Ella And Her Critters And The Step-family

Norris: “I lost someone I love </3 and they came back wrong </3 </3”

Chester: “do NOT GO TO THE MAGNUS INSTITUTE DON’T GO TO THE MAGNUS INSTITUTE DON’T GO TO THE MAGNIS INSTITUTE YOU WILL DIE DO YOU HEAR ME DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT THE MAGNUS INSTITUTE”

Norris: “sometimes I can still hear his voice”

tea partyyy ^_^

I couldn't decide between the teddy or the flower I think their both so cute

I found this super cute picrew and made myself in it so y'all should try it too!!

Tagging @aroacehanzawa @tevinterspirit @huabeam @sugarcarnation and anyone else who wants to try it (you can say I tagged you)

I'll admit I was worried that Cinderella's castle would yet again girlbossify the title character (seen too many bad adaptions) but instead they did something way more lovely, Bryce Charles plays Ella with all the sweetness and loveliness of a Disney princess and tortured gothic heroine, yes, AND her primary motivation is revenge! It burns in her heart like a flame. The two do not contradict each other. her dress being starlight is thematically relevant, do you see? She is the last cinder in the house of ashmore, clothed in the dying light at the end of the universe, on the edge of burning out and yet sparking back to life. Fire is warmth and light and yet it can still burn you DO YOU SEE-

no but NOT ONLY does the Dracula novel explicitly show that the men's well-intentioned but extremely sexist decision to exclude mina because she is a woman makes her more afraid and unhappy and also puts her at risk BUT ALSO it shows that after they realize their mistake and start including her again she is actually noticeably happier, despite the dire circumstances, less worried AND she is able to meaningfully contribute to their efforts as a valuable member of the group, thus making them all stronger

it's so striking. many of the characters display very typical attitudes for the time that the book was written but the narrative...kinda doesn't. yes it was written in the 1890s so it's still dated by modern standards, but it makes a very conscious effort to question a lot of traditionalist attitudes and views that would have been prevalent at the time. like, the male characters all think that it makes sense that a woman's nerves would be too sensitive to participate in a vampire hunting mission...but the narrative does not validate this and in fact shows them to be wrong. and only when they change their behavior are they able to succeed.

Also notable that Jonathan is the first one to be able to injure the Count, and is ultimately the one who kills him. And he is the least traditionally masculine and most gender nonconforming of the male characters.

tldr lowkey in the books dracula was defeated with the powers of friendship feminism and gender nonconformity and I think we should talk about that more

Important Facts about Lughnasadh from an Irish Celtic Reconstructionist

Spelling and Pronunciation

OI. Lughnasadh (Loo-na-sa), sometimes spelled Lughnasa or Modern Irish Lúnasa. Not to be confused with other harvest festivals like Lammas.

Dates

Most reconstructionists celebrate Lughnasadh on July 31st - August 1st from sundown to sundown by the Gregorian calendar, while others choose to celebrate the transitional period between the months as they would have been by the Julian calendar (about 13 days later by the Julian calendar).

Traditionally this festival likely would have happened as the grains were ready for harvesting or possibly even when the wild bilberries were ripe (as some scholars mention that if the grains were not ripe they would still preform a ritualized ‘first harvesting’ but it is possible this tradition came after the festival was firmly tied to a calendar date.)

Importance in the Mythos

In the mythologies it is well documented that this festival coincides with Lugh’s funeral games in honor of his foster-mother Tailtiu, known as Aonach Tailteann. In the mythologies she is said to have died of exhaustion after clearing the plains of Ireland for agricultural needs. The first documented instance of Lughnasadh in the mythologies was in the Wooing of Emer, Tochmarc Emire, which makes sense given the importance of marriages at this time of the year. It is not known specifically but widely speculated that the curse of the Ulstermen by Macha took places at the horse race for this festival.

In later time periods it is common to see a form of struggle, normally between the ‘protective’ forces and ‘destructive’ forces. The modern equivalent being the struggle between Saint Patrick and Crom Dubh but this is likely a reflection of an early struggle between Lugh and Balor (which I previously mentioned in my info-dump on Bealtaine).

Celebration Traditions

Aonachs, funeral games, have (to the best of our knowledge) been a custom in Ireland since the bronze age and were practiced on and off into the middle ages. They had both personal and community functions and occurred in three stages. Stage one was the funeral proceedings themselves. They would last one to three days, likely depending on the importance of the individual in question. Mourning songs and chants were participated in by both the attendees and the Druids. The second stage was for proclaiming of laws. Aonachs were a time when universal piece between túaths was declared. The third stage was that of Cuiteach Fuait, games that tested mental and physical abilities. These games included the well known horse and chariot races, wrestling games, boxing, high jumps but also competitions in strategy, singing, story telling and between various skilled craftsmen.

It was incredibly common for marriages to be arranged and preformed during this festival. More well known ‘trial marriages’ (lasting a year and a day) were still preformed at this festival up until the 13th century. It is likely that the coupling occurring at this time of year had an effect on the relationship to births seen at Imbolg (which falls 9 months later).

MacNeill, a leading scholarly expert on the festival, notes that a ritualistic bull sacrifice was made at this festival and the bull would then be eaten. I could not find any definitive evidence to support the idea, but I think it was likely that bulls in general would be culled from the herd at this point in the year to supply the feast.

Art credit @ire-ethereal

was scrolling through the "the mechanisms was Jon Archivist's college band" tags on ao3 and misread "martin finds out Jon is the lead singer of his favorite band" as Melanie, and i honestly think that would be a hundred times funnier. imagine your eldritch boss who you fucking hate but sounds vaguely familiar asks what you're listening to one day out of awkward obligation to make British Small Talk and you roll your eyes and tell him he probably doesn't know them and then you drop their name and he goes very still and flushes and suddenly Jonny D'Ville is speaking in your airpods and you're looking at your boss (who again, you fucking hate) and your world crashes and burns

I just don’t feel like people appreciate book phantom enough. Like sorry but I have a fat crush on that no nosed gaunt looking wimp that literally dies after getting a kiss on the cheek and I feel like more people should too

There’s a venn diagram to be made here I swear

greek mythology musicals my beloved