honeydipper reblogged
As per my last clay tablet,
honeydipper reblogged
Native owned businesses to buy from. Taken from the North American Indian Association of Detroit.
honeydipper reblogged
A tender kiss between my sweet murderer husbands🥺
#山河令 #WordOfHonor #WenZhou #ShanHeLing
honeydipper reblogged
get to know me – 1 sect ⤷ qinghe nie sect
honeydipper reblogged
we brothers can head off the danger.
That last one is just so beautifully framed. It really feels like there should be a second person in the shot.
honeydipper reblogged
@mdzsnet happy birthday nie mingjue!
honeydipper reblogged
honeydipper reblogged
Wen Zhuliu does not get paid enough for this.
(The Untamed episode 16)
honeydipper reblogged
honeydipper reblogged
honeydipper reblogged
Gen Z telling a boomer stories.
honeydipper reblogged
charons got the cleanest pair of boat shoes hermes has ever seen
honeydipper reblogged
The bravest man in The Untamed is actually this guy right here casually rocking up to Jiang Cheng and poking him in the stab wound.
@winepresswrath so it’s not wwx they’re literally all like that. jc is the odd one in the clan
It kind of makes sense! Their motto is attempt the impossible. He is impossible; they attempt.
# i feel vindicated somehow # yunmeng jiang disciples at any given minute: # yeah that’s our cat we didn’t choose him he chose us # such is the way of cats: he’s ours forever now # he’s a total asshole! (said proudly) # he shredded your hand? yeah man he does that. dodge better. # git gud or get gutted as the poet says # he has a personal space bubble you hafta not violate # it’s between two and ten feet in radius. how do you know where in that range? # u gotta sense it. feel out the vibes. be ready to duck. # shit u didn’t sit in His Spot did you? ofc he’ll shred u if u sit in His Spot # we love him and he loves us. how do we know? # he fucking lives here he wouldn’t be here if he didn’t love us u moron # if anyone ever breaks and enters we know he’ll get em. better than any guard dog # don’t mind the static electricity it happens sometimes
Look, we are TOLD wwx superficially embodies Jiang traits more than jc, who is more like his Yu mom. We can extrapolate from here that jc is in charge of a whole sea of violet Wei Wuxians, including the trait of thinking that Jiang Cheng is the absolute bee’s knees.
I love this headcanon so much for both its hilarity and its hidden pathos. Because the Jiang clan were originally rangers. The Jiang clan’s motto is “Attempt the Impossible.” The Jiang clan values freedom of expression and individuality, and their disciples are known for their honest and unrestrained ways. So of course Jiang Fengmian was going to fawn over Wei Wuxian even if he hadn’t been the son of his two best friends. Of course the Jiang disciples are going to watch the clusterfuck that the Takedown of the Yiling Patriarch became and go “…Huh. DUDE! THIS MEANS OUR BRO WWX STILL LOVES US!” *chestbumps and smashes beer can on foreheads* Of course they are going to POKE THEIR NOTORIOUSLY SHORT TEMPERED CLAN LEADER IN THE STAB WOUND and be like “You’re wounded?? Are you okay?? Does this hurt??” Because the Jiang sect is comprised of a bunch of feral goblins who only learn etiquette so that they do not bring Dishonor™ upon their clan whenever they have to interact with the stuffier sects.
The thing is… would anyone described above be able to rebuild a clan from the ashes?
No. To rebuild a sect from the ashes requires diligence. It requires dogged determination as you slough through a million boring but important details. It requires gritting one’s teeth and doing LOADS AND LOADS of mind-numbing paperwork. It means minding your p’s and q’s among the other sects and being properly deferential without being a pushover. It requires setting and sticking to a budget. It means having to keep a billion random details in your head and not mixing them up so that you don’t accidentally use funds that you earmarked for the food budget to re-roof the mess hall.
It requires Jiang Cheng.
Wei Wuxian might be brilliant, but he is also the poster boy for ADHD. He is a bona fide, easily bored ENxP. The typical Jiang disciple is great in a pinch and tide-turning in a campaign, but they are not steady, stop-dicking-around-in-the-lotus-pond-and-finish-building-that-deck, I-will-take-these-brain-meltingly-tedious-duties-and-make-them-my-BITCH type people.
But Jiang Cheng is.
Ironically, the aspects that made him a disappointment to his father feel that he was sub-par or lacking in fundamental Jianginess were exactly the aspects that enabled him to accomplish the impossible task of rebuilding his sect from the ground up while impossibly young, reeling from a devastating massacre, lacking guidance of any sect elders, and angrily grieving the withdrawal of his sect brother’s support.
Personally, I think this is EXACTLY why the other Jiang disciples love him. He takes care of ALL that boring/tedious/not-fun stuff and just yells simple orders at them! Add to that the fact that Clan Leader Jiang will use Zidian to rip out the intestines of anyone who dares insult you or the sect, and they’ll follow their beloved Grumpy Cat to the ends of the known universe and beyond!
ravensrandoms
There’s definitely some truth in this. It could be argued that Wei Wuxian went and established a de facto Yiling Wei/Wen sect, but that was an accident. And while he was viewed as “the leader” by the Wen remnants, a lot of that came down to his being their rescuer and guide (and highly charismatic…and a man). But once day-to-day life and survival necessities kicked in, he spent most of his time performing experiments and tinkering and muttering to himself and basically being the ultimate dark academic in his cave while Wen Qing ran the actual nitty-gritty sect-management stuff.
Wei Wuxian isn’t a follower. Like, AT ALL. But that by no means makes him a leader, either – and he doesn’t want to be. Otoh, Jiang Cheng *is* something of a follower, and the seeming irony of that is that it helps prepare him to understand and navigate and tolerate the world in which he’s destined to be a leader.
honeydipper reblogged
i am 100% convinced that wei wuxian’s bad memory is a defense mechanism.
he remembers little of his mother, but one of the things from her he does remember is this saying: “remember all the good others have done you, and forget all the good you’ve done others.“
memory is repetition. each time you remember something, you are repeating the experience as well as re-writing it. memory is constant alteration. the only reason wei wuxian would have remembered this lesson from his mother so clearly is that throughout his childhood, he revisited it time and time again, until it is ingrained in his being and has become the foundation of his personality.
the implicit message within that lesson is “forget all the bad in life, and remember only the good.“ and a young, orphaned wei wuxian took that and turned it into a crutch by which he survived to become the young teenager who is able to smile at jiang fengmian even when he is fighting for scraps with the dogs in the street, when he looked through trash piles for nourishment each day.
he forgets. he forgets so that he can survive. this is why wei wuxian has a terrible memory, and the more unpleasant an experience is, the more quickly he forgets about it (i.e. represses it); this is why he remembers little of the later part of his first life; this is why wei wuxian finds it difficult to accept a simple “thank you“, yet says “thank yous“ constantly to others (esp. lan zhan).
though his terrible memory is often played for gags in the novel, the more you think about it, the sadder it becomes how little wei wuxian remembers of his own life - both its beginnings and its end.
this is the reason why, even after everything, wei ying is able to joke and smile like nothing has happened, a quirk that many take to be vapid levity and insensitivity and annoys them, but those who know him well (lan zhan) will know is nothing but surface appearance.
(in light of this, it’s even more significant the way wei wuxian remembers every single encounter he’s had with lan wangji in his first life, all the details he is able to recall, before he lost his mind completely.)
contrarily, jiang cheng is someone who remembers, and who remembers too much. the reason why his sword is called “three poisons“, a fundamental vice in buddhist ideology and a name that has come to be one of his monikers as well, is that jiang cheng is everything buddhism stands against. (note that the jiang family crest is a nine-petaled lotus - the lotus being a central symbol in buddhism and often represents it in various contexts.)
jiang cheng’s sword is called sandu because the emotions that fuel him, the sources of his fierceness, determination, and power, are all negative. the more he uses that power, the more he remembers; the more he remembers, the more powerful and spiteful he becomes. (this is not entirely his fault, per se, but an unfortunate consequence of his upbringing and everything that follows after.)
jiang cheng remembers too much, holds onto too much; he has too much baggage, he is incapable of letting go. unlike the lotus his family is known for, he cannot break through the mud of material existence and reach up into the clean air. he is mired instead in past pains, past regrets, past grudges. he remembers too much until the memories poison him: endlessly mourning everything he has lost leads to greed; ruminating on the blame of everyone involved in his family’s deaths leads to resentment; the bias of his own memories and limited perspective leads to ignorance. thus “the three poisons”.
when he and wei wuxian confront each other for the last time in the novel in chapter 103, what wei wuxian says is:
“Forget it. It’s all in the past now. Let’s not mention it any longer.“
while jiang cheng lists every important person he’s ever lost throughout the years, counting his memories like gems. this is why, when everything he once thought he knew about wei wuxian is turned on its head, jiang cheng almost goes mad from it - jiang cheng is nothing if not the sum of his memories, and wen ning has just upturned almost everything he “knew“ about himself, wei wuxian, and the order of the world.
wei wuxian lets go. jiang cheng holds on. wei wuxian forgets. jiang cheng remembers. this is the fundamental difference between them, and the ultimate reason behind their various disagreements, the reason their relationship eventually broke down beyond repair.
on a side note, it’s also interesting to think about: 1. the buddhist undertones in wei wuxian’s life philosophy, the fact that various characters throughout the novel refers to him as the true inheritor of the yunmeng-jiang spirit, and 2. how that relates to his later relationship with lan wangji, whose whole family is descended from a buddhist monk and who is pretty much the embodiment of buddhist detachment (and who later loses that detachment because of wei wuxian.)
lan wangji, the name of whose sword means “the avoidance of worldly matters“, and who wades into the muck of the world repeatedly, in order to find even a shred of wei wuxian’s existence.
ravensrandoms
Trauma is a dick, whether you’re one of the ones who reacts to it by forgetting things so you can simply survive and not be frozen in place or one of the ones who remembers and amplifies and sometimes distorts every tiny thing.
honeydipper reblogged
mormon kids under the age of 18 being told their church is a cult
mormons 18-24 after they go through their endowment ceremony and receive their new name and secret clothing and learn the secret handshakes and passwords and realize everyone around them has been secretly doing this the whole time and now theyre going to be sent away from their family for 2 years where they will literally not be allowed to be alone for 1 second of the day except to go to the bathroom and they have no idea how to get out of what they just got into
one of the only perks of being a mormon woman is that i didn’t get my endowment at age 19 and i had a little extra time to mature and be out on my own. that’s all i needed to make a clean break and i got out at 21 before i wouldve gotten my endowment.
wait what? can anyone elaborate on this? because I had no idea this was a thing
basically when youre a mormon kid growing up you realize your church is a little strict but you’re like whatever. i have friends at church because i go to church 6 days a week and everyone around me is affirming that this is the right thing to do and we have special knowledge no one else has otherwise everyone would be like this. so youve gotta go teach them & it’s the greatest thing in the world to be a missionary. also the temple is beautiful and amazing and spiritual and holy and everyone wants to go there. but it’s a secret! :) because it’s holy and sacred
then if youre a boy and u turn 18 they’re like wow amazing!!! you get to go on a mission and be like all the great men around you!! and now you get to go through the temple! so #blessed!
and then you go through the temple and all the above mentioned SECRET CULTY SHIT happens (EXPLANATION HERE http://mormoncurtain.infymus.com/topic_templeceremonies.html) and youre shipped off to a strange place where everything you eat, wear, go, listen to and do is controlled, and you’re not allowed to talk to your family or friends (except through a once-a-week email) and you literally are being watched by your companion at all. times.
some might say “you can leave at any time” but consider that i never went on a mission and i never went through the temple and i still consider leaving the mormon church the hardest thing i ever did. you have no social network outside the church. you are lacking major knowledge and skills. you have to grapple with the fact that you may never see your family again.
I’m reblogging this again bc I have Thoughts.
Leaving is such an isolating experience. No one inside wants anything to do with you anymore and no one outside understands the scale of messed up that Mormonism is. Like it’s easy to point and laugh at the ridiculousness, but it’s literally a cult. There’s so much trauma involved and there’s trauma in leaving.
People on the outside don’t understand how hard it is to leave. I grew up where all my friends were catholic and are no longer religious and they’re like “well everyone hates church, you just stop going” but Mormonism isn’t like that at all. For starters I had to get a lawyer involved to leave and then the ostracization from the entire community that nurtured me growing up was just the cherry on top. It’s effectively being shunned. Everyone you were forced to call sister and brother growing up no longer wants anything to do with you. And you deserve it, because you shouldn’t have fallen for the anti-Mormon lies.
Leaving The Church was the hardest thing I ever did and my family accepts me so I’m a lucky one. But they still ardently adhere to the institution that hurt me and has resulted in the deaths of people I love. I will never understand.
smallest-feeblest-boggart
“There’s so much trauma involved and there’s trauma in leaving.”
It’s easy for people looking in from the outside to forget this. Thank you for the reminder. Can anyone recommend resources for young Mormons looking to explore their options?
Please note: this post will be directly addressed to those hypothetical young Mormons
If you know you’re ready to leave, use quitmormon.com. It’s run by the guy from reddit who is now famous in exmormon circles for offering absolutely free legal services to anybody who needs help leaving. You can give your church id number if you know it, but it’s not required (I never memorized mine, and I sure wasn’t going to ask for it). He takes care of everything. This keeps TSCC (the so-called church) from getting all your latest info and keeps them from hassling you or harassing you. They have to talk to your lawyer instead. Pre 2015, it felt almost impossible to try to leave, but it’s a lot easier now! The years of picketing General Conference to force an excommunication trial are over!
Find a support system. Lean on your friends that have never been mormon, any family members who left, anyone you know who left. I’m an exmormon happy to answer any questions, and I’m sure there are plenty others in the notes who would be super willing to be supportive too. Exmormon groups are many and varied now, and it’s best to find the one that vibes for you. There’s a subreddit that’s popular, but I personally used - and I know this sounds weird, since I don’t have kids - a forum called Mormonism & More on the site babycenter.com. It was started several years ago by some mormons who had questions they weren’t allowed to ask on the normal mormon board (because that board required uplifting, mormon-approved answers at all times). It’s since shifted to ex-mormons or people who want to leave but can’t right now because of family situations. Even though the threads were years old, I spent weeks on that forum, reading about what other people had gone through and how they got through it, and to me, that was super helpful.
Research the culty stuff at your own peril. I liked learning about that stuff for a really long time, because I felt learning about all those secrets (I especially liked learning about the truth of the Book of Abraham) … it helped me feel valid in my choice. It helped me keep in mind that this was something that I had escaped, something that had wanted to hurt me. Missing your abuser doesn’t mean you should go back, it means you should keep moving forward. Missing your cult has the same solution. Lots of people fell for the “we’re totally not a cult!” line by TSCC. Some of them will not offer sympathy. If you want to watch the hidden camera videos of endowments and other temple stuff, I would super super recommend you have a trusted friend watch them with you. And bring comfort food. You’ll probably need it.
TSCC put out a series of essays on controversial (read: faith-killing, eye-opening, omg how could I have ever supported the people who did this) issues in mormon history. They are the Orthodox LDS pre-approved responses to a lot of the more incriminating accusations that have been leveled at TSCC over the years. They should be hosted on TSCC website somewhere, and would have been posted around or after 2015. They may reaffirm your faith now that you know TSCC’s defense, but they may push you right out the door. (Or break the shelf? Do Mormons still use the shelf analogy, or is that retired now?)
Lots of mormons become atheists after leaving. Many join mainstream xian churches. Some become witches, some study every religion they can get their hands on, some try to go back and realize all the magic (or holy spirit, if you prefer) is gone. Don’t think you have to know right away. Some people throw away or burn all their mormon stuff, some people keep it to show their kids, but again, you don’t have to make that decision right away. Some people call TSCC a cult after they leave, myself included, but you don’t have to if it makes you uncomfortable or it it doesn’t feel true to your experience.
Look up religious trauma syndrome. It’s real. The pain you will probably feel is real, the grief you will probably feel is real, and in many ways, you may have to mourn the death of what you were always told Life Will Be For You.
And learn that the world is not half as evil as TSCC told you. Your coworkers who drink a beer at the end of the day are not evil or abusive. Your friends who wear sleeveless shirts are not evil or promiscuous. You’re allowed to wear short shorts! You’re allowed to drink coffee! You’re allowed to ask questions in a faith community without being silenced or condemned! You’re allowed to not want kids! There’s a lot of unlearning here.
TLDR? You have options. You have freedom. Find nonmormon friends who will support you. Be kind to yourself.
honeydipper reblogged
Oh hey btw, while “totem animal” and “spirit animal” are native american concepts far more complicated than simply looking at a creature and going “mood.”, there’s a finnish concept of sieluneläin, soul animal, a creature that is alike to you in soul (in the finnish pagan spirituality, one’s soul is actually three things, henki, luonto and itse/sielu, out of which the last one is what is distinctly you, personality and temperament). The term soul animal no longer has ritual or religious meaning, and it can’t really be appropriated. If you see a corgi laying down in a creek just fucking letting water run over her because she can’t bother to move and think “same”, that’s your soul animal, and you’re completely free to use the term unless you’re swedish.
“unless you’re Swedish” lololol
Some grudges have valid staying power.
“this ancient spiritual concept has no real meaning anymore but you know what does? hating the fucking Swedes”
honeydipper reblogged
THE UNTAMED SUMMARIZED
ravensrandoms
I’m so happy rn