#But he’s explicitly written as Catholic

[doyouknowthisjewishcharacter]

Do you know this Jewish character?

[giantkillerjack]

WHAT UP THE CONFLATION OF SUFFERING WITH LOVE IS EXTREMELY QUESTIONABLE

Tags on this post, by @saint-ambrosef and @mariposasmonarch, isolated here because they accidentally hit on EXACTLY what I think brought about my original line of thinking:

#of course christ dying wasn't “necessary” #but damn if it isnt the most visible and obvious way to show someone that you love them #a person snapping their fingers and giving you everything you wanted isn't nearly as impactful as that person willingly enduring personal #suffering in order to give it to you #thats what we mean when we say “christ died for us” #not because he strictly had to but because he wanted to show us just how far his love goes #we puny humans can know in our lowest moments that god incarnated himself to be brutally murdered #just to make his “i love you” absolutely clear #its not a guilt trip...it's reassurance in its purest form #<- YES #and if this isn’t the most beautiful and touching expression of True Love #the Selfless Love #Love which is Willing the Good for the other for no reason but just that

I disagree with this. All of it. I genuinely think that dying for someone is a shitty and stupid gift, especially when you didn't need to do it and it provides them with no tangible benefit. I think this is a dangerous and irresponsible thing to teach your children.

Martyrdom and suffering are not inherent expressions of love.

I believe in good for others for the sake of good, and kindness for the sake of kindness. But what always throws me for a loop is the Christian idea that suffering on its own is a form of good. I disagree. I disagree with my whole heart.

As a child, I was taught that the best thing I could be is Christlike. And I was Not Okay.

I lived my life ready to set myself on fire to prevent someone else from feeling a chill, and this impulse still follows me over a decade after I lost my faith. (There were other factors also, but religion played a big role in this attitude.)

It has been devastating to my health, nearly to the point of death on multiple occasions. The idea that the best and purest form of love is to suffer - It's gross. I think it's gross. I don't feel loved; I feel like if someone tortured themselves to death and then I was told to rejoice, for they did it all for me! And I'm like... oh. I didn't... ask for that?

I've lived my entire adult life without proper healthcare. I would argue that someone snapping their fingers and giving me everything I ever wanted would actually be a LOT better for me than if they suffered and died. Like, magnitudes better.

I believe that the purest form of love is to LIVE for another person.

I've done that. I do that. I've seen people suffer pain worse than death and still not die just because they loved me. And I felt loved not because they were suffering but because they were doing whatever it took to live by my side and to live in happiness.

Sacrifice is a part of love, but it is not inherently loving. It has to have a reason or it is just pure performative loss, which actually does feel like a guilt trip!

I just-- I've gotten a ton of completely different dogmatic answers today, but to me, these tags are what strikes at the heart of it all.

The idea that we need to place every single other living thing before ourselves even and perhaps especially to the point of self-destruction.

For an example, in the Catholic church, most of the Saints are martyrs! And they were taught to us like action heroes with superpowers and everything! My little sister with their childhood OCD collected cards of saints like they were Pokemon cards! Which is really cute until you consider that they were a compulsive child idolizing a pantheon of people whose defining trait was brutal self-sacrificial death. They were one of the most anxious children I've ever met.

For me, as an autistic kid, the idea that suffering was somehow inherently good helped me to endure a lot more extreme sensory pain than I otherwise would have. I was terribly proud of my ability to endure pain. But now as an adult with crippling cPTSD, I can't help but notice that none of those sacrifices I made actually helped anyone!

I don't personally believe that gods are real. But if I did, I think I'd be awfully angry at the Christian god for killing himself and having the nerve to say it was for me.

I've literally had a loved one who believed they were a burden offer to kill themselves for me. It was a heinous idea for a gift, and I told them so. They were terribly disappointed when I chose the other, much more difficult and beautiful option, which was to live for each other. Live and grow and love in the light. To plant gardens for each other and cook them into meals. To build and nurture and know. THAT is the most beautiful and sure form of love. I will accept no substitutes.

I hope someday someone shows you love in a way that feels more beautiful to you than crucifixion - literal or metaphysical. You deserve love that isn't defined by pain.

[fangirleaconmigo]

Abortion in The Witcher Books

Would anyone like to come along with me on a deep dive regarding abortion in The Witcher books? Not enough people talk about the fact that Geralt of Rivia is explicitly pro-choice and that the sorceresses are seen providing reproductive care, including abortion, on multiple occasions. So, let's do that.

There are a lot of things you can say about The Witcher books, feminism, misogyny, and the male gaze. (I am considering doing my first video on this very topic. It is complicated. This is not a 'the books are perfect' post) But one thing we can never say is that they are wishy washy about bodily autonomy, and more specifically, abortion. (In fact, that is the entire point of Ciri and Geralt's arc, which I will get to at the end of the post)

This topic came up awhile back because a 'witcher school' was closed after the owners were found to have ties to far right organizations, including anti-abortion organizations. So, I did a little thread on twitter about it, wondering how you can call yourself a Witcher fan (to the extent that you license a fan activity business!), and miss the entire fucking point. It was my most popular (and ofc hated by others) tweet ever, which was interesting, but I was mostly surprised that so many people were shocked to learn that Geralt of Rivia is, as a character, canonically, verbally, explicitly pro-abortion rights.

So I’m going to put the info here too in case any of you here find it interesting. Obviously there will be spoilers for the books.

TW: discussion of sexual assault, pregnancy, and basically anything having to do with reproductive health.

Before I start, I want to say that the book refers to abortion in reference to rights for women throughout, so that is the language in this article. I want to be clear that I (as an individual) understand that abortion is relevant to other genders and that I support it for trans men, non binary people, literally anyone. Abortion should be safe and on demand for all. But this is not a post analyzing my views on abortion, but the appearance of abortion in fictional psuedo medieval-esque fantasy world of The Witcher books.

Ok, I’ll start with the fact that sorceresses provide reproductive care in the books, including abortions.

In, The Last Wish (p210) Geralt tries to give Nenneke money to help Yen with fertility treatments. (In the books he does not mock her desire to have a child) He knows Yen wants to be a mother, and he wants to help. Nenneke replies that she does not need his money, and that providing abortions pays a hell of a lot better than witchering.

"You're more of an idiot than I thought." Nenneke picked up the basket from the ground. "A costly treatment? Help? Geralt, these jewels of yours are, to her, knickknacks not worth spitting on. Do you know how much Yennefer can earn for getting rid of an unwanted pregnancy for a great lady?"

Witches as providers of abortion is a very common trope in fantasy fiction for a very good reason. In order to stamp out paganism and polytheism, European colonists vilified the village wise woman as a murderer of children, hence the 'boil them in a pot, stuff them in the oven' stories about witches. Many people interpret this as the vilification of abortion. In the classic 1972 feminist text Witches, Midwives, and Nurses: A History of Women Healers, Ehrenreich and English quote Malleus Maleficarum, the witch hunting manual written by Catholic clergymen in 1487, to show that women providing reproductive healthcare was one of the 'characteristics' of a witch.

The witch that provides reproductive healthcare fits in very well in the witcher world, where Geralt and the witchers are embodiments of the working class who are used as tools and exploited. They are loathed until they are needed. The same is true of abortion providers. They are hated until they are needed, and they are always needed.

It also fits in well with the themes of class. In the Witcher books, it is stated multiple times that it is upper class women who are accessing this care from sorceresses. That is real. It is the truth that outlawing something very very often only means outlawing it for the poor and working class. The wealthy always find a way.

In Season of Storms, the sorceress Coral and her assistant Mozaïk provide reproductive healthcare to "wealthy, upper-class ladies" on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Geralt comes to speak to Coral in chapter sixteen and both of the women are wearing white doctor coats. They have just helped a woman deliver a baby and it is implied that the baby died and they are both upset. They do not want Geralt there, because (it seems to me) they need space to grieve, and they do not expect him to understand. They send send him away, suggesting he go spend time with Dandelion.

She walked over and kissed him on the cheek without a word. Her lips were cold. And she had dark circles under her eyes.

She smelled of medicine. And the fluid she used as disinfectant. It was a nasty, morbid scent. A scent full of fear.

"I'll see you tomorrow," she forestalled him...She looked at him and it was a faraway look, from beyond a chasm of time and events between them. He needed a few seconds to understand how deep that chasm was and how remote were the events separating them.

"Maybe the day after tomorrow would be better. Go to town. Meet that poet, he's been worried about you. But now go, please. I have to see a patient."

After she had gone, he glanced at Mozaïk....

"We had a birth this morning," she said, and her voice was a little different. "A difficult one. She decided to use forceps. And everything that could have gone badly did."

"I understand."

"I doubt it."

"Goodbye Mozaïk."

There are multiple other references to abortion in relation to sorceresses; I won't quote them all. But I'll leave you with one other reference. In Lady of the Lake (pp114), in a very funny moment, Angoulême says she has a 'small problem' and Fringilla replies:

"I understand," nodded the sorceress. "It's nothing dreadful. When was your last period?"

Angoulême is rather put out at the thought of being pregnant.

"What do you mean?" Angoulême leaped to her feet, frightening the chickens. "It's nothing of the sort. It's something completely different!"

So, sorceresses provide abortions and other reproductive care.

But what about the men? What about the heroes?

Well, several of the male protagonists state explicitly in no uncertain terms that abortion is an inalienable, sacred right. That includes Geralt himself.

Here is Geralt taking to Queen Calanthe in Sword of Destiny (p345). She asks him whether he hates his mother. In the course of his answer, Geralt says that abortion is “a choice which should be respected, for it is the holy and irrefutable right of every woman.”

"A choice. A choice which should be respected, for it is the holy and irrefutable right of every woman."

That’s a strong goddamn statement. There’s no doubting his meaning or the strength of his conviction. And it isn’t just Geralt. Dandelion (Jaskier), Cahir (he is traveling with Geralt as part of the hansa in the books, please set aside anything you think you know about him from TWN), and Regis (Geralts dear friend) all explicitly support abortion rights, quite passionately.

In Baptism of Fire (p317), one of Geralt’s dear friends (my favorite, the love of my life, Milva) shares that she is pregnant. They are on a brutal journey through a war zone looking for Ciri. So it’s complicated. Another friend, barber surgeon vampire Regis has prepared an elixir for her to induce an abortion. So, not only do sorceresses provide abortions, but so do vampire barber surgeons, one of the most lovable heroic characters in the books.

But before he administers it, Regis gathers the rest of the company. Regis knows Milva feels like shit at the prospect of burdening them, so he is worried that she is making the decision under duress. They don’t immediately understand why he is bringing the matter to them.

At first they think he is asking for opinions on whether she should get an abortion. They are baffled. Cahir answers first. He says in Nilfgaard it is always a woman’s right to choose.

"In Nilfgaard," Cahir said, blushing and lowering his head, "the woman decides. No one has the right to influence her decision. Regis said that Milva is certain she wants the medicament. Only for that reason, absolutely only for that reason, have I begun-in spite of myself-to think of it as an established fact. And to think about the consequences. But I'm a foreigner, who doesn't know...I ought not to get involved. I apologize."

So, Cahir says that maybe it’s a foreigner thing. Maybe it’s different for them. Dandelion (Jaskier) is offended and outraged by the implication that they believe any differently.

"What for?" the troubadour asked, surprised. "Do you think we're savages, Nilfgaardian? Primitive tribes, obeying some sort of shamanic taboo? It's obvious that only the woman can make a decision like that. It's her inalienable right. If Milva decides to--"

At this point, Geralt cuts Dandelion off. Geralt alone actually understands that there is something else happening here, that they are misunderstanding Regis and further questions are in order. Geralt begs Dandelion to stfu, which the bard misinterprets. He thinks Geralt is disagreeing with him and is considering opposing Milva's right to choose. Dandelion LOSES HIS TEMPER at the thought that Geralt would deny Milva her right.

Geralt becomes even more irritated and angry at the implication that he would do such a thing.

So, not only do we have witches as abortionists in The Witcher books, we have men, the hero (Geralt) his best friend (Dandelion), my beloved Regis, and Cahir say explicitly that abortion is an inalienable right.

And that should be no surprise.

Bodily autonomy and reproductive rights is at the very heart of the story. You do not have The Witcher story without it. It drives the narrative, the conflict, and Geralt and Yen's character arcs.

There is a criticism I see floating around quite a bit, that having Yen's story driven by her desire to be a mom and to physically reproduce is anti-feminist, or at least a tired reductive trope of women being defined by their maternal instincts.

I get that. I get tired of womanhood being defined by reproduction and motherhood as well. Biological essentialism when it comes to gender is exhausting and regressive. However, in this context, it is entirely clear to me that the point is NOT that all women should want to be pregnant. The point is the bodily autonomy, to be pregnant if you want to, and to not be pregnant if you don't want to.

Look at Ciri. She essentially becomes the main character by the end, and the idea of being pregnant repulses her.

So, in Lady of the Lake, Ciri is being held captive by elves, who want to do the same thing to her that everyone else does--breed her. The deal they offer her is, she does not 'have' to have sex with anyone until she is impregnated, but if she doesn't, she can't leave. (So, if she is to access what every human wants--freedom--she has to. This is still rape. It is coerced sex) She is understandably distraught and enraged. The part of that deal she seems most disgusted by, is the idea that she could be pregnant.

"But I don't want to!" yelled Ciri so loudly that the mare skittered beneath her. "I don't want to, understand? I don't want to! The thought of a bloody parasite being implanted in me is sickening. I feel nauseous when I think the parasite will grow inside me, that--"

She broke off, seeing the faces of the elf-women.

So yes, she is distraught that her bodily autonomy is being taken from her yet again. But perhaps the most upsetting part is the idea that she could be pregnant. It physically repulses her.

Now. Let's put this in context.

In this psuedo-medieval-esque setting with royal families, being used as a brood mare is COMMON and ACCEPTED. IN FACT, Calanthe, Ciri's OWN GRANDMOTHER was marrying her off against her will, betrothing her as a child. No one thought this was weird. It's your duty, right? No big deal. Even Geralt, when he first met Ciri, thought it would be a better life for her. Sure, it's against her will. But it's physically safe and luxurious. And he leaves her behind in Brokilon.

But at some point, Geralt puts two and two together. He connects his trauma with hers. He makes a decision that even if almost no one around him in his culture or on the continent, sees the importance of her bodily autonomy or agrees with him, he's protecting her. Not just against death, but against anyone taking her choice from her. When he is having a mental breakdown in Brokilon, worried about her, he tells Dandelion that he is trying to protect her from what happened to him. He doesn't say, she can't die. Or I can't let her be killed. He says she cannot be alone. She cannot go through what I went through. Here, I"ll let him say it: (Time of Contempt, p240)

"Listen to what?" shouted the Witcher, before his voice suddenly faltered. "I can't leave---I can't just leave her to her fate. She's completely alone...She cannot be left alone, Dandelion. You'll never understand that. No one will ever understand that, but I know. If she remains alone, the same thing will happen to her as once happened to me...You'll never understand that..."

"I do understand. Which is why I'm coming with you."

Honestly, I tear up thinking about it.

And Yen, well, she has a similar arc.

Yen has been abused and used as a tool, and along the way she has accepted that this is the way things are. Yen has even done the same to others. But she looked into that little face, those wide green eyes, and at some point she also connected the dots. There's another way of doing things, and maybe it is possible for a little girl to choose for herself. And even if it isn't possible, maybe the important thing is to fight for it. Maybe Yen can give her whole life to let a child just be a child.

Yen goes through torture and imprisonment for Ciri. She shoots lightning at a god, she shouts at a goddess, she drops through a portal into the sea, she gives up every last shred of political power she has spend ninety years accruing, she WILLINGLY tries to give her own life MULTIPLES TIMES, to save Ciri.

And from what? Death? Not always. At the heart of all this sacrifice is that Yen has made a decision that Ciri gets be a human who is given the dignity and respect of deciding what to do with her own body. To be a kid, not a tool. To be a person. To be free.

So Ciri gets to say, actually, for me, the idea of pregnancy is terrifying and repulsive and therefore, I don't want to do it.

In the end, Geralt, a person whose body was tortured and experimented on before he was too young to consent, and Yen, a woman who was abused and used, and BOTH of whom had their reproductive rights taken from them, decide to love Ciri and protect her bodily autonomy at any and all costs.

That is what drives the story. It drives the narrative. It drives both Geralt and Yen's character arcs. It is, in fact, the entire point.

So it should not be a surprise that abortion, and the right to have an abortion if necessary, is an inextricable part of The Witcher world. No, you cannot analyze these books and find 'perfect politics'. They are not politically correct. And there are many parts I can critique. I mean, we can critique anything. (and I do)

But I find it endlessly interesting that people who are conservative or right wing think that this property 'belongs' to them, and they want to push everyone else out, when all they have to do is pay the most minimal amount of attention and have really only two (2) brain cells to rub together, to see that they are indeed, incorrect.

[izzysbeans]

I am absolutly a fan of tommy i think he is a great character so far and i love how Lou is playing him. I also strongly believe the writers introduced the catholic guilt plot for Eddie because people have been talking about this idea as a way for him to have his queer story for YEARS like yes there were crumbs in the show alluding to this storyline but this is the first time it was explicitly talked about as as something that will be explored more this season. I don't think this is a coincidance at all and even tho i'm not 100% sure buddie will happen this season i do believe that this is the right time to express strong opinions in favour of it publicly because for maybe the first time EVER we as a community are being listend to on the topic of queerbating and we are being taken seriously. Eddie is a VERY queercoded character and i think this is an UNDENIABLE fact.

I think they can peacefully move from bucktommy to buddie with slow and well written episodes, creating more build up and eventually making buddie happen. Obviously even amicable breakups hurt a little bit, but they can make it happen in a way that allows both buck and tommy to move on to their respective stories, and even bring back Tommy in future seasons as a good friend that fans love, without him getting "in the way of buddie" if you know what i mean.

I'm curious to see what you guys think of this tell me your opinions and hot takes in my asks i'll reply to everyone

[useless-donut]

just thinking about astarion is SUCH a sweet partner? like this man was barely an adult elf when he was turned, and spent the next 200 years being abused by cazador, but like

- as the durge character, he'll be accepting and talk about your mental health and reassure you

- he'll insist on staying with your half illithid character, saying you shouldnt make his choices for him if you try to leave to protect him

- also just the dichotomy of him being explicitly vain and also explicitly not shallow is very sweet

- in that one lathanders light scene, he'll tell you he appreciates you trying to fix your mistake after you caused him IMMENSE pain

- he'll empathize with and support you if you swear your body to haarlep, noting how he's been through similar and is sorry you're going through it

- hes not jealous, his issues with sharing seem to largely come from if he thinks the other party would be okay with it (like he thinks lae'zel would spear him lol), and when someone like halsin comes along he'll happily consent

- on that note, he grows enough to be comfortable asking for support and reassurance instead of possessiveness/jealousy (not that these are the only options for that scenario, but astarions seen a lot of possessiveness in his life and its wonderful how much he avoids replicating it)

- he will always attack cazador in the final confrontation if cazador starts verbally abusing you instead of him

- he puts in the work to set boundaries that allow him to engage in an intimate (emotionally, physically, but not sexually) romantic relationship with tav and apologizes for "using" him before, when his behavior was SO understandable. and also he manipulated tav by having... consensual enjoyable sex lol. he might have ulterior motives but he never actually tries to use his sexual relationship with tav to manipulate him into doing anything

- you learn how astarion felt for Sebastian and how tender he was

- you learn about the first boy astarion couldnt bear to bring to cazador, the one he called soft and sweet (or something like that) and then was punished horribly for a straight year for it

- even when you turn to a half illithid, his main concern is you losing your agency

- if you are a full illithid, at the end of the game, some people complain about him not being ride or die, but i think he shows REMARKABLE willingness and support. what he cares about most is that you are still you, and how is he supposed to know for sure? i think asking him to stay with a type of being known for manipulation and mind control after everything he went through with cazador IS A HUGE FUCKING ASK. and he doesnt even write you off immediately? thats a lot of love right there

- if you arent illithid, he will double-check you want to plan a future with him still, and only once you affirm this will he express how badly he wants it. he's actively avoiding trying to manipulate you even

and probably more stuff im just not thinking of off the top of my head. obviously this is about the spawn route vs. ascended, but im just constantly amazed that despite EVERYTHING astarion has gone through, probably centuries without a healthy, loving relationship or even examples of that nearby, he still defaults to being kind, empathetic, and caring as soon as he gets the chance

like sure, he might be minorly evil and self-serving but personally i think thats the least he deserves

more importantly, the boys from astarions past give us a rare window into what he was like before turning into a vampire—he was gentle, empathetic lover. he was kind, he was protective. and as soon as he has the space to start looking for himself again, he goes RIGHT back to that behavior. he even self-checks for his "manipulation" and tries to correct for it

it just shatters my heart and then puts it back together hes such a wonderfully written character. astarion is allowed to be lovely AND furious and vengeful and maybe its just my raised-catholic ass, but its SO cathartic to see that a forgiveness arc is never pushed for his abuser

[callmearcturus]

writer questions meme: 8, 13, 20 if you please

13. What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever come across?

It wasn't explicitly writing advice, but I can tell you where I learned what my specific style would be. There was a fic in the Dresden Files fandom called "Cross" by LightGetsIn. LGI was a tremendous writer and a very kind mentory-friend who I attended my first fan convention with. Extremely accomplished adult who I looked up to when I was barely an adult.

"Cross" is a story about the limitations of perspective. It was the first story that really drove home the idea that Character A would not have the same knowledge and understanding of the world as Character B.

In "Cross", the POV character is John Marcone, a non-magical mafia boss who is deeply entrenched in the magical world. He has a lot of factual knowledge of how magic works, but he's an Italian-American Catholic. So when he's pulled into doing magical rites to bring another character back to life, he specifically doesn't pick up on the more pagan symbology of what he's doing, but filters it through a Guilty Catholic filter. Hence the name of the fic, "Cross."

And that story, which isn't even my favorite LGI story, probably taught me the most about how to write Close Perspective Third Person, which is my default style. When I'm writing in a characters POV, I rigorously limit what the POV character knows and picks up on. I will plant clues and information that the audience will understand, but the connections a character makes, the reference pools they pull from, their morality and ethics, all of those inform that POV, and what you and I know does not.

That is probably the most important lesson I've ever had in creating my own writing method.

20. Describe your perfect writing conditions.

8 hours of sleep, small breakfast snack like a croissant, decaf beverage, one dextroamphetamine, and no one fucking talk to me for about 2 - 4 hours. I will write 4,000 words.

8. Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

Lets put this under a cut, and I'll give you some DVD commentary. This is from chapter 2 of you'll need a new name to survive this. It's the point where Benji realizes Ethan is stalking him and does that trick to lose him in the bookshop, then sits outside waiting for him.

Only five minutes later, the door opened, and Bell took one step out before freezing, his eyes falling on Benji.

Got you, Benji thought with a sharp little smile. "You didn't even buy a book? Bit rude."

One of the goals of the early chapters of PT AU was establishing Benji's character as boldly as possible because we were essentially telling a story that canon does not. This is YEARS before MI3, where Benji gets two gd scenes.

To me, the tightrope walk was that I wanted Benji to have a reasonable grip on authority, to be shiny and new and out of his depth but still empowered because of his accomplishments. He has managed to land a good job working for the US government, he successfully emigrated before he was 30 years old, he has an apartment and a cat, he's new to everything in the spy world but he also has a steel spine that frankly he's fucking earned.

Which is a long-winded way of saying that Benji is a bitch and I love him so much.

Bell's face was blank, but Benji could almost feel how fast his brain was moving, weighing his options. Eventually, he settled on huffing out a little chuckle and stepping closer to Benji. "Hi."

Meanwhile, Ethan. MI1-era Ethan is very very smart but very very traumatised. His skillset is rooted in controlling people and predicting them. So Benji, a fucking civilian, catching him off-guard like this is like waving a red flag at a bull. Or dangling a steak over a lion enclosure. Benji doesn't know it yet but he's setting himself up to be a tasty treat for Ethan Hunt circa the late 90s.

"Are you going to kill me or something?" Benji asked. "Is that your spook job, are you a hitman?"

The flash of expression on Bell's face was offended. (This makes me laugh every time. Ethan Hunt is not a killer unless he absolutely must be and he will go out of his way to avoid it. Being an assassin is gross and he doesn't want to be perceived at all bc he's a spy but if he MUST be perceived jfc don't assume he's a HITMAN) "What, no. I just…" Grimacing, he looked away, eyes scanning the other pedestrians around them. "Okay, I'm screwing this up, I can admit that. Can we talk somewhere private?"

Benji didn't even have to think about it. "We can talk somewhere public."

Benji is never going to be an IMF agent but his instincts are wildly correct. And that knowledge comes from a different place! He was a gay punk rock vagabond who dropped out of law school, he knows how to keep out of trouble. He is probably the guy who told his other punk friends "if you are arrested do not say a goddamn thing, just ask for your public defender, don't joke, don't be a smartarse, keep your mouth shut."

The smile that took over Bell's face was lovely, transforming his whole face from storm clouds to something more seasonal. "That's honestly a very smart answer, doc. C'mon, there's a bakery nearby. I'll buy you a coffee. Least I can do."

It really was, so Benji nodded and followed him.

They didn't speak until Bell opened the glass door to another shop and held it open for Benji.

"Wrong hand," Benji said, noticing the small wince Bell let out.

"Inside, doc."

If it isn't obvious, all of the observational skills Benji has canonically have been funneled into his preternatural observation of patients.

Basically, if Benji as a character has a specific set of SPECIAL stats, all of those are the same, he just has different tagged skills in this universe.

Canon Benji is probably.... Guns, Science, and Repair. PT Benji has Medicine, Barter, Speech.

"Not a doctor," Benji said. "You know I'm not a doctor."

"What do you want to drink, doc?"

Ethan is being purposefully annoying and I could write a whole post about Ethan's soft power and the way he manipulates people, but that'd be another post. Short version: some people you seduce, some people you act like a wounded gazelle at, and some people you annoy.

Inside the bakery was loud. It was a strangely open floor plan. A long pastry case cordoned off the seating area for the customers. On the other side was just… the bakery. There were ovens and industrial mixers and rolling racks of cooling bread. In the corner, the espresso machine howled with noise as the milk frother worked.

It smelled divine, like living inside a baguette during a spring shower of dark roast coffee.

It also was a constant racket, which Benji mentioned to Bell as he sat down and slid a dark tea with vanilla syrup across to Benji.

"That's the point," Bell said, slouching back in his chair. "It's very difficult to eavesdrop in here."

Well, he wasn't wrong. Looking to another occupied table nearby, Benji briefly tried to pick out a word of what was being said by the woman seated closest to him. Nothing.

"Right, then," Benji said, attention back on Bell. "Why are you following me?"

"Why?" Bell seemed taken aback.

One of the many moments in the early chapters that establish that Ethan's perception of Normal is not anything approaching actual normal.

"Yes, why."

"Normal intelligence collection."

"On your physical therapist?" Benji asked with a barked laugh.

"Yeah." Bell leaned on his elbows, one hand cupping his own jaw and holding his head up as he made uncomfortably direct eye contact. "You really don't know who I am? Or why some of the appointments on your calendar come with no information?"

Pursing his lips, Benji shook his head.

Blowing out a whistle through his teeth, Bell grinned. "Sorry, that's just… it's new. I'm surprised Dr. Falsion didn't clue you in, but I guess she's not technically supposed to." Lifting his mug, he looked down into it. "People do shit they're not technically supposed to all the time in this town."

Ethan's major trauma at this point is being targeted by Kittridge and the Mole Hunt, and his trust in people to do their jobs is at a critical low that it'll never recover from.

"I don't even know your name," Benji sighed, sipping his own drink. It didn't taste at all like iocaine powder, so he was probably safe for the moment.

Bell rested his temple against the knuckles of his hand, his gaze so intense that Benji didn't know how to look away without making it patently obvious he was unsettled. Whatever Bell saw, it made his lips curve up slight. "Alright. Yeah. My name is Ethan. I work for an organization that shouldn't legally exist, so that's why you don't get anything on me. Even CIA jackboots manipulating local governments are realer than I am." He blinked once. "Also, I was an unprofessional shitheel last session, and I apologize."

Ethan apologizes here because Benji has earned his respect. And also by earning his respect, Ethan is also aware that Benji is not going to be so easy to maneuver around, so he fesses up that he was a prick, softly setting up a different tactic with Benji.

Benji felt his eyes going wider and wider with every sentence until it was a little hard to breathe. So his patient wasn't the American equivalent of an MI5 or MI6 so much as an MI8?

That did sort of start to explain what a pain in the ass he was.

"Shame," Benji managed after a moment of sitting fairly gobsmacked. "I was getting attached to 'Bell.' But I appreciate… all that. Thanks." He frowned. "Are you saying all this because you're actually sorry or are you sick of being stonewalled?"

Benji has a much more cynical mind than Ethan is the funny thing. Benji gets arguably more accurate reads on people than Ethan does. Or, Ethan gets accurate reads but he is continuously poisoned by the hope that people will be better than he expects. So FUNCTIONALLY, Ethan is an optimist and Benji is a realist.

Bell— Ethan— grinned. "That's a very good question. You actually have great instincts, doc. You did a surprisingly good job of shaking me when I was tailing you, especially for a civilian."

One of my favorite running gags is Benji being impossible to tail, so I'm glad we really drove it home the first time it happened. I love consistency in longfic.

"Again: thanks. Don't suppose you'll answer my other question?"

Ethan sipped his coffee, his smile visible around the edge of his cup.

"Right," Benji sighed. At least this felt like progress. And at least he probably wasn't going to be disappeared by a government assassin. That was a relief.

So this entire bit is Ethan reassessing Benji and pivoting his methods and tactics, setting up for a better way of handling Benji. And also being kind of charmed by him.

[quordleona03]

What are your thoughts on Charcahy?

They're sort of my NTP in MASH, though the kind of No True Pair where I'm certain someone could probably convincem e if they tried hard enough. Let me explain.

Charles Emerson Winchester is a racist bigot. He has no redemption arc. (In "The Tooth Shall Set You Free", he takes the smallest part possible in the entrapment of Major Weems - and while he may be partly motivated because Weems sending black soldiers into harms' way to get them killed our wounded - but either way out of his unit - was just too much even for him.) His views on people are explicitly formed by how much melanin they have in their skin. He has no redemption arc: we never see him realise he was wrong to think or feel like this. (He does apologise to Honoria for his temper tantrum about her marrying an Italian, but only after the wedding is called off.) As with Potter's villainy, by the time Winchester is part of the series,. his bigotry is played for laughs. It is never supported in-script, but we also made to see that Winchester is - unlike Frank Burns - capable of being civil and even kind to those he despises as inferior to him. (Charles dances with Kellye in the officer's club: he is genuinely sympathetic to Margaret even though he explicitly says to her that after alll, she is marrying out of her kind when she weds Donald Penobscot.) It'm confident he would have remembered to be polite to Ginger Bayliss, if she'd still been part of the nurses corps when he got there.

One reason why I think this: whatever Charles's sexual orienation, I have seen him written convincingly as gay or straight or bisexual or ace - he clearly very much enjoys being with women. The nicest thing about him is his love for his sister Honoria. (I think Cousin Alfred used to bully Honoria over her stutter and Charles never spares a chance to be vicious to him in revenge.) Whether or not Charles is sexually-attracted to women, he is convincingly fond of women's company, and gentlemanly in behaviour even to women he sees as his social inferiors.

Charles is prejudiced against Father Mulcahy. Mulcahy is working-class in origin: he's Irish: he's Catholic: Wincester writes him off as a ditzy optimist, and, for the most part, even his compliments are phrased as "you're a credit to your kind of people". There are two occasions where Charles does go to Father Mulcahy for help - in "Strange Bedfellows", where he's worried that he really does snore, and - much later and with more effect - in "Moral Victory", when he is unable to get over the fact that he was unable to save a pianist's hand. In the latter episode, Charles has simply despaired: he cannot comfort the man he operated on, he wants Father Mulcahy to try. I don't think Charles would let himself find Francis Mulcahy an attractive man. If he did, then I feel their relationship would end when, like Mr Darcy, he made clear to his beloved object how much he realises that a relationship with a man of Mulcahy's sort would be a very bad idea for a Winchester but nonetheless irresistible. Jane Austen had this end happily, but only because Darcy went away, thought about it, realised Elizabeth was right, and reformed himself - but also, Elizabeth realised that at least one of the areas where she had supposed Darcy to be in the wrong - over Mr Wickham - he was actually right: Wickham is a scoundrel. Francis Mulcahy dislikes Charles. Not a passionate dislike - though he does lose his temper at Charles more often than he does at anyone else - but Mulcahy sees Charles's prejudices and vanity and arrogance and while he manages mostly to be good-humoured and surface-friendly to Charles (who is one of his parishioners, even if Charles doesn't want to be) the surface friendliness is abraded sometimes when Charles says or does something that Mulcahy finds infuriating - usually a comment about the Irish.

Father Mulcahy regards the surgeon Charles Emerson Winchester with respect, and the bigot with irritation - and neither feeling is particularly passionate. Mulcahy has heard this kind of thing before. He mostly doesn't allow his irritation to show through. Sometimes he loses his temper with Charles: mostly he succeeds in not doing so: but there is no passion it. Mulcahy dislikes Charles, and his reasons for doing so are quite solidly grounded on the kind of person Charles actually is.

So: I don't see it. Change my mind....

[intogenshin]

I don’t personally agree with the idea that scara wants to be punished for his actions

I’m not saying it’s wrong, it’s ultimately a matter of interpretation since the available info isn’t decisive enough, I just would favor a different characterization for him

The concept of suffering as a punishment for one’s wrongdoings is just too.. western, a catholic principle that’s accepted as the natural order of things. If you do something wrong, you’ll suffer a punishment in whatever form it comes. It’s also how the concept of karma is understood in the west: a retaliation for past actions manifesting in the form of suffering

But that’s not what it is in the religions it comes from

Buddhism itself, where scara takes most of its inspiration, centers its beliefs on the idea that suffering is a natural part of this world. It’s not a punishment on its own, and the three betrayals in my opinion illustrate this very well: Ei meant no wrong with her actions, she wanted scara to decide on his own fate and she understood the complexity of his existence, but he still suffered because of it; dottore purposefully hurt him and deceived him into believing a loved one had harmed him intentionally; the child did nothing to hurt him, mortality is a part of life. I haven’t read up much on how redemption is achieved in Buddhism, but it doesn’t seem to necessarily involve a form of punishment, rather seems to be more about balance and making choices to become better

Scara made the step to acknowledge that he’s done wrong by taking back his memories. Nahida tells him that if he does he’ll accept that he’s evil, that this is part of him, and scara still does. I particularly liked this writing choice (even though I would have enjoyed him as the evilest boy in town) because, first, it makes a point of not erasing his wrongdoings and mistakes despite him erasing himself from the world: nothing will ever change what he did = how others were harmed. And second, he accepts his responsibility and admits guilt. Fans always say they consider him not well written because he “didn’t face consequences for his actions”, but what else could possibly happen to him or be subjected to that will make him learn or reflect on something he hasn’t already? What would be the purpose in the narrative of further punishment? Does he need to suffer in retaliation? He already has, but rather than a punishment it was the culmination and result of his own choices that brought him suffering.

The idea of him living in constant pain, burdened by what he did, isn’t that just another form of pointless punishment? I think the character has been explicitly shown to regret, but not to be currently burdened. He rather seems liberated.

His character revolves around the concept of transactional relationships, hence why after the irminsul rewrite he’s fixated on repaying the merchant who helped him in the rain, and why he accepts to be Nahida’s prisoner (in his perspective): he wants to be even. He also tells traveler so. I don’t think Nahida sees it that way though, which might be one of her goals in helping scara, to release him from that worldview. He seems to apply a similar logic for his victims (like kazuha) since he doesn’t intend to hide from them, but there might something else there more about how he lived deceived by dottore, perhaps this is what he believes is fair.

But then again other people can interpret these same points as him paying back for what he’s done and even desiring the punishment of those he wronged. It’s just a matter of interpretation like I said, it’s just I prefer my own lmao

[fantastic-nonsense]

If you’re comfortable sharing, I’d love to hear more about your thoughts/ideas about religion/the afterlife, and how that’s influencing your Batman religion fic!

the tl;dr is that I'm a cradle Episcopalian whose mother is an Episcopal priest and that's deeply influenced my view on both the afterlife and religion in general. Personally? My view on the afterlife is...probably closest to the "heaven and hell aren't any kind of physical place or specific experience, it's eternal communion/separation from God's grace and your loved ones" interpretation.

Generally, I think that organized religion should be a way for people to come together under a general agreement of doctrine and behavior, discuss/argue about any deep difficult questions they have about the universe together, and experience the divine as a collective. I'm happy with the Episcopal Church and I've never felt a reason to deeply question my commitment to their particular understanding of the Christian tradition; I like the beliefs, rituals, and practice I grew up with and even though I've explored other denominations and other religions altogether, I've always landed right back where I started. They're a progressive denomination that, as a collective body, is genuinely committed to living out what I see as God's mission for humanity: caring for the world as it has been given to us and loving and helping our neighbors as ourselves. So I stay here.

As far as those beliefs affect the 'Bruce Wayne Religion Discourse Fic' (as I've lovingly termed it):

DC has decided on multiple occasions that Bruce is an atheist, to which I say: that's dumb DC, you have multiple pantheons running around and one of his best friends was literally the Goddess of Truth for a bit. The Abrahamic god canonically exists in-universe and the Spectre is his wrath embodied. The afterlife is a place people can physically go to and come back from (otherwise resurrection couldn't happen). This is the hill I die on when it comes to comics and it's that absolutely no character who lives in that universe should be an atheist (I've talked a little bit about this before here in regards to Tim Drake). They can be a non-worshipper, and frankly that's a completely understandable place to be in the DCU, but being a non-believer makes them look unbelievably dumb and illogical.

Anyway: Bruce is canonically Jewish due to the Accidental Jewish Retcon, which happened when DC created Kate Kane, an explicitly Jewish character, in 2005 and then made her Bruce's maternal cousin. This makes Martha Wayne (and thus Bruce) ethnically Jewish. However, it is ALSO canonically true that Thomas and Martha were buried as Christians, and the Waynes have been heavily coded as Episcopalian for decades. And yet he's supposedly atheist despite growing up in two religious institutions that have long-standing and exceptionally forgiving traditions around questioning/challenging divine authority, exploring doubt, and doing deep dives into theological doctrine.

So we're in an interesting place where Bruce canonically grew up in an interfaith household until his parents were murdered and also explicitly explored the tenets of multiple religions and spiritual practices during his training years abroad. And yet no writer wants to touch it! We get oblique references to his Jewish heritage occasionally, but other than that we largely do not see religion happen in Batman stories unless the central character is Helena Bertinelli/Huntress (a devout Catholic) or Jean-Paul Valley/Azrael (a cult survivor who basically acts devoutly Catholic). So I went 'well okay, I'll do it.' So the fic is focused on Bruce’s childhood growing up in an interfaith household and his incredibly complicated relationship with organized religion as he grows up, becomes Batman, and starts acquiring kids.

While I have not written anything except a tentative outline for it, I think my own beliefs are probably affecting how I approach the fic even conceptually, as I'm both Episcoplian (influencing how I'll approach that part of Bruce's exploration) and more than happy to explore my personal headcanon that Bruce ends up with a frankenstein set of beliefs that mix-and-match Episcopalian Christianity, Reform Judaism, Buddhism, and a few other things. It would be difficult not to, given all that he's seen, done, and experienced. Bruce is a very skeptical person who deeply believes 'seeing is believing', and I'll be trying my best to balance Bruce's canonical approach to such matters with how the DCU has portrayed religion and how the varying religions deal with massive soul-searching questions IRL.

......also I simply think that if Ollie Queen ever tells him that he met Jason in heaven/the afterlife while he was dead, Bruce would go home and cry for an hour, and I kind of want to write that scene.

[sketching-shark]

Are we complaining about M0nkie Kid because OH MAN. Macaque's whole spiel about "reading the book". That ticked me off something AWFUL.

All that aside, I do think I realized what was bothering me the most about how far they deviated from Journey to the West. Key players are missing, like Guan Yin and The Buddha himself. Part of me gets it because Buddhism is a religion and I get cartoons (especially written by American writers) wanting to avoid religion... but other adaptations included them in some way. I just feel like writing out such a key part of the original makes it feel so off, even if I do have an understanding as to WHY.

I'm exhausted so I hope that made sense.

@ladyzerodark I LAUGHED OUT LOUD AT THAT PART LIKE BRO?? "READ THE BOOK" BRO?? YOU MEAN JOURNEY TO THE WEST?? YOU MEAN THE BOOK WHERE YOU EXPLICITLY WANT TO MURDER-REPLACE THE MONKEY KING?? THAT BOOK?? THAT BOOK WHERE YOU'RE LITERALLY A GLORY-HUNGRY CANNIBALISTIC DOPPELGÄNGER BRO??? But haha yeah that seems to be a sign that Flying Bark is taking the piss with at least some of their writing, especially given the extent to which they've gone out of their way to alter big chunks of Sun Wukong's backstory, personality, and motivations as well as completely changed the makeup of almost all members of his sworn brotherhood. Hm come to think of it that's now a whole 4 cannibalistic/people-eating figures from Xiyouji that Monkie Kid have done a lot to soften, 5 if you count the Demon Bull King lmao.

But yes you are right that presenting religious figures in children's cartoons can be a very tricky thing to do well, something that struck me from a very young age at Catholic grade school lol. I can potentially see them shying away from including such important figures as Guan Yin and Buddha on account of the whole debacle around Li Nezha--even though as you noted other cartoons were able to pull it off, and the lighthearted presentation of a figure like the Goddess of Mercy herself in the American Born Chinese series seems to have been pretty well received--but on the other hand Flying Bark did have the Jade Emperor there mainly so he could be killed so. Hm. You do have works like Uproar in Heaven as well where the heavenly court under the Jade Emperor is also pretty specifically written as elitist and very much set against a man of the (monkey) people Sun Wukong, but then again that animation was made in a VERY different cultural context than Monkie Kid...it is disappointing that so much of the religious context of Xiyouji is removed from many retellings, but as many have said before a lego show probably isn't the best medium to include it in.

[ilikereadingactually]

Quickly, While They Still Have Horses

Quickly, While They Still Have Horses: Stories by Jan Carson

i am really getting into this little microgenre of connected surreal short stories/vignettes/narratives. Craft was so excellent, and Rakesfall broke my brain in great ways, and Tauhou was so dreamlike and encompassing. Quickly falls right into this tiny category for me, more on the short story end of things than the others but still feeling like it's creating a world that looks like some part of ours, with just the smallest unreal quirks.

the connective tissue here is the political and social landscape of Northern Ireland, and the shadow of the Troubles across stories that span time, borders, boundaries, and peace lines. the emotional logic of the surreal elements—a severed hand that keeps reappearing in a fridge in Ulster, a Catholic ghost haunting a used car bought by Protestants, miracle healing offered and joked about and achieved—hits just right in a setting haunted by violence and division and getting on with life in spite of those things. if a bomb could go off anywhere, any moment, and a fenced wall divides that sort's neighborhood from this sort's, then why couldn't a pillar of heatless fire and smoke be a mental health support device? even the stories that aren't explicitly surreal deal little electric shocks of surprise, highlighting grief or numbness or resilience or love within the mundane everyday.

for half a minute i thought about picking a favorite story to highlight in this review, but looking through them i don't think i can! each one was so sparkling and funny and breathtaking like a punch in the chest. i have endearing love for a woman who admires her lesbian sisters-in-law and does her best to support her soft-spoken husband. i laughed so hard at the adolescent impulsivity and shitheadedness of kids who threw a burning baby doll over the peace wall. i can't stop thinking about the boy who chooses to believe his blind friend when he says he's been healed and wants to learn to drive, and the girl who spends all summer working for a space of her own and is denied by a father who must be recontextualized in that moment between childhood and growing up. what a treasure trove of jewels.

the deets

how i read it: another e-galley from NetGalley, i'm still playing catch-up! but i'm definitely going to buy this one when i have the chance.

try this if you: are delighted by dialects written out, are into surreality, enjoy stellar and quick character development, or dig getting dropped into the day-to-day culture of a place.

some lines i really liked: gosh the prose is just so beautiful

At high tide the seaweed swims with me. Its smooth tongues lap my arms and legs. I think about Jonah in the belly of the whale, all those slick intestines sliding against his skin. I feel small in myself and held.

___

In a way, it's good to be kept busy. It wears the howl out of her. She wonders if it is the same for Dad. By the day's end, there's no talk left in either of them.

___

After Rob, I lost the sea. I let Malcolm have it. I did not want it anymore.

___

The pair of them are always getting on like this. Smiling. Touching. Kissing each other in unusual places such as shoulders and earlobes. They are stupid happy. I wouldn't want to be a lesbian myself, but I envy Cathy all the same.

___

You start being honest with each other, and it's like opening what's-her-name's box. You never know what'll come slinking out.

pub date: July 9, 2024! go get it and read it!!

[dangerously-human]

1, 19, 20?

Thank you for asking, these are very fun reflections!

What’s something new that you tried in a fic this year? How did it turn out and would you do it again? What an interesting question! At first I was going to say I really didn't try anything new this year, but now that I look a little closer, sure, there were some things. Take His Hand was the most explicitly religious fanfiction I've ever written, and the first time I've attempted a central plot revolving around a character's faith (as that radiates outward, too, to be sure, but always coming back to that center). It challenged me in the best way: I grew to understand the characters, canonically, better while also contemplating everything from a slightly different angle, and also spent a lot of time reflecting on my own relationship to God and how that might look different under different circumstances (and, indeed, how my faith has been shaped by grief). It's something I'd like very much to do again, and that same headcanon (Catholic Lockwood) is certainly cropping up more frequently in my WIPs now.

Share your favorite opening line Ah, I'd actually forgotten about this one till Mai posted it in the group chat recently and was quite charmed before considering it looked surprisingly familiar. XD The opening line of Living With the Ghost of You (which, perhaps counter to what the plot might suggest, is actually sprinkled with a fair amount of humor): At first, the scraping sounds at the front door of 35 Portland Row might have been mistaken for a very determined cat.

Share your favorite ending line Gotta say I think I've had a few bangers this year, but if I have to pick a top favorite, it would be the last line of Never Hesitate at the Threshold: Lockwood’s gaze on me burned as he replied, “It’s been a long time since I was afraid of any dark place next to you, Lucy.”

[sparkbeast20]

The connection between demons’ names and the seven capital sins came from the classification of demons by Peter Binsfeld, a German Catholic bishop and theologian, as well as a prominent witch hunter of his time, though some of the classification came from the Bible, but not all of them.

Lucifer has always been associated with Pride, as evident in the Bible.

And thou saidst in thy heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will sit in the mountain of the covenant, in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the height of the clouds, I will be like the most High. [Isaias 14:13-14]

Mammon is with Greed, also from the Bible.

Ye cannot serve God and mammon. [Matthew 6:24] with “mammon” means riches or worldly interest.

Leviathan also appears in the Bible, but as a beast and a symbol of the people of God’s enemies. His connection with Envy comes at a later time.

The names Satan appears in the Bible, described by Christian writers and saints as wrathful against God, envious of human race who still receives mercy from God. As wrathful as he is, he’s a cunning enemy who calculate carefully to ruin every soul.

Some argues Satan to be the same as Lucifer, some argues they are two different demons. But I present to you the opinion of St. Gregory the Great. He argues that Satan is rather a designate of office of the accuser of human race. Satan is a shared name between demons, or at least high-ranking ones. So Lucifer is Satan, Mammon is also Satan, Asmodeus is also Satan, Beelzebub is also Satan, etc.

Asmodeus also appears in the Bible, in the book of Tobit. He is hostile to a young woman named Sarah and kills her seven husbands, on their wedding night, before they have the chance to consummate their wedding. Asmodeus is described “the worst of demons (Tobit 3:8). The Archangel Raphael also appears in the story. In the end, he chases Asmodeus to Egypt. From the story, Asmodeus became the symbol of a demon who ruins marriages. One of the easiest way to ruin marriages is adultery. And adultery usually comes from lust, so there you have it, he’s the demon of lust.

Beelzebub appears in the Bible with the name Baal, a Canaanite god, the symbol of idolatry. But one story does mention him with, explicitly, the name “Beelzebub”. It’s the story where the Pharisees accuses Jesus “The man drives out devils only through Beelzebul, the chief of the devils.” (Matt. 12:24). Based on “chief of the devils”, many argue he’s the same demon with Satan, or Lucifer. His connection with Gluttony also comes at later times. Though, if I remember correctly, Beelzebub and his sin used to top the list as #1.

The last one, Belphegor, different from others, the only one to come from a later time, I heard they incorporated another Canaanite god’s name to make the demon’s name.

I guess that's where they got Raphael and Asmo's connection. And the inspiration to they're dynamic in the past.

I'm surprise to know that about Satan's real life written counter part.

[killldeer]

what was meant to be liveblog

lotta yelling and caps in this one. consider yourself warned

- alright let’s see how well i can take notes while probably also geeking tf out

- the jolt of fear when I read “3000 years ago” that we were abt to see the eotw prologue oh my god

- WAIT UH OH

- this is so insane

- CINEMATIC INTRODUCTION JUMPSCARE FUCK YES

- dain’s armor 😍

- dain in silver and geofram in matching gold,,, father son armor set

- hello beach waygate from all of the promos <3

- i love how explicitly lanfear reveals layers of her Schemes to ishamael. like obviously this is a visual medium so it’s kind of necessary, but natasha o’keefe delivers it in such a delicious teasing way

- OH SO WE’RE GOING FULL FANTASY CATHOLIC CULT HUH. like what are the little holy water swingy things called. i can’t believe the whitecloaks just have these things.

- watching the whitecloaks and seanchan kill each other with unbridled glee and a bowl of popcorn

- NOOOO NOT CHARACTERS WITH PERSONAL AND CULTURAL RELATIONSHIPS TO THEIR HAIR GETTING IT CHOPPED OFF AS A PUNISHMENT THAT’S THE TROPE I’M SENSITIVE ABOUT

- “I know who kills [rand], and what he uses to do it”. I mean yeah but like. you don’t have to rub it in

- HM. DIDN’T LIKE THAT TRANSITION

- angry nynaeve. ANGRY NYNAEVE.

- “i’m not gonna touch it :)” sigh. this is the face of a man who is probably going to touch it

- moiraine and lan re-bonding forehead touch event leaves 8 dead 29 injured

- oh boy it’s Ingtar Reveal Time methinks??

- turak posturing himself to get into a Proper Blademaster Duel and rand just immediately killing the entire squad with saidin bullets. THAT’s how you fucking deal w the seanchan baby

- the tension of egwene being forced to channel to kill but also knowing that she’s doing it against the whitecloaks who tortured her is so thick i could cut it with a knife. ooouuughh

- suroth’s fucking azula lookin ass

- mat baby boy you can do it. i believe in you buddy

- ARE YOU MAKING A FUCKING SPEAR

- MATRIM CAUTHON I LOVE YOU SO MUCH IT HURTS

- haha holy shit. holy shit. they’re gonna do the Sul’dam Can Channel reveal with egwene and renna.

- “Pick up your weapons! Fight with us! Send these slavers back where they came from!” Heartbreaking; The Worst Man You Know Just Made A Good Point

- mat perrin reunion 🥹

- KICK HER FUCKING ASS EGWENE

- “you abandoned [egwene]. you made her a killer.” oh fuck OFF man c’mon. please please do not let this be the jumpstart for rand’s Weird About Women spiral please

- THE HORN OF BLOODY VALERE BABY

- I like that it looks so goofy and futuristic. it’s even got a mysterious little shimmer effect. I of course love the aesthetic of it being a funny little French horn as much as the next books fan, but lbr this is much more the speed of the age of legends ppl

- oh god. oh god i did get so caught up in the plot that i forgot the reason hopper spends most of this series in tel’aran’rhiod.

- hopper’s last sending being him soaring into the sky :,(

- kill geofram bornhald. kill geofram bornhald. kill geofram bornhald.

- YEAHHHH

- CMON BABY BLOW THE HORN

- THE GRAVE! IS NO BAR!! TO MY CALL!!!!

- “I… I remember.”

- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

- ohhh man the SCORE. the fact that it sounds kinda like a “regular” fantasy score is so fun

- UNO IS FUCKING HERE

- birgitte!! hi!!!!!!!!

- DOVIE’ANDI SE TOVYA SAGAIN

- HOLY FUCKING SHIT

- I would like to submit to the record. for posterity’s sake. that the above notes for this scene were written only after i rewatched it for the third time. because the first two times I watched it I was literally in tears almost the entire time. like as soon as i started to see the heroes of the horn materializing behind him I was gone. just pointing at the screen sobbing “that’s my fucking boy!”

- “I’m not sure I’ll be able to channel when I get there.” hey so why are we not letting nynaeve channel at all now!! how is she not furious about at least some aspect of the situation she is currently in??? i’m not even the biggest nynaeve stan but this one is even pissing me off

- egwene holding her shield alone against ishamael ohhhh my god

- well at least we still get the “rand meets elayne while she’s patching him up” meetcute or whatever

- the gang’s all here :)

- hm the big fiery dragon seems a little goofy. not sure what exactly i’m feeling about it

- YOU. MOGHEDIEN.

- the show shares my moggy pronunciation

- moghedien looks like a teen lesbian. I mean this in a tone of utmost praise. look at those crazy bangs and long dark skirt and huge chunky boots that still only take her up to Lanfear Tits Height

- “Light help you, rand al’thor.” lanfear seems aware of this but she’s literally gonna need that luck as much as he does if she’s gonna survive the average Daily Forsaken Squabbles without killing someone

[catholic-character-tournament]

The Belmonts are basically Schrodinger's Christian, simultaneously Orthodox and Catholic until someone opens the box or finally explains to Koji Igarashi that people DO care about his headcanon for the series he once helmed. I've written them as Catholic because [oversharing redacted], I've written a certain descendant of a family tied to theirs as Orthodox... it's never explicitly stated either way.

Schrodinger's Christian hahaha maybe eastern catholic??

Google says he's Romanian? Maybe he's Romanian Greek Catholic?

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINT OF THE DAY (May 27)

An Italian Benedictine monk who became the “Apostle of the English,” Saint Augustine of Canterbury is honored by the Catholic Church on May 27.

Under the direction of Pope Saint Gregory the Great, Augustine founded the famous See of Canterbury and preached the Catholic faith to the country's Anglo-Saxon pagans during the late sixth and early seventh centuries.

He is not be confused with the earlier St. Augustine of Hippo, the famous author of the “Confessions” and “City of God.”

Augustine's date of birth cannot be established, nor are any details of his early life known.

Most likely born in Rome to a noble family, he entered monastic life as a young man.

The community he joined had been recently founded by a Benedictine monk named Gregory, who would go on to become Pope and eventually be known as St. Gregory the Great.

The friendship between Gregory and Augustine had great historical consequences, as it was the Pope who would eventually send his fellow monk to evangelize England.

Around 595, five years into his 14-year pontificate, Pope Gregory set to work on a plan for the conversion of the English people.

The Catholic faith had already been preached and accepted among England's original Celtic inhabitants in earlier times, but from the mid-fifth century onward, the country was dominated by Anglo-Saxon invaders who did not accept Christianity.

It was not converted by the small number of isolated Celtic Christian holdouts. Thus, England largely had to be evangelized anew.

For this task, the Pope chose a group of around forty monks – including Augustine, who was to represent the delegation and communicate on its behalf.

Though he was not explicitly chosen as its leader at that time, that was the role he ended up taking on with Gregory’s support.

The group left for England in June 596, but some of the missionaries lost their nerve after hearing fearsome reports about the Anglo-Saxons.

Augustine ended up returning to Rome, where he got further advice and support from the Pope.

Persuaded to continue on their way, the missionary-monks reached their port of departure and set sail for England in spring of 597.

After arriving, they gained an audience with King Ethelbert of Kent, a pagan ruler whose Frankish wife Queen Bertha was a Christian.

Speaking with the king through an interpreter, Augustine gave a powerful and straightforward presentation of the Gospel message, speaking of Christ’s redemption of the world and his offer of eternal life.

Ethelbert would later convert and eventually even be canonized as a saint.

However, his initial response to Augustine’s preaching was only mildly positive: he would receive the missionaries with hospitality and permit them to evangelize without any restriction.

Despite his early ambivalence, however, the king became a generous patron of the monks.

They made their home in Canterbury, after dramatically entering the city in procession with the Cross and an image of Christ.

The Canterbury community lived according to the Rule of St. Benedict, as they had in Italy, but they also preached in the surrounding area in accordance with their mission.

Augustine and his companions succeeded in converting King Ethelbert himself, while Queen Bertha also became more zealous in her practice of the faith after her husband’s baptism.

Augustine traveled to Gaul, where he was consecrated as a bishop for the English Church.

By Christmas of 597, over ten thousand people were actively seeking baptism from the missionaries.

Through his written correspondence, Pope Gregory continued to guide the work of Augustine – the first Archbishop of Canterbury – and the other Catholic missionaries.

The great Pope and the “Apostle of England” would both die during the same year in 604.

Though Augustine had not managed to sort out some disagreements with the native Celtic bishops, he had given the faith a firm foothold among the Anglo-Saxons.

Canterbury would continue on for centuries as the ranking see of English Catholicism, until its fall into schism during the 16th century.