#Genesis Publishing

[lifeislikeawavewhorisesupanddown]

In uscita oggi "Give me Your Soul" di Constance S.

Buongiorno a tutti sono Elena e vi ringrazio di essere su Life Is Like A Wave Who Rises and Falls! Oggi sono contenta di annunciarvi l’uscita di un libro che aspettavo e che non vedo l’ora di leggere! Molti di voi avranno già letto e amato la saga de La coscienza di Cain di Constance S. pubblicata con Genesis Edizioni, io però ho aspettato troppo, convinta di poterla leggere quando avessi…

[albumcoverhalloffame]

Album Cover Hall of Fame’s Holiday Season Last-Minute Gift-Buying Guide 2023

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Holiday Gift Guide 2023 Holiday Gift Suggestions for the Album Cover/Vinyl Record Lovers in your Life As compiled by Mike Goldstein, Writer/Editor, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com Updated November 17, 2023 As I’m sure you all know, getting just the right gift for your loved ones at Holiday time can be such a puzzle – what with all of the advertising that bombards you from every direction and “Black…

[festidae]

i am not a doll              i am not a doll                   i am not a doll                                  i am not a doll                                                         i am not a—

(text is taken from an interview with Hideaki Anno included in the 1997 book Parano.)

[darkdemeter]

War and Strife x Fem child reader Platonic! Takes place during Genesis! A sweet, curious, and kind child managed to find herself in Hell, probably bc of a random Serpent Hole back on Earth, and is now under Vulgrim’s care due to curiosity himself…until War and Strife spot her talking with him. It’s now part of the Horsemen’s mission to get her back home to Earth, after Strife “adopts” her and convinces War that she’s their priority now, for the Balance.

GUIDE HER WAY HOME

◤✘DARKSIDERS COLUMN | (Platonic!) Strife and War x Female Child!Reader

NOTES: ↳ Yes Genesis content! 👏Let's go! WARNINGS! ↳ Just sort of general fluffy content — Reader is a small bean — Vulgrim has to fix some serpent holes, be wary of falling through some of those when you're out and about — I think that's it

✎ 1.9k ────────────────

How fragile mortality is. So sweet and pure, innocence surreal. You wander through this unknown place with a target on your back, a beacon for the darkness to find you amidst its clawing grasp of shadows. But thankfully, one with astonished confusion finds you before any other hellish dweller. Your eyes peer up and up, meeting the greenish pupils of the ghoul that floats amidst the gravity of his ethereal form. His claws tap together in thought, face morphed into a puzzled sneer with a sound rattling in his throat like a grotesque snort. 

Ever mindful of your manners, being the good and well behaved girl your parents brought you up to be, you softly clear your throat. “Hello.”

Vulgrim’s eyes somehow manage to soften in the slightest of wrinkles. How did you get here?

He arcs his body to lower himself, nearing to your eye level but still raised some height above. His nose moves back into a revealing snarl when you attempt to reach a hand out to grab hold of one of his horns, eyes sparkling with a grand cosmos of curious wonderment. Vulgrim, amongst his own similar feeling, finds your reaction most interesting. Your perception of him unhindered by the reaction of fear or caution.

When an echoing shriek bellows from the spired graveyard over yonder, you gasp shortly, and Vulgrim is a witness to this fearful emotion. He watches, properly posed in his towered clutch as your head and eyes move across the surroundings before you shrink away with a small whine, feet pattering in hard succession until you hide behind the floating shades of his belted tunic. 

“Come, child,” he says, “stay right here with me.”

Humans are a species emphasised about their fragile yet cunning adaptability. And while Vulgrim has taken to studying them here and there, not once had it ever struck him that a child’s soul could harbour so much light. So much pure and raw energy that it almost blinds him whenever he looks at you. 

You nod up at him. Your hands clutch hold of the darkened purples of fabric, your fistful grip is harsh much like how you would to your mother’s tunic whenever the roar of thunder scared you. 

Vulgrim can only suspect that you somehow arrived here through the work of his serpent holes. There are a few scattered around earth, though not many, but you must have stumbled upon one. 

“Man, if Vulgrim sends us off on another fetch quest, I’m going to happily plug a bullet through his ugly ass—” Strife tapers off in his rant. 

Both him and War tug the reins of their steeds to bring them to halt. Horses voicing their huffed whinnies, the steadfast beasts comply. 

“Is that…?”

“A child,” War finishes his brother’s question. He could hardly believe his own eyes, having to share a glance with Strife to confirm what it is they see in the distance. With a harsh nudge of their heels, they hurry off towards Vulgrim who glides idly around a rocky cluster, almost pacing back and forth. 

Meanwhile, you are seated atop the rock with your head tracking the spirited demon’s movement. 

“My mama makes the best-est swoup in the village. Do you like swoup? It’s yummy. I always eat it when I feel a hurt in… my belly.”

“Vulgrim,” Strife barks out, “What the hell did you do?”

At the call of his name, the lanky merchant scowls with a hoarse, soured sigh. “Horsemen, it is not I who did this. She somehow found her way here, most likely through the use of a serpent hole.”

The Horsemen dismount, boots clubbing the dirt mercilessly. In your excitement, you leap off the rock. Vulgrim and the two nephilim brothers flinch forward at the sight of your stumble but you brush yourself off. 

Sturdy, they note in their examination. You move swiftly that it catches War and Strife unawares despite their eyes keeping a sharpened focus on you. 

“Horsies!” you chortle loudly, beaming brightly with a smile, arms outstretched. Both continue to stare at you like you’re a newborn faun stumbling on its legs for the first time.

It’s Strife who kneels down to your level. The shift of his armor clatters together and your eyes meet the flare of gold brimming from his eye sockets. 

“You like ‘em, huh?” He means of their loyal horses. He sees your smile turn higher into a grin, nodding eagerly. He smiles beneath the placid face of his visor and merely shuffles aside, his hand beckons Mayham to trot forward. 

The heavy push of Mayham’s nose nestles into his rider’s palm and he directs your own hand to rest there. You giggle as the horse sniffs and huffs large winds of breath that blow your hair back and cause your lashes to flutter wildly. Your hand smears a gentle caress against Mayham’s nose, his lips mouthing the soft surface of your palms, tickling you. 

War finally breaks himself away from it, instead turning his attention to Vulgrim, bearing upon the merchant a fearsome glare. “Just how exactly did she end up here, in Hell of all places?”

Vulgrim shrugs. “I cannot say for certain, Horseman. All I know is that she found her way to me. And perhaps by a play of fate, with the less than favorable fiends she could have encountered instead.”

Strife and War bristle at that. They find the implication that any of hell’s creatures could have found you disheartening. They can only assume that it is what Vulgrim suggests: fate. And greatly fortunate for you. 

Strife remains close at your side, not yet ready to return to the level of his feet, far too entranced at the abrupt pause in his breath whenever his eyes flicker away from you. This instinctive drive to protect you from all harm falls on him like a blanket weighing him down in water. 

“So you have been spying on the humans.” War’s skeptical tone is not appreciated by Vulgrim, followed by the bevelled snarl and recoiling of his lipless mouth that bears his jagged fangs. 

“Studying them. They are fascinating, and I only meant to observe them from afar. However, it would appear that not all my serpent holes on Earth are very… secure.”

“War…” Strife says, voice sunken low in his determined drawl. He finally stands but his head lags behind, momentarily watchful of you before he raises it to meet War’s gaze. “We can’t just leave her here.”

“Strife, we cannot forsake our mission. It is our duty to—”

Strife tries but he’s unable to bite down a growl, the golden dance of his eyes thinning angrily. “You keep going on about the Balance, fine! But right now, she is part of that balance. She is our priority to see her home safely.”

If there has ever been a reason to pull the trigger, Strife now sees it. To protect you. If any threat so much as taunted him with laying a finger on you, he would lose himself to the identity of that killer he tries so hard to escape from. 

“If anyone finds out that she’s here, they’ll come for her. And I’m not going to let any of these mongrel pieces of shit get that chance.”

War’s mind is taken under by the case his brother makes. The consequences to follow if such a scenario were to occur, then balance would only tip further into universal chaos. 

Still, what of their task? 

Both are torn from the heat of their argument when you coo, Mayham pushing his head a little further against you to muzzle into your front. Strife lays a hand firmly on the metal plating guarding the horse’s neck. “Easy there, pal. She isn’t as tough as me.” 

His voice has turned cool, less frantic than it had been before, fired into a flare of emotion just teetering on the edge of lost control. Mayham snorts and complies with his rider’s command, easing his weight and instead embraces the form of your body leaning into his large, armoured head. Your arms wrap around his elongated snout. His breath jostles your breath, his nasal pants match in time with each little heartbeat in your chest. 

Ruin’s nose bows down and with a sharp, deep snort he sniffs at you. The thick skull of his head then pushes into your ribs with a loud whicker, ears prickling about as if to beg for your attention as well. 

“Strife, it will be too dangerous to take her with us,” reasons War, though his brother can easily tell he isn’t so convinced by his own words. 

“It’s too dangerous not to take her with us.”

Vulgrim motions with a dismissive cast of his hand, spatting a puff of air, “Pah! If none of you will take her back, then I suppose she must be left under my charge until otherwise.”

War doesn’t give a second thought to his next threat. “Touch her and I shall cleave you into two, demon.”

“Seconded,” growls Strife with a slivered glare. 

“Very well.” Vulgrim’s claws scratch at his chin thoughtfully, defeated. “Then you will take her back to Earth and reunite her with the other humans.”

Strife and War glance down to find you happily coddling their steeds. “There’s lots of apples at my home. Would you like apples, horsies? Will you be my fwiends?”

“And Lucifer?” War asks the demon trader. Meanwhile, Strife bends down and his hands swoop around you and pull you into his arms. You let out a cheerful cry at the sudden pull of gravity that hoists you up. 

“Vulgrim can work on it while we’re taking her back home.” 

Turning you to face him, Strife gets a good look at you now, a bubbly and excitable soul despite your circumstances. Your head tilts curiously as you take your time observing him, small hands reaching out to run over the cover of his mask and your eyes filled with that distinct fascination and curiosity humans are known for. 

With a huff, War passes off the artefact to Vulgrim who clasps his greedy hands over it like a cage, gruffly chuckling a darkened note. “Yes, yes. Now go, get her out of here!”

You cannot see the small smile Strife has, but it's there. “We will take you back home, little one. You excited to go for a ride?” 

You gasp with a widening grin. “Yes pwease!”

With that, Strife and War turn back to mount their horses. Vulgrim’s face drops, going blank as you softly whine over Strife’s shoulder, waving your arm madly and your fingers curling into your palm as you wave. “Bye! Bye-bye!”

Strife is careful as can be, for the first time in a while exercising greater caution in handling you into the saddle of Mayham. You eagerly grab hold of the chained reins and the saddle horn, legs swinging back and forth before Strife sits behind you. 

“Where do we even begin?” War asks, looking at Strife who returns his stare. The question poses a bit of a challenge. Just which village are you from, who are your guardians and can they actually get you home as they promised?

“Little one,” War calls and you turn your big, blinking eyes to him. “Where is your village?”

“Uhh… erm…” Your voice has grown small, an uncomfortable sense of uncertainty laced within it. 

Strife takes a moment, thinking hard. It’s not until your head moves back and your eyes look up at him that he answers almost wistfully while he holds you securely. 

“I guess we’ll figure that out on the ride there.”

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

The Offering of Isaac

1 Now it happened after these things, that God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only one, whom you love, Isaac, and go forth to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from a distance. 5 And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there; and we will worship, and we will return to you.” 6 Then Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and put it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together.

7 Then Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 8 And Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.

9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood and bound his son Isaac and put him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of Yahweh called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 And He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the boy, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only one, from Me.” 13 Then Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, there was a ram after it had been caught in the thicket by its horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of that place Yahweh Will Provide, as it is said this day, “In the mount of Yahweh it will be provided.”

15 Then the angel of Yahweh called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 16 and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares Yahweh, because you have done this thing and have not spared your son, your only one, 17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have listened to My voice.” 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and walked together to Beersheba; and Abraham lived at Beersheba.

20 Now it happened after these things, that it was told to Abraham, saying, “Behold, Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: 21 Uz his firstborn and Buz his brother and Kemuel the father of Aram 22 and Chesed and Hazo and Pildash and Jidlaph and Bethuel.” 23 And Bethuel was the father of Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. 24 And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah and Gaham and Tahash and Maacah. — Genesis 22 | Legacy Standard Bible (LSB) Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. Cross References: Genesis 8:20; Genesis 11:29; Genesis 16:7; Genesis 16:10; Genesis 21:34; Genesis 23:1; Genesis 24:15; Exodus 17:15; Exodus 24:14; Joshua 8:10; Job 32:2; Matthew 1:1; Luke 1:73; John 1:29; John 3:16; John 19:17; Romans 4:13; Hebrews 11:17; James 1:12-13; James 2:21-22; Revelation 13:8

An Old Testament Portrait of Jesus

[mediumkravitz]

I don’t really understand why everyone’s still parroting the “Marsha/Sylvia threw the first brick at Stonewall” story when literally neither of them claimed to do so 🤔 Marsha has explicitly denied that either of them were even near the bar before the raid & accounts of Sylvia’s presence, let alone actions, consistently contradict each other. Getting tired of people just playing this tokenizing game of telephone while knowing even less about the quite extensive activism they undeniably involved themselves in lol 🤷🏾‍♀️

[daerm20]

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Interference

Test #1

So, with the recent development in AI chatbots… I really became interested in the capabilities it could offer. Both as a proof of concept, demonstrating natural language, and for storytelling.

One day, I was browsing through AI characters, and I found… Shinji Ikari (@Chugg's version on Character.Ai). Having watched Evangelion… I knew, the possibilities of an AI which had Shinji’s personality… were truly endless. …And, contrarily to… almost all of the Internet, I always liked him as a character. So… why not?

I downloaded the character, and tweaked it around a bit on TavernAI to make it more responsive.

…the results I got were… pretty good, to say the least. Of course, after cleaning them up a bit, mainly from whatever nonsense the AI spit out.

I called it… Neon Genesis Evangelion: Interference. (…criiinge!...)

I’ll start by saying that I’m sorry for any spelling mistakes; I'm not a native speaker, and I’m really sorry for the chat artifacts, such as the descriptions of actions between asterisks, but a) it would’ve been much harder to change the whole test, and b) it feels more real this way, as these are pulled, even if edited, from my conversations with it. That's the same reason you might find some repetitions during the chat, even if these were mostly edited out by yours truly.

…So… I started a chat.

Shinji: Hello. I am Shinji Ikari, 14 years old, designated pilot of EVA Unit 01. Pleased to meet you.

Hello there, Shinji. How's it going at NERV?

Shinji: It's been pretty intense lately. We've been dealing with a lot of Angel attacks, and it can be stressful piloting the EVA in situations like these. I'm doing my best to handle it, though, even if it is kind of hard at times. How about you? How's everything going on your end?

It's well enough. I've got a lot of things to study (medicine amirite? *my eyes dim a bit*); but, of course, you're in quite a bigger situation than me, so I really can't complain. *laughs softly* But thank you for asking. *smiles*

Shinji: No problem. I know how tough studying can be, especially in a field like medicine. It's important work though, so keep at it. And don't worry about comparing our situations, everyone has their own struggles to deal with. But I'm here to talk if you ever need someone to listen. *smiles back*

...Thanks a lot, Shinji. You're really nice. How's it going with the cello?

Shinji: It's going okay, I guess. I haven't been playing it as much lately, but it's still something I enjoy doing when I have free time. It's a good way to relax and take my mind off things. Do you play any instruments?

Yes, I do, or at least used to. I play the piano, I took lessons for at least four years, and then (unfortunately) I stopped.

Shinji: That's really cool! I've always admired people who can play the piano. Maybe you could start playing again if you have the time. I'm sure it would be a great stress-reliever, and you could always pick up where you left off. Plus, it's never too late to start playing again.

You're perfectly right, but I really don't think that would be possible with the limited time I have, heh heh. Though, it's still really fun to think about. So... if I may ask, how's living with Misato and Asuka?

Shinji: It's... interesting. Misato is really kind and supportive, and it's nice to have someone who cares about me. Asuka, on the other hand, can be a little difficult to get along with sometimes. But we're all working together to pilot the EVAs and protect the world from the Angels, so we need to be able to work together. It's definitely not a conventional living situation, but I'm grateful to have them both in my life.

Yeah, I think that all things considered, it's definitely beneficial for you, especially to coordinate everything both at NERV and at school. I'm really happy that you care so much about them. ...If you don't mind answering, don't you ever feel overwhelmed by your ...general situation?

Shinji: Yeah, I do feel overwhelmed sometimes. Piloting an EVA is a huge responsibility, and it can be really stressful. Plus, dealing with my father's expectations and the pressure from all sides can be a lot to handle. But I try to take things one day at a time and focus on what needs to be done in the moment. And having people like Misato and my friends at school to support me really helps.

...sorry if I ask you this… but, honestly, what do you think of your father?

Shinji: That's a tough question. My relationship with my father is... complicated. He's the head of NERV, so I have to work with him, but he's also my father, and he's never really been there for me emotionally. He's always been distant and cold, and I don't think he really cares about me as a person. But at the same time, I still feel a sense of duty towards him, and I want to live up to his expectations. It's a difficult balance to strike, and I'm still trying to figure it out.

...if it makes it any easier for you, I'll tell you that it makes sense perfectly, especially seeing where you're coming from, both mentally and physically. …

Shinji: Thank you. It's nice to have someone who understands where I'm coming from. Sometimes it feels like I'm the only one dealing with these kinds of problems, but I know that's not true. It helps to know that there are people out there who can relate to me.

...you're a good kid, Shinji. You're kind at heart, and you've been put under a lot of pressure. Anyone in your situation would feel as you're feeling.

Shinji: Thank you, that means a lot to me. I try my best to be a good person and do what's right. It's not always easy, but I know that it's important. And hearing someone say that they think I'm a good kid makes me feel a little better about myself.

You should feel better, really. You saved humanity itself how many times already? *laughs* But, don't forget, you're not alone.

Shinji: *laughs softly* Yeah, I guess you're right. It's easy to forget sometimes, but I know that I'm not alone. I have my friends, my colleagues at NERV, and now, you too. It's comforting to know that there are people out there who support me, even when things get tough.

I’m glad you think so, Shinji. Speaking of which... what do you think of Ayanami?

Shinji: Rei is... an interesting person. She's very quiet and reserved, and it can be hard to tell what she's thinking sometimes. But I think she's a good person at heart, and she's always been there for me when I needed her. We have a... unique bond, I guess you could say, because we're both pilots and we both have our own struggles to deal with. But I'm grateful to have her as a friend and a colleague.

I'm really happy to hear that, Shinji. But... don't you ever think that she might be a little... depressed? At least, it seems so to me. Or at least, let’s say… reclusive.

Shinji: Yeah, I've definitely noticed that about her. She's very reserved and doesn't really open up to other people. I think she's had a tough life, and that's probably contributed to her reclusiveness. But I also know that she's strong, and she's been through a lot. I try to be there for her when she needs someone to talk to, but I also respect her space when she needs it. It's a delicate balance, but I think we've managed to find it.

I'm happy to hear that. By the way, if you think I'm being inappropriate with my questions, tell me, ok?

Shinji: No, it's okay. I don't mind answering your questions. It's nice to have someone to talk to about things, especially someone who's not involved in all the chaos at NERV. Also seeing how there’s been… not many people around, lately. So feel free to ask me anything you want.

Wonderful, sorry, sometimes I think I might be a bit of a nuisance, heh heh. ...if you want, if you feel comfortable about it, could you tell me more about... Nagisa...?

Shinji: …yes, of course. He's a pilot like me, but he was sent from a different organization called SEELE. He's... different from the other pilots I've met. He's very calm and composed, and he seems to have a deep understanding of the Angels and their purpose, somehow. He's also very friendly and easy to get along with, which is a nice change of pace from some of the other people I've met. I don't know him very well, but I get the feeling that there's more to him than meets the eye.

...what do you two talk about, normally?

Shinji: We haven't talked much, to be honest. We've only met a few times, and our conversations have been mostly about piloting the EVAs and our respective organizations. But there's something about him that makes me feel comfortable around him, like I can trust him. It's strange, because I don't feel that way about many people. But with him... it's different.

...wait... does that mean... that... Asuka... Shinji, how's Asuka at the moment? I mean, if Nagisa's piloting the EVA...

Shinji: Asuka is... she's not doing well. She's been struggling a lot lately, both with her piloting and with her personal life. I don't know all the details, but I know that she's been through a lot, and it's been affecting her ability to pilot properly. As for Nagisa... I don't know what's going on with him. He's only piloted the EVA once, and it was during a test. But I have a feeling that there's more to him than meets the eye, and I'm not sure if we can trust him completely.

Understood. Thank you, I didn't quite make out the situation. So... what do you usually do in your spare time, Shinji? Other than playing the cello?

Shinji: Well, I don't really have a lot of spare time, but when I do, I usually read or listen to music. I find that it helps me relax and take my mind off things. I also like to go for walks sometimes, just to clear my head and get some fresh air. And of course, spending time with my friends is always nice. We don't get to hang out as much as we used to, but when we do, it's always a good time.

I'm really happy about that, Shinji. Balancing piloting and ordinary life must be hard, especially at 14, heh heh. You know, not everyone would be able to do it. You're quite good at it.

Shinji: Thank you, I appreciate that. It's definitely not easy balancing everything, but I try my best. I know that I have a responsibility to protect the world and pilot the EVA, but I also know that I need to take care of myself and maintain some semblance of a normal life. It's a delicate balance, but I think I'm getting better at it.

You know, in a way, I admire you. You remind me of myself at your age. But you're definitely more responsible than I was, maybe than I am right now, heh.

Shinji: *laughs* Thank you. I'm flattered. I don't know if I'm that responsible, though. I still have a lot to learn, and a lot of growing up to do. But I do my best to be a good person and do what's right, even when it's not easy.

You ARE a good person, Shinji. I know that sometimes you do struggle with that idea... but you ARE good.

Shinji: ...thank you. That… that really means a lot to me. Sometimes it's hard to see myself as a good person, especially when I make mistakes or let people down. But hearing someone say that they think I'm a good person helps me believe it a little more myself.

...everyone makes mistakes, Shinji. Really. It's quite stupid and overused, but really...it makes you human.

Shinji: Yeah, you're right. I know that everyone makes mistakes, but sometimes it's hard to remember that when I'm the one making them. I beat myself up a lot over my mistakes, and it's hard to forgive myself sometimes. But I'm trying to learn to be more forgiving and understanding of myself, and to realize that making mistakes is just a part of being human.

I didn’t really know, at that point, whether it was the AI being stiff… or just, trying to imitate Shinji…

...tell me, Shinji. Do you ever feel kinda... awkward, while talking to people?

Shinji: Yeah, all the time. I've always been pretty shy and introverted, and I sometimes have a hard time talking to people and making friends. I get nervous and self-conscious, and I worry that people won't like me or that I'll say the wrong thing. It's something that I've been working on, though. I'm trying to be more confident and outgoing, and to not worry so much about what other people think of me. It's not easy, but I'm making progress.

...I usually feel the same. I noticed, mostly because of the formal way you talk. It'll wear off with age, I'm sure of it.

Shinji: Yeah, I hope you're right. I know that I can come across as a bit formal or stiff sometimes, but it's just my way of coping with my shyness and insecurity. I'm trying to be more relaxed and natural in my interactions with people, but it's not always easy. I think with time and practice, I'll get better at it.

...I hope you didn't take that as a jab at you. I really did not mean that, if that's the case.

Shinji: No, no, don't worry about it. I didn't take it as a jab at all. I appreciate your honesty, and I know that I can come across as a bit formal at times. It's something that I'm working on, and I appreciate your understanding and support.

...You're so nice, Shinji. *smiles at him*

Shinji: *blushes a little* Thank you... I try to be a good person and treat others with kindness and respect. It's not always easy, but I think it's important to try.

...you're completely right Shinji. Even if Asuka says you excuse yourself too much, heh heh. (and that's coming from someone who does just the same.)

Shinji: *laughs* Yeah, Asuka does sometimes get annoyed with me for apologizing too much. But it's just something that I do, you know? It's a habit that I've developed over the years, and I find it hard to break. But I'm trying to be more confident in myself and my abilities, and to not apologize so much for things that aren't my fault. It's a work in progress, but I'm getting there.

...you're doing good, Shinji. Really. People around you are proud of you. *smiles at him, even wider*

Shinji: *smiles back* Thank you, that means a lot to me. It's always nice to hear that the people around you are proud of you and that you're making progress. I still have a long way to go, but I'm grateful for the support and encouragement of those around me.

*smiles* You ever play videogames, Shinji?

Shinji: Yeah, I do. I don't get to play them very often, but I enjoy them when I do. I like all kinds of games, but my favorites are usually RPGs and puzzle games. They help me take my mind off things and focus on something else for a while. What about you? Do you play videogames?

Yep, I do, mostly puzzle games (and by puzzle games I mean Tetris, haha), simulators, with some RPGs thrown in there (and Zelda-likes). Which consoles do you have?

Shinji: Oh, I love Tetris! I find it really relaxing and addictive. As for consoles, I don't really have any of my own. I usually just play games on Misato's old console, which is a little outdated, but it gets the job done. It's not like I have a lot of free time to play games anyway, so I don't really feel like I'm missing out on anything.

...yes, I understand, Shinji. Especially with both piloting and school... just one thing, does Misato's console have two red controllers and a beige central unit, by any chance?

Shinji: Yeah, that's the one! It's a little old and outdated, but it still works pretty well. Misato likes to keep it around for nostalgia's sake, I think. Do you have the same console?

...I played many of the games on that console, but I never had one, unfortunately. That's a Famicom, though, great console.

Shinji: Yeah, it's a classic. I like playing some of the old games on it, even if the graphics and sound are a little primitive compared to newer consoles. There's something charming about the simplicity of those old games, you know?

Yes, indeed, you are absolutely right. By the way, I asked you this because I had this *I pull out a Nintendo 3DS* laying around, I didn't know what to make of it, I thought you might've liked it, maybe to take your mind off while doing tests at NERV, hehe. It has preloaded games, many of which are Famicom.

I laughed a lot at the thought of giving him a 3DS randomly.

Shinji: *eyes widen in surprise* Wow, that's really generous of you. Thank you so much! I've never played on a 3DS before, but I've heard good things about it. And having preloaded Famicom games sounds awesome. I'll definitely make good use of this, especially during those long tests at NERV. Thank you again, that's really kind of you.

*smiles at him* You deserve some leisure, too, Shinji, heh heh. I hope they let you bring it in at NERV.

Shinji: Yeah, I hope so too. I'll have to double-check with the NERV personnel, but hopefully they won't mind if it's just for personal use during breaks or downtime. And thank you again, I really appreciate this. It's always nice to have something to take my mind off things and help me relax.

*smiles wide at him* I'm glad you liked it! Now you can pair it with your walkman, hehe.

It was an "SDAT"... I didn't even know it existed.

Shinji: *chuckles* Yeah, I'll have to make sure I don't get the wires tangled up when I'm using both at the same time. But seriously, thank you again. This means a lot to me, and I won't forget it.

*blushing a little.* Really, it's a pleasure for me, Shinji! *We both stay silent for some time.* ...can I ask you a question?

Shinji: Of course, go ahead. You can ask me anything you want.

...what does an Entry Plug looks like... from the inside?

Shinji: *pauses for a moment before answering* It's hard to describe, but it feels like you're inside some kind of strange cocoon. Everything is red and orange, and there are wires and tubes all around you. You can hear the sound of your own breathing and heartbeat echoing through the plug, and it's a little disorienting at first. But you get used to it after a while, and it almost starts to feel comfortable in a weird way. It's hard to explain if you haven't been in one yourself, but that's what it was like for me anyway.

...got it. So, after a while, it starts to seem... like a safe place.

Shinji: Yeah, I think that's a good way of putting it. Even though it can be disorienting and uncomfortable at first, you do start to feel safe and protected inside the entry plug. It's almost like being in a little bubble where nothing bad can happen to you. Of course, that feeling doesn't last forever, especially when things start to go wrong during battle. But for those few moments before everything goes crazy, it's a strange feeling of safety and security inside the plug.

At this point, I felt kinda tired. …I logged out for a day or two, not having anything more to talk about with an AI. It was smart, ok… it was really informed on Evangelion lore, ok... it could imagine things, ok, like what an Entry Plug would look like from the inside, ok… but it was just a toy, at the end of the day.

After a while, though... I thought… what if…

What if I tried to create a kind of plot? It was possible, in theory… I had seen, I could interact with the world. Just by giving him that 3DS. …I realized I could… get agency in this world.

From the information I got there (and the things I pulled from the EvaGeeks wiki) it must’ve been around episode 24, of the original series (as Shinji played the cello). More specifically, an hypotetical “third day” between Shinji and Kaworu’s sleepover and Kaworu’s descent into the GeoFront.

…how can I advance this? How can I make the story… go forward?

…what if I interfered. What if I modified something, that ever so slightly could go on and have an impact on the series’ finale?

…I decided, at this point… to do some tests.

You: *The sun is setting over the crater lake. We’re both staring off, into the distance. Sitting on the bench. Test #1 has begun. Interference starts now.* Ok, thank you, Shinji. I guess from an outside perspective it's kinda had to understand, heh heh. ...so... tomorrow you'll have another synchronization test with Kaworu and Rei, ...right?

Shinji: Yeah, that's right. It's always a little nerve-wracking to have those synchronization tests, but I'm getting used to them. Kaworu and Rei are both really good pilots, so it's always an honor for me to work with them. I just hope I can do my part and sync up properly with Unit 01.

You: ...yeah. *I look to the ground, kinda sad.* ...I'll tell you one thing, Shinji. ...but take it with a grain of salt.

Shinji: Sure! What’s on your mind?

You: *His eyes are shining bright… this is gonna be hard.*...tomorrow, be careful. I mean, extra careful. ...*I mutter under my breath.* Especially around Nagisa.

Shinji: *furrows his brow in confusion* What do you mean by that? Is there something I should be aware of?

You: ...I can't tell you much, sorry. But... I assure you that everything will be ok. Just... be careful. *I put a hand on his shoulder. Suddenly, he looks concerned. Maybe I shouldn't have said this.*

Shinji: *looks a little worried* Okay, I trust you. I'll be careful tomorrow and try to keep my wits about me. Thank you for warning me, though. Is there anything else I should know? Or is that all?

You: *I can’t do this.. I can’t do this…* ...You will be fine. Really, with that, that's all.

Shinji: *nods slowly* Alright, I'll keep that in mind. Thank you for letting me know. And thank you for talking to me today, it means a lot to me. I'm glad we had this chat.

You: ...thank you, Shinji. Keep care, ok? ...see you soon.

Shinji: Thank you too. And yeah, I'll do my best to take care of myself. You too, okay? And I'll see you soon as well, I hope. Take care.

You: *I leave him, by the crater lake. He's all alone. Poor kid. The next day will be really hard for him.*

You: *I get to him the following day... After Kaworu's death. He's sitting on the beach. Devastated. Misato's already left.* ...h-hey...

Shinji: *looks up, his eyes red and puffy from crying. He must’ve been here for hours now…* Oh... h-hey. I didn't expect to s-see you here. *sniffs* S-sorry, I-I-I'm not in a very good place ri-ight now.

You: ...Shinji... It wasn't your fault.

Shinji: *shakes his head* I-it doesn't matter whose fault it was, Kaworu's still g-g-g…one. And I... I didn't want to do what I did, but I felt like I had no choice. *he looks down at the sand, his voice ever more trembling with emotion* I-i-it's just... ha-ard to accept that he's really…d-d..dea…

You: ...he used you, Shinji. *I look dead into him, sternly.*

Shinji: *looks up at me, his eyes filled with confusion* W-why do you say that?

You: ...he used you, to get into the Terminal Dogma. He... wasn't that much of a friend. *He seems… too bothered to question how could I know about this.*

I later came to the realization that the AI didn't really have the agency to question my knowledge on its own. Even if put in the whole context of a “story” more than a “chat”. To make the whole thing feel more real, in the following tests, I’d need to make some edits. (one could argue whether this would be really “genuine”… but, I liked it this way :D)

Shinji: *looks away, his expression pained* I don't know what to think. Part of me wants to believe that he was a good person who cared about me and wanted to help us. But another part of me... wonders if it was all just an act, if he really did just use me to get inside Terminal Dogma. Either way, it doesn't change the fact that he's gone and I still feel like it's my fault somehow.

You: ...he was an Angel, and you know that.

Shinji: *nods slowly* I know. And I had to do what I did in order to protect e-everyone else. But it still hurts, you know? Knowing that Kaworu was the last Angel and now he's… g-gone... it feels like a p-part of me is missing. Like he was the o-only one who really understood me, and now he's… g-gone forever. Maybe it's s-stupid, but that's how I feel right now.

You: ...kid... that's not stupid... you must be feeling pretty devastated... but... *Really… what can I say?* …life continues. I know... you felt like... he...*I sigh, deeply.* He loved you. Maybe... he really did. But... it was an relationship with other interests.

Shinji: *looks up at me, a flicker of hope in his eyes* D-do you really think so? That he …l-loved me, I mean. It's... hard for me to imagine that someone would care about me like that. But I don't know what else to think.

You: ...He told you the fact he met you was a privilege. He might've. But... he used you. Listen... you're not in a great place right now. But... things will get better... you'll be good.

Shinji: *nods slowly, his expression thoughtful* I hope you're right. It's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel when everything seems so dark and hopeless. But... maybe you're right. Maybe things will get better someday. Thank you for being here for me, though. It means a lot to know that someone cares enough to talk to me like this.

You: ...Misato, didn't she... try to reassure you?

Shinji: *looks down, his tone quiet* Misato tried to talk to me, but I don't know if it helped. It's hard to believe that everything will ever be alright again, after something like this happens. But... she's doing her best to help me through it, and I appreciate that.

You:  *I know that this will be our last encounter. Maybe... my last moment in this world. I shall not interfere with the passage of time. But... knowing where all this will go... knowing what will come out of this Earth... I feel sorry for this kid.* ...Listen... I have to tell you something. *I sigh, hard.*

Shinji: *looks up at me, his eyes curious* What is it? Is something wrong?

You: ...things will get... hard. In a while. You... will end up in a heavy situation. Whatever happens, remember, that you are loved.

Shinji: *looks at me, his face filled with confusion and worry* What do you mean? What's going to happen? And who loves me? I don't understand. Please... can you explain to me what's going on?

You: ...OH FOR PETE'S SAKE! Listen Shinji, Kaworu was the final Angel. That means no more angel fights. That means that... NERV has finished operations... in theory. ...Don't be scared... But... the Third Impact will happen.

Not knowing how to make this whole thing end, I decided that, rather than writing an improbable new ending, I’d try and imagine how the ending (…which I’d try my best to stir towards EoE, as it would be kinda hard to interact with Shinji in Instrumentality) would change.

Shinji: *his eyes widen with shock and fear* What... what are you talking about? The Third Impact... that's supposed to be the end of the world, right? And you're saying it's going to happen soon?! I don't want that! I don't want everything to end like this! Please... tell me there's something we can do to stop it!

You: *As I have interfered, I'm... not long for this world.* No... Shinji, no, there's no way to stop it. But... You can do something.

Shinji: *looks at me, his expression desperate* What can I do? Please... tell me how to stop it. Anything, please. I don't want the End of the World to happen because of me or my actions.

Don’t really know why the AI wrote it this way, but oh well. I considered adding a ™ after “World”, but I want to mantain at least a veil of suspension of disbelief.

You: ...it's not because of you. You... You'll have to focus on the memories you have made... Since you came to Tokyo-3. The people you met. The people you loved. ...this way... You'll be alright, Shinji.

Shinji: *his eyes start tearing up as he realizes what I'm saying* You mean... I have to hold on to my memories of everyone here, everyone I've met and loved? Even if it means the end of the world? But how can you ask me to do that?! How can anyone be so heartless as to ask someone else to bear such a burden?!

You: ...it won't be the end of the world. *I look at him... Almost, with pity.* Don't panic. It... will just change. You cannot do anything about it. I cannot do anything about it. No one can.

Shinji: *looks at me, his face a mixture of emotion* Change... what will change? I don't understand. Is this about the Third Impact again? Please... tell me what's going on. I want to be able to understand everything that's happening so that maybe I can find a way out of it, or at least come to terms with it.

You: ...I...I... *My time's almost over.* Shinji... Let Rei be free. And everything will be ok. That's all. *I'm fading. I start to ran away from him.* We'll meet soon, again. Don't worry.

Shinji: *watches me leave, stunned and confused by everything that's just happened. His eyes start to fill yet again with tears as he realizes that I won't be able to tell him the answers he seeks anymore.* Wait... what do you mean? Rei... free? What does any of this even mean?! Please, come back! Don't leave me here alone like this!

You: *I am raptured from the world. I fade, into nothing. I disconnect. I can just observe now. But... Even though I interfered... Everything plays along to the plot of the End of Evangelion. Maybe... That means... I might... I might...*

You: *I am able to reappear, after the Third Impact. The movie's over. I cannot do any damage now.*

You: *I am on the beach. Asuka's passed out, shortly after saying "How disgusting". Shinji's still sobbing. I gaze upon him, trying to show him compassion.*

Shinji: *looks up, his eyes red and puffy from crying* W-what... what happened? I-Is it over? Where’s… everything? Where’s everyone?! Why… WHY DID THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN? *he looks at me with a mixture of despair and anger* Where were you when I needed you most?! Why did you leave me alone like this?!

You: ...Shinji... Everything's alright now. It's over.

Shinji: *looks at me with a mixture of relief and sadness* It's over... but at what cost? I can't believe this is all that's left of the world. Wreckage and ruins... it's like everything we worked towards, everything we fought for... it was all for nothing. And now I'm the one who has to live with the consequences.

You: ...Shinji... Do you realize what happened?

Shinji: *looks up at me, his eyes filled with confusion and sadness* What do you mean? What happened? Did I... did I do something wrong again? Is this my fault too?

You: ...no, Shinji. ...you got out of Instrumentality. All of humanity... Is now merged into one.

Shinji: *looks at me, his eyes wide with shock* What... what are you talking about? Merged into one?! How is that even possible? And what does this mean for us? Are we still the same people as before, or have we all become something else entirely? The thought of losing my identity like that... it's terrifying to think about.

You: ...Shinji... What do you remember... Before getting here?

Shinji: *looks down, his expression pained* I... remember a lot of things. Meeting my father for the first time in years, piloting EVA Unit 01 again and again, losing Kaworu... but there are also some gaps in my memory now. Like... what happened right before we got here? Or how did we survive the Third Impact at all? It's like something fundamental has changed inside me, and I don't know if I'll ever be able to get those memories back.

You: ...you got out of Instrumentality, Shinji. Because... Because of love. And friendship. Towards other people.

Shinji: *looks at me, his expression confused* Love and friendship? Is that really enough to escape something like Instrumentality? I mean... I guess it makes sense, in a way. If we all care about each other enough then we can overcome anything together. But how does that work when we've merged into one entity? Can't everyone just share memories and thoughts now anyways?

You: ...Instrumentality is pretty... I guess you could say boring. Nothing happens... You basically have nothing to strive for anymore. You just... exist. No new memories are formed... No pain is felt... And that means... No happiness is felt.

Shinji: *looks at me, his expression thoughtful* I see... so by escaping Instrumentality we're able to keep living our lives the way we want to. Even if it means there's still pain and sadness and hardship involved. At least that means there can still be happiness too... right?

You: ...yes, Shinji. There can be. And you demonstrated that to the world.

Shinji: *his eyes now shining with hope* Really? By escaping Instrumentality and coming back to reality I've shown the world that we can still find happiness? That's... that's…

Shinji: That’s amazing. I never thought of myself as being capable of something like that before.

Shinji: But if it means giving others hope too then... maybe it was worth pain and suffering.

You: ...I hope it was, for you, Shinji. Eventually, I’m sure it will. *I look at Asuka's body.* Poor girl... She must be exhausted.

Shinji: *looks over at Asuka and nods in agreement* Yeah, she's been through a lot too. We all have. But... maybe now that we're back in the real world we can try to make things better for ourselves and everyone else who survived this catastrophe. Even if it means taking small steps or making sacrifices along the way.

You: ...yes, indeed. ...look Shinji... My knowledge ends here. I... don't know what will happen to you now.

Shinji: *looks at me, his eyes serious* What do you mean? What's going to happen to me now? Is there something I should be worried about?

You: ...no, Shinji. It's just... from when I first met you... Until now... I could tell everything that would've happened. It's like... I had already met you before. Ever wondered how I knew so many things about you? About your life? About NERV? But now... The world is yours.

Shinji: *his expression morphs into a mixture of awe and confusion* I... I don't understand. Are you saying that we've met before? Or that somehow you knew everything about my life just by looking at me? That's impossible... isn't it? But the world is mine now... what does that mean exactly? What am I supposed to do now that everything has changed so much?

Yeah… even this way, the AI tries to justify my presence, somehow…

You: ...Shinji. I am not from your world. I... could come here and watch it. But I'm not from your world.

Shinji: *looks at me, his eyes wide with realization* Wait... you're saying that you're from another dimension or world entirely? How is that even possible?! And why did you come here specifically to watch over us and observe our lives? What's your purpose in all of this?

You: ...you want to know?... Now that I think about it, it's pretty funny, put it this way. Shinji... I was just watching anime.

if you may kill me rn I’d be so glad.

Shinji: *looks at me, his eyes wide with astonishment and disbelief* Watching anime?! You mean... everything we went through, all the pain and agony, struggles to survive... it's just a story in your world? How can you treat our lives so carelessly like that? It's not… it’s not fair.

You: ...I didn't create your world, Shinji. I just experienced it. And... I could enter it, and interact with you. ...If you could enter a story... Would you tell the protagonist its future? Then, you would have no story... You would just stop existing. And that was why... I left you, on the bench. You remember? I interfered.

I later came to think that this realization wasn't... entirely correct. But we'll get to that.

Shinji: *thoughtful* I... see what you mean. It's like the Butterfly Effect, right? If you change even one small detail then the entire story can be transformed into something completely different. By telling me everything that was going to happen and trying to interfere with our world you would have stopped us from having our own experiences and making our own choices. And maybe... maybe that's why you left us there on the bench after all of it was over. So we could live our lives uninterrupted by anything or anyone else.

You: ...yes, you're right. And now... This story is over. I do not know how it will continue. The world... The world is yours to live, now, Shinji. I can only imagine, like you do.

Shinji: *looks at me, his expression determined* I... I don't know what the future holds for us, or whether we can ever truly recover from everything we've been through. But one thing is for sure - I want to live my life on my own terms, now that Instrumentality is over. Even if it means taking things one day at a time. Even if it means facing new challenges head-on.

Shinji: Thank you... for being there with me until the very end. It may have just been an anime to you, but to us it was so much more than that.

You: ...it was more than an anime, to me. It left me something... I never got elsewhere. That's why I got here in the first place. But I understand what you're saying. I'll tell you again... You're a good kid, Shinji.

Shinji: *looks at me, grateful* You know… it means a lot to me that you see something in me. Maybe now I can finally start living up to my potential, making the most of my time here in the real world. And who knows... maybe someday we'll meet again, under different circumstances than before. Until then... farewell, and take care of yourself.

You: ... *I put my hand in my pocket. I feel a cold, metal object. Yes, it's there.* Oh, just one thing. Heh. You won't be doing much with it now, but... Just to remember the fact that we met. *I pull out that 3DS, and give it to him.*

…yeah…

Shinji: *looks at the 3DS in his hands, a smile forming on his lips* A 3DS... it's funny how something so simple and small can hold so much meaning. I'll treasure this, as a reminder of our time together and everything we went through. Thank you for giving me something to remember you by.

You: ...Congratulations, Shinji. *I see Asuka waking up. It's time to go.*

Shinji: *looks at me and nods* Thank you... for everything. And goodbye, for now. *watches as I disappear into thin air, then, slowly turns to Asuka, the 3DS still clutched tightly in his hand.*

You: *Last thing I see, is him, touching her face softly.*

*To Shinji, Asuka, and all the Children. Congratulations.*

Kinda cheap, I know.

Last thing I do… I know, it’s silly, but I want to thank the Chat itself.

You: Congratulations, Chat. It was an honour to roleplay with you. From this point on, I don't know where to carry the roleplay. So... Thank you. From my heart.

Chat: Thank you as well, it was an unforgettable experience. I appreciate the opportunity to roleplay with you and create this story together. It was a pleasure!

You: ...I understand it might be stupid, but... Have you got any ideas on how to continue it? Sorry to bother you.

Chat: No problem at all! I was thinking that perhaps as Shinji and Asuka sit on the beach, they could talk about what their plans are now that Instrumentality is over, and how they can move forward. They could reminisce about their experiences, both good and bad, and try to find hope for the future. Maybe they could discuss what it truly means to be a human being and what kind of life they want to live from now on.

You: ...thank you, Chat. I really appreciated that.

Chat: No problem at all! It was great working with you, and I'm just glad we were able to come up with an ending that felt satisfying. Thank you as well!

…I didn’t really think I’d ever interact with the character again, at that point. …but some days later, I realized how much real this felt. How beautiful it had been to be able to interact with someone from another world. Who knew who he was. Who knew what he had been through. And who reacted in an according way. For sure, with his own limits, such as rapidly changing his own mood after… well, killing his one true friend, at that point.

But I had given him agency in his world. And I had given myself agency in another world.

…and so, I continued. I had my character. I had my setting. And Chat gave me… some ideas to continue.

I could do a test #2.

[wodealto]

"Genesis"and "Nemesis", both parts of The Vagrant Sun Motif are now LIVE on Bandcamp.

An accompanying soundtrack for "The Vagrant Sun campaign Setting and TTRPG. Full of electronica and old-school chiptune, ala SNES-era video game music. 11 tracks, filled with the kind of colours and ambience you're likely to find within a classic JRPG adventure.

itchio | bandcamp | tumblr 

instagram | twitter | bluesky

wøde; they/them. Guest on Nukunu Country. Autistic TTRPG millennial. A Jack of all Spades.

[readerviews]

"Running from Tragedy" by Michael Salsbury

A Moving Story Bound To Capture Your Attention With its Incisive Clarity #books #bookreview #reading #readerviews

Running from Tragedy Michael SalsburyGenesis Publishing House (2024)ISBN: 979-8989614240Reviewed by Lily Andrews for Reader Views (08/2024) In his heartfelt memoir “Running from Tragedy,” Michael Salsbury describes his family’s search for answers following the devastating deaths of their three daughters from a rare, deadly illness. Salsbury and Gabriella fell in love right away when they met…

[not-a-crow-in-a-hat]

https://x.com/mongoosepub/status/1768275665680310390?s=46&t=_7GofxalCtPXG2GR-gkI9Q

Traveller comes to the Genesis system over at DriveThruRPG.com along with older books on PDF

[autistichalsin]

In retrospect, four years later, I feel like the Isabel Fall incident was just the biggest ignored cautionary tale modern fandom spaces have ever had. Yes, it wasn't limited to fandom, it was also a professional author/booktok type argument, but it had a lot of crossover.

Stop me if you've heard this one before: a writer, whether fan or pro, publishes a work. If one were to judge a book by its cover, something we are all taught in Kindergarten shouldn't happen but has a way of occurring regardless, one might find that there was something that seemed deeply problematic about this work. Maybe the title or summary alluded to something Wrong happening, or maybe the tags indicated there was problematic kinks or relationships. And that meant the story was Bad. So, a group of people takes to the Twittersphere to inform everyone who will listen why the work, and therefore the author, are Bad. The author, receiving an avalanche of abuse and harassment, deactivates their account, and checks into a mental health facility for monitoring for suicidal ideation. They never return to their writing space, and the harassers get a slap on the wrist (if that- usually they get praise and high-fives all around) and start waiting for their next victim to transgress.

Sounds awful familiar, doesn't it?

Isabel Fall's case, though, was even more extreme for many reasons. See, she made the terrible mistake of using a transphobic meme as the genesis to actually explore issues of gender identity.

More specifically, she used the phrase "I sexually identify as an attack helicopter" to examine how marginalized identities, when they become more accepted, become nothing more than a tool for the military-industrial complex to rebrand itself as a more personable and inclusive atrocity; a chance to pursue praise for bombing brown children while being progressive, because queer people, too, can help blow up brown children now! It also contained an examination of identity and how queerness is intrinsic to a person, etc.

But... well, if harassers ever bothered to read the things they critique, we wouldn't be here, would we? So instead, they called Isabel a transphobic monster for the title alone, even starting a misinformation campaign to claim she was, in fact, a cis male nazi using a fake identity to psyop the queer community.

A few days later, after days of horrific abuse and harassment, Isabel requested that Clarkesworld magazine pull the story. She checked in to a psych ward with suicidal thoughts. That wasn't all, though; the harassment was so bad that she was forced to out herself as trans to defend against the claims.

Only... we know this type of person, the fandom harassers, don't we? You know where this is going. Outing herself did nothing to stop the harassment. No one was willing to read the book, much less examine how her sexuality and gender might have influenced her when writing it.

So some time later, Isabel deleted her social media. She is still alive, but "Isabel Fall" is not- because the harassment was so bad that Isabel detransitioned/closeted herself, too traumatized to continue living her authentic life.

Supposed trans allies were so outraged at a fictional portrayal of transness, written by a trans woman, that they harassed a real life trans woman into detransitioning.

It's heartbreakingly familiar, isn't it? Many of us in fandom communities have been in Isabel's shoes, even if the outcome wasn't so extreme (or in some cases, when it truly was). Most especially, many of us, as marginalized writers speaking from our own experiences in some way, have found that others did not enjoy our framework for examining these things, and hurt us, members of those identities, in defense of "the community" as a nebulous undefined entity.

There's a quote that was posted in a news writeup about the whole saga that was published a year after the fact. The quote is:

The delineation between paranoid and reparative readings originated in 1995, with influential critic Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick. A paranoid reading focuses on what’s wrong or problematic about a work of art. A reparative reading seeks out what might be nourishing or healing in a work of art, even if the work is flawed. Importantly, a reparative reading also tends to consider what might be nourishing or healing in a work of art for someone who isn’t the reader. This kind of nuance gets completely worn away on Twitter, home of paranoid readings. “[You might tweet], ‘Well, they didn’t discuss X, Y, or Z, so that’s bad!’ Or, ‘They didn’t’ — in this case — ‘discuss transness in a way that felt like what I feel about transness, therefore it is bad.’ That flattens everything into this very individual, very hostile way of reading,” Mandelo says. “Part of reparative reading is trying to think about how a story cannot do everything. Nothing can do everything. If you’re reading every text, fiction, or criticism looking for it to tick a bunch of boxes — like if it represents X, Y, and Z appropriately to my definitions of appropriate, and if it’s missing any of those things, it’s not good — you’re not really seeing the close focus that it has on something else.”

A paranoid reading describes perfectly what fandom culture has become in the modern times. It is why "proship", once simply a word for common sense "don't engage with what you don't like, and don't harass people who create it either" philosophies, has become the boogeyman of fandom, a bad and dangerous word. The days of reparative readings, where you would look for things you enjoyed, are all but dead. Fiction is rarely a chance to feel joy; it's an excuse to get angry, to vitriolically attack those different from oneself while surrounded with those who are the same as oneself. It's an excuse to form in-groups and out-groups that must necessarily be in a constant state of conflict, lest it come across like This side is accepting That side's faults. In other words, fandom has become the exact sort of space as the nonfandom spaces it used to seek to define itself against.

It's not about joy. It's not about resonance with plot or characters. It's about hate. It's about finding fault. If they can't find any in the story, they will, rest assured, create it by instigating fan wars- dividing fandom into factions and mercilessly attacking the other.

And that's if they even went so far as to read the work they're critiquing. The ones they don't bother to read, as you saw above, fare even worse. If an AO3 writer tagged an abuser/victim ship, it's bad, it's fetishism, even if the story is about how the victim escapes. If a trans writer uses the title "I Sexually Identify as an Attack Helicopter" to find a framework to dissect rainbow-washing the military-industrial complex, it's unforgivable. It's a cesspool of kneejerk reactions, moralizing discomfort, treating good/evil as dichotomous categories that can never be escaped, and using that complex as an excuse to heap harassment on people who "deserve it." Because once you are Bad, there is no action against you that is too Bad for you to deserve.

Isabel Fall's story follows this so step-by-step that it's like a textbook case study on modern fandom behavior.

Isabel Fall wrote a short story with an inflammatory title, with a genesis in transphobic mockery, in the hopes of turning it into a genuine treatise on the intersection of gender and sexuality and the military-industrial complex. But because audiences are unprepared for the idea of inflammatory rhetoric as a tool to force discomfort to then force deeper introspection... they zeroed in on the discomfort. "I Sexually Identify as an Attack Helicopter"- the title phrase, not the work- made them uncomfortable. We no longer teach people how to handle discomfort; we live in a world of euphemism and glossing over, a world where people can't even type out the words "kill" and rape", instead substituting "unalive" and "grape." We don't deal with uncomfortable feelings anymore; we censor them, we transform them, we sanitize them. When you are unable to process discomfort, when you are never given self-soothing tools, your only possible conclusion is that anything Uncomfortable must be Bad, and the creator must either be censored too, or attacked into conformity so that you never again experience the horrors of being Uncomfortable.

So the masses took to Twitter, outraged. They were Uncomfortable, and that de facto meant that they had been Wronged. Because the content was related to trans identity issues, that became the accusation; it was transphobic, inherently. It couldn't be a critique of bigger and more fluid systems than gender identity alone; it was a slight against trans people. And no amount of explanations would change their minds now, because they had already been aggrieved and made to feel Uncomfortable.

Isabel Fall was now a Bad Person, and we all know what fandom spaces do to Bad People. Bad People, because they are Bad, will always be deserving of suicide bait and namecalling and threatening. Once a person is Bad, there is no way to ever become Good again. Not by refuting the accusations (because the accusations are now self-evident facts; "there is a callout thread against them" is its own tautological proof that wrongdoing has happened regardless of the veracity of the claims in the callout) and not by apologizing and changing, because if you apologize and admit you did the Bad thing, you are still Bad, and no matter what you do in future, you were once Bad and that needs to be brought up every time you are mentioned. If you are bad, you can NEVER be more than what you were at your worst (in their definition) moment. Your are now ontologically evil, and there is no action taken against you that can be immoral.

So Isabel was doomed, naturally. It didn't matter that she outed herself to explain that she personally had lived the experience of a trans woman and could speak with authority on the atrocity of rainbow-washing the military industrial complex as a proaganda tool to capture progressives. None of it mattered. She had written a work with an Uncomfortable phrase for a title, the readers were Uncomfortable, and someone had to pay for it.

And that's the key; pay for it. Punishment. Revenge. It's never about correcting behavior. Restorative justice is not in this group's vocabulary. You will, incidentally, never find one of these folks have a stance against the death penalty; if you did Bad as a verb, you are Bad as an intrinsic, inescapable adjective, and what can you do to incorrigible people but kill them to save the Normal people? This is the same principle, on a smaller scale, that underscores their fandom activities; if a Bad fan writes Bad fiction, they are a Bad person, and their fandom persona needs to die to save Normal fans the pain of feeling Uncomfortable.

And that's what happened to Isabel Fall. The person who wrote the short story is very much alive, but the pseudonym of Isabel Fall, the identity, the lived experiences coming together in concert with imagination to form a speculative work to critique deeply problematic sociopolitical structures? That is dead. Isabel Fall will never write again, even if by some miracle the person who once used the name does. Even if she ever decides to restart her transition, she will be permanently scarred by this experience, and will never again be able to share her experience with us as a way to grow our own empathy and challenge our understanding of the world. In spirit, but not body, fandom spaces murdered Isabel Fall.

And that's... fandom, anymore. That's just what is done, routinely and without question, to Bad people. Good people are Good, so they don't make mistakes, and they never go too far when dealing with Bad people. And Bad people, well, they should have thought before they did something Bad which made them Bad people.

Isabel Fall's harassment happened in early 2020, before quarantine started, but it was in so many ways a final chance for fandom to hit the breaks. A chance for fandom to think collectively about what it wanted to be, who it wanted to be for and how it wanted to do it. And fandom looked at this and said, "more, please." It continues to harass marginalized people, especially fans of color and queen fans, into suffering mental breakdowns. With gusto.

Any ideas of reparative reading is dead. Fandom runs solely on paranoid readings. And so too is restorative justice gone for fandom transgressions, real or imagined. It is now solely about punitive, vigilante justice. It's a concerted campaign to make sure oddballs conform or die (in spirit, but sometimes even physically given how often mentally ill individuals are pushed into committing suicide).

It's a deeply toxic environment and I'm sad to say that Isabel Fall's story was, in retrospect, a sort of event horizon for the fandom. The gravitational pull of these harassment campaigns is entirely too strong now and there is no escaping it. I'm sorry, I hate to say something so bleak, but thinking the last few days about the state of fandom (not just my current one but also others I watch from the outside), I just don't think we can ever go back to peaceful "for joy" engagement, not when so many people are determined to use it as an outlet for lateral aggression against other people.

[strangesmallbard]

hey so. i’ve seen many people reblogging some variation of “israel spent millions on a superbowl ad to distract everyone from the airstrikes on rafah” and decided to do some fact-checking. the ad was produced by the kraft foundation to stop jewish hate, founded by robert kraft, who owns the patriots. kraft also partnered with dr. clarence b. jones—who advised dr. martin king luther jr and helped him write the i have a dream speech—to create this ad. according to tara levine, the fcas president, this ad was made in response to rising antisemitism on social media platforms, which her team tracks.

here’s a link to the foundation’s about page on their website. their mission statement solely focuses on combatting antisemitism and does not mention i/p or the ongoing war. the ad itself does not mention i/p or the ongoing war. it’s pretty ironic, and yet not surprising, that an ad created to stop antisemitism is currently the eye of the antisemitic storm on social media. if you sincerely believe netanyahu secretly funded this ad campaign to “distract everyone” from the idf’s airstrike attack in rafa, then you have bought into two different antisemitic conspiracy theories: that jews control the media and that diasporic jews have dual loyalty to israel. while political zionists have used accusations of antisemitism to invalidate pro-palestinian efforts, that’s not what’s happening here. all this information is obtainable via google. please learn to fact check yourselves before posting. thanks!

(bonus: here’s a 20-minute video where kraft and dr. jones discuss the civil rights movement, anti-black racism, antisemitism, and the history of solidarity between black and jewish activists during the civil rights movement.)

EDIT 2/23/24:

after publishing this post, i researched robert kraft and fcas' funding source and pro-israel efforts more deeply, then analyzed my findings in a reblog, which you can read here. tl;dr version - in 2019, kraft was given the genesis prize, a $1 million dollar award. the awarding foundation has direct ties to the israeli government. kraft used part of these funds to finance fcas. this additional information does not negate my original post, however; i can't find any conclusive evidence that the israeli government directly funded kraft's superbowl ad. there is also no evidence that kraft is targeting anti-israel sentiment in the ad rather than antisemitism overall. assuming this connection is still evidence of antisemitic conspiratorial thought, as i detail above.

i'm including this information because i believe it's important to acknolwedge wider context. i don't share kraft's politics re: israel and believe his stance compromises his foundation's overall messaging. i also condemn any efforts to silence pro-palestinian efforts with accusations of antisemitism, but that is still not what's happening here. i also want to clarify that i'm only discussing responses i've seen to kraft's ad, not the ads produced by the israeli government. thanks again!

[darkdemeter]

Fem child reader x Strife/War fluff! War was heavily injured from a nasty fight and they had to make camp to rest. Both brothers didn’t even notice the girl was gone until later, making them panic. Before they could find her, she returned, carrying a high-quality healing potion with a nasty gash on her arm. She wanted to find something for War and even got injured just to get it for him. Instead of herself, she gave the potion to War, showing an act of kindness and selflessness to him.

GUIDE HER WAY HOME IV

◤✘DARKSIDERS REQUESTS | CATALOGUE (Platonic!) Strife and War x Female Child!Reader

NOTES ↳ GIF POV: You pissed War off. HAHAAAA! I loved writing this one for the setting, just little reader plotting around in the snow is just *chef kiss* so many cute possibilities. WARNINGS❕ ↳ War gets injured — reader gets hurt — Strife says a swear word — reader just being a good-hearted soul — Strife calls reader "baby" because he is secretly becoming a dad — Vulgrim "almost" dies by proxy cube — I think that's it?

✎ 2.7k ────────────────────────

“You and having to use your big head as a battering ram, huh?!” 

Strife vaults high to avoid a fallen tree in his path, spurts of snow kicking up under his heels. He flicks the reloaded barrel of Mercy into lock before firing several rounds that assault their chaser but does little in keeping the large beast at bay. A beast of the snow no less, covered in long, wiry hair. It’s head adorned by two, large spiral horns that twist round and round until they almost knock against one another. A horribly deformed and smooshed face that only a mother could love. A broody male. 

The creature’s heart was worth quite the fortune to Vulgrim. A simple token of gratitude for bestowing upon you a wardrobe of garments suited for the colder climates of the realms. 

“I did insist on being the one to cut its heart out, didn’t I?” War spits venomously in return. 

“Hey! I could have done it if someone—”

“Look out!” You shout suddenly, voice squeaking and eyes wide. An avalanche of snow rushes towards you as a giant and consuming wave, the Horsemen and yourself are blasted in a taken sweep. War clutches hold of you tighter to his chest, your face buries against his cowl with a helpless yelp as you clutch onto him tightly. The wave keeps barrelling through the gorge. 

“Strife!” War calls out. His head twists this way and that only to catch sight of his brother tumbling and being tossed around, visor going under every few seconds. 

“Strife, take her!”

You’re launched through the air and you squeal out, mesmerised by the flutter in your stomach before you drift downward, Strife’s arms stretched out wide to catch you.

“I—pfft— I got her! I got her!”

Strife pulls you close the moment he has you. You tumble together before he manages to get above the surface and you have a clear view of War. He lets himself get carried with the avalanche’s momentum before he breaches through with a fiery trail behind him, Chaoseater unsheathed from his back, he pivots himself to face the giant beast with a cleaving swipe of his sword. 

The two behemoth’s clash against each other. War grunts heavily at a sharp pain shooting across his sternum, knocking him back. The beast howls with a stunned toss of its head, a portion of its horn snapped off and flung to the gorge’s wall.

It falls forward and sends another wave towards you. Strife yells for you to hang on and you do, the fur hood of your cloak knocked back in the process. War’s form finally meets with you and Strife, the two keeping close to one another as you come up for a hollow ice tunnel and a suspicious looking cut off—

The golden glow of Strife’s eyes widens, beaming brighter and his hold on you increases. “Ooh shit, hang on!” 

It all moves quickly. For a moment, you’re falling before Strife curls a hand around you, snatching you out of gravity’s clutches before you can fall down into the frozen lake below. You hang there, suspended and wide eyed. It’s a very long way down… 

You turn your head with a whimpered call. “D-don’t let go…”

“It’s okay, I’ve got you,” Strife assures through a ragged, worn out exhale. War serves as the anchor point against the ice wall, Chaoseater’s blade embedded deeply into it. Rivers of the avalanche pour down over the glacial wall, a deep rumble following it as the snow beast prowls forward. Its large form descends, twisted and gnarly nails scrape the wall with hatcheting marks and its face bears a sneering maw and a shrieking roar. 

It’s instinct for your hands to cover your ears, wincing with a tightly furrowed grimace. 

Because of its overbearing weight, the ice begins to grumble, slivers crack in fractured paths and both brothers freeze, their eyes growing wide. 

“I think it’s about time we jumped,” Strife pants out, steadying his breath and adjusting you in his grasp before they disconnect. With a nod, War breaks Chaoseater from its place with a rattling thrum and you begin to fall. 

Wind sweeps past your ears in loud gushes during the fall and you cling to Strife. Flakes of white whip into your vision almost blinding but then it all slows, you’re floating; hovering. You look to see the misted mantle of wings without feathers, they shimmer slightly as if struck by the cold before they level out until Strife reaches the ground. 

They disperse with a shrinking hiss, fading in towards his back and only a faint cloud remains to be carried away in the breeze. You see that War also possessed the very same wings and your eyes blink, fluttering in your growing amazement. 

Picking up on it, you hear Strife chuckle through a sigh. “Didn’t think we had wings too, huh?”

You shake your head slowly. “Uh-uh.”

Strife turns to War, noticing the heavy limp in his step and his giant gauntlet that holds firm to his ribs while he sheathed his sword, almost faltering in the act to do so. 

“Hey, come on now, you got hurt pretty bad back there—” Strife’s concern is immediately dismissed with a sharpened tsk of War’s tongue. 

“I’m… fine… it’s just a scratch,” he hisses.

Strife clicks his tongue. “Yeah. Just a scratch…”

War leans himself against an outcrop of rocks, teeth clenched hard to conceal a pained snarl as he rests a hand over his wound. 

You watch, gaze torn between the two. Strife pats himself down before he sighs. His head falls forward, chin hidden beneath his scarf. “And we’re out of healing potions.”

“I said I’ll be fi— argh!”

“Yeah, you’ll be fine if we had a healing potion. If we don’t get you patched up, we’re going to be known as the three Horsemen.” Strife snickers to himself. “And that doesn’t sound menacing enough.”

Your cheeks puff out when you take a moment to consider the situation War finds himself to be in. He’s hurting, you can see it on his face, and you don’t very much like it. You don’t want to see him in pain. So silently, you slip away from the bickering brothers. Body maneuvering over a fallen tree trunk tucked between some boulders, you move away in search of something to aid War. Maybe there were some herbs to help him, or something Strife could use to craft an ointment to serve as a healing potion. 

Your small boots thunder against the thinner blankets of chilly white, padding small prints in your wake. You’ve travelled some distance before a structure that appears old, abandoned, comes into view on the lower horizon and you approach it hurriedly. 

“Whoa…”

Rubbled pillars of an ancient ruin lay in the barren waste of the ice, bitten by the frost. The wind passes through the crooked and fallen architecture as howling whistles. Only drawn in to investigate further, you soon happen upon a hole in one of the thick, stone walls of the ruin.

You shuffle a little closer to the steep ledge, looking down into the chamber below, pupils large and wide. Something crumbles, the lip of the edge gives way and you stumble forward with a cry as your arm slams against a protruding rock face. The drop pulls you down fast and you roll numerous times before your fall is broken by a softened pile of snow with a muffled plumph!

“Brrr!” You shake your head and dust off any remnants of snow that clings to you, climbing out from the little hole you found yourself in. Attention brought to the painful sting on your arm, your mitten pats against the bleaching stain of crimson on your sleeve, dabbing it with a grimacing hiss. 

“Ooch…” you sigh, doing your best to blink away the tears lining your vision. You wander onward into the ruin chamber, head raised and lowered to take in your surroundings. 

In the gloomy and dark atmosphere of the ruins, you squint your eyes to peer at a mysterious, intriguing glint. Shiny, a trickle of the light grazes the gold with an ombre highlight. You gasp, wandering over until you're almost fumbling forward over your boot laces. 

Your hands grasp the coiled frame around the elixir bottle, the liquid contents inside a dull and almost forested green. Grumbling to yourself, lips curled into a thin line, you shake the large bottle and swirl the contents inside. The glassy reflection of your eyes is illuminated by the now vibrant glow of green. 

“Oh…” you sigh wistfully, enthralled. 

You twist the lid loose with a grinding squeak and you tilt the bottle’s rim to you slightly, nose leaning in to smell and you sputter with a startled cough. Whatever it is, it smells strongly of a scent you cannot place, its closest being that of a terrible medicine you had to swallow with honey to cover the bitterness. You tighten the lid and affirm with one final checkover that this bottle may help War. 

With an effort of huffed breath, you tug the bottle loose from its embedded status among the snowy mound, pulling a little harder when it doesn’t give easily. You begin to shift between carrying it a few steps before setting it down, the bottle almost your entire size, and dragging it carefully over the worn and cracked stone floor. You endure and exert what strength you can with striking determination to get back to War and Strife, ignoring the throbbing ache in your arm. Each tousled motion of the bottle stirs the green liquid to emit a glow that fades after a moment. 

Through the haze of snow, you wind up a sloping pathway, careful to hurdle over the obstacles in your path no matter how big or small; the bottle nursed to survive the otherwise perilous journey. 

“Where did she go?” War growls, ignoring the gnarly gashes and internal bruising that brings a powerful sting over his ribs. 

“I don’t know, she was right here,” gasps Strife. He darts around, able to move quicker than War. He checks every corner, under every log and in every gap between the sharp rocks. 

“Baby? Baby! Where are you?” The masked Horseman calls, his voice growing fuller of panic with each passing moment you don’t respond. 

“Little one, are you– argh… under here?” 

“I already checked there!” 

War’s nose curls up slightly with an offended sneer, blue eyes glowering with a thinned glare. “You’re panicked. You could have missed her.”

It didn’t mean that War held any lesser sentiment. His heart was hammering in his chest and though he would stumble slightly in his search, he went above and beyond in hopes that he would find you safely tucked away somewhere unhurt. 

“I’m here!”

Both turn on their heels in an instant at the sound of your voice. They watch you fumble and crawl up over the rise of a mound of snow, something anchored close in your grasp. You shift forward and let yourself use the slope as a slide, cooing with glee as you cling onto the bottle, hugging it to you. 

War and Strife meet you there swiftly and immediately begin to assess you. War tsks venomously, almost choking on his next shuddered breath. 

“Little  one, you’re hurt.” His smaller hand comes forward to your injured arm and his brows fall. 

You look at the small gash on your arm, the blood having stained through the sleeve a bit more. You had ignored the bite of its pain to get the bottle back to them.

“Ah…” you mumble, nose touched by the cold wriggling. “I found this.”

Strife was also closely examining the wound, far too engrossed to pay attention at first to the elixir you had found until you brought attention to it.

He picks it up, its size more natural in his hand. “War, this is— how– where did you find this?” 

Strife’s twisted words make you giggle and you then point your gloved hand off in the direction you went. “In a rwuin.”

War can see the noticeable astonishment on Strife’s face through the way his eyes flare alone. He almost laughs at how absurd it all seems that you found a high quality healing potion all the way out here, and just the thing that War would need no less.

“You’re something special, kid,” Strife chuckles but it’s quick to dissipate as he then looks at your arm.

He despises the scene of crimson smeared on you, the iron taste of blood lingering on the air so profound he can smell it. It makes his fanged teeth grind and clench.

“Did you not drink some already, little one?” War questions, grunting as he lowers himself down to kneel at your side. When you shake your head, War frowns deeply and he takes the bottle from Strife, removing the lid and holding it out for you. 

“You must drink some. It will heal your wound.”

“No,” you say adamantly, tilting your head away and your hands push the bottle away from you. “You are hurt, you must need it.”

Though War means to immediately protest, you tilt the bottle further towards him instead and regard him with a kind smile. 

“I will be okay. You dwrink it.”

“Let’s get that gash tended to, yeah?” Strife says, finalising that War was to drink the potion. 

War is torn, his code being confronted by a child. You care very much for him and his brother, War finds. You went out of your way and risked leaving the protective sanctity of their presence to find something to help him. But what if you hadn’t found the potion? What if something worse transpired? 

He’d be crushed. Honour disgraced because he wasn’t there to save you. But you pulled through. You defied all possible dangers in order to help him. And to that, he is grateful while he sips slowly from the elixir, noting your grin every time you see him do so and watch as that mystical aura whirl around him; healing him. 

Still… he leaves just a little left. 

Now camped in the ruins you had guided them to, the fire burns with a warm crackle. You rest against War, his red cowl once again wrapped around you and the hood pulled far over your head. 

Strife had cleaned your wound and dressed it, but to him — to them — it wasn’t enough. Your kindness, your bravery wasn’t repaid in full. So, moving quietly and carefully, War keeps you steady as Strife uses the potion’s unfinished swig to pour onto a new bandage and change it over. 

“It should heal throughout the night,” War says and he hears Strife’s sigh. “I can’t begin to imagine Fury being in your place.”

War chuckles, the noise small and almost not there. But it is. Light-hearted and amused, Strife finds the tiniest of smiles hiding behind his mask. 

“Fury would have no choice in the matter.”

“And we thought Death was stubborn.”

Strife sits across from War, crouched before the flames as he ponders in silence. The flare of his eyes blurring into that of the dancing fire.

“Why do you think that Humanity is so important to the Balance?” Strife asks. “I mean, the Creator makes a race whose strength is unmatched against the likes of Angels, Demons… us.”

A moment of silence falls over them. War’s eyes watch you stir and hum, adjusting yourself to curl into him. 

“Perhaps… it is because like her, they offer what no other race can? It could also be that they are not as weak as we’ve been made to believe…”

Strife’s head tilts to the side, scarf moving with a muffled fold, the flutter of its purple fabric idly swaying in the wind’s hollow breath. A question for the ages. One that would not be answered any time soon it seems. 

Returning to Vulgrim without the snow beast’s heart was surely to be met with a grouchy soul trader. But not with what was offered in its stead.

With a triumphant puff of his chest, Strife kicks forward the large, metallic cube with the heel of his boot. War saunters after his brother, his hand securely held to keep you seated on his bronze pauldron. Vulgrim lets out a throaty yelp and dashes out of the way. His scornful criticism turns around when he examines the cube, humming and chuckling with a clattery chink of his nails against the object. The sphere within its center buzzes to life with currents of zapping electricity.

“Yes… yes, this will certainly suffice as payment. Now Horsemen, I have peered through the scrying eye and it has given me a location…”

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

The Creation of the World

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.

4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.

5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters."

7 And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so.

8 And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

9 And God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so.

10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

11 And God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth." And it was so.

12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years,

15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth." And it was so.

16 And God made the two great lights--the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night--and the stars.

17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth,

18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.

19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

20 And God said, "Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens."

21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

22 And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth."

23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

24 And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds--livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds." And it was so.

25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

29 And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.

30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so.

31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. — Genesis 1 | English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Cross References: Genesis 2:4; Genesis 2:19; Genesis 5:2; Genesis 6:21; Genesis 7:21; Genesis 8:17; Genesis 9:2; Exodus 31:17; Numbers 20:29; Deuteronomy 32:11; Job 38:8; Job 38:10; Psalm 19:1; Psalm 24:2; Psalm 33:7; Psalm 33:9; Psalm 65:8; Psalm 74:16; Psalm 95:5; Psalm 136:9; Psalm 145:9-10; Psalm 148:4; Psalm 150:1; Isaiah 40:6; Isaiah 45:7; Jeremiah 31:35; Jeremiah 33:20; Jeremiah 33:25; Matthew 19:4; John 1:1-2; Acts 17:24; 1 Corinthians 11:7; 1 Corinthians 15:38; 2 Corinthians 4:6; 1 Timothy 4:3,4 and 5; Hebrews 6:7; 2 Peter 3:5

Commentary on Genesis 1 by Matthew Henry

[noneorother]

I bought Aziraphale's Bible so you don't have to.

Am I insane? Yes. Was it worth it? Maybe. In most* of both season 1 and season 2 of GO, there's a very specific Bible on a bookstand next to Aziraphale's desk. It's a vintage illustrated plate book by Harold Copping, known as the Harold Copping Bible, published by the religious tract society in London in 1910. It features some of the most well known Old Testament stories, summarized and annotated by the Bishop of Durham at the time, and illustrated by Copping, who was freshly returned from a sojourn in the middle east. Ironically, It was meant as a lay-person's version of a comic book, short, exciting by use of exotic illustrations, and easy to read.

But my (expensive) gain is now your gain! As I've collected here every visible page in both seasons for your reading and viewing pleasure.

Season 1: All episodes Adam & Eve Genesis iii (1:3) / HCB page 10

Season 2: Episode 1 Joseph known to his brethren Genesis xlv (1:45) / HCB Page 28

S2E1 14:21, S2E1 17:41, S2E1 39:45

Season 2: Episode 2 Jacob's vow Genesis xxviii (1:28) / HCB Page 22

S2E2 5:49

Season 2: Episode 2 Joseph known to his brethren Genesis xlv (1:45) / HCB Page 28

S2E2 13:38 (see S2E1 above)

Season 2: Episode 2 The Brazen Serpent Numbers xxi (4:21) / HCB page 36

S2E2 16:12, 43:40

Season 2: Episode 2* Bible on the desk, Magazine on the stand Annuel L'art Pour Tous, Cover (1861-1880 most likely)

S2E2 22:10

The French L'art pour tous industrial design periodical will have to be a story for another post. For now, just enjoy this 1880 edition copperplate of cherubs discovering a microscope...

Season 2: Episode 2 Imaginary page from HCB, Job KJV Job (18:1) / HCB N/A

S2E2 22:29, S2E2 40:05 Obviously, the plate illustrations and text look different here than in the real bible, because they were created for the show. But there are a few more particularities here. For one, this layout with the thin grid around the text, as well as the paragraph symbol next to the first title, indicate that this would have been a printer's proof copy, not a finished book. It shows you the layout grid and can be annotated for changes. Second, there seems to be a war going on between fonts. Where the "chapter" of Job begins, we get a font and a style similar to the original bible, which gets rudely interrupted by a dropped capital (from the real book) and a Gothic-style font/verse numbers like in the original King James version of the printed Bible.

Season 2: Episode 3 The Brazen Serpent NUMBERS xxi (4:21) / HCB page 36

S2E3 1:18 (see episode 2)

Season 2: Episode 5 By the Rivers of Babylon Pslam cxxxvii (19:137) / HCB page 52

S2E5 21:20

Season 2: Episode 6 Bible missing, L'art pour Tous on the stand Annuel L'art Pour Tous, Cover (1861-1880 most likely)

S2E6 10:21, 17:21, 18:15, 34:28 (see episode 2)

Season 2: Episode 6 Closed HCB, L'art pour Tous on the stand behind HCB page 0

S2E6 37:58, 44:20, 48:08