#TRULY ... REPHAIM

[semper-legens]

178. Awakened, by PC and Kristin Cast

Owned: No, library Page count: 290 My summary: Zoey is out on a Scottish island, recuperating with Stark from her recent brush with death. But Neferet's plans are coming to fruition. After sacrificing one of Zoey's friends, she chases Zoey out into the open, ready to take her revenge for all that Zoey has done. But all is not well outside of their conflict. Stevie Rae and Rephaim don't know how to feel about each other. Kalona is breaking free of Neferet's grasp. And cracks are forming in the House of Night... My rating: 1/5 My commentary:

We're in the home stretch now with the House of Night books - thankfully. I keep thinking that they're going to get less shit as we go, but they keep finding new ways to make me wonder how the hell these things even got published. I know vampire novels were huge in the post-Twilight boom, but still! Actually, these are less and less about vampires as they go on - kinda reminds me of the Anne Rice book Queen of Darkness, where everything gets a bit new age-y and neo-Pagan, to the point where you have trouble remembering that this is technically a vampire series. I wonder if Cast read Anne Rice? She strikes me as being the sort to have read Interview with the Vampire and, consciously or unconsciously, mimicked it. Anyway. Waffling aside. Let's get down to it

You know it's starting off bad when the book opens with Neferet using her influence to sleep with young men, cementing this series' strange attitude to sexually active women. Neferet is defined by her sexuality, her attraction to and possessiveness of Kalona being counted against her, even though there are perfectly legitimate other reasons to hate her. Aphrodite had this too, back in the day - being sexually active is a way to show that your female villain is truly bad, despite the female heroes being just as sexually active and attracted to their partners. Zoey and Stark sleeping together is never demonised, and is even shown as being a good and wholesome thing, yet Neferet is a slutty slut slut slut for having sexual encounters with men. It's not the dubious nature of the consent on show that seems to be the bad thing here, it's just her being sexually active, and it rubs me up the wrong way. Furthermore, Neferet's self-serving evil is just…not interesting. She's not hammy enough to be a Disney-villain style bad guy, but neither is she nuanced enough to be interesting. She's evil because she wants power for her sake and will stop at nothing to get it; contrast Zoey and friends, who never wanted power but were chosen to take it and do so reluctantly. Apparently ambition makes you bad, now. Who'd have thunk?

I hate to sound like a broken record, but we've got even more of the bad-boy-that-I-can-save thing going on here with Kalona and Rephaim. Kalona doesn't really know what he wants, but he doesn't want to be under Neferet's thumb, and schemes to get away from her. Meanwhile, he's invading Stark's body, but it seems only when Stark and Zoey are having sex, which is creepy as all hell. Rephaim and Stevie Rae are struggling through their whole 'I want you but I can't' star crossed lovers bullshit, which ends with Rephaim gaining Nyx's favour (despite! literally! murdering! people!) and becoming a real boy. Or, at least, not a bird boy. I look forward (sarcasm) to the widower of Rephaim's most infamous murder victim being treated like he's unreasonable for being uncomfortable that the guy who killed his wife is basically just given a free pass by everyone else. Ugh. It's clearly just here to serve that bad-boy fantasy, and we've got two separate bad-boy storylines for the price of one here! Cast…doesn't seem to know what to do with a character who isn't (for women) a reluctant hero or bitchy anti-hero, or (for men) a bad boy who can be changed or…actually, that's all the prominent male characters. The friend circle, despite being set up as being vital to Zoey with their element affiliations, have near-completely fallen by the wayside, only showing up for snarky one-liners or attempts at pathos. (More on that later.) There's just too many people in this series, and it doesn't help that Cast just keeps piling them up with each new book.

The final moment in the book comes when Neferet needs to sacrifice a wise person with ties to Cherokee history to make a new vessel to serve her - you think she's going to use Zoey's grandma, but she's out at a powwow, but it just so happens that Zoey's mother is going to visit. She ends up being the sacrifice, and Zoey is sad about it, which is stupid for two reasons. One, while it's reasonable for Zoey as a character to have complicated feelings about her mother despite saying that she hated her in earlier books, Zoey's mother hasn't come up in the narrative in a while. In fact, she's not even gotten a mention for the last few books, ever since the religious fundamentalists dropped out of the narrative. So playing the moment for pathos ultimately doesn't work, because the reader will have to be reminded that Zoey even has a mother - she's not given her a thought for a long time. Two, this doesn't make any sense as a choice for Neferet. Can't she just…wait another day until Zoey's grandma comes back? What is stopping her doing that? It just strikes me as Cast wanting to fake out that Zoey's grandma was going to die, then ultimately not wanting to pull the trigger on it. It's just clumsy writing.

And finally, let me talk about the most ridiculous thing to happen in this series to date - which, if you've been keeping up, is a title which has some stiff competition. Let me set the scene. Jack, one half of the gay couple in these books and the one whose personality basically consists of being feminine, emotional, and very stereotypically gay, is planning a party for Zoey's return. He wants to sing at it. Specifically, Defying Gravity from Wicked. Even more specifically, the Glee version. He's practicing this when Neferet shows up looking for an incorruptible innocent to sacrifice to the Darkness. After predictably failing to corrupt him, she nominates him as the sacrifice, and Jack is killed. But just the way this is written is laughable - the fervent love Jack has for Glee (which isn't at all a stereotype), ridiculous lines like Neferet asking if Jack is defying her and him responding with the lyrics, being comforted by Kurt and Rachel as he's dying, and the fact that he literally dies singing…it's all just beyond parody. This is meant to be a hugely emotive moment, but it's ruined by not only being silly as all hell, but also because Jack has been such a nonentity to this point. He got even less focus than Damien and the other non-Stevie Rae members of Zoe's inner circle, and doesn't even have a gift from Nyx. (His affinity for tech is mentioned as a gift in an early book, but that gets dropped almost instantly.) I genuinely could not believe what I was reading as I was going through this section. It's absolutely ridiculous, and yet another piece of bafflingly poor writing.

Well, that's over for now. Time for something completely different - a history of sex work in Georgian London!

[sshannonauthor]

Hi Samantha! I was the Jewish mythology question and I wanted to thank you so much for your sweet, nuanced, and thoughtful reply (which I truly was not expecting but I've also seen you take the time to so sweetly reply to other questions) - I also love the word Rephaim! Your world-building is exquisite and it's always been one of my favourite facets of TBS - and knowing we'll see the Rephs from other perspectives is both exciting and reassuring - cannot wait for book five xx

Thank you so much. Back to work on it very soon! x

[wardens-stew]

THE MASK IS FALLING!!! feeling sentimental, live love books

Hooooly shit folks. The day we have all been waiting for has finally arrived! My beautiful copy of The Mask Falling is currently in transit - scheduled to arrive anywhere from 1 to 4 hours from now! Very anxious because it is currently snowing… I swear to JESUS if this specimen is not in my hands by 7pm tonight I will RIOT (or possibly just cave and buy the kindle edition). 

It has been SO long! I was looking back on my Goodreads history and realized that I first discovered this series six years ago- when I was 15! I remember understanding absolutely nothing the first time around - everything with Rephaim and clairvoyance and Scion went completely over my head. Then Paige and Warden snuck up on me and I was IN LOVE! It’s one of those cases where I could’ve given up on the book before finishing and I would never have developed this absolute obsession with the series. Now it looms so large in my mind; I have truly spent entire days feeling deliciously happy thinking about this book and these characters. I know each book so well I can go through some of the scenes in my head almost verbatim. It’s so wild to me how different I would be had I not picked up that book - and stuck with it - that summer of 2015. Finding great books that speak to your soul and change your life feels so coincidental, so impossible to predict. These past couple days have reminded me how magical it feels to be invested in a book. It really is wild, how fictional characters and their adventures can elicit such visceral emotional reactions in people. The world of The Bone Season has taken on such a vivid, vibrant quality for me, it feels almost physically real. Books like these are truly a gift! 

[gioithieusachaz]

Destined (House Of Night)

Destined (House Of Night)

Zoey is finally home where she belongs, safe with her Guardian Warrior, Stark, by her side, and preparing to face off against Neferet – which would be a whole lot easier if the High Counsel saw the ex-High Priestess for what she really is. Kalona has released his hold on Rephaim, and, through Nyx’s gift of a human form, Rephaim and Stevie Rae are finally able to be together – if he can truly walk…

[roominthecastle]

There's been much debate about the identity of the Incomplete One but so far not much concrete info to go on, so we are still just speculating. Which is what I am gonna do behind a read more, too, and a lot of it.

I know the "Wendigo view" is a popular one and for good reason. This "Naphil/Bastard Spirit view" is actually quite close to that interpretation and (given the similarities of the two entities involved) could be regarded as a "religious remix" of it.

There are several interpretations concerning the identity of the Nephilim, too, but I am going with the "angel view" here, according to which they are semidivine beings born of the sexual mingling of fallen angels and mortal women.

"Nephilim" can be interpreted as "the Fallen Ones", "the Violent Ones" or "giants". They are stuff of legends, the "warriors of old". They and/or their possible descendants are variously referred to as Elioud, Anakim/Anak, Emim (“Terrors”), Rephaim ("Shades"), Gibborim (“Giant Heroes”), Awwim (“Devastators” and “Serpents”).

They are mentioned and alluded to in various sources including the Old Testament (e.g. Genesis, Numbers, Ezekiel), the New Testament (e.g. Peter, Jude), and the apocryphal Book of Enoch, the content of which is echoed/reinforced in the Biblical books indicated above.

More on these behind the cut:

Genesis 6:4:

"The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown".

Enoch elaborates:

And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: ‘Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children.' …  And they were in all two hundred; …

[They] took unto themselves wives, and each chose for himself one, and they began to go in unto them and to defile themselves with them, and they taught them charms and enchantments and the cutting of roots, and made them acquainted with plants. And they became pregnant, and they bare great giants, whose height was three thousand ells. Who consumed all the acquisitions of men.

And when men could no longer sustain them, the giants turned against them and devoured mankind. And they began to sin against birds, and beasts, and reptiles, and fish, and to devour one another’s flesh, and drink the blood. … And there arose much godlessness, and they committed fornication, and they were led astray, and became corrupt in all their ways.

So, 200 rebel angels ("sons of God") took mortal women ("daughters of man") as wives, and from their unholy unions powerful half-breed giants were born who later on developed a terrible appetite.

The angels' (Watchers) original mission was to protect and tutor mankind. They, however, deviated from the original plan and began sleeping with mortals. Then, to add insult to injury, they also started teaching them about sorcery, warfare, weapon making, herbalism, astronomy, astrology, meteorology, and even the wicked arts of cosmetics. Most of this knowledge was not meant to be revealed this fast and this early, some never at all, and so it was blamed for the eventual deterioration of mankind. The fallen angels and their offspring came to be viewed as a corrupting, polluting influence that upset the cosmic order, necessitating a "divine correction" to reset the world.

We can find this "demigod connection" in several flood narratives (e. g. Mesopotamian or Greek traditions) where the deluge primarily serves to correct/punish an imbalance caused by human sin, overpopulation, and overstepping of bounds. Boundary breaking, forbidden knowledge, and sin also go hand in hand in the Garden of Eden or Tower of Babel stories where mortal and divine mix in the human desire to "be as gods." Let's just say that this never goes down particularly well with the Lord.

The fallen angels (or “spirit beings who disobeyed”) were cast down into Tartarus ("pit of darkness") to await their fiery destruction with zero chance at salvation. The punishment for mankind came in the form of the Flood that was meant to wipe out their sinful existence and with it the halfbreed Nephilim as well. But some were spared.Their "flesh" died in the deluge but some of them were left to dwell on Earth in the form of dark, disembodied “bastard spirits” until Judgment Day. They have a sort of “divine decree” allowing for their continued earthly presence. Some equate these spirits with the first demons and while they are v similar, I’m not convinced they are exactly the same. Whether these “bastard spirits” are eligible for salvation is left unclear, but the Flood did not finish them off. There is also a direct reference to the Nephilim in a post-Flood era report given to Moses about fearful giants living in fortified towns in a "land that devours its inhabitants" (=Canaan). These are eventually driven out but, once again, some of them survive. What we can conclude for sure is that they are v difficult to eradicate.

How does all this fit into the mixed mythology of The Ancient Magus' Bride (TAMB)?

TAMB draws on various sources for its worldbuilding, and the Bible is one of them. God and the Church hoover on the periphery of the main story, and there are also characters who evoke actual biblical figures.

Characters reference God and Jesus in a manner that signals their existence is not in question and are forces in play, albeit in the background.

Simon is the local priest/preacher who's assigned to observe and report on Elias to his superiors. He has yet to take a more active role but it's clear their relationship is an uneasy one necessitated by lingering concern over Elias' past actions that has nothing to do with him practicing magic: "Why does the Church care so much about you?" "I... did a few things a long time ago. So now they are keeping an eye on me. Confronting them would be a pain for both of us, so sometimes I take care of little errands for them, and they turn a blind eye to me." (Chise and Elias, Chapter 9) "It's the price you pay for your freedom. If it had been any other magus, maybe it wouldn't have caused such a hubbub. But think about it. There has been nary a peep form you for years, and now you suddenly take on an apprentice? I've done my best to hide your actions from the higher-ups, but I can't afford to look the other way this time" (Simon, Chapter 3). "I don't know if you'd count [God] as an ally, but... I'll send up a prayer for you and yours" (Simon, Chapter 39).

Chise names her familiar Ruth which is undoubtedly inspired by the title character of The Book of Ruth who suffers a great personal loss and is the symbol of utmost loyalty and friendship: But Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the LORD do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me." (New American Standard Bible) "From now on your home is also mine" (Ruth, Chapter 12). This familiar bond "is the strongest of oaths, a pledge to share anything and everything with the bonded human. Senses, emotions, power, even time. … When you die, he will die, too" (Elias, Chapter 12).

Cartaphilus is none other than the Wandering Jew of Christian legend who is doomed to live until the end of the world because he taunted Jesus on the way to the Crucifixion. According to one version of the story, he struck Jesus and urged him to move faster, to which Jesus replied, “I go, and you will wait till I return.” He was later baptized as Joseph and lived a pious life, hoping for salvation (Encyclopedia Britannica). While TAMB's Cartaphilus is talking a much, much darker approach, he too is ultimately looking for the same thing: "What must we do to find salvation?" (Joseph, Chapter 33)

Rahab also appears in the Bible as an innkeeper/prostitute who helps Joshua's spies. Lindel's master shares her name but we don’t know enough yet to tell what else they have in common.

These examples show that the Bible and its ilk have a clear foothold in TAMB, which opens up all sorts of possibilities, one of them being the Nephilim theory. We don't know much about Elias, but what we know appears to line up with (the similarly limited) information about the Nephilim:

(1) The Nephilim are half-breed giants born from the unholy union of fallen angels and mortal women.

Elias in his "natural form" qualifies as a giant. He is also referred to as "incomplete" or "half-formed", an "abomination", and a "failed creature". His half-breed status is repeatedly emphasized, the Spriggan going as far as calling him a "cur" (Chapter 41).

Another curious detail pops up in the 3-part OVA where Chise is gifted a book titled The Lonely Little Star. Miura tells her,

"You might see nothing but pitch-black darkness right now. But you have to keep trying and trying, looking into the dark world. And off in the distance you'll surely find some light. … like the child of a star. And when you find the child of a star, they will surely find you, too. And you'll shine light on each other. And then your world will no longer be pitch-black. ... I truly believe you will meet a child of a star who will light your world."

If we accept that Elias is one of the Nephilim, then he was fathered by a fallen angel. Angels are associated (often identified) with stars, so it follows that he would be called "a child of a star". Him meeting Chise brings light into her life and vice versa. His dual nature - commented on by Alice in Chapter 11 ("sometimes we were allies, and at other times enemies.") -, however, means that there is also considerable darkness in him. He is a curse (darkness) who is also a blessing (light) when it comes to Chise - an odd duality that’s also touched upon in the manga when Rahab remarks, “Curses and blessings are fundamentally the same thing. It all depends on how you receive them” (Chapter 16). Chise has been nothing but kind and accepting of Elias, which is beginning to transform him.

(2) The Nephilim came to be regarded as a curse, a pollution. Most of them perished in the Flood but some survived as disembodied "bastard spirits" that wander the Earth until Judgment Day.

Elias himself confesses to Chise that his nature is shadow and, as a result, he is not good at e.g. cleansing magic. He is repeatedly accused of being destructive and in Chapter 41 he actually takes the form of a dark black cloud. The Spriggan then reprimands him, saying that he defiles the land and pollutes the world when he loses control over himself like that. He also seems to hold Elias responsible for an event or events involving the disappearance of many spirits and humans (Chapter 8).

The fae remark that Elias has a stench. When Chise falls victim to the dragon's curse, she is also told by an aerial that she has a stink about her now (Chapter 39). If cruses smell bad to fae, then it's likely that Elias carries a curse, too. Bastard spirits are cursed to walk the Earth until the end of days. Walking is one of the three things Elias can (or lets himself to?) remember from his still unknown past. He is also associated with thorns. Thorns signify grief, suffering, tribulation, mockery, sin and the curse of/punishment for sin (cf. the crown of thorns).

(3) The Nemphilim's chief sin was unnatural, unrestrained appetite. They devoured humans, animals, then "one another’s flesh, and [drank] the blood."

We don't yet know what happened to Elias, but we know that when Lindel first encounters him and asks what he is, Elias only replies, "I’m hungry," then promptly collapses. Later he says the only thing he remembers before his long walk is "red". He also confesses to having eaten humans before and to still having that urge from time to time.

Rahab, Lindel's master, describes Elias as follows:

He's got the feeling of a spirit or a faerie all over him, but at the same time, there's definitely something human about him, too. If he was just a human who'd botched a dark spell, then things would be simple. But no. This is actually more like the opposite" (Chapter 16).

The opposite would be a curse that's botched being human. This matches what Renfred says about him earlier, that he is a "filthy abomination, unable to become fully human, unable to return to being a spirit" (Chapter 6), and also how Elias describes himself to Chise: "I'm incomplete, you see. I'm not human but I'm not faerie, nor a spirit" (Chapter 7).

Bastard spirits are cursed and can be considered curses themselves (see above about pollution & corruption). They are alternatively called "shades" and are associated with death. In Chapter 21, a dying Joel asks Elias if he is Death, to which he replies, "Something like that." (having a skull for a head is also a nice visual clue here). If Elias is a dark spirit looking to end his cursed, incorporeal wandering, it makes sense that he is trying to rebuild what he's lost: his humanity (which is also the likely key to salvation).

He's already attempted to do this by crafting a "a shell of flesh" for himself, but it is rather flimsy/unstable still and, as it turns out, not the way to become human. Chise already told him that his meticulously crafted full glamour looks fake, and most recently Elias himself realized that the change actually needed was never external. Unlike his "human facade", his internal development is genuine, and if the story doesn't stray from its Beauty and the Beast roots, then we will likely see true love break yet another curse.

Oberon comments on this "project" in Chapter 8:

"Your change is truly splendid to behold, Incomplete One. Once you only watched from the shadows, but now you have a human at your side. You're trying to leave the colourless path you've walked all this time. It is more amusing than you can imagine, watching you play at being part of a pair. But I must wonder, how long can you maintain this facade of warmth for just one person?"

Not exactly a vote of confidence from the King, but the Queen nails it when she refers to Chise as the Other Half of Elias - she is the one who triggered genuine development in him which helps him rebuild his lost humanity.

What both the Queen and King of Fae share is a sympathetic view of Elias. Titania has a pronounced dislike for the Church and its representatives - all those who consider the fruit of paradise evil. The fruit is knowledge, which the fathers of the Nephilim dispensed among humans (sorcery included, so the first magi would have been tutored by them too). It wasn't knowledge that corrupted humans but humankind used knowledge for evil. Oberon also points to human sin when Spriggan blames Elias for an event that claimed the lives of many spirits and humans. Was it a war? Was it the Flood perhaps? There is no way of knowing for sure yet, but Elias definitely has a vicious reputation among fae and human alike, which makes him an outcast walking alone in search of salvation, just as Rahab described:

"Gods and spirits dwell at your side. Though none may look kindly upon you, though you may know hurt, and sorrow, and loneliness, know that they are always there, watching over you. And with that knowledge in your heart, be at ease. Seek your own salvation."

This already sounds like a “penance walk” of sort which folds nicely into the thorn imagery mentioned above. Rahab urged Elias to endure this fate in relative peace and Lindel relaxed his ingrained reflex to kill without consideration: “Take what you need, but only as much as you need to survive. If you have to kill a living thing to eat it, make its death quick and painless” (Chapter 16). If these “taming measures” were necessary, then it’s unlikely that Elias led a tranquil life before.

(4) The Nephilim are referred to as "warriors of old" and at some point were reported to live in large fortified towns.

(source)

Elias is sometimes addressed as Pilum Murialis (the Spear Wall), which evokes similar images to those above - war and fortification. It also has a duality - spear=offense, wall=defense - that's inherent in Elias. There are brief mentions of "great wars of before" where many magi and wizards were killed and their wisdom and knowledge were lost with them, but it is still unclear what exact role Elias played in these events.

Last but not least, Titania remarking that Elias is "our kin in a way" is a small detail that's potentially relevant. There are various theories about the origin of faeries and one of them says that they used to be angels who either got stuck between heaven and hell, or were cast out, i.e. fallen angels. If we accept this and the idea that Elias was born of a fallen angel/mortal union, then they are indeed kin in a way. Sort of half way.

[dfroza]

A clean slate and a fresh start.

this is what we read at the start of another ancient Letter sent by Paul, as the first chapter of 1st Corinthians:

I, Paul, have been called and sent by Jesus, the Messiah, according to God’s plan, along with my friend Sosthenes. I send this letter to you in God’s church at Corinth, believers cleaned up by Jesus and set apart for a God-filled life. I include in my greeting all who call out to Jesus, wherever they live. He’s their Master as well as ours!

May all the gifts and benefits that come from God our Father, and the Master, Jesus Christ, be yours.

Every time I think of you—and I think of you often!—I thank God for your lives of free and open access to God, given by Jesus. There’s no end to what has happened in you—it’s beyond speech, beyond knowledge. The evidence of Christ has been clearly verified in your lives.

Just think—you don’t need a thing, you’ve got it all! All God’s gifts are right in front of you as you wait expectantly for our Master Jesus to arrive on the scene for the Finale. And not only that, but God himself is right alongside to keep you steady and on track until things are all wrapped up by Jesus. God, who got you started in this spiritual adventure, shares with us the life of his Son and our Master Jesus. He will never give up on you. Never forget that.

[The Cross: The Irony of God’s Wisdom]

I have a serious concern to bring up with you, my friends, using the authority of Jesus, our Master. I’ll put it as urgently as I can: You must get along with each other. You must learn to be considerate of one another, cultivating a life in common.

I bring this up because some from Chloe’s family brought a most disturbing report to my attention—that you’re fighting among yourselves! I’ll tell you exactly what I was told: You’re all picking sides, going around saying, “I’m on Paul’s side,” or “I’m for Apollos,” or “Peter is my man,” or “I’m in the Messiah group.”

I ask you, “Has the Messiah been chopped up in little pieces so we can each have a relic all our own? Was Paul crucified for you? Was a single one of you baptized in Paul’s name?” I was not involved with any of your baptisms—except for Crispus and Gaius—and on getting this report, I’m sure glad I wasn’t. At least no one can go around saying he was baptized in my name. (Come to think of it, I also baptized Stephanas’s family, but as far as I can recall, that’s it.)

God didn’t send me out to collect a following for myself, but to preach the Message of what he has done, collecting a following for him. And he didn’t send me to do it with a lot of fancy rhetoric of my own, lest the powerful action at the center—Christ on the Cross—be trivialized into mere words.

The Message that points to Christ on the Cross seems like sheer silliness to those hellbent on destruction, but for those on the way of salvation it makes perfect sense. This is the way God works, and most powerfully as it turns out. It’s written,

I’ll turn conventional wisdom on its head,

I’ll expose so-called experts as crackpots.

So where can you find someone truly wise, truly educated, truly intelligent in this day and age? Hasn’t God exposed it all as pretentious nonsense? Since the world in all its fancy wisdom never had a clue when it came to knowing God, God in his wisdom took delight in using what the world considered dumb—preaching, of all things!—to bring those who trust him into the way of salvation.

While Jews clamor for miraculous demonstrations and Greeks go in for philosophical wisdom, we go right on proclaiming Christ, the Crucified. Jews treat this like an anti-miracle—and Greeks pass it off as absurd. But to us who are personally called by God himself—both Jews and Greeks—Christ is God’s ultimate miracle and wisdom all wrapped up in one. Human wisdom is so tinny, so impotent, next to the seeming absurdity of God. Human strength can’t begin to compete with God’s “weakness.”

Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don’t see many of “the brightest and the best” among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these “nobodies” to expose the hollow pretensions of the “somebodies”? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That’s why we have the saying, “If you’re going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God.”

The Letter of First Corinthians, Chapter 1 (The Message)

and this chapter is paired with chapter 14 of the book of Genesis in which we see Abram recovering what was stolen by an invading army:

Then this: Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim went off to war to fight Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, that is, Zoar.

This second group of kings, the attacked, came together at the Valley of Siddim, that is, the Salt Sea. They had been under the thumb of Kedorlaomer for twelve years. In the thirteenth year, they revolted.

In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him set out and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, and the Horites in their hill country of Seir as far as El Paran on the far edge of the desert. On their way back they stopped at En Mishpat, that is, Kadesh, and conquered the whole region of the Amalekites as well as that of the Amorites who lived in Hazazon Tamar.

That’s when the king of Sodom marched out with the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, that is, Zoar. They drew up in battle formation against their enemies in the Valley of Siddim—against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar, four kings against five.

The Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits. When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell into the tar pits, but the rest escaped into the mountains. The four kings captured all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, all their food and equipment, and went on their way. They captured Lot, Abram’s nephew who was living in Sodom at the time, taking everything he owned with them.

A fugitive came and reported to Abram the Hebrew. Abram was living at the Oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and Aner. They were allies of Abram. When Abram heard that his nephew had been taken prisoner, he lined up his servants, all of them born in his household—there were 318 of them—and chased after the captors all the way to Dan. Abram and his men split into small groups and attacked by night. They chased them as far as Hobah, just north of Damascus. They recovered all the plunder along with nephew Lot and his possessions, including the women and the people.

After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and his allied kings, the king of Sodom came out to greet him in the Valley of Shaveh, the King’s Valley. Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine—he was priest of The High God—and blessed him:

Blessed be Abram by The High God,

Creator of Heaven and Earth.

And blessed be The High God,

who handed your enemies over to you.

Abram gave him a tenth of all the recovered plunder.

The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me back the people but keep all the plunder for yourself.”

But Abram told the king of Sodom, “I swear to God, The High God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, this solemn oath, that I’ll take nothing from you, not so much as a thread or a shoestring. I’m not going to have you go around saying, ‘I made Abram rich.’ Nothing for me other than what the young men ate and the share of the men who went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; they’re to get their share of the plunder.”

The Book of Genesis, Chapter 14 (The Message)

my personal reading of the Scriptures for february 10 with a paired chapter from each Testament along with Today’s Psalms and Proverbs

[cmcwritingismylife]

The Song Rising - Book Review

Spoilers! 

In the third book of this series, Paige is now the Underqueen of London. She won her crown, and is attempting to lead London’s voyants in a war against Sicon.

Even though it took me a long time to read it because of adult commitments, I loved this book. Absolutely loved it. I can’t say it was my favorite of the series though. The writing was excellent, as always, but Paige’s situation kept getting worse and worse. For a long time, there didn’t seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel, and at times that was hard to read. 

As I got toward the end of the book, I hated Jaxon more and more with each page. He is an excellent villain. The things that were revealed about him (his slave number, how he was working for the Rephaim, how he truly thought of Paige as a prize etc) was more than unsettling. There was one point when I was reading the scene where they were talking and I said out loud, “You son of a bitch.”  

I love the development of Paige and Warden’s relationship. They clearly care about each other, but Paige is trying to do her best to rule at the same time and can’t let emotions get in the way. The few scenes in this book when they get to physical interact were placed well and written in a way that kept you routing for them. 

[missjenmichelle]

I’m a big fan of Samantha Shannon’s The Bone Season. It’s a young adult series (arguably? like maybe  a little older than young adult, but not quite...what, old adult? real adult?) that, like MANY young adult series these days, features a pretty problematic, romantic relationship between the two main characters: Paige Mahoney (a human) and Arcturus Mesarthim (aka Warden [a rephaite]).

Paige is a clairvoyant criminal in dystopian, future London, and Warden is a high-ranking member of an otherworldly race called the Rephaim who control the puppet government of London from the ruins of Oxford. The Rephaim like to collect human slaves, both clairvoyant and not, to serve them and to fight their battles against terrifying, carnivorous creatures called the Emim. Early on in the first book, Paige gets captured and sent to their slave colony in Oxford, where she becomes property of Warden, her new “keeper.”

Later [SPOILERS] it is revealed that Warden only chose to take Paige on as his slave to prevent her from being taken by another, crueler Rephaite, who would’ve likely beaten her to death for her constant insolence and rebellious spirit. In fact [MORE SPOILERS], it turns out that Warden himself is also a prisoner in Oxford. He is one of the few remaining “scarred ones,” which are Rephaim who, decades ago, helped organize a human rebellion against the ruling Rephaite family, the Sargas. The rebellion failed, many died, and the Rephaim involved were labeled traitors and tortured extensively, leaving them with horrific, painful scars. 

Warden was chosen by Nashira Sargas, the ultimate leader of the Rephaim (the so-called “Blood Sovereign”) to be her betrothed. This allows her to keep a close eye on him, to subjugate and humiliate him, and to send a clear message to whatever traitors might still exist within the Rephaim ranks that she controls everything, even them.

So in that sense, Warden is a prisoner, yes. One might even argue that he is a slave--Nashira’s slave, ordered to kill and fight enslave others on her behalf. 

It’s important to note, though, that whatever claim to imprisonment/enslavement Warden might have, it pales in comparison to everything Paige has endured. 

Paige was ripped from her home and tortured extensively before being brought to Sheol I; while Warden’s migration there wasn’t exactly willful, it was nowhere near so traumatic. At Sheol I, Paige is constantly being reminded of her place in this new society, which is firmly at the bottom. She’s fed on, beaten, starved, left to freeze in damp, dark conditions during the night (which is still better than most of her human companions can say), forced to train, to fight the Emim; she’s branded, she’s denied proper medical attention, and even her name is taken away, replaced with a number by which everyone addresses her (except Warden, when they’re alone). 

Warden, on the other hand, though he may be a prisoner, lives quite a luxurious life. He has a room to himself in Magdalen, one of the nicest residencies in Oxford, he has numerous humans slaves to wait on him hand and foot (summoned by a bell he has in his room), he’s provided with all of the clothing and medical attention he could ever need, he feeds on humans, including Paige, whenever it suits him, and though his status as Nashira’s betrothed is more a punishment than anything else, he uses it to his advantage numerous times throughout the first book, throwing around the weight of his title to get what he wants from lower-ranking Rephaim.

Yes, Warden’s a prisoner, but Paige is much more so, and as kind as he can be to her, relative to other Rephaim, Warden is nowhere near innocent in his interactions with Paige. He calls her by her name, he never beats her, he tries to provide her with food and fresh clothing, he allows her to bathe and explore the city, he pushes her during training, but never to truly dangerous limits, he tries to help her when Nashira brands and poisons her with Flux, he brings her into the folds of the rebellion and works to ensure her safe escape back into London--and those are all great things...given the circumstances.

But Warden, particularly in the beginning, does frequently flex his power over her, ordering her to take pills that she doesn’t know the purpose or content of, feeding off of her, bringing her to Nashira when she is summoned, despite knowing what will happen once they arrive. He trains her at Nashira’s request--helps her power mature despite knowing that Nashira is waiting to harvest it by killing her--and even once Paige has virtually orchestrated her own escape and ensured her own free, even once she’s safely in Nick’s arms, about to go free, still, he brings her back to Sheol I. Back to her prison, back to her eventual murderer’s lair, back to the place where her friends--all of her kind--suffer and die regularly. And why? For his own, selfish purposes. By his own admission, he brought her back because he was too afraid to face Nashira alone. He could’ve let her go. Instead, he chooses to subject her to months and months of starvation, torture, and other, utterly despicable living conditions, to risk her life, to offer her life up as a potential sacrifice, all to win his war.

Nothing can absolve Warden of his crimes against Paige. Standing by while she’s branded, leaving her alone in woods filled with Emim, bringing her back to Sheol I when she could’ve escaped, involving her in his revolutionary plan, and--perhaps worst of all--entering into a romantic relationship with her.

Warden knows that he’s endangering not only himself but Paige, his Rephaim allies, and every human in Sheol I whose life literally depends on his successful revolt by giving into his feelings for Paige. He knows the consequences will reach even beyond Sheol I. Yet he does it anyway.

My point here is that a lot of discussion has been going on about Paige’s relationship with Warden being a classic example of Stockholm Syndrome that we should all vehemently condemn. I’ve always believed that this problematic dimension was introduced intentionally, to exaggerate, and therefore draw attention to, the insane power inequities that seem to always exist in young adult/quasi-young adult literature these days--usually (though, admittedly, not always) with with the man being the one who has all the power.

This theory, for me, was backed up by the fact that Paige, as our narrator, seems to have a lot of subtle misgivings and doubts about Warden that, though they never fully concretize in her mind, come across pretty clearly to us, as readers. For example, [MASSIVE SPOILERS]: when she and Warden are kissing the night of the revolution, she keeps thinking/hearing a small voice in her head telling her: no, no, stop, stop Paige, stop. Later, in The Mime Order, there’s a lot of tension between them. Warden’s allies distrust her and frequently scoff at the possibility that she might even consider Warden having feelings for her, and he never outright defends their connection. Rather, he smooth talks her, avoiding direct confrontation altogether. Nick expresses shock and near-outrage that she would even consider trusting him. His relationship with Terebell, who is particularly dismissive of Warden and Paige’s connection, is suspiciously...friendly, giving us the impression that might almost be using Paige. Why wouldn’t he? She’s a dream walker, for God’s sake. The only dream walker, and as of TMO, she’s led an entire, successful revolution and she [MASSIVE, MASSIVE SPOILERS] controls the London syndicate. He’s used her before; why should we believe he’s not doing it again?

Even Paige, subconsciously, distrusts him. She always notices when he puts his gloves back on, rather than allowing skin-to-skin contact between them. She is quick to pick up on and react angrily towards any attitude he gives her (which he lamely justifies by saying he’s trying to prepare her for how the other Rephaim will treat her), and when she wakes up in his arms, her first reaction isn’t a sigh of relief, a smile, or a feeling of security. Instead, she’s terrified. She leaps away from him, the brand on her shoulder stings, and she pulls out a knife, proving that whatever else might be true about her feelings, there’s at least a part of her that still associates him (RIGHTFULLY SO) with her imprisonment, her enslavement, her torture, her trauma, etc., etc., etc.

I think their relationship is absolutely an example of Stockholm Syndrome, and Warden’s own unfortunate circumstances don’t change that--don’t justify what he’s done to her/allowed to be done to her, even though he had the power to stop it (what’s that expression about two types of evil, those who do it and those who see it but do nothing?). But I also think Shannon is creating these issues to make an important point, and if it goes the way I think it will, I think The Bone Season will become one the absolute greatest modern series across all genres based on this aspect alone. 

p.s. I haven’t read the song rising yet because i just got back from studying abroad but SOON ~so no spoilers please~

[dailychapel]

Father God we praise you for your absolute goodness, perfection, and holiness. We thank you for your Son, Jesus Christ, who was tempted in every way as we are and yet did not sin. We confess that in our weakness, we have shamefully enjoyed sins of the mind and body that we ought to have resisted. Please forgive us for our unholy failures. Teach us to truly mourn our offenses against you and lead us by the Holy Spirit into faithful repentance. We are grateful for the overwhelming grace that we continue to experience each day because of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Thank you for giving us the power of the Holy Spirit to face future temptations. Continue to sanctify us in our frail bodies as we eagerly await the return of your glorified Son. In a world full of darkness, make us your holy lights and gospel witnesses this week. It is the name of Jesus Christ and for his sake that we pray, Amen.

Psalm 123:1–4 NIV - A song of ascents. I lift up my eyes to you, to you who sit enthroned in heaven. As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he shows us his mercy. Have mercy on us, LORD, have mercy on us, for we have endured no end of contempt. We have endured no end of ridicule from the arrogant, of contempt from the proud.

Isaiah 17:1–14 NIV - A prophecy against Damascus: "See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins. The cities of Aroer will be deserted and left to flocks, which will lie down, with no one to make them afraid. The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, and royal power from Damascus; the remnant of Aram will be like the glory of the Israelites," declares the LORD Almighty. "In that day the glory of Jacob will fade; the fat of his body will waste away. It will be as when reapers harvest the standing grain, gathering the grain in their arms--as when someone gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim. Yet some gleanings will remain, as when an olive tree is beaten, leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches, four or five on the fruitful boughs," declares the LORD, the God of Israel. In that day people will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel. They will not look to the altars, the work of their hands, and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles and the incense altars their fingers have made. In that day their strong cities, which they left because of the Israelites, will be like places abandoned to thickets and undergrowth. And all will be desolation. You have forgotten God your Savior; you have not remembered the Rock, your fortress. Therefore, though you set out the finest plants and plant imported vines, though on the day you set them out, you make them grow, and on the morning when you plant them, you bring them to bud, yet the harvest will be as nothing in the day of disease and incurable pain. Woe to the many nations that rage--they rage like the raging sea! Woe to the peoples who roar--they roar like the roaring of great waters! Although the peoples roar like the roar of surging waters, when he rebukes them they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweed before a gale. In the evening, sudden terror! Before the morning, they are gone! This is the portion of those who loot us, the lot of those who plunder us.

Luke 19:11–27 NIV - While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. He said: "A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. 'Put this money to work,' he said, 'until I come back.' "But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, 'We don't want this man to be our king.' "He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it. "The first one came and said, 'Sir, your mina has earned ten more.' " 'Well done, my good servant!' his master replied. 'Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.' "The second came and said, 'Sir, your mina has earned five more.' "His master answered, 'You take charge of five cities.' "Then another servant came and said, 'Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.' "His master replied, 'I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? Why then didn't you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?' "Then he said to those standing by, 'Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.' " 'Sir,' they said, 'he already has ten!' "He replied, 'I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away. But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them--bring them here and kill them in front of me.' "

Prayer for Others

Lord’s Prayer Our Father Who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you, and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face towards you and give you peace; and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.

[thomasgmcelwain]

Genesis 14

Genesis 14

1 When Amraphel was king of Shinar,

And Arioch king of Ellasar,

And Chedorlaomer enshriner

Of Elam, and Tidal so far

The king of the Goyim, 2 they made

War with Bera king of Sodom,

Birsha king in Gomorrah strayed,

Shinab of Admah, Shemeber

King of Zeboiim, and the fer

King of Bela, that is, Zoar.

3 All these joined battle in the Vale

Of Siddim where now salts prevail.

4 Twelve years they served and in the year

Thirteen they shed Chedorlaomer.

5 The next year Chedorlaomer came

And the kings with him just the same

Attacking the Rephaim there

In Ashtoreth Karnaim, where

The Zuzim had gathered in Ham,

The Emim too and without sham

In Shaveh Kiriathaim, 6 and

The Horites in their mountain stand

Of Seir, down to El Paran

Beside the wilderness, 7 began

Their way back there by En Mishpat,

That is, Kadesh, and then fell flat

On all the land of Amelek

And then subdued the stubborn neck

Of all the Amorites whose fire

Was lit in Hazezon Tamar.

The kings who seek a tribute and their taxes

Form coalitions, allied powers, and axis

And go to war to help democracy,

They cross the deserts and the rolling sea

To ferret out of mountain wilderness

The people whose wealth they truly confess

Should be their own. I stand on Seir and gaze

Across miles of uninhabited maze

Of oak and maple and think what will come

Of this campaign or that for centuries

The same. The generations die, life flees

To dandelion holes to reappear

As soon as danger's past, and without fear,

Beloved, to raise a golden head and hum.

8 And kings of Sodom and Gomorrah,

The king of Admah without Torah,

The kings of Zeboiim and Bela,

That is, Zoar, to the last fellow

Went out and gathered for the battle

In Vale of Siddim, like drawn cattle,

9 Against Chedorlaomer king

Of Elam, Tidal also king

Of the Goyim, Amraphel king

Of Shinar, and Arioch the king

Of Ellasar, four kings to five.

10 Now the Valley of Siddim's drive

Was full of asphalt pits, and so

When Sodom and Gomorrah fled,

Some fell there, others had to go

Into the mountains. 11Then they took

The goods of Sodom and Gomorrah,

All their provisions, then they shook

Their heels as though off to Andorra.

12 And they took Abram's brother's son,

Lot, who lived in Sodom for fun,

And his goods, and left on the run.

There are but two great sources of what men

Desire, Beloved, and these are labour and

The goods the labourer produces. Then

As now I see the presidents command

War to procure the wealth of those who make

And what they make for earth and heaven's sake.

And so they took the people and the goods

From Sodom and Gomorrah, left the woods

And valleys well-provided. The best way

Avoiding such attack is not to stay

To make or have, but sink in poverty,

And live on water and on acorns, free

To all as long as no pollutions sink

The world from where it stands upon the brink.

13 Then one who had escaped came by

And told Abram the Hebrew why,

For he lived by the terebinth

Trees of Mamre the Amorite,

Brother of Eshcol and the right

Brother of Aner, colocynthe

They were to each other, allies

With Abram. 14 Now with such good ties

When Abram heard his relative

Was taken captive, as I live,

He armed three hundred and eighteen

Trained men born in his own demesne,

And went pursuing up to Dan,

With every faithful partisan.

The art of war was forged in secret by

Your faithful Abraham, who with the cry

Of three hundred and eighteen warriors could

Without bloodshed rout armies that withstood

Five kings and more. Beloved, let me take up

The battle for the king of Salem's cup.

Whether there be three hundred here or more

I join in arms, the sword of tongue in store,

Throat swelling with the cantillation of

Your exquisite names spoken here in love.

The martial art You taught to David finds

Its roots in Abraham, as all that binds.

Its vast engagements meet from breath to breath

And fearlessly go onward into death.

15 At night he separated all

His forces and then gave the call

To attack and pursue them to

Hobah, north of Damascus' view.

16 So he brought back both all the goods,

His brother Lot, also his goods,

The women and the people too.

17 The king of Sodom went straight out

To meet him at the Valley of

Shaveh, King's Valley, without doubt,

When he came back from defeat of

Chedorlaomer and the kings who

Were with him. 18 King of Salem too,

Melchizedek, and with both bread

And grape juice, let it thus be said,

No proof of alcohol is nigh,

And he was priest of God Most High.

19 And he blessed him and said "Blessed be

Abram of God Most High, and He

Possesses heaven and earth, 20 And blessed

Be God Most High, who gave you rest

And victory from enemy."

So he gave him a portion's hest.

A funny thing it seems to be that Your

Command that every man should bless the store

Of Abraham went round the world and sank

Into the consciousness and habits rank

And file. At least Melchizedek came out

And first of all blessed Abraham, no doubt

He knew his own worth and survival meant

That he acknowledge the one man You sent.

Beloved, I too bless Abraham today,

Though I live here millennia away.

The eye upon the past is not mere folly,

Inertia, but the second sight, by golly,

And second eye that gives depth to my seeing

Beyond the flat and clutter of world's being.

21 Now king of Sodom said to him,

To Abram since the times were grim,

"Give me the persons, take the goods

For yourself, I'm out of the woods."

22 But Abram said to king of Sodom,

"I've raised my hand to YHWH, don't prod 'em,

To God Most High the One who holds

Both heaven and earth, and who beholds

23 "That I will take nothing from you,

Not thread nor strap nor sandal shoe,

Lest you should say, 'Abram got rich

When I and mine fell in the ditch,"

24 "Except just what the men have eaten,

And those who went with me unbeaten,

Eshcol and Mamre and Aner,

Let those three men take all their share."

The booty of the war is in the hand,

At the discretion, by the Lord's command,

Of Your appointed to do as he will.

Your Abraham had right to all, and still

He gave the wicked Sodom all his own,

And to his allies just shares not in loan.

Your friend relinquished all rights to the store

Of wealth, that no one might find grief or door

To criticise or gloat. There is but One

Of true wealth when the longer battle's done:

Beloved, You are possessor of both earth

And heaven, the mighty God, no thing of worth

Escapes Your hand or knowing, who created

All worlds here, and for You all things were fated.

[wardens-stew]

Bone Season reread - chapters 3 & 4

We meet Nashira! Warden chooses Paige!

Some random thoughts -

I am once again impressed!!! The Bone Season world is so much more complex than any of the typical YA fantasy worlds. So convincing, so elaborate! I understood absolutely nothing the first time around but now I can follow Nashira much more easily. 

Cool to read the scene where Warden is looking at Paige now that we have his explanation of why he chose her - because she looked at him defiantly, like Jaxon once had. 

When Paige calls Warden “sir,” lol. Also the end of this chapter is truly dark... yikes yikes yikes. Might do another post about Warden in the first book because he is truly wack. 

Questions

Why does Nashira’s aura feel cold to Paige? Is it because... she’s evil? Also, Paige describes Warden’s aura as a “soft... ancient and strange... a magic lantern in the aether.”

Why do the Rephaim make the red-jackets fight the Emim even though they suck at it and the Rephaim are way better? I think Paige asks Warden this in The Dawn Chorus and he’s super cryptic about it per usual. 

“Several of the Rephaim had examined me, paying close attention to my body and my eyes, but none had claimed me.” - tf?

Favorite Quotes 

“He was the single most beautiful and terrible thing I’d ever laid eyes on.”

I find it really sad when people say that this scene is a classic romance trope. It’s so much more oblique than that - this is the only time Paige describes Warden as beautiful or even comments on his appearance positively! But so fun to keep in mind... he is smoking hot folks. 

“The blood-consort leaned down to my level. A long way down. I didn’t look away. “XX-59-40.” His voice was deep and soft. “I lay claim to you.” So this man was to be my master. I looked right into his eyes, even though I shouldn’t. I wanted to know the face of my enemy.”

Fucking love this part. 

27��days until The Mask Falling!!!

[sshannonauthor]

Hello! Thank you for writing such wonderful, intricate, and amazing books! I would just like to say how much I enjoy reading your Rephaim characters. I don’t think I’ve ever found a book nor an author that does justice to a supernatural creature and the paranormal itself quite like you do. The Rephaim truly feel inhuman, alien in a way that deeply expresses the gap between what sort of beings they are as compared to humans 1/?

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