected I guess? I'm third gen which isn't that bad I guess. But I'm not Polish and I'll never be Polish.

I'm not even fully comfortable calling myself Quebecois because even though my mom is Quebecois, I dont speak fluent French (because I refused to learn it like an asshole) and I wasn't born in Quebec.

Idk where this is going I guess I just thinking.

I hope your christmas eve is going well if you celebrate.

Happy Christmas if you celebrate! I’m sorry I haven’t replied, I haven’t gotten the chance.

I can’t personally relate to the Polish part of this post, I’ve been very fortunate that even though my family left Poland a few generations ago (either my grandfather or great-grandfather) we are still very close to our Polish heritage. I can send you some recipes if you ever want some.

I can relate to this as a whole, because I’m not very in touch with my Italian heritage. When my Italian ancestors went to Germany they completely shred all of their Italian-ness to blend in more, so I only found out I was Italian a few years ago.

Hope if you’re celebrating you’re having a good Christmas Eve ❤️

#the 🧚fae🧚 tag

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blazingtheway · 3 years

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The Wolf and the Raven – Embry Solo

'My boy!' My Mom had almost squealed the morning after the open mic night and she planted two kisses on my cheeks, which I had to bend almost in half for. 'I haven’t heard you sing since your Nana was alive.' I'd just laughed and shook my head... but it was the happiest I had seen her in so long. #Sue had brought non-alcoholic champagne and the two of them watched the show until mom was too tired. She was never a big drinker; she was a glass of wine at celebrations type of woman. But I knew sitting with her best friend and pretending just for one night... It meant a lot to her.

But now, I walked up the last of the hill the small graveyard sat on, I never quite liked riding my bike all the way... my old lady was loud, and it always felt a little disrespectful. Even though I knew the Spirits of the dead didn't reside here, the ancestors walked the lands, with the ancestors that came before and the Great Wolf. But it was a small sign of respect I supposed... probably more for the people visiting loved ones, than for the souls of those who passed on.

I took a seat and crossed my legs in front of me. "I honestly have no idea why I'm here." I said with a laugh. The flowers sitting tidily in front of the headstones looked like they'd been placed there yesterday. "Normally..." I cleared my throat. "I'd go talk to my grandfather about this... but he's all the way in Neah Bay and I don't want to be that far away from Mom."

I reached for the inside pocket of my leather jacket and pulled out the flask. "I know you were always more of a lager man... but I'm expecting a major karmic kick in the arse, so I brought something a little stronger." I poured out one for Harry and took a swig myself. I laughed at the absurdity of what I was about to say.

"I kissed your daughter, Mr Clearwater." Saying it out loud was insane. I could almost hear #Harry laughing and wondering how I'd survived the attempt, never mind her kissing me back. My heart gave one of those out of time thumps, seeing her in her doorway, clearly in pain… and then… "I got a box to the jaw for it... But then..." I wasn't going to tell him the details. "The really, really strange thing is... I slept with her... like actually sleeping... not... um…" I cleared my throat and poured out another drink for #Harry and took one for me. Had I really just said that to her Dad? "She um..." I shook my head, my heart still skipped at the memory. "Put her head on my shoulder... and I could hear her heartbeat start to slow." I paused and remembered the sound, blowing out a long breath. "It was the best thing I ever heard... better than any song... any instrument. I'm not even sure why I'm telling you this... I think it's... What's really playing in my head over and over again; is.... that... I want to see her again... I mean obviously, I will she's my... our beta." I stopped again... was I just here to think out loud? "I mean I want to follow this new path with her... and I know, I mean I have no doubts that it’s right for me... But Leah. Leah is so much more... she's meant for so much more and..." I heaved another breath and swigged from the flask again.

I knew what I wanted to ask... but voicing it was hard, because what if hearing myself say the words gave me an answer I didn't want to hear. "Oh sorry... Always pour for your elders first, right?" I chuckled and did so.

"I don't want to pull her off a path she's meant for... What if I disrupt her fate...?” There was a loud rustling from the nearby tree line and a raven sat perched there. Just watching me. "Hello, Granddad." I smiled, remembering the moment my grandfather's coffin was lowered, in a cemetery not unlike this and perched in a nearby tree… a raven. A sign of the Spirit’s to the Makah just as the wolf was to the Quileute. The Raven swooped down and landed on Harry's headstone for a second and flew off towards the sun.

Leah was a daughter of the sun; that much had always been clear. "Okay... I can take a hint."

'I hope I'm not interrupting you three.' #Sue's voice came from a few yards away and I screwed on the cap and stuffed the flask into my jacket like a teenager caught misbehaving. #Sue tilted her head as I stood and laughed softly. 'I think we are long past that pretence Embry.' She teased. 'You're all grown up now. What brings you here today?'

"I… um… needed a Dad today. I guess." I smiled, glancing back at Harry’s name carved in stone. "Your kids were always generous enough to share theirs." #Sue smiled and shifted the fresh cut flowers in her arms.

'You are always welcome to any wisdom my silly, wise man could offer you. We all need a father at times... it doesn’t matter whose.'

"I'll leave you both alone." I patted down my jeans from sitting on the ground.

'Don't rush off on my behalf.' #Sue insisted. I kissed her on the cheek and smiled. "I got everything I need." And I had, as I walked away, I heard a rustle, and the raven was back in the same tree.

#Sue kneeled by her husband’s grave and began arranging flowers, pointedly ignoring the smell of whiskey. As I walked away, I heard #Sue whisper. 'Hello, Patrick. I'll send your best to your daughter.' Then... soundlessly, the bird was gone.

I shook my head and made my way back to my bike… Clearly, all the Clearwater women were touched by the Spirit’s.

#EmbryCall #Embry #BADBOYEMBRYCALL #LeahClearwater #Leah #HotHeadSheWolf #SpiritsHotHead #Twilight #TwilightRP #TwiRP #AUStories

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satsekhem · 6 years

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Akhu anon again here. I had another question: do you venerate or advise venerating ancestors that you don't personally know? For example, two of my grandparents died when I was very young and I only have one, fragmented memory of each. Part of me feels like if I were to honor them, it would be somewhat disrespectful to people who did know them very well (e.g., my parents and other grandparents). What do you think? Also sorry for all the questions 😅

Ask as many as you need.I do honor ancestors who I know very little or next to nothing about, or barely know. While my specific practice centers on the generations of my grandparents to today, I do occasionally pay homage to great-grandparents who died before I was born.As to whether or not it makes sense for you, or anyone else, the answer is going to be "it depends."It made sense to me to include older generations on my mother's side because my family was big on telling familial tales. I may not remember them all but it was important to my maternal grandfather to remember those things. He would grave tend all the relatives he could get to, as well, which is partially why I do that too. It's just another way for me to venerate him, and by extension, the rest of the family.I decided to include my paternal great and great-great step-grandparents in this because they're actually buried in the same cemetery as my paternal grandmother and step-grandfather. My paternal grandmother's family is in Wilkes-Barre which is a hike so to include older generations on that side wasn't necessarily feasible, so it was just easier to include the step great/great-great grandparents who are locals. The family also has some stories on them so again, made sense to me.But I also recognize that my mindset on akhu and ancestor veneration isn't necessarily going to work for anyone else. I had connections to these older generations through stories and family myths. If you dont have that connection, like me with my paternal grandmother's family, it can be more difficult to connect and add them to the fold. You can try but that doesn't mean it will be a good fit.So my advice is if you're interested in trying it out, give yourself a period of a few months while you try to add them in and see how it works. At the end of that time, you can feel like it worked out or not and decide what happens next.Good luck!

#asks #akhu #kemetic #ancestor veneration

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