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admirableadmiranda · 2 years

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hello, i was on the bird app and i saw a thread regarding how mxtx wrote MDZS as a fanfic for OCs she wrote as a teen. i guess i was curious if this is true since MDZS isn't seen as a well researched or intentionally written masterpiece. i find that the fandom tends to really focus on interpreting intention into her writing when she simply maybe wanted to write her OTP as they are

Oh anon. You have run into the conclusion of the idiot brigade on the bird app. I was there in real time watching my friends who have twitter accounts arguing with this nonsense and I can spell out just how nonsense it is and how they know it's nonsense.

But first, Modaozushi is not a fanfic. It is an intentionally written novel, written to deconstruct common xianxia/danmei fan tropes and it is incredible at it. Something that becomes more and more apparent the more of them I read. She may have not intentionally written it to be a masterpiece, but she absolutely knew what she was writing. Also the "well researched" is nonsense because it's not meant to be set in any one particular historical time, it's like if we were to call all fantasy novels poorly researched because they mix up 8th century squabbles with 15th century armor. When you are writing fantasy, you are allowed to mix as many bits and pieces as you want together when creating your own world and Modaozushi is certainly a created world.

I have heard, though I cannot verify, that she created Xiao Xingchen and Xue Yang earlier in her life, but the fact that she did this does not make Modaozushi a fanfic for them. For one thing, they're only in the book for a maximum of ten chapters. Two, regardless of how they were originally created, they slot in seamlessly into the world which is much, much bigger than the two of them. Also it is no longer about them. At most it would be a sequel to some of her more youthful writing that is about a much larger story that was happening around them. That does not a fanfic make, especially when everything in Modaozushi is either common xianxia/danmei conventions or her own original creations.

Now that I've made that part clear, let me tell you why this thread came into existence. Because it is entirely the made up nonsense of butthurt JC stans on twitter.

I am fortunate enough to be friends with the delightful @jiangwanyinscatmom who wrote a fantastic meta on the Ancestral Hall scene and why not only were Wangxian not being disrespectful there, but by the very resources and arguments JC stans were making as well as cultural context, Jiang Cheng was the one being disrespectful and that's part of why everything went down as it did and it is meant to show how terribly Jiang Cheng is behaving.

Some very butthurt BNFs who make money off of drawing MDZS art decided to first lie about this meta because it directly shows their trash fave as he is and makes it harder to lie about how he's the only betrayed one in the book and everyone, especially Wangxian, is just out to get him. They were very upset that the book itself did not conform to their wild nonsense.

This did not go over well. After several fights and a bunch of blocking, they made up this thread when called out on lying about and dismissing MXTX's work in favor of their own headcanons and decided to invent a rumor that MDZS was just a fanfic that she wrote of "some characters she made in high school" to try and minimize the legitimacy of what others were saying about their attitude.

There are a few problems with this argument. One is that they know it's bullshit, they made it up because they were mad. Two is the point that I outlined above about how it does not meet the definitions needed to be fanfic. Three is that they think calling it fanfic demeans it while they make money off of drawing fanart of her work so they are being stupid and hypocritical there.

The last one is also that it shows how little they actually know of the world that MXTX lives in. MDZS is not her first published work even, it is her second. Scum Villain's Self Saving System had already put her on the map before she even wrote Modaozushi. She knew exactly what she was doing, she was setting out to lampoon common tropes of the genres she read, SVSSS is absolutely hysterical when you know more about the stallion novels she is cheerfully mocking, and MDZS is an absolutely brilliant takedown of many common xianxia/danmei tropes especially with the presentation of the lead and how modao/guidao itself is used almost as a trap to make people think that they'll be reading about the slow blackening and corruption of the protagonist as is common, only to find out that he is the one who is right, guidao was never harmful to him and what really brought him down was the classist cultivation world turning on him for being brilliant and of low rank. Wei Wuxian is a servant who is the son of a servant and a disciple of an immortal and that combined with his brilliance and unwillingness to be pushed down to be silent was enough for the cultivation world to bury him for it.

This is not something you write on accident. This is not something that you do when just playing around and doing some silly stories on the side. MXTX knew exactly what she was doing in MDZS and she executed it perfectly.

So no, it is not true, anon. It is not at all what they said. I do think there is an extent that people read way too much into her works when she just wanted to write things about the leads she developed, (don't get me started on the current crop of WWX would actually hate it in CR and he just wants to leave the world and go settle on a farm, he is not XL and CR is not the heavens and just because her extras are about Wangxian being deliriously happy in marriage does not mean that he's actually quietly suffering and being a miserable damsel in distress waiting for LWJ to see the light and rescue him) , but this is not it.

This is a bunch of butthurt, whiny JC stans who make money off of drawing art of him being mad that they don't get to control the fandom and that there are people who will call them out on their shit, continuing to lie and diminish the very work their reskinned oc fave came from. There is no truth in MDZS being fanfic. They know it's not true.

They're just mad they don't get to run the fandom anymore because there are too many of us who actually read the book.

Thanks for the ask, hope this cleared some stuff up!

#mdzs #jiang cheng #canon jiang cheng #mxtx #mdzs fandom #mdzs fandom: why do you consistently disappoint me #salty on a saturday #seriously the stans knew exactly what they were doing and made it up because they were butthurt #unfortunately for them it's easy to refute because mxtx also knew exactly what she was doing #rapidly apparently becoming a fandom old now because I know all this shit that's happened and can go:#no that's nonsense and people trying to rewrite history again #I was there; Gandalf #I was there when the JC fanbase got mad that every single one of the official MDZS works made JC the trash raccoon that he is #and decided to lie about it yet again

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walks-the-ages · 1 year

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Got an anon trying to defend the Avatar 2 movie once again lol, only this time trying to do it from a "holier than thou" stance of ""you don't actually care about people with Epilepsy!"" To cover the fact that they're defending shitty racist garbage that gives people seizures. 🤷

I mean. I literally follow Multiple people on here who can't drive now because seeing Avatar 2 gave them their first seizure in awhilr and had their driving license revoked. 🤷 And I literally had a coworker at my last job have epilepsy and have multiple seizures while on the job, ( but you know. Failed to inform any of her coworkers including that she was epileptic and had abscence seizures regularly despite knowing shes had them at work before up until I was literally about to call an ambulance when she out of the blue stood frozen at the register making repetitive noises and not responding and then acted like it was no big deal to inform me AFTER the fact.

Like. Please. If you are epileptic let your coworkers know and tell them how to behave if it happens when they're around, especially if you have the tonic clonic ones (my worker didn't have them thankfully) because people are uneducated

and fucking stupid from movies and books perpetuating old myths and I don't think you want to wake up from a seizure to find you have a broken jaw from someone shoving their hand in your mouth to stop you from "swallowing your tongue" )

Anyway, the cowardly anon had been blocked now lmao. Here's their Hot Take™:

" Don;t go on about how the mo0vie was bad for people with Epilepsy, only 3% of people with Epilepsy are phtosensitive and its annoyances like who who spread misinformation aboptu how flashing lights are the Epileptics community's biggest fear. The most common Epilepsy trigger is stress and dehydration/overheating but you don't see anyone giving a shit about our mental health or temperature. people like you just like to pretend that you care without actually doing any research."

1) this person is soooooo desperate to defend Racist Movie 2 electric Boogaloo they're going to pretend people talking about the inrony of it including an epileptic character while having seizure-inducing flashing lights for the aesthetic means I "don't actually care about epileptic people". Uhuh, sure.

2) I guess it you're the one of the millions of " 3% of people " with photosensitive epilepsy who has been impacted by the recent trend of big box office movies flagrantly endangering people for the sake of aesthetics when flashing lights are the trigger people are most publicly aware of but STILL choose to use despite knowing full well it's harmful, according to this anon you don't matter!

Apparently no one should EVER talk about the real world harm of having painful flashing lights in movies for the sake of aesthetic when people are aware they're dangerous and taking them out of the movie does it zero harm.

And that's JUST for people with photosensitive epilepsy, what about people with migraines and other photosesitivity disorders?

I literally can't watch the original Alien without closing my eyes or looking away from the screen for minutes at a time because there's so many scenes where it's just minutes of flashing black and white strobe lights. Let alone Avatar 2 in a theater where you can't as easily look away and the screen is so bright you can still see the lights behind your closed eyes lmao.

3) " I don't see ~anyone~ caring about epileptic people's mental health or well being or temperature" okay well, here's the solution: follow more activists then, instead of harassing random Tumblr users who are criticizing your favorite racist movie.

I am not the 'be all end all' of epilepsy rights because I made posts immediately after watching the movie over a month ago, pointing out how shitty it is that James Cameron went out of his way to include flashing lights that are known to cause seizures (and migraines and headaches) despite apparently caring about epileptic people enough to include an epileptic character in his movie-- when NOT including flashing lights would be step one to actually caring about people with Epilepsy.

Just because "only 3% of people are photosensitive"

Doesn't mean that you can say "giving 3% of millions of people who will watch my movie migraines and potential seizures is acceptable for my aesthetics" , especially when you can literally find first hand accounts everywhere online from people who were personally given seizures or migraines from watching this shitty three hour racist movie.

Anyways, stop trying to defend the shitty racist movie to me, and stop trying to pick petty fights in the guise of "activism", if you don't care about the millions of people with photosensitive epilepsy harmed by flashing lights, cool, have fun with that, but I'm not going to throw people under the bus because they're 3% of the population, considering I'm part of a 1% part of the population that's aromantic and asexual lmao.

Using small percentage numbers to make a population of vulnerable people seem insignificant falls apart when you consider that the world's population is currently at 10 digits and counting.

#walks talks #walks replies #anon ask #epilepsy #avatar 2 #avatar the way of water #ableism #anon hate #hilarious anon hate actually

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random-thought-depository · 5 months

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Any thoughts on how common sapient life is in your galaxy?

Real world Estimates vary alot , but the 36 estimate that floats around has logged into my brain, 36 civilizations capable of contact within the milky way. It is such a weirdly precise number, and from a world building/lore perspective It is plenty without being insanely large, I feel like a long running star-Treck eseque space opera could get by with only 36 species, especially with on-top of that inter species cultural differences and sapient soft ware /droids and uplifted animals, or even one “species” being multiple closely related sapient species forming one civilization with a shared planetary origin, not trying to pressure you to make 36 species, quality over quantity, and you do whatever you feel like,

Another problem I have with space epics is the why are there so many people in space question, the demographic transition apparently reversing in the far future just so the giant interplanetary setting is sufficiently populated with humans, I’m not sure If you implied if your civilizations have contacted each other yet or not but I don’t have answers to that more satisfying then “ in the far future only the crazy people that wanted a ton of kids passed down there genes” or “companies and governments mass produced lab grown humans so they could get more taxes/ sell more products”

If there were only 36 contact-capable (presumably: radio and/or interstellar travel capable) civilizations in our galaxy, our galaxy would be a very lonely place! Our galaxy has an estimated 2-400 billion stars, divide that by 36 and each of these civilizations would have a volume containing about 5-10 billion stars to itself. It would mean the nearest contact-capable civilization would probably be more than 5000 light years away, as 5000 light years is about 1% of the galaxy's disk. This would be an assumption well-suited to creating a setting similar to that of the Dune or Foundation novels, where it's thousands of years in the future and humans have settled thousands or even millions of worlds but we still haven't encountered any intelligent aliens.

Now, to try to answer your question...

If you're asking about the scale of "known space" in my setting, I'm not sure exactly how many inhabited worlds human space has, but it's probably in the range of 40-50 (more if you count every world that just has some research outposts and/or mining colonies on it). As for number of divergent humans like bearfolk, bonobo-like humans, those desert-adapted hominids in the Delta Pavonis system, etc., I'm thinking there's maybe ten or so species or races or whatever you want to call them like that (they're still closely related enough to be able to make babies with us and each other, so arguably technically they're still all the same species). I'm undecided about whether this volume of space will contain any actual intelligent alien species or whether there will just be different branches of humanity. It's a bit hard to answer this question because the number of worlds and the number of species/races/whatever you want to call them goes up as I make up new ones and I don't want to constrain myself with any firm "final count," at least not yet.

Of course, human space is only maybe around 30-40 light years roughly centered on Epsilon Indi with maybe a few inhabited planets a bit farther out, so it's a very tiny part of the galaxy. If you're asking how many intelligent species there are in the whole galaxy...

Tentatively, my setting has 11 Gaian class worlds (worlds with plants, animals, liquid water, significant atmospheric oxygen, etc.) within 20 light years of Sol (including Earth and the two Gaian class planets in the Alpha Centauri system), and 20 Gaian class worlds within 30 light years of Sol. I think this works out to about one Gaian class world per 15 stars (I went with a very optimistic estimate for how common they are cause I wanted a good number around nearby stars). Extrapolate this to our entire galaxy, and our entire galaxy might have about 13 billion Gaian class worlds. I think it would be lower though, cause this is extrapolating from a sample in the galactic habitable zone; Gaian worlds are probably less common in the less metal-rich outer parts of the galaxy and much less common in the Population II star regions of the galactic core, halo, globular clusters, and thick disk. Let's say maybe 5-7 billion Gaian class worlds in the galaxy (similar to my estimate here).

Next question is how common sapient species are...

This is actually a bit hard to answer, cause I'm still undecided about whether human space in my setting will include any well-known intelligent alien species or whether basically everyone there will be some variety of human with intelligent nonhumans only being known from ruins and other signs of activity in the distant past, radio "leakage" from civilizations too distant to be directly contacted in the near future, and X-Files-ish bump-in-the-night encounters in deep space.

If intelligent aliens evolved independently on one or more planets within 30-50 light years of Sol, that would suggest intelligent species are very common on the galactic scale.

If I go with the "known space is basically just humans" option I might give an estimate like no planets currently inhabited by intelligent aliens within 100 light years of Sol. That would give an upper bound; there are an estimated 15,000 or so stars within 100 light years, so if our part of the galaxy is typical this suggests a maximum of about 10-20 million intelligent species in our galaxy (and the "real" number is probably substantially less).

I think this gives a good sense of how big our galaxy really is; it might be quite empty even if it has millions of intelligent species!

As for impetus to expansion, my setting actually kind of avoids that problem! Most interstellar colonization happened in a single wave a few thousand years ago, and the actual number of colonists involved in this migration wave was small, possibly less than a million total (a few thousand to tens of thousands per colonized world). The planets were mostly populated by natural population growth after the establishment of a small initial colony, and in most cases most of this population growth happened in a low-tech dark age because it turned out establishing a self-sustaining industrial society with a few space arks worth of starting resources was harder than the mission planners thought it'd be. There are more recently established colonies, e.g. the Earth human colony on Mars, but they have quite small population; I think the Martian human population might be something like a few hundred thousand people.

Thank you for your interest!

#my main SF setting

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pokeinalover · 2 years

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So thanks to a video theory i finally have the final piece of my Stardew valley theory

Thank you Mossy

https://youtu.be/9JM9CmNFxSw

(that the video)

So if we see this video it speaks about how M.Jasper and Mona might be the same person, a close friend that traveled around the world with Linus and the wizard

Thanks to this i know I'm not crazy to think that

Mona/M.Jasper, Linus, Rasmodius, possibly the witch, Marlon and our grandpa were a group of adventurers that may or may not been trained by Gil because Gil looks like he's even older than them so..

Why do i think all these people were involved?

If you watch the video (go watch it, i don't wanna step on anyone's work) you have Mona, Linus and Ras figured out. Ras' ex is nothing but an idea and it could have happened or not depending on when they were together, Marlon is an adventurer who seems to be more integrated with the community but still has a lot of common points with Linus and Ras and seems to know the mines as well as Linus does. That and they're in the same age range. Either they were in the same group or at least they knew each other

But why grandpa? Well

We know that our farm is protected from monsters by a magic field that apparently was made by Ras' ex and can be deactivated in her house. In other words

Ras and the witch knew grandpa well enough to do such a big favor to keep the farm safe for his future grandkids

Not only that but if Ras' ex and the witch from the cutscenes where we get a void egg are the same person that means she even gave us a void egg. And i think that's an important thing because we need void mayo to enter her house, she basically gave us the keys.

We could also include Gunther and Willy, who don't seem to be so old but because of their knowledge of the secrets of the valley and overall positive attitude towards the player, who just got here, suggest that they did know this group and got along with them

In other words, there was a whole freaking group of people researching and protecting the secrets of the valley

A group that probably drifted away after Mona's death

And it is now our responsibility, as the only grandkid that any of them seem to have, to protect those secrets from Joja and capitalism

Or, well, that's what I think anyway.

#stardew valley marlon #stardew #stardew valley #stardew valley theory #stardew valley linus #stardew valley rasmodius #stardew valley willy #stardew valley Gunther #stardew valley grandpa

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d-lissa · 11 months

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Liveblogging TMA - Season 1 - MAG 28-31

"Still, where do I know the name Sarah Baldwin from?"

SKINTIGHT :

... Oh great. More skin.

Awesome.

Here's to hoping it is trypophobia friendly, compared to the others.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

... Oh. Not the type of skin problems I was thinking of.

To answer one Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute on his query :

"However, Sasha did some digging into the police reports of the time and it turns out that between 2005 and 2010, when Mr. Watts’ encounter supposedly took place, there were six disappearances in and around the Old Fishmarket Close: Jessica McEwen in November 2005, Sarah Baldwin in August 2006, Daniel Rawlings in December of the same year, then Ashley Dobson and Megan Shaw in May and June of 2008"

"Anglerfish", The Magnus Archive.

I have received several things that I have wanted to get since the beginning of the story.

First, a callback to "Anglerfish". Almost everything else has had connections to The Mystery, except for this one, and I had to wonder if it was linked in any way. I am glad to know that the anglerfish horror is still very much around and kicking, apparently.

And so are its victims, considering that this all happened 9 years after her disappearance. Now, more than ever, I am curious as to what this oddity is looking for. It seems like the hospital genuinely was haunted, and that Sarah, as a ... Minion (?) working for the Anglerfish, wasn't supposed to be there, or to come near another oddity maybe ?

Still, what was she doing ? What was her, and so the Anglerfish's, goal doing this ?

The second thing I have wanted, and have thus received, since we learned of the reputation of the Institute was to see a "professional paranormal investigator" interact with them. I liked Melanie, I hope to see her again in the future.

We learned more about how the world sees the institute, and I, for one, am satisfied to see that I was right about the reasons. Indeed, it IS because they take in anyone of the moment they have a story to tell and research it, from the actual supernatural phenomenon, to the drunk antics, I presume.

Something that is to keep in mind, after all, is that for every statement recorded on tape, Jonathan is probably archiving ten more that can safely fit into the computer without any weird interference. Meaning, the ones that are absolute bullshit.

Oh, so much time must be wasted on those files, of course they got a bad reputation. Not only they accept everything and investigate, but even when there IS something, they don't even do anything about it ! They're just ... Researchers. They observe and record, but do they do anything ?

Just. What is this institute for ?

And why the hell is Jonathan working there ?!

CHEATING DEATH :

"“You said that if I won, then I’d live!” The monk shook his head. “No, I didn’t.”"

Oh, this was positively beautiful.

I guess that my theory about Death and The Spider has been made incorrect ? I can't even be mad about it, this is my favourite personification of Death ever created, this podcast is an absolute gem.

I guess that it is time to lay The Spider theory to rest. It was probably just another, more common oddity.

Elias went from a filling clerk to the Head of the Magnus Institute ? Talk about a promotion.

Somehow, I don't think that every Deaths ever created ended up living forever. Or if they did, then this is probably the cruelest curse presented thus far. But going with the idea that it isn't the case, I wonder why this man was.

Personally, I wouldn't even try to gamble. Nasty business, this one.

Obviously, since he is immortal, he will come up again, right ? At least I hope so.

I wondered why the token scattered to ashes when Jonathan touched it. Was it because of how old it was, or was it more foreshadowing ? The way it was said made it sound very ominous.

I love ominous.

Up there episode, top 3 easily, and the narration was just entralling. Every episode, I fall deeper and deeper in love with the Archivist's voice.

KILLING FLOOR :

... Somehow, this was the most disturbing of the the bunch.

Everything, from the choice of words, to the delivery, to the affirmations that "no, really, i'm not a killer ... I think", all of that made me uncomfortable in a way I wasn't expecting to be by this episode.

Considering that this is already the second time something partaining to meat had happened, and that both cases were rather sickening, I have to wonder if anyone in the writing room was vegetarian.

More liminal spaces. I have to assume that we know have found where the man from "The Man Upstairs" was getting his meat.

Thus far, we have seen many liminal spaces and several oddities who's presence reminded me of some of them. I thought that they were separate, but maybe those spaces are the place where those oddities reside ?

I mean, even evil and all powerful beings made of energy and the faith and fear of humanity deserves a place to rest, right ?

Gotta have some room to store all those sacrifices and victims, after all.

FIRST HUNT :

"Are we being hunted? "

Actually, mate, I think you're being besieged, but that's just semantics.

And so we have met the TMA version of a wereworlf ! I think Jonathan should've looked into it, if only just in case those oddities in particular were to decide to take a little trip to England, but well. Who am I to tell him what to do ?

Plus, the poor dear is clearly exhausted. This whole situation has been weighing on him more and more, and pribably on his coworkers as well, though we still haven't met Tim yet. I don't know him, but he somehow sounds like the type of guy to make a joke out of anything.

Only 9 episodes are left before the end of season 1. I don't know if we'll get the whole "Achivist's Crimson Fate" this season, but I do hope that the whole Jane Prentiss and her flesh hive thing will be resolved by then.

I don't think those people would be able to bear it for too long.

OVERALL :

I wasn't going to make another one of those until the end of the season, but so much has happened already, so getting some groundwork done wouldn't hurt. At least, acheck up on the characters.

JONATHAN SIMS/HEAD ARCHIVIST

His hard ass exterior is slowly being chipped away by exhaustion and stress, but he remains the same as he always was. To be honnest, while I do think things will change the more time goes by, I hope he will keep his wits to him. I love his dry sarcasm and his eagerness to annoy people who are annoying to him.

We are 31 episodes in, and we still don't know anything about his life as anything other than the Head Archivist though. I somehow doubt he has much of a social life, but I am curious about his family. There have been ... Hints, I suppose, but I am still very much starving for more information. How old even is he ?

Call me Neuro the way I eat his mystery up.

MARTIN BLACKWOOD

We have finally met him, and he is precious, and to be protected at all costs and I love him.

And he probably has a crush on Jonathan.

More seriously though, he is resistant and perseverant. A little air-headed, naive, probably easy to tease and bully. He is ... Too likable, actually. And kind of too ... Easy.

I trust him as far as I can throw him.

SASHA JAMES

Strong willed, impertinent and skeptical, I can see why Jonathan go so much easier on her when he is ready to throw shade at every moment at his coworkers. I feel like it's safe to consider them friends.

That being said, she is also stubborn and kind of a hypocrite and far too curious for her own good, which will probably cost her.

I have made a bet earlier that someone will probably give up and quit the team. I haven't met Tim yet, so out of the three we know of and have actually met, I'd put my money on her either doing just that, or dying.

Grim prospects, in summary.

Can't wait to get my heart absolutely obliterated !

The quote of the post will be :

"A living hell is, after all, still living."

End Liveblogging.

#tma #the magnus archive #liveblogging #liveblog-tma

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katzkinder · 3 years

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(multiple linked image references throughout this post)

Ok, so I loved this post

The part that got me though was when you said “I wonder what type of animal form they take factors into that” - that’s where the gears in my head started turnin’

So I went snooping on each animal counterpart associated with each sin.

1.) SLOTH: are cats sensitive to cold?

So Kuro isn’t JUST a neet that prefers blankets or a kotatsu over the cold… his animal form being a cat does play some part… key word beings some

“Cats are pretty well adapted for cold weather, but when the temperature dips below freezing they are susceptible to hypothermia and frostbite. During periods of cold weather, cats will go looking for a warm place to hunker down. How cold is too cold for indoor cats? Cats prefer warmth but will be okay in rooms hovering between 50-60°F degrees; while their counterparts Lions, in a zoo environment, stay outside in the winter unless the temperature dips below 40°F (in the wild, most lions don’t have to worry about temperatures dropping below 65°F so in most cases 40°F and below is too cold).”

SLOTH SENSATIVE TO COLD? ✅ (yes)

2.) PRIDE: are bats sensitive to cold?

“Bats can't survive freezing temperatures, even when they're hibernating. Any roost bats shelter in for the winter must be at least 45°F or warmer. They also seek out dark, secluded, and sheltered places that can keep them safe from predators. Bats are defenseless while they're hibernating.”

PRIDE SENSATIVE TO COLD? ✅ (yes)

3.) ENVY: are snakes sensitive to cold?

Jeje being a snake is pretty much a given… but it’d be mean to not include him (so no funny ideas outta you, ok Mikuni?)

“What is the coldest temperature a snake can withstand? Snakes usually stay out of cold climates. Because the coldest temperature any snake can thrive in is around 65°F, snakes normally live in the warmer temperate or tropical zones. Below 60°F, snakes become sluggish. Above 95°F, snakes become overheated.”

ENVY SENSATIVE TO COLD? ✅ (yes)

4.) WRATH: are wolves sensitive to cold?

“Wolves don't need to do anything. They're much better adapted to cold weather than we are. Thanks to their winter adaptations, wolves can live in temperatures as low as -40°F. During the coldest nights, a wolf will curl itself into a ball, covering its nose with its tail, which will hold the exhaled warm air over its feet and nose, conserving precious body heat. It will also sleep close to its pack-mates(her Eve) in a unified effort to stay warm.”

WRATH SENSATIVE TO COLD? ♾ (neutral-ish)

5.) GREED: are hedgehogs sensitive to cold?

“Hedgehogs getting cold is a BIG ‘No no’. It slows their metabolism down, leaving them susceptible to infections, dehydration and starvation. It's important to keep your hedgehog in an environment between 72-80°F. Even if it’s not always comfortable for us humans (comfortable for angels? no clue), temperatures lower than 70°F are considered ‘cold’ for hedgehogs and can result in a hibernation attempt, which can be fatal.”

Maybe that’s why Lawless always wears that scarf? Since hedgehogs are severely thermally sensitive then it would make sense…

(Crantz, Gil… please stop the angel from getting any ideas)

GREED SENSITIVE TO COLD? ✅ (yes)

6.) GLUTTONY: are pigs sensitive to cold?

In this case I will refer mostly to Vietnamese Potbellied Pigs because as far as I know, we haven’t actually seen Ildio’s pig form yet - one of the only depictions is Lawless’ stage depictions of the 7 vampire siblings in ep6… and based on his stage depiction of Ildio’s pig form, Viatnamese Vietnamese Miniature Potbellied Pigs seem like they’d be the common type of pig that seems to fit that shape/size.

“The ideal temperature range for a potbelly pig is 65-88°F. Pigs in winter do not need any type of supplemental heat down to at least -20°F. Most potbelly pigs require more feed to maintain heat production and body condition; meaning that housing aside, the more feed/calorie intake, the easier it can be for pigs to regulate their body heat.”

However, seeing as Ildio is an ageless vampire with the mother-effing holy grail of metabolisms, we don’t know if his MASSIVE calorie intake, that he doesn’t really gain much/any weight from, will actually help him in cold weather.

GLUTTONY SENSATIVE TO COLD? ♾❔(neutral/unknown where they stand exactly)

7.) LUST: are butterflies sensitive to cold?

Snow Lily’s butterfly appearance is probably one of the most exaggerated of the 8 servamp animal forms. That gorgeous shade of pink and black aside, I couldn’t find any real buttwrfly species with that wing pattern or wings shaped like that. So color and wing pattern aside, I’d say the closest real-world butterfly to Snow Lily would be a variation of Swallowtail Butterfly.

Butterflies are cold-blooded critters, however, generally speaking butterflies won't fly when temperatures are less than 55-60°F.

LUST SENSATIVE TO COLD? ✅ (yes)

8.) MELANCHOLY: are foxes sensitive to cold?

Even though Tsubaki’s two tails seem to be a play of of the legends of Nine Tail Fox, generally speaking based off his other details being black fox with white on the end of his tail(s), he is most likely a Silver Fox; which is a type of Red Fox.

The upper critical temperature of the red fox is probably between 86-89°F. An official temperature range of what is too cold for red foxes is more or less unknown or unofficial at best. The arctic fox is said to be able to tolerate temperatures as low as -72°F but red foxes haven’t occupied the tundra in the past partly because it was too cold; with their longer ears and limbs, they lose heat faster than their arctic cousins. So we know the average red fox can tolerate and survive cold temperatures, but most likely not temperatures like their arctic counterparts live in.

MELANCHOLY SENSATIVE TO COLD? ♾❔❌ (neutral/unknown where they stand exactly/least affected of the bunch)

and after ALL OF THAT…

the most interesting thing is–

when I first got into SERVAMP, I remember being curious where the concept of ‘the different sins transforming into animal forms’ came from. After a little research, I found that there is a history to it! A very detailed account of the origins and representations of them within history. And a small portion discusses the animal depictions of the original 7 deadly sins⬇️

“An allegorical image depicting the human heart subject to the seven deadly sins, each represented by an animal (clockwise: Toad = Avarice [greed]; Snake = Envy; Lion = Wrath; Snail = Sloth; Pig = Gluttony; Goat = Lust why? I have no idea; Peacock = Pride).”

So Jeje and Ildio’s animal forms are the only ones true to the original depictions of their associated sins.

Pride as a peacock does make sense… but I can understand adding the bat into the mix because - vampires.

I get why they’d change Kuro to a cat instead of a snail because I can’t see a snail being threatening at all unless it’s either severely poisonous or Gary… like, supernatural vampire powers or not, Kuro as a snail wouldn’t be very badass.

Why the ever living f*ck would a goat reprint lust? Originally I was going with the possibility that goat could be related to ram, ram represents Aries, Aries is one of the most lustful zodiac personalities… but no, apparently the goat represents the Devil, lust, lubricity and the damned… so that’s fun - I prefer the butterfly thank you very much.

Apparently frogs symbolize greed because it is a greedy creature in desiring to live in both worlds- on the land & in the water… okay I guess?

& lastly even though the Lion role is also occupied by Kuro within the series, I can understand Wrath not maintaining the original Lion role swing as Wrath is female and they probably wanted a male to hold the depiction of Lion so that the could use the lion’s mane, again, to add to the badass factor… regardless I don’t think Wrath as a lioness would have played out the same way… is it sexist when referring to animals? Whatever - that’s a question for another day.

If you’re interested, the full article can be found here

I am so sorry this random rant turned out WAAAAAAAY longer than I originally intended… I always love your analysis and theory posts so I hope you enjoy :)

YOOO ANON, THAT’S AWESOME! I’ll definitely check that article out!

In return, have this!

We know what piggy ‘dio looks like now! :D

Hopefully this will make your research a little easier?

#servamp #kat’s katerwauling #asks #anonymous #servamp analysis #thanks for the ask nonny!!#tumblr didn’t want to publish this so I just gave up and went to mobile #long post

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rowyn-writes · 3 years

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Dying From a Broken Heart

Part Two of Confidence

Warnings: Violence, angst, language, arguing, blood, fluff

Pairings: Jack x Winchester!Reader

Characters: Jack Kline, Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, Castiel, Rowena, Eros, Reader

Word Count: 3.1k

Summary: While you and Jack are at the motel, you make a shocking discovery. You're not dealing with a pack of werewolves like you thought, but Eros, God of Love and Lust. You finally figure out the connection between Eros and the victims. . . Only to find out that you're next.

You and Jack were still doing research when Sam and Dean came back. "Okay, so get this." You said, turning around in your chair. "Every year, six people go missing and are found dead with their hearts torn out."

"A ritual?" Sam inquired.

"Exactly what I was thinking, dear brother." You grinned. "Now, big city like this, six missing people is something you'd hardly notice."

"Yeah, but why would a werewolf preform a ritual?" Dean asked.

"That's what Jack and I kept asking ourselves." You said, looking over at your boyfriend. "Why in the world would a Purebred werewolf need to preform some kind of ritual?" You stood up, rummaging around in your backpack for a book. You gave a triumphant smile as you held up your Greek Mythology book.

"Eros. God of Love and Lust." You opened the book to the page that was dedicated to the god.

"But their hearts were torn out." Dean furrowed his eyebrows. "What would Eros want with hearts?"

"It's a sacrifice for him." You informed the men. "Think about it. None of the vics had bites or even scratches. At first, I thought it was a Purebred werewolf because the attacks didn't line up with the lunar cycle. But the more I thought about it, the more that this makes sense. People used to worship Eros and make sacrifices for him, but now hardly anyone believes in him anymore. So Eros goes out and gets his own sacrifices."

Sam and Dean seemed impressed while Jack seemed proud. "Okay." Dean nodded. "That means that since he failed with the last victim, he's going kill again."

You tried your hardest to think of some kind of connection with all the deceased. You knew there had to be something in common since they were dealing with a god. They seemed to be picky with their sacrifices.

"What are you thinking about, Y/n?" Jack asked, resting his hand on top of yours, something that didn't go unnoticed by your brothers. Dean was about to say something when Sam stomped on his foot, earning a grunt from Dean.

"I'm trying to find the connection between everyone. Because I know there has to be one." You picked at a tear in your jeans while you tried to connect the dots.

Then it hit you like a ton of bricks. You stood up abruptly, startling the men in the room. "I know what Eros looks in for a sacrifice." You stated, grabbing your notepad to look at the stuff you had written down. "Everyone we interviewed said the victims just had a big announcement. The 55 year old man was celebrating his 30th anniversary with his wife, the 28 year old woman was newly engaged, the 45 year old man just started dating again after his wife died, and so on until the fifteen year old girl. She had just gotten her first girlfriend when she was attacked."

"What are you saying, Y/n?" Jack questioned.

"I'm saying that Eros is targeting people with an immense amount of pure love. That's what he's looking for!"

"Wow." Sam said, looking at his little sister in admiration. "That's genius, Y/n." He patted her on the shoulder, only to furrow his eyebrows. "What's that on your collarbone?"

You gave Sam a confused look as you headed to the bathroom. There, on your collarbone was a dark red circle. You sucked in a sharp breath.

"I know who the next target is." You told the men.

"Who?" Jack seemed worried by the look on your face.

"It's me."

. .

. . .

"How did this even happen?!" Sam exclaimed.

"I don't know!" You defended yourself, your voice raised slightly. "The whole time we were out I was with you guys. Jack and I never left the motel room while you two were gone."

"That is true." Jack nodded. "Y/n and I stayed in here and she agreed to be my girlfri-"

You put your hand over his mouth. "Now's not the time, babe." You could feel Dean glaring a hole through you and Jack.

"Okay, let's think about this for a second." You said, trying to calm everyone down. "Maybe this is a good thing."

"A good thing?!" Dean roared. "Y/n, how in the hell is this a good thing?!"

"Dean." Sam hissed, cuffing his brother. "Calm down and let Y/n talk." You threw Sam a grateful look.

"This way we can lure Eros out, and kill him. Apparently all it takes is a wooden stake dipped in lambs blood."

"I don't like this plan." Jack muttered.

"See! Thank you." Dean said, clearly pleased with the Nephilim.

"Jack-"

"No, Y/n. You're not going to put yourself in danger just to kill this god. I won't allow it."

"Oh for the love of-" You sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose. "Eros is coming for me either way. It's better to be prepared and have a plan rather than to just sit here and let him tear my heart out!"

"Don't talk like that!" Jack insisted angrily. You understood that he was worried about you, but you were a grown woman and could make your own decisions.

"It's inevitable, Jack." You said softly. "Eros will come for me. We know from the victims that he kills them 24 hours after being marked. I have maybe 18 hours at best."

Dean was furious. "This is your fault!" He growled at Jack. "You're the reason my baby sister is being targeted!"

Jack looked taken aback. "I didn't want this for Y/n." He said sincerely. "If I could trade places with her, I would."

"That's the problem!"

"Dean-" You started, only to get interrupted by your oldest brother.

"You think you're in love with her, but you're not! It's unnatural. Nephilim, they can't fall in love. All those stupid movies that Y/n and Sam let you watch made you think you're in love with her. You can't love Y/n."

You felt your throat close up, hurt by Dean's words. "Is it that hard to think someone could love me?" You whispered.

Dean's hard glare softened as his eyes landed on you. "Of course not, sweetheart. But Jack. . . He's not right for you."

"Oh, and you know what's best for me?" You growled. Your hurt turned to annoyance and anger.

"Yes, I do. I'm your brother."

Sam and Jack gave each other looks. It was bad when Sam and Dean argued, but when you and Dean argued, it was catastrophic.

"And John was my dad, and he never knew what was best for me! That doesn't mean anything!"

"Oh, so family doesn't mean anything to you?"

"Dean, come on man, you know that's not what she meant." Sam tried to reason.

"Stay out of it, Sam!" Dean yelled.

You could tell Sam was growing annoyed with Dean. His frown deepened, his eyes hardened, and his hand began to twitch.

"No! I won't stay out of it. I am tired of you mistreating Jack and Y/n!"

"Oh, I do not mistreat them!" Dean argued. "Jack, do I mistreat you?" Jack seemed uncomfortable being put on the spot. You knew he looked up to Dean, but Dean had also said some rather hurtful things about Jack.

While Sam, Dean, and Jack continued their argument, you were able to slip away unnoticed.

You were crying now, the thought of dying scared the crap out of you. And your brothers and Jack arguing didn't help the situation.

You looked around the parking lot, looking for something to hotwire. You came across a black Harley Davidson Dyna Super Glide Sport. And the dumbass was stupid enough to leave the keys in the ignition.

You started the engine, listening to the bike purr. You threw back the kickstand and began driving. You didn't know where you were going, all you knew was that you had to get out of there.

You weren't stupid, of course, you had your gun and a silver dagger just in case.

You planted both of your feet on the ground at a stop light. You were still crying, and you couldn't figure out why. You were just so angry.

You ended up stopping at a small dive bar outside of Little Rock. There were a total of ten people there, and most were men.

You flag down the bartender and order a beer. Around twenty minutes later, a man slide in the seat beside you. He said nothing as he ordered a drink. The man seemed so familiar to you, but you couldn't put your finger on it. He had curly, dark brown hair, and beautiful blue-grey eyes. He was handsome in all aspects of the word. But he was nothing compared to Jack.

"I've never seen you here before." He said to you.

"Oh, I uh - I'm just passing through." You gave him a tight smile.

You felt your phone buzz in your pocket. You grabbed it, looking down to see that Dean's as calling you. You sent him to voicemail, something that was bound to piss him off.

"Guy troubles?" The man inquired.

"More like brother troubles." You laughed. "I'm Y/n, by the way."

"Elliott." He smiled, showing off a gleaming row of white teeth. "So, what's going on with your brother?"

"Brother's, actually. They treat me like a baby, just because they're older than me."

"That's what brothers are supposed to do." Elliott shrugged. "They're supposed to look out for you, protect you." Your phone rang again, this time, it was Sam. You sent him to voicemail as well and put your phone on silent.

"Yeah, I guess." You agreed. "But -" You cut yourself off, not wanting to dump all your feeling onto this random stranger.

"But what?" He asked, curious to what your response was.

"There's this guy, this amazing, wonderful, sweet and funny guy. He cares about me, and I care about him, but my oldest brother, he thinks we shouldn't be with each other." You confessed, taking a sip of your beer.

"Is he respectful towards you?" You nodded. "He cares about you and treats you right?" You nodded once more. "Then what's the problem?"

"I don't know." You mumbled. "My brother just doesn't trust him, even though he has no reason not to."

"Call it a brother's intuition." Elliott grinned. You blinked as your vision began to blur. "Hey, you okay?" You let out a slurred response. "Let's get you some air." Elliott helped you out of your chair and outside. You felt the cold air nip at your cheeks, making you feel a thousand times better.

Your head began to spin, the world shifting around you. "I don't feel so well." You groaned. Your body went limp, and the last thing you felt was a pair of strong arms wrapping around you to keep you from falling.

. .

. . .

"Guys!" Jack yelled over Sam and Dean, trying to catch their attention. "GUYS!" Jack's eyes flared orange, finally getting Sam and Dean to stop arguing. "Where's Y/n?"

Sam and Dean looked around the room frantically. Jack looked into the bathroom and found nothing. "Damnit!" Dean growled. "How could she have left without us noticing?!"

"Well, you and Sam were rather angry, I think it was very easy for her to slip away." Dean glared at Jack.

"So help me God, if a single hair on her head is out of place, all hell will break loose, and it'll be on you." Sam sighed, shaking his head.

Dean dialed your phone number, looking apprehensive. "Y/n, I swear if you sent me to voicemail on purpose, I am going to kill you! Answer me, damnit!"

"Let me try." Sam mumbled. "Y/n, please call and let us know you're okay. We're worried."

"I can find her." Jack said hopefully. He closed his eyes, searching for any sign of you. He saw you sitting next to a guy in a bar, he saw the man put something in your drink, and he saw you pass out outside of the bar.

Jack grew angry. He knew what happened to you was wrong, he could feel you were in distress. "She's in trouble."

. .

. . .

"Wakey wakey, sunshine!" Elliott cheered as he threw water on your face. You gasped, bolting awake. You found that you were bound in a chair, the thick rope cutting into your skin. You looked around to see that you were in some kind of a abandoned building.

You were relieved to see that you still had on all your clothes. "I was worried for a second. I thought I might have given you too high of a dose for your body."

"You roofied me." You groaned.

"I did! But you have to understand, Y/n, I would have never gotten you out of there otherwise. You're one of the strongest sacrifices I've ever had."

"Eros." You said in realization.

"Ding ding ding! We have a winner!" Eros almost seemed happy by the situation. "You are going to be one of the best sacrifices I've had. A hunter with a strong heart full of compassion and pure love. The perfect candidate."

"Please," You whimpered. "Let me go."

Eros sucked in a breath, faking remorse. "You see, I wish I could. . . But I can't. I need you. Ever since the last sacrifice escaped, I've been looking for a new one. And then your brother's, boy wonder and you roll into town. I knew as soon as I saw you that you were perfect. Almost too perfect."

You felt a tear slip down your cheek. "Please. I don't want to die. I'm only 21, there's so much things I haven't done yet. Let me live." You pleaded.

"I was hoping you'd say that." Eros grinned, pulling up a chair in front of you, sitting with his chest on the back of the chair. "I was actually looking for a wife." He gave you a wicked grin that made you squirm in your seat. "I need an heir, or heiress, I don't discriminate. I just want someone to pass my powers off to, to teach. So, I can let you live if you agree to be my wife."

"Rot in hell." You spat, disgusted by the thought of marrying Eros. He grew annoyed, as he punched you, your head snapping back.

"That's too bad." Eros shook his head. "But, at least I'll get to enjoy killing you."

You watched in horror as Eros' fingernails grew into sharp, claw-like hands, almost like a werewolves. You screamed in pain as he drew his finger over your face. "Shh, shh, love. It's gonna be okay." You gave out a small cry, struggling against the ropes.

"The more you struggle, the more it's going to hurt." Eros said in a singsong voice.

You began whispering apologies in your head, to Sam, Dean, Jack, Cas, Rowena, everyone. There were so many unfinished words, so many unsaid 'I love you's,'

"I'm sorry." You whispered. You screamed out once more as Eros dug his nails into your chest.

"Y/N!" You heard Dean yell. Sam, Dean and Jack appeared from behind a crate, your brothers carrying guns, and we'll, Jack himself was a weapon.

"Ah, ah, ah." Eros grinned wickedly. "I am holding her life in the palm of my hand; literally. So put down those shiny guns, and step away from them." Sam and Dean looked at each other. Eros scowled as he dug his nails deeper into your skin. You cried out in pain, feeling his nails getting closer to your heart.

"Alright! Alright!" Sam said hastily, setting down his gun and stepping away, encouraging Dean to do the same.

You were quite the sight for the men. You had blood coating your clothes, a bruised eye from the blows that Eros landed earlier, your hair was a mess and you face was streaked with tears.

"Get away from her!" Jack bellowed.

"Oh, look, it's your lover boy." Jack's words only made Eros angrier, as he retracted his hand, and swiped his claws over your face, creating four long gashes.

"I said get away from her!" Jack's eyes began to glow orange, and he trembled with anger. Eros looked frightened as he was sent flying back into the wall.

Sam and Dean surged forward, both carrying a wooden stake dipped in lambs blood, while Jack went to help you.

"It's okay," He whispered. "I've got you." You gave out a small whimper as he cut the ropes. "Can you stand?" You tried to stand up with the help of Jack, but your knees buckled beneath you. Jack scooped you up in his arms. You buried your head in his chest, turning away from you brothers, who were currently killing Eros.

"Take me home." You mumbled before darkness enveloped you.

. .

. . .

When you awoke, you were in your bed at the bunker, surrounded by Cas, Sam, Dean, Jack and Rowena.

"Y/n." Dean breathed a breath of relief as he hugged you. You winced in pain, your body still sore from you attack. "I am so sorry. I never should have said those things to you. I'm so glad you're okay."

"It's okay, Dean." You assured him. Even though you said you were fine, there was still pain swimming in his eyes.

"We couldn't heal your wounds with magic," Rowena informed you. "Since Eros was the one to injure you, it will have to heal naturally. I did make you some herbs that will stop the pain, however."

"Thanks, Rowena." You smiled. The room began emptying out, everyone wanted to let you rest. Jack, however, didn't leave your side.

"I'm sorry, Y/n." He whispered.

"Why are you sorry?" You asked, squeezing his hand.

"I let you get hurt. I should have gotten there sooner." You saw there were tears in his eyes. You frowned as you scooted over.

"Come lie beside me." Jack hesitantly climbed into the bed, pushing aside the covers. You wrapped your arms around his middle and rested your head on his chest. "You got me out of there when you did. I'm okay, and that's all that matters."

"But-"

You cut Jack off with a kiss. "I don't want to talk about it anymore." You mumbled, cupping his cheek. "I just want you to hold me."

"I can do that." Jack nodded, pulling you closer to his body. You decided to put on a movie as you and Jack cuddled. Halfway through the movie, you ended up falling asleep. Jack didn't sleep that often, but he felt so at peace that he fell asleep as well.

When everyone came to check on you again, their hearts melted at the sight of you and Jack. "Oh, just look at them." Rowena whispered to the men. "They're so cute."

"Yeah," Dean nodded. "They are."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Tag List: @mila-dans @blairrrose

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starsong-dragonheart · 4 years

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Working With What You Have: Magic on a budget of time, energy, and funds

We've all heard that magic doesn't have to look like Instagram, that we should incorporate what we can find, that we don't have to buy all the things to do magic, but far too often, people are left asking "ok, so what should I do instead?" but getting answers that are just variations of "go buy this other thing instead," dead silence, or answers that are either too incredibly specific or too general to be usefully generalized to developing a personalized practice, especially by the newcomers who tend to need such advice most. I can't promise that this won't be more of the same, but as someone who dealt with some of those frustrations, I can offer what ways of thinking about these things helped me.

What a lot of people forget is that, for most of human history, your average magic worker couldn't go down to the local pagan shop or order online to get a huge assortment of crystals and herbs. They had to work with what they had, what they could easily get, what was all around them, what they already had, and their practices apparently didn't suffer horribly - far from it! They adapted, and traditions became all the more potent for it, because the power of linking in to your local natural world can't be overstated.

Want to cleanse something/someone/somewhere, but don't have or don't feel comfortable with smudging with White Sage or burning Palo Santo? Check your yard for clover or violets, or your pantry for rosemary or clove or cinnamon or mint or basil - they're not perfect one to one substitutions, almost nothing ever is, but they'll all do the trick, and depending on what you need, they'll possibly be better than the "neopagan default" you're used to hearing about! Having options also gives you a better chance of matching incense to need more closely, whether you're choosing using research or correspondence tables or intuition or all of the above.

Want to work with mineral magic, but don't think you have enough, or enough variety, or the funds to buy enough crystals to get started? "Crystal," as used by the pagan and magical communities, is a fancy word for rocks. Yes, those pretty crystals do often function differently from "common stone," and definitely have their uses (including just being seriously pretty and fun to collect and display, which has its own value), but as with trendy incense practices like smudging, that doesn't mean it's the only game in town, or even the best! Shamans and witches and wise women and cunning folk of all kinds have been using whatever stones they could get their hands on to great effect for thousands of years at least. There's no reason that has to be abandoned just because "crystals" are now so widely available. Black and/or white stones are good for protection; gray or dull neutral stones tend to be good for the kind of protection that involves hiding or otherwise flying under the radar; stones that sparkle tend to be good for glamour or vision/Vision related magic; stones collected by a body of water might be good for cleansing and clearing stagnation and bringing in fresh energy (river or stream) or for inspiration (spring) or emotional work (in general, but especially the sea) or for wearing or washing away problems; a stone picked up at a pride rally might be used for later magic to protect your community.

Need a stone for something in particular? Hold the intent of finding a stone for that purpose, then go looking in places you tend to find rocks (plus your own collection, don't assume you already know everything an individual stone can do) or keep your eye out over the coming days. If you've got much practice listening to your intuition, you'll probably find one that just "feels right," even if you can't explain why. Listen to that gut reaction.

This goes for herbs and incenses and smudges, too, plus any part of magic where physical ingredients are involved. Look for what you need it to do, not for what you expect a useful ingredient to be like. Common grasses, including and especially the stuff on lawns, are a very effective, ubiquitous protective herb, but how often do you hear them come up when people ask about herbs for protective spells? Or plantain (the herb, not the fruit) or clover for healing? (don't burn or ingest grass or other "wildcrafted" plants if you don't know for sure they haven't been sprayed with pesticides or anything else) Books, jewelry, trinkets, souvenirs, clothing, stuffed animals, office supplies, kitchen supplies, craft supplies… Forget the "rules" about using fancy witchy ingredients in your spells, and take a look at what you already have.

This is also great for making your magic more accessible. For example - can't burn things, for medical reasons or because you're not allowed? A number of different things can take the place of or stand in for physical fire and/or smoke, depending on the circumstances. Electric candles, a bowl of chili flakes or powder and cinnamon, a piece of red agate or jasper or other red stone, unlit matches, a bit of ashes, bright flame colored fabric or paper or ribbon or yarn, a picture of a flame on paper or on a screen, wearing firey makeup or clothing, music that makes you think of fire, warm sunlight… there are so many possibilities, depending on what you need to do and what options you, personally, have.

Some people scoff at using such things - they don't feel special enough or witchy enough, or are too common, to pack any kind of magical punch, or worse, that it's cheating somehow. "It can't be that easy" is one I've heard a number of times, but the thing is, it's not - it works best when you actually engage with what's close to hand, not what other people say is ideal, and for most people, that's hard. Don't beat yourself up for not being "woke enough" if this isn't how you practice, or it doesn't end up working for you. It's not a perfect answer, or for everyone, but it's one we should all be aware of, because having more options for the community is a Good Thing.

So go on and make that protective charm using grass, cloves, lemon, sparkly paint, a black and white speckled stone, and a plush Cthulu, if it feels right and makes some kind of sense to you - find or figure out correspondences for what you've already got and have a connection to, and your practice will be the richer for it.

#spoonie magic #magic on a budget #accessible magic #accessible witchcraft

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cliquestitsandicks · 5 years

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Tracking Kat

Episode 1: Kat is mourning the end of her relationship with Adena. It has been 5 weeks since the breakup in Paris. She's still looking at old pictures of them and posted one. She still hasn't sent Adena's equipment to her, even though Adena has been texting her asking for it. By the end of the episode, she's admitted to (in order) Alex, Patrick, and Jane & Sutton that she is not okay. She is still sad about the end of her relationship. Alex tells her "you're so hard on yourself. You got your heart broken. There's no expiration date on heartbreak. You move on when you're ready to move on and when you *are* ready, you will find someone amazing. Someone who will never leave." Then Patrick is an entitled, invasive dick. She told her girls she wasn't ready for it to be real yet and that's why she hadn't told them... but she broke down in front of them. She'd finally accepted it was over. End of the episode, she makes an instagram post exposing her vulnerability to the world and packs up Adena's things for good.

Episode 2: Kat injects Jane for fertility treatment. She is very familiar with Jane's reproductive system at this point - best friends. She learns the Wild Susan, a club Adena took her to that became a safe space she frequents and which happens to be 1 of only TWO lesbian bars in the city, is closing. She learns the only reason it's happening is because developers want to gentrify the neighborhood. We learn Kat has a lawyer (not sure how that may come up later) that she met through the #BeReal campaign. Anyway, Kat throws a queer prom as a fundraiser to help save the Wild Susan. It ultimately fails because $42,000 in one night from poor people is a bit much. But it was a valiant effort and, as Kat learns, the gentrifiers were well aware of its impossibility. This episode is leading up to her political career. "I've been so into my feelings lately, it feels really good to challenge my energy into something that really matters". I am so proud of Kat. In Season 1, I would have worried she was avoiding her feelings, but the writers made a big deal of showing she's done the exact opposite of that in the prior episode.

Episode 3: Kat has been researching councilman Reynolds and he's a total piece of shit - helping gentrifiers, cutting funding to parks, and voting against paid maternity leave. She's fired up. Our girl is P A S S I O N A T E & informed! We meet the councilwoman for whom she plans to volunteer and her campaign manager, Tia. Tia's a tiny, bubbly boss with natural hair and a bright smile and we see Kat brighten up. We later learn she and Kat have more in common, both being NYU grads (actually overlapping while there) and both brilliant. Tia, however, is not from a wealthy and connected background. In their initial meeting, Kat tells Tia "I'm just looking for something to channel my rage and depression". Kat enlists her besties to help get the councilwoman to unseat problematic Reynolds. Sutton clearly sees something between Kat and Tia because she does a friend's background check (checking the social media) and tells Kat she looks very single to which Kat responds "it really doesn't matter because I'm still getting over Adena" and Jane seems skeptical of Kat's protestations with her silent smirk. We learn Kat has really soft lips. Kat is the voice of reason for Alex, being the first one to acknowledge the hypersexual "dangerous" Black man depiction that will likely be projected onto him if he admits he is the man in his friend's story. Then we see her naturally command the crowd at the rally. Again, I am so proud of Kat. She isn't holding back when she knows she should speak up. She's taking control of her narrative. She's fighting for what's right in a constructive manner. And now Tia, who has way more experience with this than Kat, is recommending she run for office.

Episode 4: We start the episode with Kat describing what would be her district and job description to her best friends. She's looking excited about the potential to do something that matters and really help people. In her conversation with the Toby (?. don't know, don't care), we get to see more of Tia being supportive of Kat and Kat being confronted with whether she's motivated to actually run or just wants someone to beat Reynolds. We learn Kat had an abortion in 2013 when she was 20 AS IS HER GOTDAMN RIGHT BECAUSE IT'S HER BODY, but it's something she's felt some sort of shame/concern over seeing as nobody close to her knew about it. Then, and this is so great, after telling her friends she has the conversation with Tia. Tia shares that she's had one as well and completely understands not wanting it to be public knowledge, but in sharing her experience educates Kat on yet another way vulnerable people are having their rights stripped, this time through manipulation and "crisis centers" that shouldn't exist. Tia remains supportive and doesn't pressure Kat at all with her decision. "I am by your side if they come for you, but you gotta do what's right for you". When we get that great speech from Jacqueline we see Kat being moved my the statement that you'll never know what you're capable of if you don't take a leap faith to face challenges that frighten you, then you'll never know what you're capable of. [i'd like to pause right now to say Jacqueline is fucking wonderful and i love her like my white auntie. also Sutton needed to hear that again just as much as Kat and i really appreciate this entire moment.] When Kat leaves Jacqueline's celebration, she passes by one of those "crisis centers" Tia told her about and decides to use her voice to help others. "I like to think of myself as a pretty strong, empowered, forward-thinking, open-minded woman. But, up until now, I haven't been able to talk about my abortion. If me putting myself out there helps even one woman to feel less alone, less ashamed, and less guilty then it's worth it." And just like us, dear Tia is blown away. She actually exhales a breath she didn't know she was holding and biiiiiiiitch (!!!! excitedly). and then they're dancing! This is the episode, upon rewatch, when i recognize how often Tia touches Kat unnecessarily.

Episode 5: Kat's entire recap includes Tia, ending with Sutton saying "she seems to be very single". Her very first scene, Tia is complimenting her walking out of some campaigning event we later learn was a Town Hall. Can we just talk about Kat's blazer for a second? First of all, i want it. Second, how did they find something so perfectly her? It's colorful but still semi-professional, fun, but still about her business. Heart-eye inducing. ok. So the next time we see Kat, she and Tia (whose last name they finally mention as Clayton) are reviewing campaign platform and doing debate prep at Kat's apartment. Tia's complimenting Kat almost continuously at this point. Clearly she's impressed, borderline gushing. and Kat tries to brush it off. Tia's not letting her. And there's this moment when Tia forces herself to break eye contact with her (around 5:40 of the episode). The show tells us Kat still hasn't dated since Adena, but Sutton brings up the "stupid smile" she gets whenever Tia's mentioned. She's making better decisions than Patrick and her being compared to Patrick is lowkey happening a lot. I'm starting to wonder if they're setting up Kat taking over digital if she doesn't win the campaign. Ok, the song choice as they pan to Kat and Tia... "I never normally check my phone 10 times in a minute. I'm not the girl to be kept on hold 10 miles from the finish." Again, Tia is very touchy with Kat, never anything inappropriate of course, but the hand is always on the back or the arm. and their interaction is just.. lovely. I squeal. it's so cute. they're so comfortable. Kat invites Tia to the dinner BEFORE (i got the timing on that mixed up before) Tia says she's "a boring straight girl" [the test determined that was a LIE... nah, my good sis Tia is dealing with some internalized homophobia which is no joking matter, but we don't learn that until the next episode]. Apparently, Kat can cook now? So she just liked Adena's food better i guess? idk... anyway. I get why some of the things Tia said can be taken as flirting, but i still believe that you accept what someone says is their sexuality until they say otherwise. yes, that's even when they're saying things like "when i see what i want, i go for it" and "Annndd she can cook. it's hot" and looking at you like that. Kat telling Jane to apologize because he's her boss and she got suuuper disrespectful and would absolutely deserve getting fired makes me proud. She's the mature friend now. She's the one with a level head on her shoulders. Kat finally makes her feelings known to Tia, but this is after Tia has already stated she's straight. Tia reiterates that this is a professional relationship and apologizes for Kat getting the wrong idea. I'm reminded of when Alex Danvers told Maggie Sawyer she was into her and she was rejected... but in that example i was floored and heartbroken for Alex because ugh, i just didn't see that coming. With this, however, it felt like Tia was clear in her words even if it shocked the hell out of me what the words were. So i didn't feel heartbroken for Kat. I thought... tbh... she brought it on herself for refusing to respect Tia's "no", however soft it was. But the writers did let us know it wasn't over with the music selection... Kat looking at "You and Tia make a great team :)" as "I'll go to war for you" plays.

Episode 6: All the emails have been released and Kat has no worries at all about that because she's a professional. And we get to see her be a boss addressing the entire group. Patrick isn't there this episode (YAY for our sanity!) and i think Kat being a boss so often when Patrick isn't around is intentional. When we see Tia, she says last night is forgotten but she thinks it's a bad idea to remain Kat's campaign manager... which is clearly a hard rejection. One can argue that it's too harsh for someone merely admitting they were into you. But it's just as easy to argue that it's appropriate after telling someone, very clearly, that you are not into them romantically and them ignoring that and saying that you were flirting with them on this date they never called a date before you were already there?? so i'm not mad at it. At the end of the episode, we find out that Tia was rejecting herself, not Kat. Turns out, Ms. Tia Clayton has known she's attracted to women since she was in high school, but she "didn't want to want it". Tia is so TINY AND ANXIOUS ABOUT HER SEXUALITY AND MANY OF US HAVE BEEN THERE. But... and i say this in jest... for someone who is really trying not to be out in the open with her gay, she sure was comfortable kissing Kat all outdoors for anyone to see. My good sis is smitten. I'm excited for the story. Again with the music during their scenes though... "I cannot fallll in love with youuuuu. I cannot feeeeel this way so soon, so soon." Also, my girlfriend and I have watched the gifset of the kiss over the phone and swooned (we live in different states for now). This episode, we also got the flashbacks (i missed Lauren so much). Kat's got red streaks in her hair, is a friend to strangers, has regrettable sex with men who taste like pickles, and is cute as a button. She also called Jacqueline "Mama Jackie" and that's it; that's her name now.

#the bold type season 3 #the bold type #katia #kat edison #tia clayton #TBT S3 SPOILERS #i rewatched the whole season today

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onisionhurtspeople · 6 years

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Sorry I just ran into this blog, Lainey said on Twitter they're an ISFJ awhile back. I can see both them being an unhealthy INFP that thinks their Si is stronger than it actually is due to looping and them being an unhealthy ISFJ. They could be in an Si-Ti loop where they dont let new ideas in and believes their experience/conclusions are always correct without looking further than that for information. (1/3)

They’re also very tactful (auxiliary Fe) which makes them seem innocent and wanting group harmony instead of drama. An unhealthy Fe user sweeps issues under the rug to live in their ideal “peaceful” world. If an ISFJ is gripping, their inferior function is Ne. This may cause them to think of all the ways life could be and using it as an excuse that nothing could go wrong due to the likelihood (they think) of it in their life (ex. bringing 18-20 year olds into an unhealthy relationship, believing Onision didn’t cheat due to the fact many things could happen since there are infinite truths in the world and Si-Ti may think that their POV is the most correct from what they gathered). I can see INFP but I do want to see what you think of this.

Sorry it took so long to respond! I knew this was going to be a long one, so I’ve been avoiding it because tbh you will never meet a lazier INTJ than me. I apologize in advance for the poor quality of this message, because my brain fog is really shitty today and I’m feeling not nearly as sharp as I usually am. My arguments will probably not be as convincing or wordy as they usually are.

Anyway, I believe she actually said she was INFJ. I remember because I was the one who asked her to take the quiz. >_> (Unless we’re thinking of two different incidences? This was, if I recall correctly, around the time that Billie had just left for the final time, so I want to say September or October of 2016.) Anyway–tbh, the fact that she got INFJ just confirmed to me more than anything else that she really was an INFP, because let’s be real, I’m pretty sure no INFP has ever existed who didn’t first mistype themselves as being an INFJ. (I’m mostly joking, but like.. only mostly.) Of course, ISFJs also frequently mistype as INFJs, so this is an idea worth exploring.

Anyway, I shall try to explain why I see her as an INFP rather than as an ISFJ or INFJ. I apologize in advance if you’re an INFP; if I end up saying anything rude about them, please understand that I’m not making disparaging comments about INFPs in general - I’m just evaluating Lainey, who is (I believe) a very unhealthy version of her type.

So, first and foremost: Fi. Sooo much Fi. But Fi in the most unhealthy way possible: incredibly self-righteous and self-absorbed, and excessively concerned with interpreting and relaying her own individualistic, unique identity to the world. She needs to be acknowledged for her differences. If you look back at all of the arguments she’s ever had with Greg on social media (in other words, the times when he says something that aggrieves her enough that she’s actually willing to confront him over it), they all have the same theme in common: they’re always about her feeling affronted because he invalidated her values or sense of self somehow. For example: the last fight they got in was because Greg referred to himself as being in a straight relationship, which offended Lainey because she interpreted that as him undermining her gender. I can think of a few other examples of their arguments on social media off the top of my head, and they all follow that same theme: Greg being insulted that she was hero-worshiping a musician who didn’t like him (also an Fi user); Greg arguing with her about eating fish; Greg calling her filthy because her room was dirty and she hadn’t cleaned it; Greg insulting her family (especially her mother and sister). When Lainey gets involved in Greg’s debates or ongoing feuds with other content creators (Jaclyn Glenn, Joy Sparkle BS, Blaire White, etc), it’s never to weigh in with her opinion, and only ever to express her irritation over them misgendering her, either accidentally or on purpose. When she’s rude and condescending towards her fans, it’s typically because they questioned her sense of self somehow (usually in regards to her gender, internal motivations, or relationship with Greg). It’s rarely in defense of anybody else, which I feel like would happen more often if she really was an Fe user.

I think the tactfulness and willingness to sweep things under the rug that you’re interpreting as being aux Fe may actually be a combination of Fi seeking harmony in relationships (high Fi users can do this too, just like Fe users can; the difference mainly lies in when, and for what reason, their feeling function becomes triggered when somebody crosses the line. For Fi users, this tends to be when something strikes a personal nerve or attacks and invalidates their character or sense of self; for Fe users, this tends to be when somebody rejects, abuses, or takes advantage of their warmth and care, or when somebody expresses a lack of concern for the collective (family, friends, neighborhood, club, church group, society, etc) - other words, selfishness. If you dismiss their overtures of affection after they’ve put effort into displaying warmth and consideration, then they may become offended when that same person then takes advantage of those polite gestures, or refuses to reciprocate them), and also Lainey just generally not caring enough to say or do anything to counter Greg that might rock the boat in their private life.

Secondly: Ne. In Lainey’s case, her Ne is not as overt as I’ve observed it in other INFPs, and I’m not sure why this is. I apologize if this comes off as rude (and it really kind of is, but I don’t know how else to say this in a non-offensive way), but I think it’s really just because Lainey is an INFP of average intelligence, whereas most INFPs (that I’ve encountered, anyway) are in the gifted range, and so their Ne is much more readily apparent. Ne and Se share many qualities (being that they’re both Pe functions), including that they both have a preference for wanting to live life by their own standards, a strong dislike of feeling constrained or held back, feeling compelled to seek novelty (Se in a more physical, concrete way, and Ne in a more abstract, conceptual way), and wanting to learn through experience. Se and Ne both feel driven to be seen as cool–but in different ways. Se wants to be seen as cool in a more physical and conventional sense - for example, by being entertaining, or by dressing in a manner that is immediately impactful in a sensory way. Ne, on the other hand, wants to be cool by being unique, different, iconoclastic - it wants to be regarded as quirky and iconoclastic, cool for being “uncool”, if that makes sense. And so many INFPs are drawn to countercultures (hipsters, for example) who are unconventional, but still have a certain mystique and draw to them; and I definitely think Lainey fulfills that aspect of Ne.

Ugh. I’m sorry, my brain power is running low. Brain fog is super bad today. I think we both see Si in her, so I don’t think I have to explain that. Mainly where I see Si in her (especially in the form of Fi-Si loops) is her inability to let go of people from her past. She even did it with Billie: brought her back over and over again because she would find herself looking back on the good times, and minimizing the bad ones. She makes the same mistakes repeatedly because she reviews her memories of them (memories which are attached to emotional experiences), and feels compelled to relive them, no matter how painful they were.

Please don’t make me write something for Te. My Te is all pooped out today. :C

Anyway, it’s lovely running into somebody on here who’s knowledgeable about the cognitive functions! =O I’m guessing you’re an INFP as well? Sorry for this shitty argument, I might try to redo it in a few days when my brain fog dissipates a little.

Edit: I just went back to the the post; and yeah, she scored as INFJ-T on the 16personalities test (admittedly shitty and has nothing to do with the cognitive functions). In the comment section, I left a link on how to differentiate between INFJ and INFP, lmao.

Edit #2: Oh, one last thing: here’s a description of what a destructive INFP looks like from one of my favorite MBTI sites, Psychology Junkie. Doesn’t it remind you of Lainey?

Destructive INFPs are self-absorbed, self-righteous, and waver between being passive and extremely judgmental. They enjoy living in their fantasies, but care little for the practical realities of daily life. They may neglect their loved ones and family members and instead prefer to live in a world of their own making, in essence abandoning everyone who holds them dear. They may consider themselves more morally superior or “righteous” than others, married to their idealism to such an extent that any and everyone in the real world seems flawed and disappointing. They may retreat from the world and silently judge everyone they see. Over time, they may become increasingly harsh and condemning of people in their lives. They may become so obsessed with their own emotions and fantasies that they shun or berate anyone who tries to find a way into their hearts.

Healthy INFPs are extremely empathetic, gentle, and compassionate individuals. They care for the persecuted and marginalized people of the world, and strive to help them. They are honest and driven by their morals to live a life that adheres to their values. They are creative and insightful, slow to judge others yet holding themselves to a high standard.

Also, just for the keks, here’s the description of destructive ESTJs, the type that I suspect Greg is. (I do believe that he actually took an MBTI test and scored as ESTJ, which he hilariously tried to use to “prove” that he wasn’t a narcissist or psychopath. Really shows how much effort he puts into researching his “facts”.

Destructive ESTJs are dictatorial, aggressive, and controlling. They believe that they know what’s best for everyone, and that their way is the only way. They suppress their moral compass and disregard the feelings and values of other people in exchange for their own rigid views. They push forward to achieve their goals, but instead of taking time to reflect on their decisions, they steamroll over everyone in their path in order to accomplish tasks without considering alternate viewpoints or the moral implications of their actions. They may be loyal to a corrupt system or authority and suppress anyone who stands against that authority or questions it. They trust their own personal experience and disregard other people’s experience. They scoff at the emotions and values of others while they allow themselves to have their own temper tantrums and emotional overreactions.

Healthy ESTJs: Healthy ESTJs are hard-working, trustworthy, and loyal. They see the world logically and push themselves to live up to a high standard. They don’t ask other people to do things they wouldn’t do themselves, and they uphold traditions they see as morally right and effective. They are intellectual, practical, and usually outgoing. They are very supportive of their communities and families and want to make the world a better place.

(Source)

#laineybot #infp #question #mbti

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