#and found no answers within 1 paragraph

[worfsbarmitzvah]

why does the word "pint" have to have a long <aɪ> sound. nothing in the spelling of the word indicates that the vowel should be pronounced that way. and yet. what if we pronounced "mint" or "lint" or "dint" or "tint" that way. madness. maɪnt

[signanothername]

How do you see Nm's and Ccino's relationship? Is it different from canon?

Ngl didn’t expect people to be this interested dhdhhdhdh

Kay so, ngl, i’m still kinda refining how I interpret Ccino and his Au as a whole, so what imma say is just a few paragraphs of the gist of how i think of it so far dhxghxhxh

Nightmare found out about fluffytale and by extension Ccino through doing research of different AUs, as Nightmare has a tendency to study AUs to understand how they work and how he can apply it in his own plans/take advantage of them

The reason Fluffytale even caught Nightmare’s attention at all, was for 2 reasons:

1- the Au no longer has any Alternative timelines as there only seems to be one single timeline left, meaning, it’s the one singular unique Au, single main Au with no copies that illustrate different events, and the code of the Au seems completely corrupted, meaning the very concept of new timelines being created is impossible

Nightmare isn’t completely sure why every other timeline seems to have been erased out of existence and why the code is corrupted, but he guesses it’s Error’s work

2- the Au has a cafe which is open to host whoever in the multiverse, regardless of who they are, whether infamous for violence or known for their kindness, whether they are a person who’s part of another Au, or an outcode, it welcomes everyone, including his twin, and by extension himself

Not only did Nightmare see potential in having another set of eyes on the outside world and a great source of info, but even as a source of negativity considering the misery in that universe in general

Nightmare eventually visits the Au himself and watches the cafe from afar for a few weeks before actually visiting the cafe himself

Obviously, with the intent to make a “deal” with the owner of the cafe (Ccino)

Ccino is completely unaware of the state of his Au, thinking that other timelines do exist, and by extension, having a bit of courage to refuse Nightmare’s “offer” at first

Nightmare being the bitch who never takes “no” for an answer, threatens Ccino that he will destroy his Au, and kill his family, and let him watch it happen, which again, Ccino is fine with (lie) as long as he knows there are other timelines in which they live peacefully (he’s not actually fine with it, he’s terrified of Nightmare and his threats, but the idea of other timelines existing gives Ccino a little bit of hope that even if he dies, another version of himself and his brother are out there happy and safe)

And that’s when Nightmare tells him about the state of his Au, and even proving that there’s only this one timeline, and that crushes any sort of hope and confidence in Ccino, and well, Nightmare takes that as a chance to manipulate Ccino into a deal

The deal Nightmare’s trying to entrap Ccino into is for Ccino to be an outside source of info on the multiverse and what happens within it, considering his cafe is open to anyone out there, and an active info source at that, so if Dream were to visit the cafe, Ccino is to report that to him immediately, if anything happens within the cafe that could be good info that might benefit Nightmare, Ccino is to report that to him, if Nightmare were to visit himself, he expects a full report of what’s been happening out there when Nightmare’s been busy with his own nuisances, however Ccino isn’t allowed to provide info about Nightmare or his gang to anyone else

Ccino however, wouldn’t just accept Nightmare’s deal without his own terms, so he tells Nightmare that if he were to provide info, Nightmare’s forbidden from harming his Au or anyone in it (including people who visit his universe from other universes, no matter who it is, even if it’s Dream) which Nightmare (reluctantly) agrees to, and so the deal is made

So now, Ccino acts like an outsource spy to Nightmare without anyone’s knowledge, so an innocent Dream who thinks he can tell Ccino whatever thinking Ccino’s a good confidant would have the shock of his life if he ever found out anything Ccino was told went to Nightmare

Ccino obviously, finds no joy in this, and he even tries to keep somethings from Nightmare, it’s just hard to do that when your soul starts beating fast and fear grips his nonexistent throat and Nightmare catches his fear and starts questioning him :)

Ccino carries a lot of guilt for it, but just like any victim under Nightmare, Ccino is forced to do shit he isn’t proud of or want to do, it eats away at him and is just making his mental health worse than it already is

Ccino hears from Dream about how much Nightmare means to him, and so, since his job is to “provide info” he also relays those sweet conversations to Nightmare, hoping it might stirr something inside his cold soul, Nightmare barely twitches at such comments tho (further crushing whatever false hope he may have)

I plan for Presso (Fluffytale Paps) to also have a big role in the story and how it all connects to Nightmare, but I’m still working on that part so uhh nothing to say about that for now zhxhhdhdhhs, all I know is that I want Persso to also fall into making a deal with Nightmare shshhs

Ngl been working on a comic with Nightmare’s and Ccino’s “deal” but i’m far from done dbbdbxbx here’s a lil snippet tho

[hellsite-detective]

Hello detective, I have had this screenshot saved for a while. It came from a post with a bunch of really awesome quotes from a biography. I cannot find the post. Help would be appreciated, and thanks for all you do.

there i was, trackin' down today's post case. it was a slippery one, and i didn't think i'd be able to find it at all. but there, just barely eluding my grasp, was what looked to be the post. i hunted, fought with tumblr, nearly got a virus from some sketchy website i ended up on, but finally the post was within my grasp! i clicked the link, raced to the post, and... it was my client. a well wish to me for never giving up with an attached rickroll and the quote i sought

was this it? was the spoils of my hunt just a rickroll? no i thought. it couldn't be. the message was thanking me for never giving up. this was simply just a red herring! i pressed onward, because there was one more mention on tumblr that i had noticed in my travels from a different blog. i tracked it down, fought for it, and once again i found the post. i clicked the link and... it was my client again!

this was starting to grow complicated. i had exhausted every mention of the quote from tumblr and everything led back to my client. was this an elaborate prank? just a rickroll? it was starting to look like it. but i was curious about just one thing... was this quote even from the biography? so, to answer this, i scowered the internet looking for a free pdf (because i currently am dirt broke) and managed to find one. i downloaded it and scanned the book for the quoted paragraph and, sure enough, there it was in black and white:

so, this means the associated quote was real. but this didn't answer the question of where the post was. the only other mention on the entire internet regarding "the swimming pool was full of furniture" is a news article from earlier this month about a Dallas tornado

defeated, and unsure where else to turn, i decided to take a look at my client's blog. and, to my shock and horror, i realized something that would've saved me a lot of time had i noticed it sooner... my client was a rickroll gimmick blog. this was an elaborate prank

you sent me on a wild goose chase, good sir. and i very much respect it. this was phenomenal and i had a blast. have a great day!

Post Case: ...Closed?

[garmgeyr]

WHAT IS GALLAGHER? Theory # ?/?

This is a question that has been plaguing the HSR fandom for nearly a year, and nothing that has been released so far has come close to giving a definitive answer. Part of me hopes that we never get an answer, because this ambiguous writing fits the nature of Enigmata, but the other part of me would love if one of my 5384955 theories winds up being validated ha

I've talked about of handful of my theories here and there, and what they all seem to have in common is how contradictory they are to one another. Most of them can't be true if another theory winds up being true instead, which is why I haven't committed to any of them in my writing within this group. For now, they're just fun ideas to think about.

With that said though, I wanted to dive into one of them that I've never seen brought up within the fandom before. Granted, I don't dive very deep into fandom spaces, but it's certainly not one of the common ones.

Read below only if you're fine with major story spoilers that WILL spoil Penacony's mystery.

THEORY: GALLAGHER IS THE PHYSICAL MANIFESTATION OF MIKHAIL'S DENIAL OVER HANUNUE'S DEATH

I'll break my thought process down for this one:

1. The entity that created "Gallagher" is a History Fictionologist

Okay, we're starting off simple. This is common knowledge and outright stated in the game. "Gallagher" is a persona, but when he's speaking to the Trailblazer, he calls himself the History Fictionologist. For the sake of this argument, I'll continue to call him Gallagher instead of "the entity known as Gallagher," but do note that for the rest of this post, Gallagher = the creator, not the persona. Even though we're led to believe that everything out of Gallagher's mouth is a lie, Himeko and others do insist that this part, at least, is true. Gallagher is a History Fictionologist. So why does that matter here?

2. History Fictionologists can be both creator and creation

We don't know a whole lot about History Fictionologists yet. From in-game documents and descriptions, we know that they're dedicated to altering and rewriting history. The Otherworldly Delights readable, which I've written about already (last three paragraphs of this meta), as well as the Jade Feather, suggest that a History Fictionologist can actually be the muse or medium of creation for an artist. These creations work together with someone who does not call themselves a History Fictionologist.

The Illusory Automaton curio also poses the idea that History Fictionologists are themselves works of fiction.

And Firefly's voice line about Gallagher reflects this idea too:

For this theory, I'm choosing to accept the idea that Gallagher the History Fictionologist is also a fabrication.

3. Gallagher is some kind of memetic entity

Memetic entities are physical manifestations of abstract concepts like thoughts and memories. They can be born from subconscious matter in a Memory Zone, or a living person can give up their physical body to become memetic, as is the case with most Memokeepers. This topic is a whole essay in itself, so I just want to focus on a couple of key points that I think provide the strongest evidence to support this idea.

First, Welt, Siobhan, and Acheron suggest that there's something mysterious about Gallagher's comings and goings.

Welt: It's that man again, always in the right place at the right time... though that does save us the trouble of looking for him. Siobhan: I'm not sure. I haven't seen him since our last meeting at the lounge. Come to think of it, he always did come and go quietly. Acheron: Looks like you've also noticed that history fictionologist is nowhere to be found in Penacony, disappearing just as quietly as when he first showed up.

According to Boothill, appearing and reappearing out of nowhere is a memetic trait:

Boothill: [Black Swan's] the same as all memetic organisms — appearing one moment, and gone the next.

Second, Sunday draws a direct connection between Gallagher and Dormancy, which is clearly a memetic entity.

Gallagher: Admirable. But so what? Can this prove that I murdered your sister and that stowaway? Sunday: This proves that you and the Memory Zone Meme "Death" are cut from the same cloth — and that's enough.

The italicized portion above is not the English localization, but a translation of the JP one. This phrase, unlike in English, implies that they're characteristically similar, not simply connected because Gallagher commanded Dormancy to "kill" Robin.

For the sake of this theory, I'm taking this as sufficient evidence that Gallagher is a memetic entity. Now the question is: what kind of meme is he?

Going to pivot topics first though.

4. Hanunue died during the War of Independence

This is established pretty clearly in the Hanu's Adventure book series. While it's unclear what exactly Mikhail was doing during this final expedition, it does, at the very least, imply that Mikhail was rendered helpless and Hanunue was grievously injured while trying to fight back against the IPC when Penacony was still a prison under the IPC's rule. Hanunue wound up behind enemy lines and, with no other way out, decided to sacrifice himself to blow up the IPC's fleet.

5. In Penacony's history, Hanunue is merely sleeping

In the Hanu's Adventure book series linked above, Clockie can't bring himself to admit that Hanu has died, which reflects Mikhail's own grief about his friend's passing. Clockie lies to the townsfolk about his death:

Clockie: "Tick-tock, don't worry! Brother Hanu has just kicked Boss Stone's derriere and is now resting! It won't be long before you see his cool figure in the town once more!"

And then there's this exchange between Mikhail and Hanunue at the end:

In his dreams, Clockie finds himself standing in a vast desert, with Brother Hanu positioned at the far end, gazing up at the sky. Clockie: "Tick-tock! Where have you been, Brother Hanu?" Clockie: "Come back to us, Brother Hanu! Dreamville simply can't exist without you!" In silence, Brother Hanu only watches as Clockie runs towards him, then gently removes his hat. Hanunue: "Hmph, it's beautiful here, don't you think?"Mikhail: "Yeah, is that why you don't want to wake up?"Hanunue: "No, the reason I don't want to wake up... is because all of you are sleeping so deeply."Mikhail: "I..."Hanunue: "Then come here and rest, 'Watchmaker.' If you lack the courage to face the nightmares, then seek refuge in sweet dreams for now..." Hanunue: "But remember, as long as this is a dream, you'll have to wake up from it sooner or later."

The Dreamscape Nursery Rhyme, which abstractly describes the events of the War of Independence, the establishment and fall of the Seven Families, and introduction of the Order and the sweet dream, also refers to Hanunue as a sleeping hound.

Altogether, this paints a picture of Mikhail's grief and denial. Hanunue's not dead, he's sleeping, which means Mikhail can still visit him in his dreams any time he wants. How long Mikhail held onto that denial and what it did to him is beyond my purview, however, so I'll leave it at that.

6. Gallagher is Hanunue's Memory

Specifically, a memory born from Mikhail. He is NOT Hanunue himself, but a memetic entity that represents Mikhail's lies about Hanunue's death. We don't know exactly what Gallagher looked like in Mikhail's eyes, and we don't know exactly what Hanunue looked like either (various NPCs and readables repeat that no one really "knows" Hanunue, and that he could have been anything from a rabid wolf to an average man - the trading card illustration is merely an artistic rendition), but we DO know that Gallagher in Mikhail's memory looked different than Gallagher the 4-star Abundance character, because of this illustration from the Watchmaker's memory sequence:

He has a different outfit, hair color, and his hair is parted on the opposite side from the Gallagher we know.

The low hanging fruit evidence is, of course, all the wolf imagery in Gallagher's design, but let's dig a little deeper.

For this point, I want to focus on two NPCs that establish this theory's foundation: Quinn and Lesley Dean.

In their Clockwork quests, both of these NPCs are revealed to be "dead," but continue to live on within the Dreamscape. Quinn was killed by her sister, Alley, and Alley, presumably out of guilt, brought her memory back to life in the dreamscape. This doesn't seem to be a perfect copy of her sister, since Quinn is insistent that it's all "fake." She's full of anger and hatred for her sister, who won't even come see her now, but she's also trapped forever in the dreamscape because Alley won't let the guilt go. The important parts of the conversation below is that Quinn's existence is a "lie" tethered to the dreamscape because Alley can't move on.

Lesley Dean's Clockwork quest is a similar but more optimistic story. He was a movie star killed in a car crash. His fans banded together to pour their memories of him into the dreamscape, recreating their version of Lesley Dean. When he found out that he was just a fake, he decided to help his fans resolve their feelings about the real Lesley Dean. This allowed their creation to be put to rest and disappear.

Following this train of thought, we can say that Gallagher may have been created by Mikhail's strong feelings about Hanunue's death, which continued to live on within the dreamscape. Perhaps he had at first been a perfect replica of Hanunue, but all memetic entities within the dreamscape are subject to Remembrance's forgetting or Enigmata's corrosion, and over time he may have been corroded by Enigmata until he became a new character entirely. Still a close friend of Mikhail's, but no longer Hanunue. Nevertheless, we can say that Gallagher is inextricably connected to Mikhail, and this line seems to support that:

March 7th: But didn't you say the Watchmaker betrayed The Family? And you said you were his companion, so that means you... Gallagher: No, I'm not his "companion," but rather one of his many "children."

Clockie and Misha are also both "children" of the Watchmaker, and are both memetic entities born from parts of his subconscious. Other than the members of the Astral Express, Gallagher is the only other person who can see them. Not even Micah, who has also become a memetic entity by now, although one who was once human, can see Misha.

Born from a lie about history, it seems natural that Gallagher would continue to live on as a History Fictionologist helping Mikhail obscure his own history and that of Penacony. Mikhail and Clockie both are also called liars throughout the game text, and even in the final credits roll, so Gallagher could also just be a manifestation of Mikhail's lies in general - the "muse" for an artist who ultimately fictionologizes their work. However, in March 7th's toast to Gallagher at the end of 2.3, she explicitly calls him the "Slumbering Hound," and all the wolf imagery certainly makes the direct connection to Hanunue hard to shake.

Also it just makes sense that the guy who represents denial of death would command the manifestation of the fear of death.

Gallagher helped rewrite Mikhail's history as the public knows it to create the mysterious and alluring Watchmaker, but at the very end, it seemed like he knew that Mikhail would want to cast off the Watchmaker persona to set things straight for his Nameless successors. Although born from a lie, his final mission was to pass on his friend's truth.

[space-mermaid-writing]

"Send me any prompt"

VAMPIRE STEPHEN 🦇

i see a prompt request and i trip and choke and die in my haste to ask for vampire stephen. prepare for paragraphs of inane vampire rambling over discord.

I expected nothing less from you :D Have this 5+1 sequel of 'The Vamp and the Were'. Beta by KJ <3 Everyone listen to 'Secretly A Vampire'. It's very vampire Stephen coded.

Summary: 5 times the team didn’t know Stephen was a vampire and 1 time he didn’t realize they knew

Tags: Vampire!Stephen Strange, Werewolf!Tony Stark, IronStrange, established Relationship, 5+1, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Fluff, all the good stuff, revealed secret, whump Stephen, protective Tony

Ko-fi | Masterlist | Series Masterlist | Word count: 4.8k

Secretly a vampire

1

Stephen stepped through his portal and into the Avenger’s tower. More specifically into a conference room.

“Thank you for joining us today, doctor,” Rogers greeted him.

Stephen answered with a nod and sat down on one of the many free chairs. At least he wasn’t the last one to this meeting. It was the first one he attended. So far he had always refused to go; not because the Avengers were publicly known for hunting vampires – and Stephen was a Vamp.

It was problematic on several levels.

Stephen himself hunted vampires as well but only those who posed a danger to society. Those Vamps who had lost their minds and succumbed to their blood lust.

Unfortunately, there were a lot of those. And they were – rightfully – feared by the public eye.

But there were other vampires as well, living a normal life. At least as normal as life could be if sunlight killed you and your species was hunted down.

Stephen was the best example of those kinds of Vamps.

Well, Stephen was a mediocre example because he was a Master of the Mystic Arts and thus did not represent the norm.

But in his work he distinguished between dangerous and harmless vampires. Just as the Avengers should do it.

Albeit they were a long way from it.

Stark entered the conference room, carrying a mug that held probably an unhealthy ratio of coffee to liquid. He dropped into the chair right next to Stephen.

Tony was the only other person in the room who knew Stephen's secret. He had found out by accident; a mission gone bad. Although it had probably been inevitable, considering how they had circled around each other.

Tony threw a wink at him and Stephen scoffed affectionately. Tony knew Stephen wasn’t a fan of pda – at least outside of what he considered family – and thankfully the werewolf kept his hands to himself.

Clint was the last one to arrive; also with a coffee in his hands. He slid into a seat in the back and Rogers started the meeting.

Stephen listened only with one ear. If he was honest, he was just here to show some Sorcerer-Avengers alliance. And because he got tired of the Avengers asking him to join.

Bored, his eyes wandered to the big panorama window. They were on the east side of the tower and since it was late afternoon there was no direct sunlight coming in. Tony had installed UV filtering windows in the whole tower anyway, so that Stephen could move freely within it at any time of day or night, without worrying about getting burned.

“… they reported traces of vampires in Middlesex, New Jersey.” The map of a neighborhood near the sea could be seen on the large screen on the wall. "So far it's been narrowed down to this area. We'll look into it. Get ready to strike soon."

Stephen's jaw tightened when Rogers circled a specific block in South Amboy. He had meant to stay in the background and not attract attention. But if they keep following that specific lead, innocent people might get hurt.

Given two choices, Stephen always chose the one that protected others; instead of himself. That was why he spoke up.

“Actually, the Vamps in that area aren’t dangerous. Quite the opposite: they proved to be useful in providing valuable information on illegal cargo several times.”

All heads turned to him, surprised – even Tony, although for a different reason.

“Vampires are always dangerous,” Natasha chimed in. Her eyes were as sharp as her facial features. Stephen was pretty sure there was some fae somewhere in her blood line. It would explain so much about her.

The sorcerer gritted his teeth. They didn’t know this was a sensitive topic to him. A very personal one. He refused to back down.

“Not all vampires are mindless beasts. I’ve talked to several individuals who are actually very pleasant to be around. And they don’t kill humans for blood.”

“It’s true,” Tony added and Stephen's eyes shot over to him. Of course Tony backed his partner up.

His support seemed to help Stephen's case, because Rogers gave in. “Alright. But we will keep an eye on it.”

Stephen just nodded.

In a subtle gesture Tony put his hand on Stephen's leg, calming him. It wasn’t really necessary, but it was the thought that counted.

Self-preservation hindered Stephen from revealing more in front of the team. He decided to warn his contacts in New Jersey anyway.

The rest of the meeting he leaned back, listening in silence.

Tony didn’t move his hand away the whole time.

2

The wooden stake to his chest was a surprise. It had come out of nowhere. An improvised weapon, pulled from the rubble of the construction site where they were fighting.

White-hot searing shards of pain erupted from the wound.

Stephen hissed in agony. He managed to whirl a spell at the attacker, but the damage was done. He staggered sideways.

“Doctor Strange!” Peter rushed to his aid.

It had been movie night and he, Tony and Peter had been comfortable on the couch when Jarvis had informed them about the attack. Some other Avengers – who had also got the call – had joined the fight.

Stephen was bent over kneeling, trying to regain control over the pain, when the boy crowded his personal space.

“Are you okay?” Peter, who had no problem facing scary monsters, was overwhelmed by the situation. He had no idea what he could do to help Strange - and the fact that the vampire didn't respond only increased his panic.

“Are you going to die?” Peter’s worried face was hidden under his mask but his voice was breaking. A wooden stake to the heart was one of the big myths about killing a vampire.

Fortunately, a wrong one.

“No,” Stephen pressed between his teeth. And then a not very convincing, “It’s going to be alright.”

Sam landed beside them. His wings retreated into the pack on his back as soon as his feet touched the ground. “Shit, doc. Paramedics are on their way.”

Stephen wouldn’t wait for them.

“I need you to pull it out.” The sorcerer gestured to the stake. He didn’t want to burden Peter with the task. And he couldn't do it on his own; he needed all his strength to hold back his teeth from kicking out. It was a shock reaction of his body to defend itself.

“Are you sure?” Sam asked. “That looks nasty.”

It probably did. More so because the Avengers thought he was a regular human being. He was probably wondering how Stephen was still standing on his feet.

“I’m a doctor. And I have magic. I will heal in no time.” Stephen’s voice was pressed. Just because he was a vampire didn’t mean he wasn’t suffering. He was indeed in a lot of pain.

Finally, Sam stopped protesting. Instead, he put his hand around the stake; and pulled.

Stephen's lips tightened, wrinkles forming where none existed before. His breath seized – even though a vampire didn’t have to breathe at all. But it helped with the pain. At least that was what he told himself.

Stephen managed to cast a spell that mended his robes, concealing the wound from sight. His vampire powers would take care of that one. He just needed some rest and a blood bag from his refrigerator.

As soon as Sam got the wooden stake out completely, he threw it away in disgust. It was drenched in blood and other liquids the Avenger didn’t want to think about too closely.

There was an angry growl approaching them fast.

Oh yeah, now Sam had to calm down a concerned and very feral lover, who had probably smelled the sorcerer’s blood on the other side of the battlefield, as well as heard his cry of pain.

3

Stephen avoided going outside during the day. Understandably, since it would literally kill him – if he didn’t take precautions. Usually, there was no reason for him to hit the streets in broad daylight anyway.

Usually.

But this was a magic-related emergency right in the middle of bustling central New York, and Wong wasn’t currently available. Which was why Stephen was here, wearing several protection spells so the sun wouldn't burn him to a crisp immediately. The cloak rested on his shoulders, expanding his collar to a full hood to provide extra protection.

The glowing box that hovered six feet in the air in Central Park better be worth this.

Tony didn’t leave his side. Ever since the incident in Australia, this was a sensitive topic between them and the werewolf acted overly protective. Stephen didn’t argue with him. He had learned his lesson. He did accept Tony’s sunglasses though.

“For your eyes,” the Were muttered.

Stephen wasn’t sure if it was meant to protect them, or if they currently betrayed his true nature by turning into a bright shade of red. So he hid them behind the tinted glasses.

It was late in the morning, not yet noon, and the day not too warm. He could work with that; as long as his time outside was kept short. Despite all precautions, he felt a headache approaching.

“Thank you for coming by,” Natasha greeted them, approaching from the side. She and Clint had been the first ones to the scene. But as soon as they had seen that flying box, they had called the sorcerer.

Stephen turned his head to her, shielding his face from the sun with his hand. Even with the sunglasses it felt too bright. And maybe he imagined it, but his skin felt itchy.

Natasha took in the unfamiliar style of the Cloak of Levitation, and the accessory that obviously belonged to Tony. As well as his defensive posture. “Are you alright, doctor?”

Stephen wasn’t surprised she noticed something. She was very observant.

Before Stephen could open his mouth, Tony chimed in, chuckling. “You see, our wizard here has a bit of a hangover. It got late yesterday and we may have opened one bottle of wine too many.” He looked at Stephen with mischief dancing in his eyes, “Next time you should stick to grape juice.”

The vampire didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to; it was written on his face that he was not impressed by those words – even with half of it hidden.

When Stephen didn’t object – and really, why should he? This was the perfect excuse – Tony grinned broadly and bumped his shoulder with Natasha. “We should avoid loud noises and bright light,” he stage-whispered, prompting her to follow him towards the weird magic object – and away from Stephen.

4

Bruce opened the door to the supply room – and stopped right in his tracks. “Oh… eh, I’m… I’m sorry, guys…”

He had clearly caught Tony and Stephen in flagranti. Stephen had pushed Tony against the shelf in the back, and was currently working on the soft skin of his neck, right between his ear and his shoulder. His back was to the door and he stills as soon as he heard it open. But he didn’t turn around nor did he make any kind of move.

Tony had his head tilted sideways to give him more room. His hands were on Stephen's shoulders, grasping the fabric of his shirt, while his legs were wrapped around the sorcerer’s hips.

He clearly enjoyed what they were doing very much. His pupils were blown wide and his eyes dark, when he locked them with Bruce.

Tony was slow to react. “Oh… hi, Brucie…” He smiled lazily.

There was a low growl in the room; surprisingly it didn’t come from the werewolf.

“You should leave,” Tony still hazily smiled. “Room’s occupied”

“Yes..sorry…” Bruce shuffled away, his head red by embarrassment.

The haze on his brain lifted enough to ask Jarvis, “What was that about, J?”

“I apologize, Sir. This room has no form of locking mechanism.”

That was something Tony should change. He made a mental note to add a lock to every single door in the compound.

The thought was forgotten in an instant when Stephen started to lick over where he had just bitten Tony. It was to close the wound; and to get Tony’s attention back.

The engineer shifted his focus back on the vampire. He rocked his hips against Stephen’s and elicited another growl from him, this time more needy.

5

Stephen was tired. Not ‘I need to go to sleep because he was a regular living being’-tired. No, vampires were physically and mentally not able to sleep; even if they wanted to. They were undead. And while the dead slept permanently, the undead never did.

This could be exhausting in its own way.

When he joined the Mystic Arts, Stephen learned to meditate, which was an effective way to shut off his mind; at least for a while.

Stephen had been gone from this dimension for a few days and now he craved a drink, a quiet and dark room, and the scent of Tony. Preferably a combination of all three things together.

He opened a portal straight into Tony’s bedroom.

Of course he didn’t find Tony there. The Were was barely in his own bed when Stephen was present. Without him, he probably barely walked in here at all. Plus, the sun had already risen.

Stephen went into the kitchen and opened the fridge. Tony always had fresh blood for him available - packed into innocent looking, unlabeled boxes. It made sense; this was Tony’s private penthouse, but he often had guests over; Avengers coming upstairs. Stephen wouldn't want them to ask unwelcome questions.

He took a box and a glass – he refused to stick a straw into it. It would look too much like a juice box and Stephen just knew Tony would make a joke about that.

Instead he poured the red liquid into a wine glass. It was easier for him to hold it with the stem placed between his digits to prevent it from falling.

“Jarvis, where’s Tony?”

“In his laboratory, Doctor Strange.”

The Vamp opened another portal with the intention to at least steal a kiss from his partner, before he retired for the day. He changed his robes into something comfortable while walking through.

“… can you make one that ticks like a bomb, but instead of exploding there will be a small banner popping out that says ‘boom’. And then it will explode… oh, hey doc.”

Stephen realized too late that Tony wasn’t alone. Clint was standing next to his desk, both men leaning over schematics for what seemed to be trick arrows.

Walking up to his partner, Stephen took a sip from his drink.

Clint’s eyes followed the movement of his glass. “Is that red wine?”

Stephen paused, looking down at the red liquid. He was lucky Clint was human and couldn't smell blood over that distance.

He licked over his lips and noticed Tony was watching their interaction rather amused.

“Is that a problem?” he answered with a counter question.

Clint just shrugged. He certainly didn’t judge him, even though it was barely 10 a.m. in the morning.

+1

Stephen was in Kamar-Taj when he got the call from Tony.

“Poison Ivy is attacking Washington DC. We could use some backup.”

Stephen frowned and glanced at his phone. It was early in the morning, which meant it was pretty late on the East Coast.

“Really?” he asked. “It’s the middle of the night.”

“I would also rather work in the lab right now. You coming?”

"Shields are at fifty-seven percent," Jarvis interjects. There was an explosion somewhere in the distance on their side.

"No pressure," Tony reassured either Stephen or himself, the Vamp wasn’t sure.

“Yes, just send me a-”, his phone chimed when he got a message, “…photo.”

“See you on the other side.”

Tony hung up and Stephen opened the photo. It showed a street lamp that was overgrown with vines – just like the sidewalk in the background. Everything was a bit blurry but good enough for Stephen’s magic to work. He opened a portal and with one step he was standing on the other side of the world.

There was chaos in the streets. In the dead of night, they were filled with a sense of urgent as people ran frantically in all directions. The sound of sirens wailed in the distance, adding to the cacophony of fear and confusion.

Stephen detected the general scent of panic in the air; it smelled sour and sharp with a hint of uncertainness.

Suddenly the asphalt cracked open and spiky vines shot high into the air. They chased Peter, who was swinging between the tall buildings.

Stephen summoned sharp and glowing discs and cut the stem. The heavy upper part fell – as the cloak of levitation pulled Stephen into safety – and hit the ground with a loud thud. The lower half of the tendrils, however, continued to move; like cut tentacles, but more angry now. Stephen cut them again, this time right above the ground.

The Iron Man suit stopped next to him midair, opening the face plate. “Thanks for joining. We’re currently dealing with Rose and Thorn, but her plant pets have a mind of their own and they cover a lot of ground here; destroying streets and buildings.”

“They’re Solanaceae.” At Tony's quizzical look, Stephen added, “Nightshades. They probably get stronger during the night.”

“A cousin of yours?”

“Funny,” the Vamp dead-panned. “I’ll do what I can, but our best bet is probably a giant flamethrower.” Fire killed almost everything efficiently, plants as well as vampires.

“Since when do you have a doctorate in botany? I’ll see if I can get propane from somewhere. Might take a while though.”

“Great. In the meantime, I'll take care of the weeds.”

They parted ways. Tony flew off while Stephen moved right next to where more plants breached through the street. He cut them as low as he could reach with his magic even though he knew it would be more effective to get rid of the roots.

At the same time that was more difficult, especially since he didn’t know how deep they went, or in what way they were connected to each other.

The more he attacked them, the more ferocious they got. The plants seemed almost sentient, sensing where he was, even though he remained mostly in the air and didn’t so much as touch the ground with his feet.

It made Stephen hesitate, wondering what exactly he was facing. It wasn’t magic; not really. Maybe – and that was a big maybe – he could find a way to communicate with them and make them leave.

The asphalt cracked in several places right below Stephen. The Cloak of Levitation pulled him back, but the plants seemed to focus solely on the sorcerer. They hit him before he could throw up a defense spell.

Three big branches pierced his torso and Stephen let out a cry, low and anguished that carried through the streets.

The cloak billowed, trying to pull him free. The movement only made it worse.

Another vine yanked the cloak off him. Someone called out for Stephen, but the noise was muffled in his ears.

The vines hurled him around and then threw him through the air. His loyal cloak zipped after him but wasn’t fast enough to catch him before he hit the pavement and tumbled over several times.

Ironically, the plants softened his fall – albeit only insignificantly.

Stephen gasped for air; and immediately choked on liquid. His lung must have been pierced and blood was pooling in it. He stopped breathing to avoid choking.

He propped himself up on his elbows – his hands were shaking badly – before he rolled onto his side. Deep in his stomach, a dark purple orb of anguish seemed to throb with his pulse. His vision was hazy and tinted red. The feeling of bleeding out was all-consuming.

“Stephen!”

The plants around him were burned away by a modified blast as Tony landed at his side. The werewolf crouched down to examine his partner. The suit retreated from his hands and his head. He wanted nothing more than to cradle the man in his arms, but the presence of the enemy was too close.

“Shit, Stephen, talk to me.”

“’m fine,” was what Stephen wanted to say. All that got out was a gurgling noise. Blood ran down his chin. The vampire turned his head and spat it out, even though it sent vile warnings throughout his innards.

He heard the voice of Jarvis, running a diagnostic scan of him: “…as well as his lung and abdomen. He is experiencing heavy blood loss. Immediate intervention is advised.”

That sounded about right.

“You need blood,” Tony observed what Stephen had already concluded as well. He was losing the vital liquid too fast. His throat felt dry, even though he was still choking. And he didn’t have the strength to check but he knew his fingers were sharp claws and his teeth on display. It was his body urging him to hunt.

For now he was still in control of his mind, yet he had to act fast. Or he would turn into a wild beast that would prioritize to ensure his survival.

Tony helped Stephen sit up. He groaned in displeasure as the pain intensified. Then he grunted with horror as Tony took off one arm part of his armor.

“What…you doin’?” he muttered, barely intelligible.

“I told you: you need blood. Don’t argue about it. Not now.” Not while they were in the midst of an emergency. Not again.

Stephen looked at him, shaking his head. He had already drunk from Tony twice this week. It had only been small amounts, but the body of the werewolf needed time to replenish its blood. With all his injuries, Stephen would need more than Tony had to give. Stephen might feel better, but Tony would die of blood loss.

The vampire didn’t have breath left to articulate that; except he was sure that the engineer must have come to the same conclusion.

Tony was also very aware of Stephen's stubbornness regarding Tony’s health.

“..home…” Stephen managed to get out.

There were plenty of blood bags in the fridge. His hand moved to his belt, where his Slingring was normally stored – and he touched right into a deep wound.

The Vamp hissed in pain and Tony saw the blood running down shaking fingers. Stephen knew he barely had the strength to move, much less to open a portal.

His senses grew stronger as he became more aware of possible food sources around them. Surprisingly, he also got calmer. Or maybe his body just got ready to attack at the earliest convenience.

Suddenly he was glad he was too weak to move a lot.

Tony was kneeling behind him, to support his back and stop him from toppling over; his mind running a million thoughts and calculating all options.

If not from him, Stephen could drink blood from someone else. Tony surely could find someone in this city, even though the area was evacuated. He would knock them out personally if necessary.

Stephen would never drink without consent. And animal blood wasn’t sufficient for this situation; it had to be human blood. Or at least humanoid.

A hospital!

They had blood bags in stock. Even though marching in and demanding them would raise questions. Tony would have to be careful not to reveal Stephen's nature.

On the other hand, if he waited too long, Stephen's nature would reveal on its own; when he went feral to get what his body needed.

Suddenly his trail of thoughts was interrupted by another voice.

“What’s your status?”

Rogers was jogging over to them. Maybe he had smelled the lots of blood Stephen was losing. Or he got called on the scene because Tony had ignored his comm for the past however many minutes – right after he had screamed for Stephen.

The sorcerer was trying to make his bleeding, lanky body smaller and shielded away from the Avenger. Showing his vampire features to Captain America – a very famous vampire hunter – would start a whole other kind of mess.

Tony helped him by subtly moving his armored body between them. “The wizard is out,” he explained dismissively. “I have to get him home immediately.”

This wasn’t really his plan; they were too far from New York and Stephen too weak. It was a good enough excuse though. And it gave Tony an idea: if Stephen wore the armor it would – hopefully – protect him; and those around him. It would leave Tony vulnerable in the still ongoing fight, but he would manage.

He glanced to the side where Rogers was still standing, analyzing Stephen's condition. Tony opened his mouth to throw a quip at him, but Steve beat him to it.

“What if he takes my blood?”

“What?” Tony stared at him. He was sure he misheard. Even Stephen stilled in his arms.

Rogers tilted his head. “If your werewolf blood is fine, mine should be as well.” At Tony's distrustful look, he adds, “You forget I’ve got super hearing. And the tells were rather obvious. Now,” he took the last steps towards them slowly, as if he was approaching a wild animal. “I believe we don’t have much time. I give him my permission to take the blood I can spare.”

Tony’s posture became defensive. It was subconscious, his mind still screaming: protect mate!

“Why?” he asked.

“We are a team, Tony”, Rogers said as if that were a very obvious reason. It probably was – under normal circumstances. Then Rogers spoke to Stephen directly. “And you are still Doctor Stephen Strange, even if you’re a vampire.”

Tony was still hesitant, and that said a lot about his experience with people he had trusted and who had then stabbed him in the back. Some even literally.

But then he felt Stephen weakly nudging him and he turned his attention back to the sorcerer. Stephen needed blood now; they would do the talking later. He weakly beckoned Steve to come closer.

The ground shook again, however, nothing broke through it - for now.

Rogers put his finger to his ear and spoke over the comm to the team. “We need some brief cover. South side.”

Stephen didn’t see who else moved in their direction; his focus was on the Avenger in front of him. Tony stayed with him and Stephen trusted him – as well as Rogers – to stop him should he take too much.

Rogers crouched down as well and looked at them, unsure. “So, how do we do this?”

“Your wrist.” Tony nodded towards it.

Rogers pulled the tight sleeve of his suit up and held it out to the vampire. If he had any second thoughts, he masked them well.

Stephen’s trembling hands wrapped around the warm skin. He felt life pulsing in the veins, a lot of it. Water pooled in his mouth; or perhaps it was blood. He wasn’t sure.

Instead of feasting on his meal immediately, he looked up at Rogers, his red eyes asking for permission. Steve granted it – again; this time with a simple nod.

Stephen bared his teeth and pierced the skin with them. On impact, a sound escaped Rogers, rather surprised than in pain – in fact it didn’t hurt more than a needle prick. And then the pain was completely gone. Everything was fine. Maybe he even was a bit too calm about the situation; the vampire drinking from him and the fight around them.

He had heard about a vampire’s thrall – but he still felt in control. A bit light-headed, sure. But not alarmingly so.

Roger’s eyes met Tony’s, who watched him with alert eyes.

After a while, Stephen let go of him and leaned back. He looked instantly better. He was still bleeding but he no longer made that gurgling sound with every breath. His wounds also seemed to be slowly closing. Or at least the bleeding had stopped.

He moved to stand up, but Tony held him back, gently.

“Take it easy.”

And Rogers added, “We got you, doctor.”

Bonus:

“What did he taste like?” Tony asked way too casual and out of context.

Stephen didn't have to ask who he meant. There weren't many people he had drunk directly from recently. "Artificial. Like a snack with a weird combination of flavors.” Looking at the Were he found him way too smug about his answer. “Are you jealous?”

Tony shrugged, ducking his head. It was a tell; he couldn't fool Stephen. “It was just weird seeing you drinking from someone else. It’s an intimate thing. At least it always feels this way for me.”

Because every time Stephen drank from the Were it almost exclusively led to sex.

Stephen pulled him into his arms. “Only because we make it intimate.” He kissed his temples. “What you and I have is special, Tony.”

Tony left it at that, but the scent of a very happy Were invaded Stephen's nose.

[vasito-de-leche]

;R1999 "COVER" section analysis (1)

Analysis and theories on how to interpret the characters' profiles in the Cover section of the game, such as their exhibition year, ages, their medium, afflatus etc. A full dissection of the profiles.

I started seeing a lot of people argue about whether a character's first exhibition date correlates or not to their birth year, if their ages are correct and all the little inconsistencies that make it difficult to understand, so obviously I wanna talk about it lolol

disclaimer that I do not play or follow CN updates, I only play the global version! but I invite everyone with more insight (hehe....insight) to discuss in reblogs, replies or tags! (<- loves discussing viddygames)

I'm ALSO gonna be VERY pedantic and explain some stuff that might seem super obvious or go on really long tangents because this game is relatively new, so I don't wanna assume everyone is on the same page and alienate some ppl from discussing the lore and cool stuff of the game!

First of all, I would like to point out something that most people know by now about the character profiles, just in case someone hasn't seen it yet: the "Cover", "Item" and third unlockable story for every character are all written by Pandora Wilson for the UTTU magazine.

When you go to a character's cover page, there's an extra menu that can be found by tapping on the UTTU logo on the top right corner, as pictured here.

Which leads you to the following page, a Reader's Guide for UTTU's magazine.

The contents of the Reader's Guide are a little scattered and confusing, sometimes their own text format breaks as well, such as points 5, 6 and 8 being in the same paragraph as opposed to a proper numbered list. Or point 11 having a weird line break mid-sentence.

There are three items pictured on the guide, which have letters spelling out different words. The first one spells "ARCANUM", the second one "MAGAZINE" with "SELF-UPDATING" upside down, and the last one spells "ENJOY reading". Not pictured above is the full proper end of the guide:

But overall, this guide is important because it explains the formatting of the profiles and why they're worded a certain way. The implication is that the character profiles are interviews of all arcanists that Pandora Wilson and UTTU encounter, archiving and exhibiting their information like works of art.

There are some people who offered the idea of the profiles being written by Vertin, since the voicelines imply all characters are talking to her - but this cannot be, since the voicelines are just an archive of the lines said during other situations, such as being in the main menu (her suitcase) or battles (guided by her). In this case, it is extradiegetic within the context of the magazine (though the Guide does allude to the magazine being able to emit scents and have moving pictures within).

There is also another theory which replaces Vertin with the Foundation instead, given the events of the main story. For those who don't know, in the main story there is a very heated political debate within the Foundation regarding Vertin and all the arcanists she's gathered, on whether they deserve to be an independent group led by her or go through their usual regulation system. This theory implies that the information given in the profiles are reports made by the Foundation.

But given UTTU's Reader Guide and every 03 Story, we can all safely confirm that they're all written by them and Pandora Wilson. The items' description are also written from Pandora's perspective. This might be a lot just to establish a single thing, but I wanna be thorough!

As for why UTTU magazine specifically chose to portray all arcanists as pieces of art, using words like exhibit and measuring them the same way one would a statue, I don't have a very clear answer!

The game overall has a lot of themes regarding art, like Vertin's tuning abilities "First Melody" and "Grand Orchestra" being so obviously music themed. She's portrayed as a conductor for the arcanists she leads. The art theme also lines up pretty well again with the main story and how Vertin, as a Timekeeper, is meant to record time and events for the Foundation but she also keeps track of the people she meets and their endeavors, not for the Foundation but herself. It makes sense to me that the arcanists she takes in are seen as "artwork" by UTTU, they're stuck in time and represent an era that is no longer possible to reach or that has long passed. It makes sense that they're archived and represented as such to me, at least!

With that, we can finally go into the actual cover page for the characters. I'll be using the characters that I personally own and I'm most familiar with as examples. So everyone say hello to Pavia again.

Right away, we're hit with an unknown term - "mixed".

In the "Atlas" menu, there's three sections - "Story Review" which allows you to see the full story of the game as you unlock it, with some of the trails you can unlock (this is irrelevant to the post, I just wanna say it here in case anyone can help me out - but some of the trails don't seem to be recorded in this menu and there is no way to find them again?), then there's "Role Atlas", which I'll get to in a second, and "Psychube", a collection of all Psychubes.

The Role Atlas is, once again, written by UTTU. You can see their logo in all the magazines and there is the UTTU Bound Volume of all characters in one menu. The text on the covers varies, but I cannot read most of them clearly, the text inside does not change. All five of them in order are:

The Beyond

The Awakened

Arcanists

The Mixed

The Infected

All character's profiles begin by stating which of these categories they fit in. The VAST majority of the characters fall within the "Arcanists" group, so it's very easy to assume that all human characters will fall within this section, while others such as Door or Mr. Apple would fall in categories like "Awakened" by virtue of being objects.

And this is where it gets tricky, because as far as I know, there is no official description for any of these categories nor what they fully entail! But bear with me, there's a thought process somewhere in here.

The "Beyond" seems to be self-explanatory - it encapsulates any living creature that comes from space and isn't native to Earth, such as Voyager and aliEn T.

The "Awakened" seem to be inanimate objects native to Earth that gained consciousness and self-awareness, such as Mr. APPLe, Sputnik and Ms. Radio. But that is immediately put into question when seeing characters like Darley Clatter, Door and TTT being categorized as "Arcanists" instead.

There are only two "Mixed" characters - Pavia and Satsuki. The word alone could easily imply that they're either "half-arcanists", and thus less respected due to their lesser Arcanum abilities, or that their Afflatus is mixed, but Afflatus and the way they're assigned onto characters is still very vague, because they don't seem to align with their actual use of magic.

And then, we have the "Infected". There are no characters labelled as such so far, so there's nothing to speculate here.

With all of this in mind, I would like to point out the wording of the profiles. I will add a few examples here in order of category (Beyond, Awakened, Arcanist, and then Mixed).

Notice how Mr. APPLe, Darley Clatter and Pavia's description are notably different than aliEn T's? Compare "A supernatural work" to "A mixed's work".

I don't own Voyager, but her profile listed in the wikifandom site follows the same pattern as aliEn T. It is very distinct to me that neither aliEn T nor Voyager, the only two characters who come from actual space, aren't described as "A supernatural's work".

The point I'm trying to make here is that the first phrase of the profiles alludes to the character's parents or creator, rather than themselves.

After all, the character is the artwork, it makes sense that they allude to their origins/heritage - in this case, crediting the "artist" that brought them to life. With the examples given, it makes sense to me that the Beyond cannot be anyone's work, by virtue of being aliens. Human concepts such as family and such don't necessarily have to apply to aliens. Their origins can easily be much too complex to understand by our standards.

One might argue that this theory falls apart when examining the Awakened - after all, they're described as "An Awakened's work". But I have to insist that the Awakened are confirmed to be inanimate objects that became sentient on their own, and thus they are given credit for their own "existence" so to speak. I'd like to point out the introductions posted on the official global twitter for these three characters. Mr. APPLe's does not allude to the moment he became sentient, but Ms. Radio's and Sputnik's do.

And speaking of sentience, I chose Darley Clatter as the example for the "Arcanist" category because it perfectly illustrates the point I'm trying to make. Darley Clatter is not a human in any way whatsoever, it's a toy horse. But the difference that sets Darley Clatter apart from the "Awakened" is the fact that he was MADE by an arcanist rather than gaining sentience himself. He exists and is able to move and talk thanks to an arcanist - this is explained in his 01 Story

If you don't feel like reading it, here's a short summary - it tells us about a young girl named Lilian who wants a horse and how her father, who spoils her way too much, approaches an unnamed arcanist to make her dreams come true. The arcanist then gets the ingredients needed and prepares a speech for Lilian's father, insisting that the foal they created will be better than any other real horse. Thus, making Darley Clatter an arcanist's work.

But then it leads me to characters like La Source, Pickles or Door. La Source is easy to explain, as she's a magical creature. Nature itself and some animals aside from critters are presented as inherently magical in some ways, so that could also explain Pickles. I'm pretty sure one of the tips displayed in loading screens says something similar to "sentience has nothing to do with arcanum ability", which supports the previous statement. As for Door? I have no idea!

And there's also the more vague characters, who were implied or hinted to have been humans and are now supernatural entities such as TTT, Rabies, Poltergeist or Click. I'd argue that the supernatural aspect of it lines up with nature as an inherently magical thing, but that could be a reach.

Another point against the theory I offer is the fact that it implies most of the characters come from arcane bloodlines, and arcanists are said to be a minority. But how can they be a minority if everyone and their dog (hehe, Pickles....get it...) comes from arcane bloodlines?

During Constantine and Madame Z's divorce arc the last two chapters, one of the main points of tension within the Foundation is the fact that there are more arcanists than there used to be in the past (hinted to be a result of the "Storm"). And that these arcanists no longer feel comfortable having so many restrictions within society now that they're no longer a minority that's easy to ignore. While this information could work as an argument to support my theory, I think it's easier to remember that all the characters in-game are people that Vertin takes along to brave the storm with her - as seen with Regulus, they're special. The fact that there's so many of them isn't an issue. The ones not relevant to the main story are summoned with the spinning wheel from their respective times, it is not indicative of a high amount of Arcanists overall because they don't share the same space or time.

Characters like Druvis III, Mesmer Jr, Matilda and Sotheby are stated to come from prestigious or important arcanist families, but for other characters its either a subtle implication or their families are not addressed in the slightest.

And this finally brings us to the "Mixed" - where do they fit? Does this term allude to something different, just like the "Beyond"? Are they Mixed because their Afflatus is different? Or because they come from a family that includes both Arcanists and non-magical humans? Or because they're not full Arcanists? For this, we have to examine both Satsuki and Pavia. Both of them share a very particular detail that is important to their respective backstories: neither of them know their parents.

Satsuki is an orphan, which led her to start a life of crime out of necessity. The defining trait of her character is that she's trying to put her past behind her. This excerpt is from her 01 Story.

On this hopeless land, the orphan girl could only make a living by theft, which had earned her the title "Little Thief Using Arcane Skill" from the local government.

As for Pavia, he was sent to live with his aunt after his mother's death. The information on Pavia's parents is mentioned in his 02 Story and one of his voicelines.

His aunt did not like him. The child's face resembled that of her beautiful, sorrowful sister who had abandoned her, gone to the city, then died a few years later.

Mio padre (my father) was missing, Mia madre (my mother) was in the asylum. I can't remember her face, but I vaguely remember the rhyme she sang me... She's in Rome, probably in her middle age. I've never visited her.

On Pavia's specifically, there is a little confusion from my part since his 02 Story says that his mother died a few years after she left for the city, but then Pavia's voiceline implies she's still alive. I go into detail about that in this other post here, so I won't do it again either cause this post is already long as shit.

Either way, the main thing to keep in mind is that neither of these characters knew their parents, which could explain why "Mixed" is a category for Arcanists whose families and bloodlines couldn't be properly traced on account of not knowing them.

But also, "Mixed" encompasses arcanists who aren't purebloods, as implied by this document on Manus Vindictae from chapter 3:

"Holding a grudge against humans and contempt for the mixed, these extreme racists only recognize the bodies ruled by arcanist's blood as 'mankind'."

"In that case, humans, arcanists on the human side, and the mixed who tolerate the pollution of arcanist's blood [...]"

The wording used to described the Mixed speaks for itself. There's a discussion to be had about the parallels between the stigma against Arcanists and real life racism, or rather, how it replaces racism as we know it within the universe of the game. But that's an entire different debate. Overall, it's safe to assume that "Mixed" is a term for those without traceable and/or fully arcane families.

As for the "Infected", I have nothing to say because there's no one in that list! From what I can gather trying to look up information on them, Schenider was put on that list in the CN version for the demo, but was later taken out. I'll leave it at that for this part.

The next part of the profile states when they were exhibited and for how long. The first thing that comes to people's minds is to assume the year/era stated is when the character was born and that the age listed is their current age.

But upon closer inspection, that year of birth theory falls apart rather quickly because of characters like Regulus, who has been "exhibited" in two different centuries. Satsuki as well has two different ages listed. Or the fact that characters who should know their exact birth year instead have an approximation of it, like Matilda. Sonetto, despite being on the same age range as both Vertin and Matilda, is listed to have been exhibited in the 20th century too instead of the 1990's like Matilda's profile. Lilya, who was also in the Foundation at the same time as those three, is said to have been exhibited in the second half of the 20th century. They're within the same period, but imply very different things in the end. It's little details and wordings that simply don't add up.

But the biggest thing that ruins this assumption is the fact that characters born in the 90's simply wouldn't have any time to be the age they're listed as, because time began to go backwards on the year 1999.

This might be something explained in future CN chapters or events, I recall seeing people talking about how there are hints and clues about how time might've advanced up to 2006, that Vertin has been lied to in that regard, that the Foundation knows more than it lets on. And that could definitely affect my current analysis, but again, I'm a global player </3.

So assuming time DID stop in 1999 AND that the years listed are their birth years... Let's talk about Matilda and Pavia, characters stated to have been exhibited in the 1990's. Pavia is stated to have been exhibited for 25 years, while Matilda has been exhibited for 14 years - there are 11 years of difference between them, already impossible for characters who were both born in the 1990's. If Pavia was born in 1990, Matilda would've had to have been born in 2001 for their ages to line up. This isn't even taking into consideration the fact that they would've also have to live BEYOND 1999.

One could argue that they could've continued aging as expected with the reversal of time, but Matilda is the only one who could've done so by virtue of being a student within the Foundation - who are not affected by the "Storm". Pavia wouldn't have been able to, because only those special Arcanists can brave the storm if they're WITHIN Vertin's suitcase. The other option to survive a storm would be to work with the Foundation or Manus Vindictae. I can also safely say that Vertin wouldn't have been able to save Pavia on time, on account of being a child and the fact that Regulus was the first Arcanist she ever saved - something that took place in 1966.

Which begs the question: what does the year a character was first exhibited mean?

I've been told that one of the most popular theories within the CN fandom is that the year dictates the moment the character developed their Arcanum. For a magazine that focuses on Arcanists' and the truth about them, it makes sense to focus on when they first began to develop their unique Arcane skills. It does help with some age inconsistencies, but it leads me to think again about the previous examples.

Pavia first developed his skills as a child - it's the same argument as before. The timeframe is much too narrow for things to line up with his current age. And again, there's characters with more than one exhibition date.

I think it's pretty simple and that we might be reading too much into it: an exhibition is just a public display of art. The exhibition date is just the eras in which the characters were seen. The era they're from.

I don't have Regulus, but I remember her global Cover profile lists two different ages. The wikifandom states this for her profile: "Exhibited in the mid-20th century for 15 years." The era listed, mid-20th century, is equivalent to the period between 1930s and 1960s - this lines up with the main story, as Regulus braves the "Storm" from her era in 1966 (note she was already 15) to 1929.

For characters that aren't relevant to the main story (or that simply aren't affiliated with the Foundation or Manus Vindictae) the era they were exhibited in could apply to the moment they were taken from by Vertin's spinning wheel - the abilities of the item and the way characters are summoned seems to transcend time and space, leaving it all vague, magical and mysterious enough to make it work without too much scrutiny.

Next! The date the characters' were "completed" is simply their birthday. This is easy to check, since we can check all birthdays of the month when looking at the Sign-In menu and tapping on the birthday cake on the top right.

Right now, as of writing this, it's December. Rabies' birthday is on the 14th, which aligns with the information on his Cover profile.

Next, their place of birth and different places of exhibit. Pretty self-explanatory too! This is where they were born and all the relevant places the character might've traveled to throughout their life.

This post got very long, so I'll be talking about the remaining sections in a different one! If you've read this far, thank you! And if you have more insight, thoughts or would like to discuss details I might've missed, overlooked or that you feel are relevant, I'm all ears! I love talking lore and theories with others <3

[andrewuttaro]

Ecclesiology 1: The Church from the bottom-up

When I introduced this new blog series, “Sign of Unity” last month, I knew of the Holy Father’s illness, but I certainly did not anticipate he would be gone from us this soon. In the interest of giving anyone who reads my work a complete picture before Pope Francis’ successor is elected, I have decided to streamline these first three articles on ecclesiology over the course of the next three weeks. Ecclesiology is how the Church works to put it bluntly, how it works from bottom to top and top to bottom. Perhaps this summary appraisal of everything helps put what lies ahead in perspective.

Another disclaimer I think is necessary given these circumstances: I intended for this blog series, “Sign of Unity”, to draw out this idea that politics make up all human institutions and how they interact with each other. Politics in and of itself is not sinful. This blog series is looking at the Church as a political organization at its most basic level. There is a much greater spiritual depth I will only scratch the surface of in these particular posts. So don’t get mad at me if things seem a bit reductive here. Without any further ado, let’s get started.

So what is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about the Catholic Church? If you answered Churches I am curious what kind of Church building popped into your head. If you answered Mass, well I am proud of you for thinking of going: most Catholics don’t! If you answered Sacraments then you are going to really like the first few paragraphs of this article! If you answered the priest abuse crisis, trust me, we’ll get there.

Despite all the smells and bells the Catholic Church really is all about the person at the center of it all: Jesus Christ. The most enigmatic figure in human history? I don’t know, I don’t think Jesus Christ needs that much introduction but for the sake of this article here’s a quick tour of the essentials according to we believers: this guy is God incarnate, literally the One God come into our human form in the context of a Jewish heritage who proceeded to live a holy life, teach a ministry, and finally complete the great work of salvation in his suffering, death and resurrection for all humanity. Spoiler alert for the most widespread religion in the world I guess.

Needless to say, we’re going to be coming back to Jesus quite a bit… throughout this whole blog if I am doing my job. For now we should talk about Jesus as the founder of the Catholic Church. Yes, if you sincerely believe in any Christian Church you probably believe Jesus Christ founded your Church in some way. We Catholics think Jesus founded our Church in a really formal way: right there in the bible with a line of succession all planned out with a chain of command and the like.

Not to be sectarian but most Christian groups which were founded prior to the 14th century felt their Church needed a formal tie to Jesus like that: an apostolic succession, that is a line of successors that dates back to an Apostle who knew Jesus personally. Call it pedantic and unnecessary but that is certainly the historical reality. Continuity is going to be a theme in these three courses of Catholic ecclesiology, might as well get acquainted with it.

Sacraments, Jesus’ actions, and how they form the Church

The continuity-based view of Christianity lends itself to Sacraments. Consider Sacraments, in the context of ecclesiology, as the things the Church does: the most basic, essential actions of the Church. The Seven formal Sacraments are Communion, Baptism, Confirmation, Marriage, Holy Orders, Confession, and Anointing of the sick. Within each of those there is a lot of meaning, formal and informal, even some things we could call sub-sacraments or parts of said sacraments. The first one listed there is most important. Communion, Holy Eucharist, the Blessed Sacrament: that one is the central sacrament which all the other orbit around.

Why is that? Well, the subtle formal/informal distinction is helpful here. Also helpful: Jesus Christ. See: we’re already back to the main man. Along with that formal chain of command I mentioned earlier, we Catholics also believe Jesus gave us his very self in several ways. That is to say Jesus, God himself, did not lower himself into human form to do party tricks at wedding receptions his mom wanted him at, although he would definitely do a fair amount of miracles and signs along the way.

Jesus gives us everything: his very life on the cross for redemption and his resurrection from the dead to abolish the power of death to name the big ones. Jesus is certainly powerful enough to work with each one of us in brilliantly unique and everyday ways. The Christian life would be unbearable if he didn’t! What I am trying to say is that even if its not a formal sacrament of the Church, that does not mean however you encounter Jesus, within reason, is not totally valid. This is a personal relationship as well.

But beyond the informal ways Jesus is with us he certainly wanted to give us some formal connections as well. Consider the 7 Sacraments, like many of the other things we’ll talk about in this blog, formal ways God works in our lives.

The Eucharist is the top of this stack for several reasons: the main one being that we believe that at the Last Supper Jesus was giving us himself in a very tangible, real way. If the diction of the passages covering this event, the other Eucharist-related passages, and the early church who practiced it are to be believed, Jesus is using a word that means “chew” when he said the blessing at the Last Supper. He was making that bread and wine his body and blood as a fulfillment of Old Testament prophesy and a foreshadowing of his passion the following day on Good Friday. The diction chew is important here because for we Catholics it’s a dead giveaway that Jesus is giving us his actual body and blood via the transformation of the elements of bread and wine.

It is quite a bit more beautiful and complex than I can summarize here. For more on the Eucharist consult your local Priest or a lengthy blog post I wrote about it earlier this month if you want to stick to my work. Yeah no, go to a priest if you want a qualified person answering those deeper questions. For the sake of this article just know that the Eucharist is the source and summit of Catholic life: the privileged form of worship at the center of the Mass and indeed, the center of Catholic life in general.

To some extent the whole Catholic Church is designed with the hierarchy it is, right down to your local priests and parish, to administer these formal sacraments. This is a blog series about the Church as a political organization so to be totally rigid that way: sacramental discipline and teaching the Gospel message is what the Church does. Every cleric who is an ordained priest or has achieved a higher clerical rank than that is able, as part of the mission of their Holy Orders, to conduct the fullness of a Mass and all the other Sacraments. Sacraments and preaching are the essentials.

In this sense the Church’s mission is to bring Christ to as many people as possible both formally in the sacraments, and informally in the conversion of souls to the faith which then feeds back into the sacramental life, at least theoretically, by the rates of baptisms, Mass attendance, and yes of course the financial figures coming out of the collection basket. Ah yes, the collection basket. That will have to be a blog post all its own at some point down the line.

While you might stick up your nose and laugh that a Catholic Church might ever need your money, depending on where you live it might actually desperately need your money. Most Parishes, particularly in the United States and Canada, are more or less separate financial organs from the wider global Church and even the local Diocesan offices. In many ways, politically speaking, the Church is a united whole when it wants to be and a collection of thousands of smaller entities when it wants to be. Theres some criticism for you!

Enough about money! Let’s get down to the reality on the ground: or at least some broad strokes of what the reality on the ground probably looks like for you.

The Church locally

This is Ecclesiology 1; we’ll focus more on the top-down hierarchy of the Catholic Church in Ecclesiology 2. Let’s keep it bottom-up for this article. The Church is, after all, is a collection of believers. What the average layperson (laity or laypeople is just a Church word for non-clergy normal folk) does is what makes the most difference for the life of the Church. The faithful many determine just how the Church will mediate their relationships with Jesus because those essential functions of the Church are ultimately why anyone walks in the door in the first place. You could think of the Church hierarchy as an upside-down pyramid with the biggest part, otherwise the base of the pyramid, representing the laity. In a way, its all to serve the needs of we normies.

Don’t believe me? There are 2.4 billion Christians worldwide, of that number 1.4 billion are Roman Catholic or another form of Catholicism which is in communion with Rome. How everything looks and works for the portion of that group in South America will look far different than it does up here in the American Northeast where I live. If you just chalk that up to cultural differences you’re missing the point: the Church exists as a global/universal whole because of that rich, internal diversity. We believe Jesus founded a Church he wanted to be one whole, not divided that is, as well as a Church that can speak to the local realities of belief in whatever cultural milieu we find ourselves in.

So let us talk about the Church locally. The Catholic Church is as ubiquitous as McDonalds in the United States. Seldom anywhere in the continental United States are you outside of a 30-minute drive from a Catholic Church. The building, whatever it looks like, has some physical things that you will find no matter where you are. They all are designed to, at the bare minimum, host a Mass, the central act of worship in the Catholic faith.

All Catholic churches will have a tabernacle where the consecrated body of Christ, the bread and wine transformed into body and blood, are reserved when Mass is not happening. Every Church also has a sanctuary candle that should always be lit if that precious body and blood is present in the tabernacle. The tabernacle can look all kinds of ways, sometimes its even built into the superstructure of the Church itself. Generally it’s the fanciest adorned thing in the whole building. It contains the most sacred treasure the Church has to offer so you might be able to understand why it looks nice.

Normally nearby to the tabernacle is one or two altars. Churches built prior to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s will often have a rather ornate “back altar” containing the tabernacle. The “front altar”, as in the one that is generally off by itself facing where the congregation sits, is a product of those reforms and most masses said in the contemporary form of the Mass will mainly occur here and at the nearby lectern you might hear called an “Ambo”.

Sidebar here that is useful as you find your way around a Catholic Church: everything involved in the Mass and some stuff that is not has a latin or latin derivative name even if you know it has as simpler name. Altar is table for example. That napkin used on the communion cup the blood of Christ (wine) is in? That is a purificator! I am not trying to mock any of this, I truly love the Mass, but God does not mind us being amused if it leads us closer to him. Reverence is always good when we’re talking about Jesus and this ritual he gave us, but he also wants you there no matter what. This sidebar is over.

You will also see multiple chairs up in the vicinity of the altar. Usually the nicest one is where the priest who is presiding over the Mass sits with one or two directly next to that one for another priest or assisting deacon. Behind those chairs, often on both sides of the altar you will see other chairs, these are where lay altar servers, lectors, and other people involved in the Mass sit.

Depending on how the Church is constructed there are then pews, long benches in other words, radiating out in one or multiple directions away from the altar. Most Churches also have vestibules, or double door entries before entering the Church itself. This is something that even loyal Mass-goers are surprised to find out are heavily recommended in the Church’s canon law. Another thing you might be surprised to learn is that seldom any Mass said in the contemporary form these days does not involve us laypeople in some way.

That’s right, we non-ordained normies are often involved in a number of central, even critically important parts of the Mass. Whether that be lectors (those reading the first two readings from the bible), Eucharistic ministers (those helping the clergy distribute communion), gift bearers (those bringing up the unconsecrated bread and wine before it is transformed), or of course altar servers assisting the clergy on the altar throughout the Mass. This was a critical reform of the Second Vatican Council that made this whole central ritual of the Catholic faith far more accessible to the average person… well that and translating the Mass into local languages.

Before we move past the Church building itself its worth mentioning some other things that are not directly connected to the Mass. Almost every Catholic Church you enter will have the fourteen stations of the cross somewhere in the building where Mass happens, usually dotting the spaces between windows. These fourteen stations, as you might have guessed, are a little mini pilgrimage we can go on through the suffering and death of Jesus, a big part of the central mysteries of our faith.

Another thing I like to tell people is that the altar where Mass happens always has a relic of a Saint, that is something left behind by them: whether that is a body part or something less visceral like clothing or a sacramental object like a ring. Usually this relic is a relic of the Saint for whom the Church is named after. But don’t let me go too deep on this or this article will get unmanageably long. There are also supposed to be private confessionals somewhere in the Church building although I have generally discovered improvised confessionals in many places as the sacrament has seen shrinking attendance in recent decades.

But the Church locally is a lot more the merely things in a place. The Church is people: the “Body of Christ” as we say in the Catholic Church. The local Parish Priest and maybe a secondary Priest as a vicar of some kind, yes, but that’s only where we start with your average local Church’s “Parish people”. The people you meet at a Catholic Church serve varied roles and highly active parishioners fall into a few common “archetypes” I have noticed over the years. All in the service of the many ministries a local Church carries out beyond the Mass and the core of the faith in the Mass and teachings.

Yes, I must remind you this is a political blog. Dig deeper please, but how people interact with each other is at the heart of how I am describing the Church in this series. Remember, God made us political beings even if that nature is poisoned by sin in so many examples. And yes, let’s touch on that big cloud of the abuse crisis that is  hanging over anything when you talk about the Church in recent years.

The Parish People

The Parish Priest, the Pastor is actually the official title in the Catholic Church, is the highest-ranking cleric in the distinct smallest cell of the Church’s superstructure. To put it in English, the pastor is the leading priest who runs the most local part of the Church beyond the family unit itself: the parish. Parish sizes and shapes vary so much place to place so I can’t really dwell on that too much. Let’s talk about priests.

Here in the United States the widespread standard is for pastors to be moved after 6–12-year terms at parishes. This wasn’t always the case, it only really dates back to the 1980s, but you would be hard pressed to find an American Diocese today that does not operate this way barring special circumstances. Local Bishops, who we’ll talk about more in the next post in this series on Church ecclesiology, are supposed to try to match the priest with the parish thoughtfully. Ideally the Bishop considers personality and the needs of the parish congregation wisely. As you can imagine this is not always true and great wrongs are done in this deployment process sometimes.

Full disclosure: I plan to address the clergy sex abuse crisis at every step of the way along this three-part series on Church ecclesiology. This issue predates the 2002 scandals which catapulted the issue of abusive priests to the front of mind again. At this local, Parish level of the Crisis we saw local Bishops moving around abusing priests under antiquated beliefs that you could send a pedophile to rehabilitation for a little while and then get him back into circulation. This approach was grievously wrong, but it was widespread for many decades.

As with schoolteachers and all those who interact with others according to an up-down power dynamic, abusing priests used their authority to groom their victims and, in some cases, take advantage of them for years. I could never type up all the instances of this terrible plague on humanity and the Church, all of the dignity disrespected, and innocence trampled upon. And let me be clear: I mean to make no apology for the Church which it cannot make on its own. Abuse in the Church is just as evil as it is outside the Church.

What I can say is that after the 2002 scandals that were exposed following the Boston Globe’s spotlight articles, the Catholic Church in the United States did make substantive, systemic reforms with the Dallas Charter and the changes that followed from it. Local Bishops cannot transfer around abusers anymore, not legally under Church law at least. Every Diocese now has elaborate child and vulnerable adult protections and trainings for all clergy and anyone who works with the Church and her ministries in anyway. Here in Rochester, New York where I live we call this “CASE training” and it has to be renewed every three years. There are designated coordinators of this training and everything.

The zero-tolerance policy has largely extinguished contemporary abuse cases in the last two decades. Again, I am not trying to defend the Church, that is a statement of fact according to the best data we have. On the local, Parish level at least, the scourge of child sex abuse is largely now a discussion of survivor compensation and terrible events that happened decades in the past. As we move up the hierarchy we will be talking about a more complex story unfortunately. Nonetheless, I don’t think its foolish to expect transparency and accountability from the Church on this going forward.

To transition back to parish priests more broadly, they were historically local men. With the American priest shortage in recent decades you are much more likely to see priests born in far off lands which has enriched those parishes in many ways I have witnessed personally. Nonetheless the priest shortage is increasingly subsiding and another twenty years down the line you are likely to see more home-grown priests once again.

The local Parish Priest, the Pastor, has to oversee any deacons (a clerical level just below priests that can be permanent or a seminarian who will one day be a priest) and other ministries assigned to his parish whether that be a school, a convent of nuns, or any number of charitable and devotional ministries. He’s also responsible for the Church finance and physical property as well. The buck stops with the pastor. Mandated by the highest levels of the Church however is the Pastor’s participation in Parish Council and Finance council in order to create a parish environment we laypeople feel like we have some say in. After all, we’ll likely be around longer than the pastor will be.

And this is where we get into all the fun archetypes you encounter in your local Parish! Forgive how flippant I am but this is honestly something I enjoy. I sat on a Resident’s Council back in my Youth Ministry days and have since experienced them through others. In a multi-Church Parish there is always at least one representative, normally multiple, representing the different communities associated with each Church.  This is a distinctly political thing as you might be able to imagine.

If there is both a big church community and a smaller church community in the parish you are likely to see some dynamics at play on the Parish Council, particularly when Finance council crosses the Rubicon to make presentations… or worse: there needs to be an adjustment to the Mass schedule. Somebody will often have a chip on their shoulder. God willing disputes are handled amicably but Parish councils and Finance Councils are normally a significant test for the pastor in either managing personalities or marshalling support for new projects.

In some parts of the United States the business of the parish councils is growth: adding Masses, expanding religious education, meeting needs with new ministries and the like. In other parts of the United States the opposite is true: masses getting cut, religious education shrinking, and ministries are getting shuttered. Where I live in the Northeast US the story is often the latter. One of the first considerations a pastor might be faced with when getting assigned to a new parish might be how to manage a shrinking collection leaving fewer funds to support what might be more property than needed and more ministries than are actually active and serving those who need them.

In the next article in this series we will talk about how this same dynamic effects many Bishops as well among other things. Before wrapping up this article I think it’s worth noting some more of those other parish personalities you’re going to see. This is pulled from my experience in Parish life, but I have heard from others that these dynamics are widespread.

There is normally a nucleus of several volunteers who feel strongly about a ministry or two at the parish. Whether that be music, fundraising, greeters, ushers, or religious education folk, most parishes rely on a few people to lead the way with groups of other volunteers in these ministries that might be less motivated. I find these devoted volunteers generally do it for the love of the faith community but every few parishes or so you’ll find one or two of these people who go above and beyond.

If you know somebody in your life who takes their Catholic faith seriously I would bet my bottom dollar they could tell you someone who fits the “super-volunteer” mold. This is someone who is so motivated they might lead the whole Youth Ministry program single handedly or have been playing the organ for decades. They are the stalwarts in a parish community who are second only to the pastor in making everything continue to move along with a mission. Some of these people, thank God, do get paid for their work in the crazy world of lay ecclesial ministers.

There is a term called “voluntold” that sticks with me. There is a certain level of engagement in parish ministries that others notice to be beyond a certain point of no return. It is at this point a volunteer might be informally, “voluntold” to help with something else in addition. It’s forceful but it’s generally done in good faith. It is a term I use in jest, but I know more than a couple people who didn’t know how to say no and got voluntold there way into running half a parish. Self-care is critical, even Jesus stepped away from ministry regularly to pray and keep himself sane. Make sure you’re doing the service with love and you’re not pouring from an empty pitcher.

Finally its worth mentioning our dearly departed Pope Francis formalized some of these roles in the Church recently. The position of catechist was given the honors of a formal ministry in large part to recognize the growing world of volunteers and lay ecclesial ministers who do so much work that the clergy simply could not do on their own. As it was from the beginning: the Church is a group project.  

Conclusion: Faith unifies us all

I wrote very broadly in this first of three articles on ecclesiology. I did that intentionally because not only is this the physically largest layer of the Catholic Church, but it is also the most diverse. Not only are there numerous different rites in the Church which all look different and do things somewhat differently in Mass and other liturgies, but Catholic parish life is lived differently for practical reasons. In some immigrant parishes you find more screaming babies than pews but in others there are unnecessary, stern glares awaiting the exhausted parent.

More than sociological tolerances, the difference between a really ethnically polish parish and a Filipino for example are reflections of how the faith in Jesus everyone is there for is so universal. You can find different cultural traditions, but you will always find the Mass. You can find similar paragons of volunteer and paid service in parishes, but you always find love of the Gospel behind their continued efforts. As the Book of Acts says: “In every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to God” (Acts 10:35).

I called the world of lay ecclesial ministers crazy a couple paragraphs back because the pay rates are all over the place for working in a Parish depending on where you are and what you’re doing. I’ve seen these folks paid like paupers and treated as such and others who are so powerful in their parishes that the pastor’s Holy Orders is the only thing keeping him in charge. That may just provide us with more cynicism about the Church, trust me I battled some of that when I have, on multiple occasions, been chewed up and spit out by this system. But the deeper meaning of the Church always draws me back in.

The deeper meaning is Jesus. And I don’t invoke his name as a panacea to make myself or others simply “get over it” when the going gets tough in the life of a parish or the broader universal Church. I say Jesus is the deeper meaning because he really is when it comes to how the Catholic Church and we Catholics think of what we are doing staying in this messy flock in spite of all its woes.

The Church is a living organism consisting of all those who choose Christ and decide to live and worship in his Church. The Church also grows and learns over time, not just spreading the Gospel to evermore people, but understanding that Gospel message deeper. At one time missionaries wondered whether the faith was compatible with ceremonies of honoring ancestors in China for example. The Church assimilated what was within Jesus’ call according to honoring your parents and excluded what couldn’t be accepted. This same dynamic repeats itself throughout history. But more on Church history in Ecclesiology 3!

I trust, deep in my bones, that the Church’s political machinations are being steered, sometimes in a chaotic way, by the Holy Spirit. If the Church is to remain Christ’s gathering place for those who believe in him than it has to broaden the net, expand the tent as time goes on. I trust my qualms today will be understood anew and resolved in some way tomorrow. We believe in God and the Church is God’s work, even if it isn’t done yet.

Finally the faith that brings us into the Church and unites us all shows us that the Church has at least three meanings: a liturgical assembly gathering to celebrate the Mass, a local community of mutual assistance, grace and forgiveness, and thirdly a universal communion of believers in the same transformative figure and message that has so touched each one of us. The Church is very much human, but nonetheless continually divine because Jesus is at work in it.

Pope Paul VI put it this way: “[The Church] is the visible plan of God’s love for humanity… that the whole human race may become one People of God, form one Body of Christ, and be built up into one temple of the Holy Spirit.” This is the fertilizer for the Church at the grassroots, bottom-up level. Next week we’ll contemplate how the Church works from a more top-down perspective in Ecclesiology II.

Thanks for reading! My book “How to catch feelings for Jesus” is available online. This book is a sharing of my own spiritual journey in the hopes of helping others know Jesus even if they tried once and failed or feel some serious internal resistance. Check it out and share this article! I would love to hear your input. Did I help you understand anything about the Catholic Church? Did the article enlighten you on something else? I ask so I can make more sense the next time around. Did you really read all this to not leave some kind of thought afterwards?

[pengychan]

[Baldur's Gate III] Hell to Pay, Ch. 1

Illustration by @raphaels-little-beast

Title: Hell to Pay Summary: Assassinating an archdevil is a daunting task, even for the heroes of Baldur's Gate. Some inside help from 'the devil they know' would be good, if not for the detail their last meeting ended with said devil dead in his own home. Or did it? Characters: Raphael, the Dark Urge, Astarion, Haarlep, Halsin, Karlach, Wyll. Rating: M Status: In progress

All chapters will be tagged as ‘hell to pay’ on my blog. Also on Ao3.

Do I want to see Karlach free at last? Yes. Do I want Wyll to be free from his pact? Also yes. But do I want to put Raphael through Some Shit? Absolutely. That's it, really, that's my recipe here.

***

Much like Hell itself, Raphael had rules and principles. Although he had long since memorized all of them, he still had them all carefully written down in a book he always kept at hand. They added up to precisely six-hundred and sixty-six paragraphs; some may find it a bit on the nose, but he always thought it fitting. It kept to the hellish theme, and he always found having a theme to be extremely important. Almost as important as keeping to the rules of the game. 

And the first rule of that game was written large enough to take up the entire page, in red ink, underlined several times for good measure. 

DO NOT LET MEPHISTOPHELES CATCH YOU.

But archdevil Mephistopheles had him, and was not letting go. How he got to him was a question he could not answer; last thing Raphael recalled was being felled in his own home by those treacherous, double-crossing vermin, wielding the hammer he’d taken such pains to craft and which he’d offered them at a more than fair price. He’d blacked out, felt his life slipping away… and then he’d opened his eyes again in the grip of Mephistopheles, who was none too pleased to see him.

“Did you think I would not see? Did you think I would not know what you were trying to do?”

The voice came from around him, within him, everywhere, the rumbling of a volcano and the howling of the icy winds of Cania. Dangling helplessly from the archdevil’s grip, blood blinding him and choking him and dripping from more wounds to count, Raphael had a distinct feeling he wouldn't recover from that slip up. But he could yet try, he had to: this was not supposed to be his final act. So he coughed up the blood clogging his throat, and tried to speak. His voice came out hoarser than he’d have liked, but it would have to do. 

“My liege Lor--”

The grip around his leg tightened, and words turned into a wordless scream as broken shards of bone shrieked against one another. Raphael convulsed, choking and screaming, wings beating uselessly - or trying to, with one wing barely hanging onto his body through scraps of muscle. Then Mephistopheles reached up, and tore it off entirely himself. Steaming blood rushed forth, and Raphael screamed again. 

“My Lord--” he managed, but more steaming blood was filling his mouth, and he could only cough, shattered ribs turning his coughs into a symphony of pain. 

“Your liege lord, yes. Yet you’d try to take the Crown for yourself, and use it against me.”

“I would have-- gifted it to you--”

A roar, and Raphael knew the lie had been a mistake.

“You think you can lie to me? To the father of lies?”

The grip around his mangled leg was gone and he fell, down toward Mephistopheles' maw, towards teeth as long as his arm and made to crush, to annihilate. He tried to slow his fall, to teleport somewhere else - anywhere else - but his powers eluded him, and the only thing to stop his fall was Mephistopheles himself. With a laugh, he caught him with a hand around the waist mere inches from his teeth. He clenched his fist, snapping his spine and crushing something that may have been vital, once, when it was working. Raphael could barely let out a strangled noise.

“I will devour you, and you deserve nothing less. But I will not make it this quick, for your treachery and for the shame you brought to my court. My blood, bested by mortals!”

Raphael instinctively grasped the hand clenched around him; his claws wouldn't even break his sire’s skin. He still tried to pry that grip open, blinking blood away to meet the rubies of malice that were Mephistopheles’ eyes.

“Father,” he choked out. “Please.”

A laugh, low and rumbling. “How he begs, the halfbreed. Sweeter words than any of the tripe you ever uttered. Let me hear more,” he said, and tore off the other wing.

***

“You know, love, just once I’d like to see you not stopping to read every single book we find in every single crate abandoned in the middle of the woods. Or… to open every single crate we find abandoned in caves in the middle of the woods, come to think of it. All these crates have no business being in caves in the middle of the woods. That’s how a mimic is going to get you someday.”

Astarion’s long-suffering sigh made Durge - a silly placeholder name Gale had come up with in jest at the campfire a while ago, yet it had grown on them - smile faintly, but they did not look up from the book. It looked old, pretty close to crumbling to dust, but they could tell the cover had been quite elaborate once. Squinting in the light of the torch, they could barely make out the worn-out title. 

Mother of Flames, it read. Interesting. Something about dragonborns, perhaps?

“It’s a good thing, then,” they muttered, opening the book, “that my immortal lover is here to protect me from mimics with his amazing perception.”

“Mph. Flattery will get you nowhere.”

“... Since when?”

“Well, fine, it is absolutely working. Don’t get too smug about it.”

“When do I ever,” Durge replied, smugly. Considering that they had defeated a Netherbrain only a few short months earlier, they felt they had gained themself the right to be smug. 

“You’re worse than Gale, both with books and the absolutely unwarranted smugness. See if I let you in my bedroll today,” Astarion muttered, but it was an empty threat and they both knew it. Even when absolutely nothing beyond mutual holding happened, Astarion had grown to enjoy the almost feverish warmth of the dragonborn’s skin against his. “Anyway, this place is as damp as it gets. If we’re to camp here for the day, I’ll get a fire started.”

Outside the cave, dawn was breaking. As they could only travel at night, Durge often took advantage of it to stand a little in the sun before retreating back to camp with Astarion, but this time they were too taken by the book - which was not at all about dragonborns after all. It was rather short, chronicling the life of a minor human lord in the last days of the Calimshan empire. But the man’s name had been lost to history - and soon enough, the focus shifted on his wife.

… As the collapsing empire was torn in city states following the Year of Clutching Dusk, the Tethyrian clan went to war to claim its independence, and the lord lent his sword. Alone in their small fort, his wife was tormented by visions of her husband’s violent demise in war, one dream of blood after the other. Driven half-mad with terror, desperate to avert this fate, she turned to occult means and soon enough, she summoned not just any devil, but an archdevil.

Durge lifted a scaly eyebrow, and turned a yellowed page as delicately as they could manage. They could already tell this tale was going to be a sorry one; nothing good ever came from dealing with devils, after all - with archdevils least of all. 

They were not wrong. 

The archdevil promised the woman he’d ensure her husband would survive the war and return home unscathed - ‘But,’ he told her, ‘your firstborn child will be mine.’

The desperation of faithful love, the human folly of believing you can outwit a devil! The unfortunate woman signed the deal believing it would be null and void; for her husband was past his prime, and believed to be barren, as both his doomed first marriage and their own union had been childless.

She signed her name, lost to the ages, thinking there would never be any firstborn to give, and she was lost. For what the archdevil’s careful wording hid was the true nature of his demand: that he beget his spawn on her. Bound by contract, fearful for her husband’s life, she could not avert that fate.

Ah, of course. Very archdevil, that. The distinct feeling that the story would end in tragedy was now a certainty: no human woman ever survived the birth of a cambion… and this tale was no exception.

On the very same day the lord returned unscathed from war, the devilish spawn came forth into our world in blood and flames. The unfortunate man returned to a dying wife and a horned monstrosity shrieking on the charred, bloody mattress. He drew his blade to kill it, but his wife stayed his hand with the last of her strength. Whether it was for fear of what may become of him should he harm the child of an archdevil, or out of misplaced affection for her ill-begotten offspring, no one knows. All that is known is that she died shortly thereafter, leaving a broken body in the arms of a broken man.

Both their names have been forgotten, but she would be remembered for a time in Tethyr as the Mother of Flames. As for the devil’s spawn, what became of it is also lost to time. Some said it was killed, or locked away in a dungeon, or sent someplace far away; others yet believe his most unholy father came to claim it when it came of age, and took it to the Hells with him. Perhaps only the archdevil who sired the creature knows whether any of these claims are true, or if the entire sorry tale is nothing but legend, seeping into ancient Tethyrian history.

“... There was a depressing ending, right? You get that look when it’s a depressing ending.”

Durge looked up to see the camp was pretty much ready, the fire crackling and food out, along with a bottle of blood for Astarion. Only one bedroll out, incidentally. They nodded, putting the book away. “Quite. Thank you for setting camp - I’ll dismantle it come evening.”

A grin. “Oh, I hope you’ll do a lot more than dismantle the camp,” Astarion said, all smoothness and charm, the bottle of blood already in hand; Durge mentally estimated that the odds of Astarion actually falling asleep on them the second they were in the bedroll were in the vicinity of eight out of ten. 

Of course, they were correct.

Once they were settled, Astarion asleep against their chest, Durge spent some time looking into the fire. Perhaps the book had affected more than they thought, because soon enough they were thinking back of their brief visit to Avernus, in the House of Hope… and about Raphael. 

He was a devil who played games with mortal souls, so it wasn’t like Durge was particularly pained by the way things had turned out. On the other hand, he had dealt with them as fairly as a devil could be expected to, and they did steal from his home. It could not be helped - only a fool would have let him have the Crown for himself - but it was not something Durge had enjoyed, either. That Raphael would not appreciate being double-crossed was a given. It just had to be done.

They’d thought they had killed him then, in the House of Hope. Later, when they’d seen him in the Orb of Infernal Envisioning - broken and bloody, dangling above the maw of Mephistopheles - they’d assumed the archdevil would finish him any moment, and averted their gaze. 

Except that when they returned a week later, to buy supplies before they set off with Astarion for what he’d dubbed with some pomp their ‘quest for daylight’, they had looked again... and they had seen the same thing. Raphael, reduced to a broken and bloody mess, dangling above Mephistopheles’ maw like not a moment had passed. They’d asked Helsik whether the orb showed current events, the past, or the future; she had looked back and shrugged.

“The Orb shows you what is fitting for you to see,” she had said, and that was that. 

And that, Love, was that. 

The rhyme Raphael had been so fond of surfaced from the back of Durge’s mind just as they were about to fall asleep. But they were tired, Astarion’s body against them a pleasant weight, and sleep claimed them before they could spare the devil another thought.

They used to be scared of falling asleep, but not anymore. With the Urge gone, their dreams were no longer of blood and guts and screams. Nothing more than the occasional nightmare, either way, and no nightmare would come that night. When they fell asleep now, they did not dream of blood. 

But they did dream of fire.

***

Raphael did not know how long he’d been there. 

Time in Cania flew at Mephistopheles’ pleasure, and his pleasure was a fickle thing. It could have been days, or months, or years since he’d awakened in his father’s grip. He did not know. All he knew was that sooner or later, the game would end and so would he. At this point, many would think it a mercy.

After tearing off his wings, he’d snapped his horns like twigs between thumb and forefinger. Something else had been torn from him, something intangible and yet fundamental, leaving behind only his weakened human form. A form that was now in only scraps of clothing and kneeling in a cell, shackled to the ceiling, a scold's bridle strapped to his head holding a spike through his tongue. His last weapon, made silent.

The wardens outside his cell were, however, far from silent. 

“Lord Mephistopheles is going to devour him at last, I hear.”

“Tonight?”

“-- at the feast, as an example--”

“-- can’t wait--”

“-- cambion like us, but he thought he was all that--”

Down came the claw, Raphael enough, and he could have laughed if not for the pain any movement brought him. He dropped his head instead, listening to the fading voice of wardens and the clinking of his own chains. It spoke volumes of how powerless he was now, that no magic was required to keep him shackled: only old, rusted chains. One last insult before the grand finale, and not the kind of finale he’d envisioned.

Here in Mephistar, he was the mouse who’d thought he could outfox the cat.

When the door of his cell opened, he didn’t look up at first. He only closed his eyes and wondered if he’d be able to hold it together when the moment came - if he could at least go to his destruction with some remnants of dignity intact. It took him a few moments to realize something was not quite right, that the steps did not sound like those of a warden. They were too light, too careful, too secretive. He blinked his eyes open when someone grasped his chin and tilted his face up. 

It was indeed not a warden. Before him was a human woman with dark hair, sharp cheekbones, and a nose that had clearly been broken and healed badly. Either someone was playing an odd trick on him, or this was one of his lord father’s Eternal Debtors. 

“I need you to listen. There isn’t much time,” the woman said, paying no mind to his obvious confusion. “Are you listening? Do you understand me?”

Too taken aback to protest at being spoken to in such a way by anyone’s Eternal Debtor - and held back from doing so by the inconvenient spike through his tongue either way - Raphael found himself nodding. The woman let go of his chin, and quickly put something at one of his fingers. Raphael turned to see a small unassuming ring shimmer for a moment around his finger before becoming invisible - but it was still there. He could still feel the cool metal band even though his hands had gone mostly numb, the cuffs biting deep into his wrists. 

“There is some power in this ring. Not much, but just enough. When you use it, it will allow you to switch places with somebody who’s wearing the matching one. Don’t use it now. Listen to me,” the Eternal Debtor added, and crouched in front of him. Dark brown eyes found his own, and held. “Mephistopheles cannot know you escaped until you’re well away from Mephistar. He and his entire court must think he devoured you, so you need to use this ring at the right moment, as you fall into his maw. He will devour someone all right, and will think it’s you. It’s the only way out of here. Am I clear?”

Raphael had no idea what in the nine Hells was going on, and he was too savvy not to guess that if someone was truly looking to save him, there would be a debt for him to repay afterwards. Nobody - not in Cania, not in Avernus, not in any of the Hells - would simply help someone without gaining something else in exchange. Who would want him alive, and out of there? What had they promised this Eternal Debtor, and what would they expect of him?

Vexing questions, but as had been the case with the many mortals who had taken his deals, the prospect of salvation was too enticing to pause too long and consider other consequences. He really did not like that reversal of roles, but he found the prospect of being devoured by Mephistopheles even less alluring. If he survived it, he could find a way to make things work out in his favor. If he was devoured… well, his story would end there with a less than impressive final act. 

The freedom of choosing the only option left. 

He used that line often. Ironic. He’d never hated irony more.

Unable to voice any of his thoughts, Raphael looked back at the human and nodded. She stared back at him in silence for a few moments, almost as if looking for something on his face , but it didn’t last long. She finally pulled back, and stood. 

“Use it too soon, and they’ll notice the trick. Wait too long, and you’re as good as dead. No pressure, but you absolutely must get the timing right.”

Raphael glared, hoping to convey his thoughts - tell me something I don’t know - through his eyes alone, but she was already turning to the door of the cell. She checked to ensure the route was clear, looked back at him one last time and then she was gone, closing the door quietly behind her. She left him with far more questions than answers, and the first sliver of hope he’d had since he’d been taken down in his own house.

***

“Hope you don’t mind traveling at night too much, Halsin.”

“Oh, not at all. Nature shows a particular side of its beauty at night. Softer, more--”

“Gods, is there a way to shut you up about nature for five minutes?”

“There is indeed a way to shut me up about anything for more than five minutes, Astarion. You know it very well. Made use of it, even.”

“I’d threaten to do it again, if I didn’t know you’d love it.”

“How could I not? Nature made your body into a masterpiece.”

“... You’re doing it on purpose, aren’t you?”

“Perhaps.”

As much as Durge had missed traveling with all their companions - what a surprise it had been, getting to see all of them again the previous night! - they found they’d particularly missed Halsin’s company. Accepting his invitation to accompany him back at the Last Light Inn, to see the cursed lands healed, had taken no thought at all. When those two were not bickering, and when all three of them were not making extensive use of their bedrolls, they talked about their other companions and how well they were doing for themselves. 

Durge had little doubt that Gale would do well once the orb was out of his chest, or that Shadowheart would be perfectly capable of looking after herself as she began her journey to learn, once again, who she was meant to be. They were not surprised, either, to know Lae’zel was leading the githyanki to battle against the lich queen as fiercely as ever. 

But Wyll and Karlach… they were a surprise, and the most pleasant one they could imagine. Durge had hoped they would do all right together, even in Avernus, but not knowing it for sure ate at them sometimes. Seeing them whole and well, and even hopeful they could find a way to fix Karlach’s heart to the point she could leave Avernus again - and permanently - had relieved them beyond words.

If there was indeed a way for that heart to be fixed, they were certain they’d find it, as they were certain that whatever devil Mizora wanted Wyll to kill wouldn’t be a challenge. And if it was… well, Durge would be more than happy to lend a hand.

They had killed a devil once before already, anyway.

***

When wardens took Raphael to his father’s grand hall that evening, they didn’t bother to keep him in chains. He was weak, stuck in his human form, and powerless; his legs and spine were broken, as were several of his ribs, and he suspected at least one lung had been punctured.

The chains would give at least the semblance of a devil who could yet put up a fight, be any sort of threat, and his esteemed father clearly saw fit not to give him even that. Let him be dragged, broken and helpless, the rags still clinging to his frame doing nothing to hide his wounds. The only thing they left on was the scold’s bridle, the spike through his tongue. At least his words, Raphael told himself with something close enough to real conviction, were something Mephistopheles feared enough to keep at bay.

The hall was crowded, celebrations loud as always, but the crowd fell silent the instant Raphael was pushed onto the floor, before the pit where his father stood, ever looming and shrouded in flames. Rumbling laughter, and the massive hand was around him again, holding, squeezing, turning his ribs into shards of agony as it lifted him up in the air. An example for all to see. 

“Behold,” archdevil Mephistopheles announced to gales of laughter, “Raphael, the cambion who thought he’d rule the Hells.”

Unable to breathe, knowing full well that he may break if he allowed himself to look down at the jeering faces or at his own father’s eyes, Raphael closed his eyes against the pain and waited. He focused, he had to focus. Not a moment too soon, and not a moment too late. It was his only chance to survive, given that the ring did what it was supposed to.

It may as well have been a jab at his expenses, a worthless trinket to make him think he could save himself after all, get his hopes up for nothing. It was something he may appreciate, and quite a lot, when not done at his expenses.

“All you ever had I gave you, ungrateful wretch, and yet you wanted what is mine,” Mephistopheles thundered. Like wanting more was not at the core of every devil, like hungering for anything beyond their reach was not in their very nature, including his own. Like he, in his place, would not have done the same, coveted the same things. “A waste of my seed if there ever was one. I shall waste no more words on you. Let everyone see what becomes of those who set their sights too high.”

Raphael was lifted up in the air, and he finally opened his eyes. Beneath him, his father’s maw opened up like an abyss, all jagged teeth and churning flame. His hand opened, and Raphael fell. Through the sheer terror of it all, he forced his mind to keep working.

Wait. Wait. Wait. 

He almost waited too long, and landed on Mephistopheles’ tongue with a groan, every broken bone in his body crying out in protest. Still, he forced himself to move; a mere instant before the teeth snapped shut above him, he lifted up his hand. The ring shimmered and that, Love, was that. 

***

“Ah, here you are, my little brat. I’m almost happy to see you. Your unfortunate replacement was getting so very tedious, I couldn’t have kept entertaining him for much longer. He was getting really stupid ideas about the ring I gave him.”

Raphael was almost adorable, really, looking up at them with wide eyes from the middle of Haarlep’s bed. A very large bed, which had seen plenty of use since their return to Cania following Raphael’s downfall. Very often while Haarlep wore Raphael’s likeness, as they were doing right now. Come to think of it, he’d probably felt that, in whatever dungeon he’d been in. 

Ah well. At least it must have been a pleasant distraction from… everything else, really. 

“Not that I wouldn’t love to indulge you, but we have little time as is,” Haarlep spoke again, and reached to undo the straps of the scold’s bridle around Raphael’s head. They pulled it away as gently as they could manage, but removing a spike from one’s tongue had to be rather painful, going by the groan that left Raphael. 

And by the mouthful of blood he promptly spat on Haarleps nice sheets. Pretty rude, that, but nothing that couldn’t be cleaned up once they got Raphael out of there. Sooner rather than later.

“Haarlep,” Raphael rasped. It was likely the first thing he was able to say in months, and Haarlep couldn’t say they weren’t flattered. Or maybe he’d just said ‘help’. Hard to tell, with a hole in his tongue and all the blood in his mouth. “What-- where--?”

“Still in Mephistar, but not for long. Be a darling and sleep, why don’t you? You’ll make everything soooo much easier,” Haarlep replied, and pressed a hand over Raphael’s eyes. He tensed, but only for a moment: it took that short a time to make him fall into a slumber. He didn’t look peaceful in it, not the way he would after sharing a bed with them in less pressing circumstances, but it would have to do.

“Did it work? Is he here?”

Ah, that voice. Haarlep turned, and nodded at the human - an Eternal Debtor, one of the many - standing in the doorway. “It went without a single hitch, I’d say. Don’t you want to come in and say goodbye? After all, it’s been a while since you last--”

“I was in this to spite Mephistopheles, not out of any concern for him,” she cut him off. “Just get him out of the Hells and leave him someplace he may find a healer. I have done enough.”

“Fine, fine. If he wakes, should I tell him--”

“No. Not one word,” she snapped, and was gone before Haarlep could say anything. Ah, those bursts of temper. Highly unusual from an Eternal Debtor, yet so annoyingly familiar.

The incubus shrugged, and looked down at Raphael. The tatters that had once been his clothes would do nothing to protect him from the biting cold outside Mephistopheles’ palace, so they resorted to taking the sheets from their bed and wrapping them around him. Once satisfied his former master wouldn’t be turned into an icicle the moment they were outside, Haarlep picked him up - a hiss of pain, but he did not awaken - before walking to the window. 

Across the windswept courtyard, there was a window that should have been left unlatched specifically for them. It led, Haarlep knew, to the room holding Mephistopheles’ outer portals. From there, they just had to pick one to get Raphael in the material plane. From that moment on his survival would be up to him, and to whatever mortals he encountered. 

It wasn’t much, but it gave him better odds than going down the gullet of an archdevil at least.

Haarlep opened the window, adjusted their grip on Raphael’s body, and took flight.

***

[On to Chapter 2]

[fantasyliteraturereview]

Trouble with Boys and Meeting Cool Queens

Travels with the Snow Queen was published in 1996 and follows the story of a girl named Gerda and her journey to find Kay her boyfriend. The story begins with us learning Kay has left and Gerda does not know where he has gone and so she sets out on this journey to try to find him. We learn that she does not have access to a normal map but rather scars on her feet that lead the way. As she continues, she thinks about what she wants to tell him when she finds him. She goes over a list in her head of sixteen things she will tell him. Many of these include how she doesn't like him anymore, she cheated on him and wants to say goodbye forever. As the story progresses, she has this feeling of wanting closure even though she easily could have let him go and never questioned it. As Gerda makes her way north, she encounters many different animals who help her on her trip, and she finds where Kay is being kept with the snow queen. Once she arrived, he begs for her to kiss him so that they can both leave, and everything would go back to how it was before. She hesitates and the snow queen arrives back home and asks Gerda if she loves Kay to which she replies sorry to Kay. The snow queen then offers her a chance to travel and work with her and Gerda gets her closer from Kay.

I really enjoyed reading this story. Much of it kept me really interested and excited to see what would happen and I found myself genuinely getting annoyed at the characters at times. It did a really good job of immersing you into the world and taking you away from reality. The setting and descriptions were incredible. Something that made this story really stand out was it was told from a second-person point of view which can be really hard to do however the author Kelly Link executes it wonderfully.

 One of the things I really liked about it was how there were random paragraphs that were like a tour happening and the story just jumped to them for a paragraph and then back into where we left off. One that stuck out to me when reading was, “My name is Gerda, and I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you” (Link, 574). This one stuck out to me for a few reasons. When initially reading I was confused but once you reach the end it makes sense. At the end of the story, the Snow Queen gives her a business proposal and we learn she works with the Snow Queen doing tours. 

Another part I really liked was the ending because it is left open for our interpretation. The story gives several hints as to what happens to the characters but we never flat-out get an answer. We can assume maybe one day someone came and kissed Kay, saving him from the enchantment. I would like to hope in this version no one comes because of how he treated Gerda. This leads me into another thing that I really liked, which was the characters. We can easily see how both Gerda and Kay are really thought-out characters. They aren't perfect, both have their faults and have done not so great things. This allows for the characters to seem more realistic and allow for readers to connect with them more. There were several things I enjoyed about the story but it also had its faults. 

Moving into things I wasn't as much of a fan of within the story, one of the biggest things that bothered me was the fact that the main focal point of the story was that she wanted to find her boyfriend who she didn't even want to be with anymore. I can understand it giving her a chance to explore and travel but the fact that it was over a boy bothered me. Once he left, she never had to see him again or even give him a second thought but instead went on this whole adventure just to tell him she doesn't love him anymore. She goes as far as to write a list of the things she wants to tell him when she sees him. This includes some things such as "1.  I’m sorry that I forgot to water your ferns while you were away that time. 2. When you said that I reminded you of your mother, was that a good thing? 3. I never really liked your friends all that much. 4. None of my friends ever really liked you. "(Link, 570)

This is just the beginning of the list however as we can see as the list goes on she is sort of ranting and just wanting to put the information out there to help herself feel better. Her character complains a lot in similar ways throughout the story even as the side characters tell her he doesn't love her anymore she keeps pushing on to complain and tell him all these things. It just really bothered me because it seemed like her main goal was to tell his guy all the things she hates about him. In reality, the story is written wonderfully and so there are not many things to even consider “bad”, only minor annoyances. 

Overall, I loved this story. I hope I brought to light some of what I thought and how different perspectives of reading can bring light to different things within a story. So, venture forth and remember “Part of you is always traveling faster, always traveling ahead. Even when you are moving it is never fast enough to satisfy that part of you” (Link, 566)

Link, Kelly. Travels with the Snow Queen, 1966, pp. 566–676. 

[visitbespin]

20 Questions for Writers

tagged by the wonderful @autumnwoodsdreamer, thank you!! ✨

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

19 works

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

139,379 words

3. What fandoms do you write for?

star wars, star trek, and...others (that i either won't mention + there's 2 more fandoms i have unpublished wip's for... one day they will see the light of day) (and i used to write for dghda!)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

you could always see me

time to come home

we're a slow burning tune

no different

5. Do you respond to comments?

yes!! and i love to do so!!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

i don't really write angsty endings? so i'll pick home is far away - the first fic in the series of the same title! it has a hopeful ending but it leaves the characters in an 'angsty' place emotionally, essentially because it's part 1 of 3.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

home, in every language - part 3 of the home is far away series. ♡ though i am also very fond of the ending of when to hold on and when to let go.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

never, thankfully!

9. Do you write smut?

i have not

10. Do you write crossovers?

no, unless we count mixing characters from various star wars properties; i love mixing rebels characters with the OT, mando, and thrawn books characters, it brings me a lot of joy.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i know of

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

nope

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

nope

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

wow that is quite a question... within star wars i'd pick dinluke or thranto lol. truthfully i think my answer to this question changes every year lol, my ao3 bookmarks show this pretty clearly

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

oh hell... it's a star wars au of another fandom that i started writing in fall 2022. please let me finish this someday, i'm on chapter 4 of 4, and the whole thing is only 10k words rn 😭

also, more relevantly, there is a fic about ezra & luke on lothal that i started in ... early 2023. it's 6k words rn and i'm probably 40% through the story... [sighs deeply] please let me finish this one too, please.

16. What are your writing strengths?

constructing a narrative? i don't know, i'm fond of these stories i've woven. i find it hard to write a fic that's ~just vibes~, although i do love to read those; my writing is always spurred by the need to write these characters undergoing something meaningful, with a meaningful conclusion.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

...i have previously read back some of my work and found some very clunky sentences/paragraphs that really make it clear i'm only a writer by hobby, and that my profession is...more technical lol. i also don't like some of the romance i've written in the past, but i don't regret writing any of it.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

hell yeah i've done it multiple times! my bobannec fic is kind of very about that, and i've used other languages in non-sw fics. i like reading it in fics as well.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

dirk gently's holistic detective agency! in 2017-2018. to this day i think it was/is the most welcoming fandom to write fic for.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

home is far away, all 3 parts. ❤️ and since i have a place to say it, that fic means so much to me because it let me express so many of the feelings i was experiencing in 2022. the same goes for when to hold on and when to let go. i really love and cherish both of those stories.

no pressure at all, tagging @theydjarin @gizkalord @gil-estel and anyone else who sees this and feels like answering questions! 💌

[quinnthebard]

WIP Wednesday <3

The context for this segment of a longfic I'm working on can mostly be found here in a prologue I posted a bit ago. The interaction mentioned in paragraph 1 is an awkward one with the resident vampire the night before

Summary: The parasite party are on their not-so-merry way to the goblin camp and there is banter to be had. Sarynna is mildly unimpressed lol.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The interaction bothered her that night and far into the following day. An unnecessary and unwelcome distraction, her thoughts were consumed by the vampire—and not in the hyper-vigilant, always-watching way she had intended. It really wasn’t helping that he seemed to be avoiding her, an observation that should be pleasing but instead unsettled her.

And she hated herself for letting it get to her.

They trudged through the Emerald Grove Environs, heading west toward what they hoped was the goblin camp. They started early in the morning, attempting to take advantage of the day as best they can but with how little she slept the night before, Sarynna worried that she’d need rest sooner than later. She hadn’t missed the worried glances that Gale kept sending her way or how even Lae’zel followed her malaised pace without complaint. She either looked absolutely terrible or a sense of camaraderie was forming. Both possibilities were alarming—she was so used to working alone.

“So, do you have loves waiting for you once this is all over?”

Astarion’s voice broke the silence in the group. Their newest recruits, Lae’zel and Wyll, hardly paid him any attention—the former choosing to respond with a simple, yet firm, “Chk!” to show her displeasure. Wyll on the other hand just kept staring ahead as they walked. Normally affable, Sarynna wondered if Wyll was suspicious of the pale elf as well.

Gale, however, took the bait. “You know what—that is not the easiest of questions for me to answer?”

“Intriguing, tell me more.”

“I’d rather not.” And Gale expertly shut down further discussion.

“You mean just waiting, like a lovesick puppy? Short-term amusements are much less hassle.”

The vampire took a closer look at the cleric and hummed in thought. It was all Sarynna could do to school her features and not glare at him in warning. There was something more to this question than simple curiosity.

“And what about our resident bard? Surely you have someone of which you’ve written ballads about?”

A shiver ran up her spine. “No, I find it far easier to write about longing rather than lasting love.”

“Oh? I can understand that. The anticipation, the desire, that magnetic pull towards someone that is so close but just out of reach. Euphoric and damning in equal parts.”

“Are you sure you’re not a bard yourself?” She granted him her sweetest smile, normally reserved for her marks and when he returned it she felt a mix of pleasure in her victory and anxiety in the attention.

“Perhaps once upon a time, but I quickly lost interest. I’d much rather enjoy a bard’s company.”

“Warmed the bed of many, I’m sure.” An unidentifiable emotion flickered across his face at her remark, similar to the one the night before. There and gone, hidden behind a pallid mask.

“I don’t kiss and tell.”

“Hmm.” But then she heard the snap of a twig and her head whipped in its direction. She held out an arm, silently ordering the group to stop. Ahead was a decrepit village, its wall crumbling and decaying. The thatched roofs of the buildings within were clearly rotted. No one lived there, not recently at least. As she surveyed the town, she finally spotted the source of the noise. Goblins. They were perched upon the rooftops, sentinels at watch over their hovel. Addressing her allies in a hushed tone, Sarynna vigilantly watched the patrol. “Ambush ahead. Goblins.”

[bestboygav]

Welcome to the blog! The name is Alex, 30 yo, and any pronouns are acceptable! For now, Gav is my only muse (but a few more might be added in the far future). Minors DNI.

Meme's can be found here

Headcanon's can be found here

Here are just a few rules to get us started:

1. Communication is key! If you don't like something happening in the verse (or you don't agree with something), please let me know! I don't mind talking things out and fixing things here and there if need be (plus, we don't all like the same things).

2. Multishipping is perfectly fine with me! I rarely ever ship a character with only one other character, so I'm open to all shipping possibilities (within reason!!!).

3. If your preferred writing length isn't stated somewhere on your profile, please let me know in advance. I tend to write multiple paragraphs (6-9) but can condense it down to 1-2 if need be. I know not everyone likes to read a wall of text so I don't mind catering to your style.

4. I'm fine writing with existing characters or OCs! Don't feel shy!

5. Please don't rush replies! Life outside of tumblr can be hectic sometimes (everyone has lives outside of the internet) so please be respectful!

6. I may or may not post ooc sometimes, but I'll tag appropriately!

7. Have fun and enjoy yourself!

8. Adding this as an extra, but: any ask I get (with an rp meme/prompt) is left open-ended! This way, if you enjoy the direction I take the meme/prompt, you can continue it in a thread with me. (If you answer an ask I send, I'll ask if you want to continue before turning it into a thread, though)

[nepofm]

hi! i just wanted to say i love this rp. but i am confused about the 5 day activity, if you check every sunday (and unfollow monday). because that means there's 2 days unaccounted for? if i reply 10 times on monday and tuesday... and for some reason don't reply the rest of the week... that means it shows i've been "inactive" for 5 days. but i really was active two full days, if that makes sense? i don't know, it's just frustrating because i AM more active the beginning of the week but those days aren't being looked at and if i space out replies, after those two full days of being active, i'm afraid i'll be on the activity list a lot.

hi  there  !  please  bear  with  me  as  this  post  will  likely  get  a  little  long  therefore  i  will  be  placing  everything  after  this  paragraph  under  a  read  more  .  i  understand  your  frustration  .  you're  right  in  that  posts  made  on  monday  or  tuesday  will  fall  within  the  5+  days  but  please  understand  that  these  are  not  deliberately  being  ignored  .  with  activity  checks  on  sundays  ,  muns  have  until  MONDAY  or  TUESDAY  (  if  requesting  an  extension  )  post  in  character  to  meet  the  activity  check  for  that  week  .  these  two  days  serve  as  buffer  days  for  anyone  who  requests  an  extension  to  meet  the  previous  week's  activity  .  and  for  anyone  that's  curious  ,  here's  a  breakdown  of  how  activity  checks  are  conducted  /  counted:

EXAMPLE  TIMELINE:  posts  are  made  on  monday 

day  0  –  monday  ,  post  made

day  1  –  tuesday

day  2  –  wednesday

day  3  –  thursday

day  4  –  friday

day  5  –  saturday

day  6  –  sunday  (  activity  check  day  )

posts  are  counted  the  day  they're  made  .  to  be  quite  frank  ,  i'm  not  entirely  sure  what  solution  you'd  like  to  suggest  as  i  understand  everyone  is  busy  and  this  is  a  hobby  .  some  of  our  members  who  play  multiple  muses  (  including  myself  )  have  been  utilizing  the  queue  feature  to  make  things  more  manageable  .  and  as  stated  multiple  times ,  extensions  will  almost  always  be  granted  . 

and  while  i  would  love  nothing  more  than  to  have  more  lax  activity  requirements  ,  past  experiences  have  shown  that  conducting  activity  checks  at  5+  days  of  inactivity  have  proven  to  be  the  most  effective  for  the  feasibility  and  success  of  the  group  (  as  stated  in  our  faq  )  .  this  group  has  been  around  for  almost  a  year  and  with  it  came  a  lot  of  changes  to  our  activity  rule  in  order  to  have  this  group  last  .  

at  the  risk  of  sounding  too  blunt  ,  if  you  don't  agree  with  the  activity  rule  then  this  group  may  not  be  for  you  .  and  that's  totally  fine  !  if  you've  made  it  this  far  ,  thanks  for  bearing  with  me  ! 

i  will  no  longer  be  answering  questions  on  this  topic  .  this  ask  along  with  a  couple  others  can  be  found  under  the  activity  section  of  our  faq  .  thanks  for  understanding  💜

[seewetter]

What did I do to verify this information?

Step 0: Notice suspicious aspects of what I'm reblogging

Calls to Action (can cause people to act without thinking first)

False sense of urgency: use of ALL CAPS as if people weren't going to read it otherwise indicates THEY ARE WRITING FOR AN AUDIENCE THAT THEY DON'T EXPECT WILL READ EVERYTHING including the fine print.

KOSA isn't exactly an anti-LGBTQIA+ censorship bill, at least not explicitly so. It's a bill to protect teens from harmful health advice and image problems, it's a bill meant to protect young people from various potentially harmful things online. It's anti-LGBTQIA+ in the sense that it is anti-POC or anti-sex work. In fact it's also authoritarian-ly anti-racist and anti-homophobic. The purpose of the bill isn't trying to achieve censorship, but (according to ars technica, whom the linked blog links to) the bill will have censorship as a side effect, something we know from witnessing SESTA / FOSTA do the same thing with similar methods years ago.

Step 1: Read beyond the Headline

I followed the link, read some of the blog post

I have never heard of buttondown.email, so was not 100% sure this is real

Step 2: Find a Credible Source

I found a link within the article to an Ars Technica article

Ars Technica is a publication I trust

I read enough of the ars technica article to be convinced that KOSA is a law that could force social media platforms to be liable for their "content", causing them to use simplistic algorithms that overly censor online expression

Step 3: Verify Online Source is Authentic

I used startpage (a search engine that Google's things for you so Google doesn't know who is googling & thus won't tailor content to me)

startpage presented me with the ars technica article on KOSA

As an IT student, I know that when links show up in purple in search engines that is a feature offered by my browser history, not by the search engine.

The ars technica article showed up purple, so Firefox confirmed I had opened that link

so I can be certain the link on buttondown.email is the genuine URL of the ars technica page

Step 4: What did I neglect to do?

I could check for more credible sources to ensure that reporting is independent and that there is expert consensus (not a rogue editorial board or something like that). Some articles on misinfo say to find at least 3 credible sources. I didn't do that here.

I could read both the buttondown and ars technica articles fully or follow more of the links in the buttondown article. I could check the website and find out who publishes the information & whether I can make out any conflicts of interest or similar things.

Step 5: Could this information be misleading and if so, can I guess how?

If I didn't understand bulletdown & ars technica after reading about 5 paragraphs of each, then yes, I could be misunderstanding the thing they are saying

If bulletdown or ars technica are lying about the bill, then the easiest way to tell would be to (A) read the bill and (B) check with defenders of the bill. A basic question to try and find out from defenders of the bill would be: are they actually able to explain how this bill will not cause the censorship we have seen from SESTA & FOSTA and other bills with similar intent? Another basic question to find out is: are the defenders of KOSA aware of the basic criticisms levied against them & can they answer those criticisms in a credible way

Ideally, by reading the entire bulletdown, ars technica and maybe a few other sources, one could learn enough of the critique of KOSA to have a good sense whether the defenders and proponents of the bill (A) are making this law in good faith (B) have listened to criticisms (C) have addressed what might go wrong if they introduce this bill.

Step 6: Why share half-researched blog posts like this?

Because the idea (perhaps mistaken perception / fantasy) of an internet censorship bill scares me.

Step 7: Will I share more on this story or do more research?

I will probably reblog this and then not think about it any further unless it circulates around and generates more conversation.

As a person with limited financial means and little interest in policy discussions, I want people who read my blog to like...know about serious developments like this, but I'm convinced the main point of reblogging it is to increase the statistical chance that it reaches people who are keenly interested and more dedicated than I am to doing something.

That's unfortunate of course (I always worry about how wars and other nightmarish things exit the media cycle even while still ongoing!) but I don't run this blog to be a downer blog and I also don't run it to be discussing topics that only interest me in that I'd like to see people (including myself, when that is feasible) work together to solve them.

Hopefully (if anyone even reads this) people can relate and won't think the worst of me. Not like I'm the best person anyway. Uh, thanks for reading.

11/30/23: KOSA is an anti-LGBTQIA+ censorship bill. It is essential you call THIS week. Tell them you are specifically against KOSA and especially against hotlining the bill.

Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to the Senator of your choice.

Here is one that will send your reps a fax: https://resist.bot/

[daphenominchief]

People of the Philipines vs. BBB254878

G.R. No. 254878. October 22, 2024 [Date Uploaded: 05/26/2025]

Presents a concurring opinion in a Philippine Supreme Court case, specifically focusing on the accused's right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, particularly concerning the qualifying circumstance of relationship in a case of Qualified Rape of a Minor. The opinion emphasizes that sufficient information must be provided to the accused to allow for an adequate defense, and it examines the legal definition and common understanding of "niece" within the context of the Revised Penal Code. It argues that if the relationship is a crucial element of the crime, it must be clearly alleged in the information to ensure due process and to prevent any presumption of innocence violations. The document further discusses jurisprudential guidelines and rules of criminal procedure related to the specification of aggravating or qualifying circumstances in an indictment.

Case Name: PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Plaintiff-appellee, v. BBB254878, Accused-appellant. G.R. No. and Promulgation Date: G.R. No. 254878, October 22, 2024.

Facts: Accused-appellant BBB254878 was charged with Statutory Rape. The Information alleged that "sometimes in September, 2010 in the evening at Bgy. [redacted] City, Philippines," BBB254878 "with lewd design, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously have carnal knowledge with [AAA], a minor being 8 years old only and his own niece, against her will and consent, to the damage and prejudice of the herein victim".

The Regional Trial Court (RTC) found BBB254878 guilty beyond reasonable doubt of qualified statutory rape. The Court of Appeals (CA) affirmed the conviction but modified the ruling, holding that BBB254878 could only be convicted of simple statutory rape. The CA reasoned that the Information failed to specifically state that the relationship between the accused-appellant and the victim was "within the third civil degree by consanguinity or affinity".

During the trial, the victim, AAA, positively identified BBB254878 as her maternal uncle who sexually abused her. AAA testified that BBB254878 was her mother's brother. This familial relationship was corroborated by AAA's mother. Medical findings presented by a Child Protection Specialist showed a laceration on AAA's hymen. BBB254878 denied the accusations, claiming he was at work.

Issue: Whether the allegation in the Information that the victim, AAA, was the accused-appellant's "own niece," without specifically stating that such relationship was "within the third civil degree of affinity or consanguinity," is sufficient to satisfy the special qualifying circumstance of relationship under Article 266-B, paragraph 1 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended by Republic Act No. 8353, to qualify the crime of rape.

Ruling:

Answer: Yes, the Supreme Court, in its ponencia (majority opinion), held that the allegation in the Information was sufficient to qualify the crime of rape, thereby convicting BBB254878 of Qualified Statutory Rape.

Legal Basis:

Republic Act No. 8353 (The Anti-Rape Law of 1997) expanded the definition of rape and reclassified it as a crime against persons. Article 266-B, paragraph 1 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended, provides for a qualified rape offense when the victim is under 18 years of age and the offender is a parent, ascendant, step-parent, guardian, or a relative by consanguinity or affinity within the third civil degree, or the common-law spouse of the parent of the victim.

The constitutional right of an accused to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation mandates that the Information must state the designation of the offense, specify qualifying or aggravating circumstances, and be presented in ordinary and concise language that enables the accused to understand the charge and prepare a defense.

The Court noted that while jurisprudence on the matter has been diverse, the use of specific familial terms like "niece" or "uncle" can be adequate to inform the accused of the relationship's nature.

Application:

The Information explicitly stated that the victim, AAA, was 8 years old and the accused-appellant's "own niece". The ponencia found this averment sufficient to qualify the crime of rape.

The Court reasoned that this description "clearly and categorically identified AAA as accused-appellant's niece," thereby adequately informing him of the accusation and allowing him to prepare a defense, fulfilling principles of fairness and due process. The Court disagreed with the CA's conclusion that the Information was insufficient in this regard.

The prosecution's evidence, including AAA's testimony and her mother's corroboration, established that BBB254878 was AAA's maternal uncle, who is the brother of AAA's father or mother, thus confirming a relationship within the third civil degree.

The ponencia further supported its ruling by citing past cases such as People v. XXY (2020) and People v. XXX (2022), where similar allegations like "maternal uncle" or "brother of the victim's father" were deemed sufficient to qualify rape, even without explicitly stating "within the third civil degree". These cases highlighted that additional details clarifying the relationship, even if not explicitly stating the civil degree, make the allegation specific enough.

Conclusion: The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction of BBB254878 for Qualified Statutory Rape, holding that the Information's allegation of "niece" was sufficient to meet the requirements for the qualifying circumstance of relationship.

Doctrine: The use of specific familial terms, such as "niece," in the Information is deemed sufficient to allege the special qualifying circumstance of relationship in statutory rape cases, even without explicitly stating that the relationship is "within the third civil degree of consanguinity or affinity," provided that the description clearly and categorically identifies the nature of the relationship and adequately informs the accused, thereby fulfilling the principles of fairness and due process.

Ratio: The Court held that the Information's explicit statement of the victim's age (under 18) and the familial term "niece" was sufficient to apprise the accused of the nature and cause of the accusation. This level of specificity, particularly when the details of the relationship (e.g., accused being the victim's maternal uncle) are clearly conveyed in layman's terms and established through evidence during trial, meets the legal requirements for qualifying the crime. The rationale is rooted in the principle that the Information's purpose is to inform the accused, and a clear familial term like "niece" achieves this, allowing for the preparation of a defense.

(Note: Justice Dimaampao, in a Concurring and Dissenting Opinion, argued that the allegation of "niece" alone was not specific enough to qualify the crime, maintaining that the Information must explicitly state "within the third civil degree of affinity or consanguinity" for the qualifying circumstance to apply. Justice Caguioa, in a Concurring Opinion, agreed with the ponencia that "niece" was sufficient given the context and definition, and that the prosecution sufficiently proved the qualifying circumstance.)

[thebookofjeremiah]

"The Cove of Freedom." From the Book of Jeremiah 20: 1-6.

A new section called Passhur the Priest begins. Passhur is the way one is supposed to read the Torah and Tanakh and all the remaining documents in the New Testament. It is a combination of what are called Mishnah and Gemara, "to fatten up and then thin out." This is critical and Hebrew is very weird. It cannot be read literally, each letter and word must be built up using various contexts and then once footing takes place, a salient thought is created.

Here are some of the considerations. Hebrew is:

Composed of positional notation. Each letter is also a number and the meaning of both mixed up together is not known until the word is defined both ways.

Hebrew is radial. The letters readily form crossword puzzles with each other.

Hebrew is phonetic. Words that sound the same might not be spelled the same. Once they are spelled out the rest of the issues with the alpha-numeric an radial structures of the words becomes a problem.

Hebrew is acronymic. All acrocyms are also words with meanings on their own.

Can be read backwards and also forwards.

Does not use punctuation or paragraphs.

Is critical, meaning it has gender rules, and they do not pertain at all to the sex or gender of their references but to societal roles.

Is syllabic, meaning words can be composed of particles that possess individual meaning but can also be stuck together with other particles and form mini-Mishnah.

Was once a dead language and we do not know everything we once knew about how it was used. Much about the methods for reading Hebrew was lost during the Holocaust.

To fix the problems with Hebrew, once again, one must resort to Passhur. "The Hebrew name Pashhur (פשחור) is believed to mean "scattered in caves" or "dispersed over various centers". It's derived from the verb פשח (pashah), meaning "to tear in pieces," and the root חרר (harar), meaning "to be a central hub of heat."

How this is all handled is found in the following from the Book of Jeremiah which concludes one will be able to Immer "to talk" once the process of reading has been gleaned.

Jeremiah's Conflict with Pashhur the Priest

20 When the priest Pashhur son of Immer, who was the chief officer of the Temple, heard me proclaim these things, 2 he had me beaten and placed in chains near the upper Benjamin Gate in the Temple.

 3 The next morning, after Pashhur had released me from the chains, I said to him, “The Lord did not name you Pashhur. The name he has given you is ‘Terror Everywhere.’ 

4 The Lord himself has said, ‘I am going to make you a terror to yourself and to your friends, and you will see them all killed by the swords of their enemies.

I am going to put all the people of Judah under the power of the king of Babylonia; he will take some away as prisoners to his country and put others to death.

 5 I will also let their enemies plunder all the wealth of this city and seize all its possessions and property, even the treasures of the kings of Judah, and carry everything off to Babylonia. 

6 As for you, Pashhur, you and all your family will also be captured and taken off to Babylonia. There you will die and be buried, along with all your friends to whom you have told so many lies.’”

Jeremiah says Jewish Scholarship must be exported to the mainstream AKA Babylonia. The King of Babylonia is supposed to use the instrument to make peace between the Jewish people and the rest of the human race using the soothsaying power of the language of the angels, given to us by the gods of Israel for that express purpose.

The Values in Gematria are:

Jeremiah's Conflict with Pashhur the Priest=2980, ךט ף, techat haf, "the letter."

Techat Hav means "underneath the nose is love." All interpretations of Hebrew script are designed by God to point in the right direction, towards the harmony of civilization. One cannot find an incorrect or acrimonious answer within any interpretation of it. This is an aspect of its design that is foolproof.

"In Hebrew, "hav" (הב) means "to give". The root letters a-hav-a are the basis for the word "hav," which signifies the act of giving. This concept is often linked to the idea of love, as "hav" is considered a fundamental element in the expression of love."

So long before the Torah was formalized or the Gospels were written, circa 600 BCE, God told the people of Israel how they were to undertake the use of their language.

v. 1-2: He had me beaten near the Upper Benjamin Gate in the Temple. The Temple is the space between our ears, the Upper Gate where one is chained is the Torah itself. So the Kabbalah here says the Torah is chained to the brain in order to provide fact checking within reality. Passhur, AKA Mishnah and Gemara are how this is done.

The Number is 8154, ףאן‎ד‎, fund, "the pond." In order to see the world properly, the mind must pool the information found in the Letters and their operands in the phenomenal realm. Jewish sages thought of this like a pond or big puddle that collecterd data and when the process reached fulfillment and a still surface was created, the Self became fit to reflect the Spirit of God.

v. 3: The next morning there was terror everywhere. The world does not want to embrace the fact the Jewish people received their language from the angels and were tasked with teaching it to the masses. This is not a reason for terror. The God of Israel is a benevolent being and does not cause harm to anyone. This is clearly evident. Men will readily harm the world, but God does not harm it. The Number is 8492, ףד‎ץב, FDCB, AKA padakob, "a cove of freedom."

"The Hebrew word "פדה" (pada) generally translates to "to redeem" or "to ransom". It describes the act of paying a price for freedom, often used in the context of buying someone out of slavery or other forms of bondage. The root word "פדה" (pada) is also part of various names with similar meanings, such as "Pedaiah" and "Pedahzur"."

The correct understand of Passhur will free this planet from every false prophet and faith on the planet and end all the wars, douse the fires of strife and stop our pointless feuding over religion. The method I have found permits everyone to understand the word of God personally, provided they use the tools God gave the Jewish people for this purpose.

v. 4: The Lord himself said, the Number is 8360, ףג‎ס‎, FGS, pegis, "that which is channeled so it can go free."

"In Latin our word became pagus and described a rural area "bound" to a landlord or governing city, and someone bound to such a pagus was a paganus, an unlearned peasant, as opposed to an urbanus, a city dweller.

The urbanus was typically "civilized" (hence our word "city") and "polite" (hence our word "polish") which is similar but not related to πολις (polis), city, and rather stems from a PIE root that means to make smooth (like a highway, made smooth by many shuffling feet all going the same way). An urbanus submitted to shared norms, which is precisely how language works, and by doing so aimed for the celebrated democratic ideal of ελευθερια (eleutheria), freedom-by-law (freedom of speech, freedom of travel, freedom of city-living all depend on one's submission to and mastery of the common rules and standards that govern these freedoms).

The paganus, contrarily, was not free-by-law but rather free-from-law ("free" from the perfect law of liberty: James 1:25) and thus bound by his ignorance: rough, rude and ιδιωτης (idiotes), which means "in a category of their own"."

So long as ignorant persons are allowed to roam free, we are all in danger. I am excited to reveal this datum as it means society will at last have a chance to meet its God and learn of His Greatness and that of His gods without worry or fear of the coneheads who know nothing of Him at all. So if there is to be a reign of terror, it must be directed at them instead of the populace for a nice change of pace.

That Pope Leo, she's no good. You know it's true.

v. 5: I will plunder all the treasures of this city. The Number is 8360, ףג‎ס‎, FGS, epggbe. Once the bedrock of the Script is understood, society should begin to "roll" or "undulate" towards the South, which in Hebrew means towards technological modernity and also enlightened sophistication:

"A certain grammatical construction that creates a sort of continuous tense of the verb גבב (gabab) is formed from prefixing a נ (nun) and making the double ב (beth) a single one. The result, a verb נגב (nagab) would mean to undulate, to wave, to have shifting dunes. That verb doesn't exist, but a mysterious noun נגב (negeb) does. This noun would thus denote a region with rolling hills, and came to be synonymous with "south"."

v. 6: As for you, you have told so many lies. The Torah and the Gospels can and also cannot be read literally. The trick is how well one is able to perform the superimposition of the Kabbalah upon the Script and the mind upon reality. We know now the Great Flood means "to drown in violence, iniquity, and corruption", the kind that results from the faliure of the government.

Donald Trump, for example, confessed to having helped engineer the Russo Ukraine War and there is no excuse for this. The government was not instituted for this purpose, he should have been shot in the head right then and there, but you did not do it. Millions of deaths happened and more are on the way because you let a Great Flood overtake us. Shame on all of you.

A Great Flood is endured within an Ark, a safe place that contains the Law, "do not harm your neighbor." Without the Ark we would not know anything was wrong with this human race. It is our way out of the current times as it was in the days of Noah.

Except there were no days of Noah, this...is fiction and it always has been. This is how a myth becomes an objective lesson using the instructions God gave Jeremiah. We must learn how to use them in every instance of our religious lives going forward. Luke uses the term Babylonia for this process which means "to mix for the purposes of preparation."

The Number is 13482, יג‎תףב‎, YGTAFB, "a yacht pub."

Who on earth could be possibly troubled at the Yacht Pub? Surely not a single soul. So if we target the creation of the existence of a humanity that is capable of such a thing, what are the chances we might be able to do it? Our religion says it is not an option, but a requirement.

The final Gemara is ךט ףףאן‎ד ףד‎ץבףג‎סףג‎סיג‎תףב‎, techat hafffe'an‎d ephad‎tshevefeg‎sefeg‎sig‎tephav‎, "And you vow, valuable prisoner, fear, you will be saved, and you will be saved."

God is telling us if we want to be free to be , we are dear to Him and He will be able to work within us using the Script to free us. If you live in the Third World or are involved in a war, or are wandering without basic necessities, God says the rest are obligated to care for you and show you mercy. Let us hope the Good News of this spreads as rapidly as possible and those of you who feel lost or abandoned learn your prayers to God for happiness have indeed been heard. Trust me, I know how important this is.