#dads Being Supportive And Protective Of Their Gay Son

I saw the best thing on twitter today and no one else is freaking? Ok Can I just pretend this is canon?? Because YES to this headcanon.

Source/art - https://twitter.com/_paul_briggs_

Director at Disney Animation ｡.:*•* ｡. *•*:*｡.:*•* Story Supervisor of Frozen & Big Hero 6* ｡.:*•

Retweet/ https://twitter.com/_paul_briggs_/status/1054825535400898560

Mohtz on Society6

In honor of His Dark Materials coming out today/tomorrow, and finding out that the writers were playing DnD during production, here are my home brew rules for adding Daemons to a campaign for 5th Edition DnD.

(Feedback is welcome but this is my first home brew so please be gentle)

Sea witchcraft

Sea witchcraft, also known as sea magic or ocean witchcraft, is a type of witchcraft that is centered around the sea and its energies. It is a form of nature-based spirituality that draws upon the elements of water, air, and earth, and the rhythms of the tides and the moon. Sea witches may focus on healing, divination, or protection, as well as working with sea creatures and the spirits of the ocean.

Here are some key practices and beliefs associated with sea witchcraft:

Connection to the Sea: Sea witches believe in the power of the ocean and its ability to heal and transform. They may feel a deep connection to the sea, and incorporate its energies into their daily practice.

Working with Water: Water is a central element in sea witchcraft, and sea witches may work with it in a variety of ways, such as using sea water in rituals, collecting rainwater for use in spells, or working with water crystals or gemstones.

Moon Magic: The phases of the moon and its connection to the tides is an important aspect of sea witchcraft. Sea witches may perform rituals or spells during specific moon phases, and use lunar correspondences in their practice.

Sea Creatures: Sea witches may work with the spirits of sea creatures, such as dolphins, whales, and sea turtles. They may also use shells, coral, or other oceanic items in their spellwork.

Protection Magic: Because the ocean can be dangerous and unpredictable, sea witches may focus on protection magic, using spells or charms to ward off negative energies or to protect sailors and fishermen.

Divination: Sea witches may use various forms of divination to gain insights and guidance, such as tarot, runes, or sea shell readings.

Weather Magic: The sea and the weather are closely connected, and sea witches may work with the energies of storms, wind, and rain. They may perform rituals to calm storms or to bring rain during droughts.

Sea witchcraft can be practiced both on land and at sea. Some sea witches may work by the ocean, incorporating natural items like shells, driftwood, and seaweed into their practice, while others may incorporate the essence of the sea into their practice by using items like sea salt, seashells, or sea-themed decor in their homes.

Sea witchcraft is a beautiful and powerful way to connect with the energies of the ocean and nature, and to deepen your spiritual practice.

Your deities love you.

Haven’t tidied their altars in forever? They understand.

Don’t have the motivation to give them offerings? They get it.

You haven’t left bed for a long time? They still care about you.

Aren’t devoting time to them lately? They don’t mind

Forgot an offering? That’s alright. They forgive you.

Fucked something up? They’re not going to ditch you for your mistakes.

Decide to take a break from deity work? Totally cool, they’ll still be here for you.

Your deities understand your struggles. Even your mental health related issues. They get it, and they love you regardless. Just do your best for them, and they’ll appreciate it. 

My ocean altar💙 on my life, my mama said “jingle shells are wish shells” and I stood in the ocean and made a wish for our current house and threw the jingle shell to the sea. She needs more work and I want to get an ocean sign or something to hang above it but I love it. So blessed and thankful and in shock still.

Eurasian Otter Traits:

Playful, Intelligent, Defensive, Protective, Social, Charming, Resourceful, Fun-loving, Adaptable, Night-Owl, Mischevious

Some witches will argue that Christians stole pagan traditions and holidays, that there is absolutely no way syncretism played a role in anything related to the topic... then go on to use the whitewashed concept of chakras, try to girlbossify the Jewish demon Lilith into a "Goddess", demonize Hoodoo (and by extension black folk) in the name of love & light, steal Indigenous traditions to remove them from their original context... and the list goes on...

i love women

Predator/Carnivorous Dæmon Profiling: some of my long-winded thoughts

One of my biggest pet peeves in the dæmon community is the characterization of prey animals as being gentle/good, and predator animals being mean/bad. This is not an everybody-does-this kind of thing, by the way, but it crops up sometimes. It’s an easy trap to fall into (heck, I’ve done it before), and this isn’t an accusation towards people who personality-type this way. This is mostly to help A) newer or confused dæmons, B) start a discussion, and C) let me rant.

            I think one of the largest hurdles when dealing with characterizing predator dæmons is working through what it means for a dæmon to be carnivorous. To best do this, let’s look at why some animals evolved to eat meat rather than plant matter. In the simplest terms, meat, and especially organ meat, are incredibly nutrient-rich compared to pretty much all plant matter. Herbivores spend the vast majority of their days foraging for food, eating that food, and then repeating the process. If you’ve ever had a pet like a goat, cow, or horse, you know how long they’ll spend grazing, if you let them. While herbivores expend comparatively little effort meeting their nutritional requirements, the payoff is also relatively low; that’s why they’re forced to spend so much time eating. Consider, then, that while herbivores trend towards low risk—low reward, carnivores trend towards moderate/high risk—high reward. When examined in this way, it’s easier to see that predatory/carnivorous dæmons are people who work based on efficiency above all else. While I noted the possibility of “high risk”, what carnivorous animals really want is to put in the least amount of effort for the highest amount of payoff. This is why they frequently target the old, the young, the sick, the weak, and the slow; if a carnivorous animal can avoid putting in excess effort, they will. Also, fun fact! Most herbivorous animals can and will eat meat if it is made available to them. They might not be able to eat much of it, but they can digest at least a little bit. It’s actually quite common for herbivores to eat meat (birds, rodents, frogs, lizards, even carrion), so if you want to put some kind of moral judgment dæmon-wise on carnivores because they eat other animals, it’s going to have to extend it to herbivores, too.   

            When it comes to profiling dæmons, I understand that a certain amount of anthropomorphizing animals is required to do so accurately. However, I think sometimes people in the dæmon community take this to the extreme. I do get it—when you’re anthropomorphizing one animal, you’re obviously going to anthropomorphize them all, so the circle of life previously untethered from morality comes out a little more murder-y. Here’s the thing though: there is no such thing as sadism in the animal kingdom. The closest thing I can think of is animals that envenomate their prey and then follow them until they die so they can eat them (like Komodo dragons), but even in those cases this is, again, a case of a predator using the lowest risk action to gain the highest reward. And like, I do get it. Animals dying is sad! It’s violent, and brutal, and often extremely bloody! We all feel bad for Bambi, but that isn’t very helpful when it comes to dæmon profiling.

I frequently see predators characterized as vicious, when what they actually are is vulnerable. Predators aren’t competitive over territory and breeding rights because it’s fun, they’re competitive because if they lose their territory they will likely die. Without a safe area for them to live and hunt, they will probably starve or be killed, so when predators act aggressively towards other animals or people, they’re usually doing so out of desperation. Predators in particular have to be extremely careful about what fights they pick; as a general rule, they want to avoid conflict. Serious injuries are a death sentence to predators in a way that they aren’t even to prey animals, because predators are on a ticking clock to heal fast enough that they can hunt again, or they’ll starve to death. If a lynx were to somehow break its leg, that’s it, that animal’s life is over, so if a predator is willing to actually fight over a resource, they’re doing so because they have no other choice. The general list of what predatory animals will fight over can usually be summed up as follows: breeding rights, cubs/babies (if they have them), food, territory. These are the essentials of the animal kingdom, so to speak. To put this into perspective for why this list matters in regard to dæmons, people with predator dæmons will not be constantly aggressive, or evil, or cruel. For the most part, predator dæmons are very conflict-adverse, and will only involve themselves if said conflict directly affects them and/or something that holds an extremely high value for them.

            Now, that being said, most predators are also opportunists. A pack of wolves will go after a human like they would a deer because humans are, generally speaking, relatively easy to kill. While we may attach a moralistic perspective on that killing because as humans, we relate to said prey, these hypothetical wolves are just trying to meet their needs in the way that is the least strenuous and least likely to result in them being injured. This is a characteristic which often gets labeled selfishness—which I’m not denying that it can be—but which I think might be better labeled as individualism. I’ve seen people describing carnivorous dæmons as taking care of themselves at the expense of others, but often times what they’re referring to is an anthropomorphized approach to carnivorous behavior. I personally think this is a bit lazy and doesn’t get at the heart of what predator dæmons are like, because predator dæmons do invest in themselves above others (especially for animals that are lone hunters), but it isn’t because they kill other animals; it’s because, as I mentioned before, they’re inherently vulnerable. I’ve seen people refer to predator’s natural prey drive (such as tigers in zoos stalking patrons, or wolves overkilling livestock) as a sign that people with predatory dæmons are constantly looking to fuck someone else over, but the reality is that predatory animals (and therefore dæmons) are simply extremely aware of how vulnerable they are, and will take every occasion to meet their own needs, especially if that can happen without them needing to put themselves at risk.

            So how do we translate this into dæmonism? Mostly with a lot of generalizations and patience. Generally speaking, carnivorous/predatory dæmons are conflict-averse, efficiency-based, need/interest-focused people. Despite the aggression stereotype, most predator dæmons just want to be left alone, and will likely only engage if they feel like or someone/something extremely important to them is being threatened (this is slightly less true for animal forms that are group hunters, as they have a wider support network to fall back on and can manage more risky behavior). Predators are also efficient animals, and dæmons of the same kind will reflect that. This means that people with predator dæmons won’t usually be inclined to expend effort unless they’re actively gaining something of high value from it. This doesn’t mean that people with predator dæmons can’t be active, it just means they aren’t likely to take on a challenge without a sufficient reward waiting for them at the end. Predators dæmons are also going to be need/interested-focused, which I tend to translate into predator dæmons having a few categories of things that are actively important to them; it might be their career, their family, their hobby, whatever. These categories tend to overlap, and become the main concerns for people with predator dæmons’ happiness. Everything outside of those specific concerns don’t matter overly much to people with predator dæmons. If something doesn’t directly affect a person with a predator dæmon, they probably don’t care. This is where the selfish characterization comes in, and while it isn’t wrong, I think it lacks the awareness that the downside to this blasé attitude predator dæmons carry towards things outside their interest is that, should that person lose any of the things they consider vital to their own life, they will experience a huge amount of upheaval and distress. This is what makes them vulnerable. A lion needs to eat, you know? And if a predator dæmon can’t feed themselves (metaphorically speaking), they’ll waste away. These three traits (conflict-aversity, efficiency, need/interest-focus) all tie into one another, and present a person who will likely only take on challenges in their own life if they can either do so without significant risk to their personal comfort, or see the potential reward as worth significant possible loss. So, it’s a somewhat contradictory personality that stems from wanting the best for the lowest price.

            Just some disclaimers, since anyone who’s read this far deserves them! Not all predator dæmons are going to meet this personality type exactly. Predators higher on the food chain, and predators that hunt in groups are going to be more prone to risky behavior than lone hunters, and predators lower on the food chain, generally speaking. There are also outliers, as with any broad category (fisher cats have successfully killed lynxes, those little bastards do not fuck around). A lot of omnivores also get stuck in the carnivore/predator category, when they can, but don’t always follow the same personality type (some bears do, like black bears, but not all). So, while I hope this essay/rant helps people, I also hope that anyone who reads this understands that personality-typing dæmons is complex, so if you feel like this doesn’t apply to a form, don’t worry about it. Or, hey, reply to this and let me know. If anyone thinks I’m completely wrong, I’d also be curious about your take on predator/carnivorous dæmons.