Who Even Knows Anymore?

30+ Queer Witch they/them | MDZS Sideblog @hyperfixatedonmdzs

[wizardnuke]

fake relationship but its a king and his concubine that was once an amazing soldier but he couldn’t go up the ranks for whatever reason so the king was like listen. hear me out. you can be my strategy dude. u just gotta be okay w walking around shirtless a lot. and soldier dude is like man that’s an UPSIDE and yknow they end up falling in love

[aethersea]

some idiot advisor: I can’t believe his majesty lets his boytoy attend these council meetings, it’s an insult to the noble institutions that uphold our nation, it’s an outrage—

a somewhat smarter advisor: you’re just mad bc he pointed out how dumb your naval attack strategy and no one laughed when you made a mean joke about him

[fieldbears]

Boytoy has gone from a top fighter who was well respected but in constant danger to wearing silks and eating grapes on daises. That fucked up rotator cuff was the best thing to ever happen to him

[mzminola]

Bonus points: at least half the other concubines are experts in assorted fields, the monarch brings them to relevant meetings to both play up a reputation for frivolity, and make sure at least one person there doesn’t have an outside agenda.

[aethersea]

my harem? 

did you mean: my chief strategic advisors

[kitten-kin]

The kingdom is an absolute monarchy but the harem has become a secret meritocracy. The nobles and official advisors kind of side-eye His Majesty because wow some of these consorts must have like…really good personalities. Kings of the past have had their own specific tastes of course; size, shape, age, color, et cetera. More than one ruler has interviewed consorts feet first and Ardwin the Adventurous’s obsession - God rest him - with snuffling armpits like a sow rooting for mushrooms is well known despite never being alluded to in polite company.

The worst part of it is that the new king takes at least part of his harem with him everywhere and it’s so embarrassing. The Counselors of War have never once met with His Divine Majesty without that hulking battle-scarred consort interrupting with muttered growls or scornful snorts. And the Ministers of Finance all flinch at the sight of that fox-faced one, rumored to have been rescued from the gallows because His Augustness took a fancy to his eyes or some such nonsense. General petition days are even worse, with practically the entire harem drifting in and out of the Grand Hall in turns, insouciant and smug like granary cats who know they’ve been given full run of the courtyards and barns.

It’s absolutely infuriating that the kingdom has never before known such a period of peace and prosperity under this ridiculous monarch.

[absolutely-esme]

It has not yet occurred to anyone that, perhaps, his highness has a competence kink.

It will, eventually, and at least a few people are going to be embarrassed it didn’t occur to them sooner.

“Well, you won’t be catching the king’s eye,” becomes an entirely different sort of insult than foreigners tend to assume.

[catgirlthecrazy]

@defilerwyrm this seems right up your alley

[zeldacw]

I just wanted to ask if you had heard about the Danmei: Copper Coins? Tong Qian Kan Shi? Because I love your art style so fucking much and I KNOW they would look absolutely stunning in your style!

(And I’m starved for fanart of these idiots…yeah)

oh...did I forget to post here on tumblr O_Oa I did a couple sketches some years ago:

[clairedaring]

I've come back from the dead. Back into my old body. No one believes what happened to me. I just want to know if God determines our fate… Why bring me back? If rebirth is a sacred blessing for all things. I have to find the answer to this rebirth of mine.

RESET (2025) | Episode 1

[deliciousenigmas]

Day 1, Scene 1: Investigation

Infiltration

Wren arrives at the market with sweat rolling down her neck. The crowd has mostly dispersed, the city guards having set up a perimeter and hustled most people away. It's not looking good.

Nearby, a man in shabby looking armour stalks the stalls. He asks a merchant a question, limping to another when he gets an answer. [Level 1 threat- fallen knight]

Hoisting her healing kit, Wren approaches the guards. "I'm here to identify the victim," she says, trying to sound professional. [Insight- failure. New keyword: Faerie. Threat ^level.] The guard looks at her with a raised eyebrow.

"You don't look like the coroner..."

"I'm not, but I was told it might be someone I know," Wren explains. Her hands tighten on the strap of her kit. I hope she was wrong... [Insight- success at cost. Threat ^level.] Meanwhile, the armoured man gets closer... [+1 danger]

[+1 danger]

Discovery

The guard frowns, but lets Wren past. She walks closer to the body, but pauses when she hears shouting from the other side of the guards perimeter.

"But who did it?! You're all just standing around when we could have a killer on the loose?!" An hysterical woman barges past the guards into Wren's face. "You! Did you see it? The hunters! They're everywhere! Nowhere is safe!"

"Ma'am, please-" The poor guards seem completely out of their depth. They must be pretty new to the job if this is enough to stump them. Wren sighs.

"Look, hey, I didn't see any hunters or anything-" The woman wails about doom and the end of civilisation, shoving a bit of paper into Wren's hand. [Insight- failure. New keyword: Talisman. +1 danger] Suddenly, the shabby, armoured man pushes through.

"What's are you yapping about?" He asks the woman. His gaze then turns to Wren and her healers kit. "Are you a healer? I've been looking for one! I need you to come see my friend, right now!" He grabs Wren by the arm, trying to pull her along. [+2 fatigue]

"Hey, let go!" She looks to the guards, but they're too busy with the hysterical woman to notice. "Give me a minute!" She wrenches her arm out of the man's grip.

"Okay, but be quick, please!"

Wren pulls a vial out of her bag and hands it to one of the guards. "Here. It'll help her," she says, nodding at the woman. [Method- full success. Doubles- random event. Bonus clue: Poisonous substance]

{Random event: While Wren is talking to the guard in front of her, one of the others is taking a message from a courier. "What? It's going to cost how much?! Screw that, I'd rather hire someone off the street!" He looks around and sees the scruffy, armoured man. "Hey! C'mere a minute!"}

"Huh," the guard says. "The victim had some vials like this in his bag. What is it?" Wren's eyes widen. It is him!

"This is just a sedative. Do you mind if I have a look at the bag?" The guard jerks his head in the bag's direction before turning his attention to administering the sedative.

Rifling through the bag, Wren finds several vials. Some she's familiar with, but one of them is in an unusual shade of purple. She unstoppers it and gives it a sniff- poison! She slips the vial into her pocket for later examination.

"Are you done?" The armoured man returns from talking with the guard. "I really need you to come with with me." Wren takes a deep breath.

"Almost!"

[+1 danger]

Acquisition

Wren finally turns to the body. She lifts the cloth covering it and sighs. Dammit Silas, she thinks. You were supposed to come to my shop first thing... [Insight- full success. Clue: Aura. Bonus clue: Ritual marks]

Out of the corner of her eye, Wren notices a strange haze in the air above Silas's skin. Now what could that be? Taking a pair of tweezers from her kit, she gingerly pulls back his shirt and gasps. As well as the weird hazy aura, a black mark seems burned into the skin just below Silas's collarbones. Why does he have this?! Wren recognises the mark. It's from a ritual that takes a learned skill from the victim and transfers it to the ritualist. Very illegal in most places. Which skill was stolen from him? And by who?!

Just as she's trying to think who might have knowledge of the ritual, the shabby man grabs her by the arm again. [+1 fatigue- Strike Method]

"Let's go already!"

[+1 danger]

Escape

Wren yanks her arm out of the man's grip. [Power- success with cost. +1 danger] "Stop grabbing at me! I'll be there soon, okay?" She turns and subtly waves over a guard and asks them to distract the man. [Insight- full success. Bonus clue: Torn clothing]

Wren pulls the cloth back up over Silas's still frame before she leaves, and notices something odd- her colleagues sleeve is torn! She makes a mental note of a missing strip of dark green cotton and slips away while both guards and shabby man are distracted with each other.

Wren Porter is utterly exhausted, but managed to acquire four clues! Purple poison, skill-stealing ritual marks, a strange hazy aura, and a torn sleeve.

Current danger: 6

There is a level 3 threat: a shabby, desperate looking man in worn armour. He appears to want Wren to help his friend, but who knows what his real motive is...

No keywords have been used, but Wren's Method attribute is out of commission!

Follow the blog to find out what happens next!

[deliciousenigmas]

Introducing: Wren Porter

Wren Porter, a somewhat superstitious apothecary, has been waiting on the arrival of an esteemed colleague all day. His letter had said he had information that could help with her private creation, which had been stalled for weeks now, leaving her near tears of frustration whenever she had time to think about it.

She was about to start searching the inns when she heard the news.

"Dead?! Why? How? Where?!"

"The markets," her apprentice told her, freshly returned from that very place. "I was packin' up when I heard."

Wren grabs her kit from beneath the counter and rushes out into the late afternoon heat.

(image from picrew)

[deliciousenigmas]

Welcome to Delicious Enigmas!

Where the fiction's made up and the rolls don't matter! Well, they do matter, but it all depends on interpretation...

Caught in the Rain is a solo mystery game that uses playing cards and dice to tell a story, created by Nicholas Robinia and published by the Ravensridge Emporium. I backed the project on kickstarter and I'm so glad I did because I am in love! The book is filled with prompts and ideas that can be interpreted in twisty ways and expanded on forever. Playing this game feels like you're writing a new story (which you are, let's be real) one scene at a time, with no idea what's going on! It's so much fun and it really scratches that creative itch.

The end result of a game looks like a rough draft of a story- not something I'd normally want to share seriously, but I do want to share the small fictions that emerge.

You can find a digital copy of Caught in the Rain here and a physical copy here- one day I'll have physical copy myself...

[xiaolanhua]

Li Yun Rui as Song Mo Blossom 九重紫 (2024) – Ep. 1

[xiaolanhua]

SUN ZHEN NI as MU XUAN LING THE BLOSSOMING LOVE 千朵桃花一世开 (2025) – EP. 15

[libraford]

Listen, I'm having fun playing with the ultra patriotic voice, but after a couple years in blue-collar landscaping jobs, you really do need to phrase things like that.

"I'm pretty sure that fella ain't here legally."

"Well, that ain't your business Chip, it's his."

They hate being preached to. If you pull out words like 'gender wage gap' they'll tell you you're brainwashed by the far left media.

"He's one of them transgenders."

"He got freedoms too, Jimmy."

[roguebombshell]

You say, "bodily autonomy" and it's all, "oooh look who's got a college vocabulary."

Instead say, "The government shouldn't be able to tell you what to do with your body. You want some bureaucrat getting between you and your doctor? Making it take twice as long to get treatment? If someone wants breast implants, hormones, or to not get pregnant, that's between them and their doctor. You know they got surgeries where they can break your leg bones and stretch them to make you taller? I watched a thing about a woman who did that; it was her dream to be a fight attendant, but she was too short (you gotta be able to reach the overhead compartments), so she got the surgery to be tall enough. Living her dream. I think people should be able to do what they want with their bodies. If you don't want to change genders or get taller or take hormones, that's your choice, but that's no reason to tell other people what they can't do. Mind your business."

"All I want the government to do is make sure companies can't rip us off by selling us do-nothing pills, poison us, or overcharge for stuff we need to live. Greedy corporate bastards. Police the greedy CEOs and insurance companies who are scamming us, who would shoot your granny if it increased profits, and leave the end users alone."

"People worry too much about other people's genitals. Bunch of weirdos, wanting to check kids genitals before they can use the bathroom or play a sport. Sick freaks if you ask me. Leave the kids alone. When I was a kid, I was the only girl on my t-ball team, and I was just fine. Let kids play sports, doesn't matter what gender they are, what matters is what skill level they are in the sport."

"I think the government should stay out of the bedroom. You want to have sex with a man? Two men? Three? You want to get paid for sex? None of my business, none of the government's business, none of my neighbor's business. As long as no one's getting hurt, let people do what they want. We got a huge child marriage problem in this country; you want to fight perverts? Tell the government to fight that. That's much a bigger problem than gay marriage or trans people or kinksters or sex workers. If two adults want to dress as cats and do sex games with each other, let them! But I draw the line at marrying kids; that's fucked up, you agree?"

[fleshengine]

This is what I mean when I say you have to meet people where they're at if you want to change minds. Because there are people that you can throw essay level argumentation at all day and nothing will change, but you say "mind your own business Ted" and they get it.

When my mom and I lived with her bf, I ran into this a lot. Not so much from the bf himself (though he did make fun of they/them a few times), but from the people he hung out with. He ran a landscaping company in an area that's most purply than most of western washington. So his employees occasionally asked pointed questions about his two weird kids.

A quick "it's not your business" worked for most of them. But the guy who rented his shop and ran a vehicle repair business out of it was a little more inquisitive. For a while he didn't want anything to do with me and my sibling, but eventually he came around after a talk with my mom, and I had a beer with him in the shop. An alright guy, who had been convinved of some messed up things.

[puppygirllaika]

I think a lot about the folks at my old hardware store. It was the cheapest place nearby for me to get a lotta what i needed for my projects, and it was an independent place run by a third generation woman. It was literally built by hand by her grandfather. It was also a place mostly shopped at by low-income conservative folks, just due to the demographics of it's location.

When I went in the first time, a very visibly trans woman, things were a little cold. Not rude, not unsafe, but I was very clearly An Outlier in that place, and both the owner and some other folks there were kinda side-eyeing me the whole time. The second time i went it was much the same. The third a little less so. The fourth even less. I liked the place, and i came from a more rural spot, so it felt more familiar to me then like, a big hardware store, or even something like an Ace, so I just kept going.

folks slowly warmed up to me, and one time I went there the thing i needed was hard to get to, so i ended up hanging out and shooting the shit with the owner for like, 20 minutes while she dealt with some other stuff first. We both came from farm backgrounds. Both had some similar experiences. Both loved some of the same features of the area we lived in. The more we talked the more she warmed up, and the more I think she started to see me as just another farm girl like her, just of a younger generation.

I've been going there for years, and that place is warm and friendly now. I'm greeted like an old friend when I come in, and the other regulars give me smiles and nods, and when i go there with other trans folks, they treat them just the same way.

The thing is, a lotta people just. lack the exposure. It's not ignorance out of malice, it's not actual hatred or distaste, it's just the unease that comes from being fed this vision of minorities by other conservatives all the time. When you start to become a part of their life, they learn to stop seeing you as some mysertious other, and you become just another person at the hardware store. You become someone they can listen to, someone who speaks their language and respects them, someone they can teach something to, and someone who can also be taught.

I see pride flags there sometimes now. progress flags, even. in the windows of peoples cars. in pins on peoples jackets. On peoples trucker caps. I talk to folks there and, well, they're still a little awkward, but a lotta them have that spirit, and the more we talk the more they have.

I know i'm a bit off the topic of this post, a post about language, not just some vague concept of familiarity, but like. I know that there's a hardware store worth of people who are still conservative, who still probably watch fox news and complain about taxes, but when someone comes on their tv talking about trannies indoctrinating kids and screaming at people in stores and making everyone uncomfortable and unsafe, I bet a lot of them think of me, their hardware store tranny. I bet a lot of them furrow their brow a bit, and tilt their head a little, and think "well, i don't know about that, i wouldn't go that far..." and honestly. That's worth a lot more then you might realize. That can be the starting point of questioning those beliefs, of questioning what they're being fed.

It's the little things that spark that change. Sometimes it's as simple as coming back each week and speaking the language. Sometimes that's enough to get people started.

[animentality]

[queselevaaser]

Guys, it's time to drop Google.

Google isn't the only search engine in the whole internet, there are others! And we need to diversify our search engine usage or we're gonna end up where we were a decade and change ago with the Internet Explorer issue. We can't let a single brand monopolize everything! This is why Google Search can afford to suck so hard: because people use it regardless! And there are alternatives.

A little bit about search engines, there are 3 types: crawlers, which work by scraping the web and developing their own indexes; metas, which get their results from the crawler-type search engines and therefore depend entirely upon them; and mixed, those which have their own (small) index but also pull results from the crawlers.

Right now, there are a couple of independant crawlers apart from Google, Bing (from Mycrosoft) and Yandex (the Russian one): this are Mojeek and Wiby.

Supporting independant crawlers is the easiest way to fight the shittyfication of the internet.

Mojeek.com is an independant british search engine with its own growing index commited to fighting internet censorship. It's small, and therefore it's usability isn't as good as that of the Big Three, but it doesn't censor, it's fairly respectful of people's privacy, and it doesn't drown you in adds. For those old enough to remember, it's a lot like early 2000s Google: you can find what you need, but if you write "dig shelter" instead of "dog shelter", that's what it's gonna search for. That said, please try to use it and support it as much as you can before we end up entirely dependant on Google, Bing and big corps adds. [click here to go to Mojeek]

Wiby.me is a new indie project that is literally dedicated to bringing back the old-school web. It's goal is to index as many personalized websites as possible, and NOT commercial sites. So, for those of you who can't find any answers to technical questions beyond highschool level because Google buries them under a gazillion commercial sites and other meaningless shit, keep an eye on this project! It has a lot of potential. And, if you know of any personal websites that have great stuff but have been murdered by Google, you can go over to Wiby and submit it to their index. [click here to go to Wiby]

Aside from those, there are also meta search engines you can use to ween yourself off Google and search for random, day to day stuff.

Qwant.com is my go-to here—it has its own index and pulls from Bing, has relatively little censorship, and is fairly private. This is the one I use on my phone for everyday stuff. [click here to go to Qwant].

Historically, DuckDuckGo has always been a go-to for those who want a search engine that respects your privacy and doesn't censor. Personally, I've never been a fan, and there have been a LOT of scandals in recent years. It supposedly has its own index and pulls from Bing, much like Qwant, but I don't know. I just don't like it. Still, I've added it here for completeness' sake.

If you have Firefox Mobile browser, you can set any of these search engines as your default search engine and you can also add the others as secondary search engines and switch quicky from the navigation bar. If you don't have firefox mobile though, what are you doing with your life??? Go get it!! It is So. Much. Better. You can have add blockers and watch YouTube add free, for free! You can have reader mode and dark mode add-ons! You can have the world oh my goshhhh, drop Chrome!!

4get.ca is my last recommendation: it works a lot like SearX, but honestly better. It doesn't have its own index, but pulls from many others. I think it's the best for reaserch, since it allows you to search for answers from different indexes, is easy to configure, add free, and avoids censorship as much as it can. It's also very privacy conscious, so that's an other plus, and it has that late 90s / early 2000s vibe that I totally dig. [click here to go to 4get]

If you wanna learn more about the topic, you can over to the Search Engine Map [click here] which shows you a bunch of Search Engines and how they relate to each other. Or you can also go over to this one dude's personal website whose done A Lot of reaserch into the topic (way more than me) and seems to be pretty legit, if a little extra. [click here to go to digdeeper.neocities.org] Hope this infodump is useful to someone =D

PS: here's to hoping all the links work!

EDIT: eliminated the "read more". Figured there are enough mega long posts in tumblr, one more won't make no difference lol (tho the version w the read more has been reblogged already, in case you'd rather)

[notringl]

"The Dao was dispassionate yet held compassion and such was the cosmos."

[heymeowmao]

冰雪谣 | Snowfall E6 ° Can I treat you to another meal?

[take-a-dip-in-the-deadpool]

A bit of a pallet cleanser for everyone.

[prismatic-bell]

Most of the dogs: you have bestowed affection, I will cuddle you

The pit bull: KISSU????? KISSU FOR ME????? I KISS U!!!!! I GIVE KISSES!!!!!

[heymeowmao]

Modern Brothers Liu Yuning x NiShuiHan 逆水寒 - 龙吟 (Dragon's Roar)

[xiranjayzhao]

This is one of the most dystopian things I've ever read like TO PROTECT LIBERAL DEMOCRACY WE ARE ENDING LIBERAL DEMOCRACY???

[xiranjayzhao]

SLOW DOWN SLOW DOWN SLOW DOWN

NOOOOOOOOO

Oh ok

[kelpology]

being disabled will really have you thinking/saying things like “yeah i’m not really THAT disabled. as long as i take my meds twice a day (and as needed), eat and drink exactly the right things, keep the perfect balance of being active and resting, the weather is stable, and nothing unexpected happens AT ALL… i’m totally FINE! i probably should not even call myself disabled at this point because i’m doing so well!”

if you don’t want to call yourself disabled, that’s fine and it is your choice! but if you’re only “fine” or “doing really well” when a bunch of different variables are all lined up perfectly, then maybe you are not fine actually. just a thought!

[xiaguangmagpie]

“Can’t see what I’m watching everything is filmed so dark these days” go watch a historical cdrama they are generally well lit, yes even at night

“Not enough episodes, I never get to know the characters” historical cdramas have LOTS of world building, buckle up

“The costumes and sets look so cheap, how did this have a huge budget and end up like this” historical cdramas are full of hanfu and hengdian studios and it’s fantastic, trust me

“I randomly found this post but I’m a huge fan of historical fiction or fantasy and also like comedies of manners like Jane Austen with a side of Tolkien” have I got news for you!!

[zhoudadudugongjin]

"I'm tired of how there's always unecessary sex scenes in everything that's aimed at adults-" i have a suggestion

[xiaguangmagpie]

I can’t believe I forgot that. Yeah, nothing to worry about there folks. But if you thought the hand flex in P&P was hot, wait until you see all the yearning longing heart eyes we have.

Also I just thought of something else:

“I’m so sick of western style toxic masculinity and wish men could have more emotional range” oh honey, here is my massive collection of men with big brown eyes who weep beautifully and freely