#elspeth bell

[plumbobbles]

[ao3cassandraic]

As far as they can

At the end of the Job minisode, Crowley inaugurates Their Side by proclaiming Aziraphale "an angel who goes along with Heaven... as far as he can," parallel to his own stated relationship with Hell.

Only it... doesn't actually work that way. Their exactlies are different exactlies.

Crowley defies and lies to Hell as often as he thinks he can get away with it. He never disabuses Downstairs of their misconceptions about his contributions to human atrocities. He cheerfully lies in his reports Downstairs, something Aziraphale briefly turns on his Baritone of Sarcastic Disapproval about in s1. Crowley even turns evil homeopathic in the latter part of the 20th century, likely in hopes that it will look good to head office while accomplishing essentially nothing. (This, of course, is another way he Crowleys himself, both with the London phone system and the M25.) After Eden, Crowley's default given an assignment from Hell is to see how he can subvert it.

Aziraphale, on the other hand, defies Her and Heaven as little as he possibly can. Sometimes, as with his sword giveaway, his compassion gets the better of his anxiety. Sometimes, as with Job's children in the destruction of the villa, he can try to stay within the letter of the law by leaving the defiance to Crowley.

His default, however, is "'m 'nangel. I can't dis- diso -- not do what 'm told." This comes out most often as respect for the Great/Divine Plan, which to him is sacrosanct. He sounds quite sincere in s1 when he says "Even if I wanted to help I couldn’t. I can’t interfere with the Divine Plan."

Aziraphale quite frequently Good Angels along by parroting Heaven's party line, whether it's "it'll all be rather lovely" or "I am good, you (I'm afraid) are evil" or droning on about evil containing the seeds of its own destruction, or condemning Elspeth's graverobbing as "wicked" (a stance he offers absolutely no reasoned support for, no logic, no "but She said," not a word -- that's very Heaven; most of Heaven's angels have the approximate brainpower of paramecia). Maestro Michael Sheen even has a particular voice cadence -- I think of it as Sententious Voice -- he uses when Aziraphale is thoughtlessly party-lining.

When the angel's conscience wars with his sense of Heaven's orthodoxy but (and this is an important but) he can't feasibly resist whatever's wrong, he offers strengthless party-line justifications he clearly doesn't agree with (as with the "rain bow" in Mesopotamia) or resorts to a Nuremberg defense: "I'm not consulted on policy decisions, Crowley!" Once or twice, he's even vocally aware of Heavenly hypocrisy: "Unless… [guns]'re in the right hands, where they give weight to a moral argument… I think." This isn't Sententious Voice. It's I-can't-disobey-and-I-hate-that voice.

But at base, the angel prefers obedience (not least because it's vastly safer), and he'd rather have someone else do his moral reasoning for him. Honestly? Pretty relatable. I know lots of people like this -- hell's bells, I've been this person, though I grew out of it somewhat -- and I daresay you do too. Moral reasoning is hard and often lonely (since it can be read as self-righteousness or even hypocrisy) and acting as it dictates can hurt. Nobody would need ethics codes if The Right Thing was also invariably The Convenient Thing.

Many GO fans find these Aziraphalean traits frustrating! Especially his repeated returns to parroting Heaven orthodoxy! Sometimes I do too! (Not least because I'm rather protective of my own integrity, and it's cost me quite a few times. I'm well-known in professional circles for picking up a rhetorical spear and tilting at the nearest iniquitous windmill. I often lose, but I sure do keep tilting. Every once in a blue moon I actually win one.)

The key, I think, to giving our angel a little grace on this (beyond honoring the gentle compassion that is pretty basic to his character) is noticing how often he can be induced to abandon an unconsidered Heavenish default stance. As irritating as his default is, and as consistently as he returns to it, it's not really that hard to talk him out of it. Crowley, of course, is tremendously good at knocking Aziraphale away from his default -- he's had to be. But Aziraphale even manages to talk himself away from his default once, in the form of the Ineffable Plan hairsplitting at the airbase!

I think the character-relevant point of the Resurrectionist minisode is making this breaking-the-Heavenish-default dynamic as clear as the contents of the pickled-herring barrel aren't. "That's lunatic!" Crowley exclaims, when Aziraphale Sententious Voicedly parrots Heaven's garbage about poverty providing extra opportunities for goodness. Aziraphale isn't quite ready to let go yet, replying "It's ineffable."

But Dalrymple (who, I think, parallels Heaven, perhaps even the Metatron -- there could be something decent there, but it's buried too deep under scorn and clueless privilege for any graverobber-of-souls to dig it out) manages to break Aziraphale's orthodoxy by explaining the child's tumor.

Once released from his orthodoxy, Aziraphale can't be trusted to handle moral reasoning well; his moral-reasoning ability is not-uncommonly (though not always) portrayed as vitiated. When he gives Elspeth the go-ahead to dig up more bodies, his excuses are just as vacuous as they were when he was convinced of her wickedness. He knows that he's crossed Heaven's line, too, and just as at Eden it's worrying him. That's why he has to talk to Crowley to nerve himself up to help Wee Morag... only he spends too much time talking, and it's too late.

But Crowley can then talk him into bankrolling Elspeth toward a better life. Aziraphale doesn't even put up any fight, both because he's compassionate and because Crowley is temporarily taking the place of Heaven (he's even Heaven-sized and staring down at them!) as the angel's moral compass.

S1 has an even worse example of Aziraphale's moral wavering, actually. Crowley yells "Shoot him, Aziraphale!" and Aziraphale sure does try to murder Adam. Again, he's adopting his morals from the nearest (and loudest) convenient source. Madame Tracy, thankfully, has enough of a moral backbone to save our angel from himself and Crowley.

(With my ersatz-ethicist hat on: this is a fight between utilitarianism and deontology. Crowley is the utilitarian, which is actually a bit of a departure for him, but he's admittedly desperate. Madame Tracy is the deontologist: One Doesn't Kill Children. Aziraphale is caught in the middle.)

I wouldn't be surprised if part of the reason we start s3 with Aziraphale and Crowley separated is so that Aziraphale finally has to do his own moral reasoning, without Crowley's nudges. I don't think it'll be easy for him. It will absolutely be lonely. And it may well hurt.

But I will watch for it, because it's how he will become his own angel, independent of Heaven and even of Crowley. And he must do that.

[benzedrine-calmstheitch]

Good Omens season 2 referencing Powell & Pressburger films

Crowley's angel hair is modeled after Kim Hunter's hair as June in A Matter of Life and Death (1946).

Maggie's shop is called The Small Back Room in reference to 1949's The Small Back Room.

The red ballet shoes on the door of Give Me Coffee or Give Me Death are a nod to The Red Shoes (1948). (Note : the klaxons sounding in Heaven at the end of episode 1 are said to be a nod to the alarm bells in The Other World in A Matter of Life and Death. Personally, I don't think they sound at all alike; they are only similar in both being alarms. Plus, it's an audio reference, which I don't have the skill or patience to include here. But it's there!)

In The Small Back Room, Maggie has a poster for the film Stairway to Heaven displayed. A Matter of Life and Death was released under this title in the US.

The tartan hills welcoming Aziraphale to Scotland are a reference to the tartan hills welcoming Joan to Scotland in I Know Where I'm Going! (1945). And of course, the third episode is itself titled "I Know Where I'm Going."

Jim drops the book My Best Games of Chess, 1924-1937, by Alexander Alekhine, onto a table in the bookshop repeatedly as he is discovering how gravity works. This book is featured prominently in A Matter of Life and Death.

When Aziraphale enters The Resurrectionist pub in Edinburgh, I Know Where I'm Going! is playing on both televisions (I'm pretty sure I found the right scene to match this screenshot). You can also make out the name 'Pressburger' on one of the posters in this screenshot, but we'll get to that later. . .

The family name on the mausoleum where Aziraphale and Crowley hide out with Elspeth and Wee Morag is Archers. It's never clearly seen in the show, but it can be seen in this BTS photo of the model used for Crowley's embiggening. The Archers was the name of Powell and Pressburger's production company. The interior of the tomb and the urns outside the full-size set also reference the Archers, and Powell & Pressburger individually.

In Mr. Arnold's record shop, one of the posters on the wall is for a UK music tour; either the band or the tour is titled Met By Moonlight. This is referencing Ill Met By Moonlight (1957), the final film Powell & Pressburger made together. (I personally think this one is a reach, as the title of the film is a line from A Midsummer Night's Dream and thus not really clockable to the outside viewer as a direct Archers reference, but apparently the intent was there so we're counting it!)

The Pressburger posters are more clearly visible during the Gabriel and Beelzebub rendezvous scene in The Resurrectionists pub. We can see they advertise 'Pressburger Scottish Lager,' which is of course a nod to Emeric Pressburger himself. (Unclear if Michael Powell has his own label that we just don't get a clear view of. . .)

-- -- -- -- --

I clocked a couple of these myself, but they are all referenced in the X-Ray trivia on the Prime Video player. Would love to know if anyone has clocked anymore that aren't divulged. . .

[somebebop]

The cemetery of Edinburgh

PLEASE DO NOT ASK NEIL ABOUT FAN THEORIES!

Just a thought I had while rewatching s2e3. It has been suggested before that the cemetery in Edinburgh is special, and I agree. Also I believe that because it's so special it's being watched. But not only in the present. It has been watched for years and maybe centuries.

In the minisode we see two guards showing up after the trip gun fires. These are sent somewhere very deep underground by Crowley. Maybe even as deep as Crowley goes himself after Hell has found out what he's done for Elspeth?

Next thing we see is Aziraphale meeting two men at exactly the same spot, and they seem to have appeared literally out of nowhere. Two very suspicious looking men with at least one obvious demon association ('no regerts'). What I think is they could be the same men from 1827. Were they demons then? Did they become demons when Crowley sent them to Hell? I've no idea.

I wish we knew more about the cemetery. Unfortunately most of what I have is speculation.

it's masonic

it has a lot of celtic crosses (popular in the XIX century)

it is guarded (?)

it is guarded by demons (?). I mean, who else would be lurking in a cemetery in a series written by Neil Gaiman? I'm sure they are demons.

it has the weirdest statue made by someone who seems to know what actual archangel Gabriel looks like.

and the cross of the statue appears not to be a constant feature

this place is important enough for Aziraphale to visit while in Edinburgh, and also important enough to call Crowley from.

during the 'date' with Gabriel Beelzebub seem to be eager to leave the cemetery asap

There is a line in Belle&Sebastian's song Act of the Apostle II that goes: Oh, if I could make sense of it all! - it has been playing in my head ever since I watched GO s2.

[pumpkinnsoda]

Saltburn Southern US AU

The Cattons are old money Georgia. Saltburn is probably an Antebellum plantation: adding to the stress of Farleigh having to live there, adding to the reasons Fredrica ran away to England. (Did she have a kid with a black man out of spite? More likely than you’d think /neg).

Oliver is probably from Oklahoma. Lies to Felix that his family were Dust Bowl victims and have been dirt poor for decades.

Southern belles Venetia and Elspeth. Southern belle Felix.

Instead of Oxford, probably Harvard or another Ivy League. Instead of a car ride, Felix drops both of them on a train and it’s even more excruciating on the ride back after finding out.

The accents…..dear lawd

[hairtusk]

do you have a goodreads? what are some books you like?

i don't have a goodreads account! i'm terrible at tracking what i read (and it would've been impossible over the last three years of studying literature at university anyway). as for the second part of your question - it's extremely difficult for me to answer, so i'm going to interpret it as my favourite books of the last couple of years, and break it down into fiction and non-fiction (i already have a pending ask about my favourite poetry collections, so i'll leave poetry out of this list)

each title has a link to the appropriate goodreads entry

literary fiction

• the woman destroyed by simone de beauvoir

• sleepless nights by elizabeth hardwick

• belladonna by daša drndić

• play it as it lays by joan didion

• the awakening by kate chopin

• o caledonia by elspeth barker

• the collector by john fowles

• maurice by e.m. forster

• oranges are not the only fruit by jeanette winterson

• the bell jar by sylvia plath

• we have always lived in the castle by shirley jackson

• morvern callar by alan warner

• rebecca by daphne du marier

non-fiction

• the unabridged journals of sylvia plath by sylvia plath

• simone weil: an anthology by simone weil

• illness as metaphor by susan sontag

• medieval writings on female spirituality ed. elizabeth spearing

• intercourse by andrea dworkin

• the white album by joan didion

• m train by patti smith

• essential essays: culture, politics, and the art of poetry by adrienne rich

[shadowtrait]

Meet the Straud Grandkids (well some of them)

In order: Noriko Belle (Vampire-human, 19), Delphi Rainwalker (Vampire, 16), Verona Rainwalker (Spellcaster, 16), Elspeth Belle (Vampire-human, 15), Melinda Fitzroy (Vampire, 8), Misha Belle (Vampire-human, 7)

Parents Belle Kids: Leora Belle nee Straud and Victor Belle Rainwalker Twins: Carmilla Straud-Rainwalker and Morgan Rainwalker Melinda: Elliana Straud and Alaric Fitzroy

Vladbies

[firstdraft]

— FIRST DRAFT writeblr reintroduction

ABOUT ME Hello! I'm Evan, also known as firstdraft or evancetera. As it's been over two years since my last introduction, and my pinned post is woefully out of date, I thought I'd write a new one. I'm also coming off a writeblr hiatus of sorts, and I'm very glad to be back!

So, about me! I'm 32 years old, non-binary, bi & aro/acespec, and my pronouns are they/them or he/him. I'm currently a part-time undergrad student, tentatively majoring in computer science, and I live in Michigan with my family and my cat. I have adhd, depression, and social anxiety, and I get chronic migraines.

LINKS twitter // wattpad // instagram

WORKS IN PROGRESS under the cut

CINDERWITCH Elisabeth Pryce is a witch, a dangerous thing in the kingdom of Vendyer, where magic users are conscripted to join the King’s army. Ell, however, is determined to keep her magic a secret, like her mother did before her untimely death. But when her father remarries, her new stepmother is quick to discover her secret.

The new lady of the house gives Elisabeth a choice. Use her magic for the benefit of her and her daughters, or be turned into the authorities. With her stepmother’s threat hanging over her head, Ell has no choice but to obey. After all, witches who ignore the king’s edict have burned — or worse.

When king holds a masquerade, intending to find a suitable wife for his only son, Ella’s instructions are simple. Attend the ball, dance with the prince, and cast a spell so powerful that he’ll fall in lover one of her stepsisters, making her his bride.

Do this, and Elspeth will be free of her stepmother forever.

All is not well in Llendyr, however, and Elspeth’s task will send her deep into a rebellious conspiracy, where romance is the last thing on her mind. Finally, her powers might be used for good — but at what cost?

BEAUTY'S THORN (working title) It’s been years since Belle managed to escape the monstrous Beast and his enchanted castle, sneaking off into the forest and finding her way home. She’s returned to her sisters and father, but the nightmares have remained, despite doing all she can to make sure that her and her family are now safe.

But when she hears that another girl from her village has gone missing, taken by the Beast, she knows that she has no choice but to save her, returning to stage a daring rescue. But how will she succeed, when the missing girl doesn’t wish to be rescued? Has Belle been wrong about the Beast and his castle the whole time? Or Is there something more sinister than even she imagined, tying them all to the cursed castle?

ICHORBORN One of many apprentice engineers in Londonium, Thaddeus Elliston spends his days elbow deep in engines and gears, and goes home to the boarding house at night too exhausted to enjoy the many pleasures of the city. Unlike his fellow students, Thaddeus has no family or sponsor to pay for his education. If he falls behind, he will be cast out, and his chance at a better life will be gone. Fortunately, he is at the top of his cohort, and one of the most brilliant gearworkers the headmistress has ever seen.

But skill means nothing when compared to wealth. And so, when his jealous classmates start a fight, it is Thaddeus who is expelled.

He believes his life is over until he receives a letter from Dr. Bartholomew Hughes, a reclusive alchemist responsible for the invention of Ichor, the new fuel that runs most modern machinery. With no other options, he agrees to meet Dr. Hughes at his country estate.

What he finds there will change his life forever. 

ARTEMIS RISING Captain Artemis Holt has been in charge of the U.N.I.S. Icarus for the past five years. In orbit over Mars, she’s overseen the transport of scientists and engineers to and from her home planet, and leads the first line of defense for Earth. Not that there are any aliens, or at least, living ones. But the evidence discovered on Mars is irrefutable — alien lifeforms exist. Or at least, they did. All that humanity has found are dead bodies and an untranslatable archive.

But, as the Daedalus Project is about to be shelved, the knowledge there too advanced for humanity to understand, the impossible happens. Millennia-old computers suddenly power up, and the archives are accessible once more.

And ships appear in the sky.

What they discover will shake the galaxy to its core. Someone has been hiding the Earth’s civilization from the rest of the universe, thus ensuring that Earth remained separate. But who is behind it? After all, the Vraekel have been dead for over a millennia.

[punkcaligula]

2023 READING LOG

JANUARY

-> Books:

HURSTON, Zora Neale; Their Eyes Were Watching God

WILLIAMS, Tennessee; A Streetcar Named Desire

-> Essays & articles:

CHRISTENSEN, Joel; How do chatbots dream of electric Greek heroes?

DYHOUSE, Carol; Why Are We So Afraid of Female Desire?

EDWARDS, Stassa; A Little Madly: Hysteria at the Moulin Rouge

HOOKS, bell; Romance: Sweet Love

LAING, Olivia; NYC blue: what the pain of loneliness tells us

LIEBERMAN, Jeffrey A.; “The Miracle Cure”: A Brief History of Lobotomies

LORDE, Audre; The Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power

SHUSHAN, Gregory; Near-death experiences have long inspired after life beliefs

STADONILK, Joe; We’ve always been distracted

TÁÌWÒ, Olúfémi; The idea of ‘precolonial Africa’ is vacuous and wrong

WYPIJEWSKI, JoAnn; How Capitalism Created Sexual Dysfunction

FEBRUARY

-> Books:

DOUGLASS, Frederick; Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass

WINTERSON, Jeanette; 12 Bytes: How We Got Here, Where We Might Go Next

-> Essays & articles:

BLACK, Bob; The Abolition of Work

BURDEN-STELLY, Charisse; How Black Communist Women Remade Class Struggle

COBB, Michael; Bigmouth Strikes Again

GOODLAD, Lauren M.E.; Now The Humanities Can Disrupt “AI”

HALBERSTAM, Jack; Towards a Trans* Feminism

HARVEY, Katherine; Medieval babycare

ROTHFIELD, Becca; A Body of One’s Own

RUKES, Frederic; The Disruption of Normativity: Queer Desire and Negativity in Morrisey and The Smiths

STRINGER, Julian; The Smiths: Repressed (But Remarkably Dressed)

VENKATARAMAN, Vivek V.; Lessons from the foragers

MARCH

-> Books:

AMADO, Jorge; Gabriela, Clove & Cinnamon

-> Essays & articles:

ALEXANDER, Amanda; Making Communities Safe, Without the Police

BOURDÉ, Guy; The philosophies of history

ELLIOTT, John H.; An Europe of composite monarchies

ERNAUX, Annie; A Community of Desires

HARCOUT, Bernard E.; Policing Disorder

JABBARI, Alexander; After the mother tongues: what we lost with Persianate modernity

MANTEL, Hilary; Anne Boleyn: witch, bitch, temptress, feminist

MANTEL, Hilary; Holy disorders

MANTEL, Hilary; Night visions

MANTEL, Hilary; No passport required

MANTEL, Hilary; The shape we’re in

MINER, Horace; Body Ritual among the Nacirema

RUSSEL, Francey; What It Means to Watch

WEBB, Claire Isabel; Cosmic vision

APRIL

-> Books:

MISHIMA, Yukio; Sun and Steel

OLADE, Yves; Bloodsport

-> Essays & articles:

BATESON, Gregory; A Theory of Play and Fantasy

CÉSAIRE, Suzanne; The Great Camouflage

CHARALAMBOUS, Demetrio; The Enigma of the Isle of Gold

DAVID, Kathryn; How Stalin enlisted the Orthodox Church to help control Ukraine

SINGLER, Beth; Existential Hope and Existential Despair in AI Apocalypticism and Transhumanism

WYATT, Justin; The Smiths, Pop Culture Referencing and Marginalized Stardom

-> Short stories:

ELLISON, Harlan; The Man Who Rowed Christopher Colombus Ashore

SAYLOR, Steven; The Eagle and the Rabbit

MAY

-> Books:

PLUTARCH; Life of Sulla

-> Essays & articles:

BRAUDEL, Fernand; Clothes and fashion

CHAMPLIN, Edward; Nero Reconsidered

GARTON, Charles; Sulla and the Theatre

HAY, Mark; The Colonization of the Ayahuasca Experience

HSU, Hua; Varieties of Ether: Toward a history of creativity and beef

PROBYN, Elspeth; Cannibal Hunger, Restraint in Excess

STAR, Christopher; How the ancient philosophers imagined the end of the world

TELUSHKIN, Shira; Meet Eva Frank: The First Jewish Female Messiah

[isleofdarkness]

Auradon Royal Families

United States of Auradon - King Adam Lyon - Queen Belle Lyon - Prince Benjamin Florian Lyon

- Lady Snow White Nolan - Lord Florian Nolan -- Ambrose Nolan -- Blossom Nolan -- Conner Nolan -- Darien Nolan -- Therese Nolan -- Winter Nolan -- Ghost Nolan - Lady Rose Red

- Lady Ella Charming - Lord Christopher Charming -- Chance Charming -- Chadwick Charming -- Chloe Charming

- Lady Aurora Rose - Lord Phillip Rose -- Audrey Rose -- Ariana Rose

- Lady Alice Wonderland -- Ally Wonderland

- Lord Arthur Pendragon - Lady Guinevere Pendragon -- Arturius Pendragon -- Alexander Pendragon

- Lord Eric Delphis - Lady Ariel Delphis -- Melody Delphis -- Elspeth "Elle" Delphis

- Lord Naveen Rogers - Lady Tiana Rogers -- Bhavin Rogers -- Harshit Rogers -- Namasya Rogers -- Tavasya Rogers (adopted) -- Devika Rogers (adopted)

Queendom of Corona - Queen Rapunzel Fitzherbert - King Eugene Fitzherbert -- Princess Anxelin Fitzherbert -- Princess Gineva Fitzherbert (exiled) -- Princess Ruby Fitzherbert

Agrabah - Sultana Jasmine - Consort Aladdin -- Aziz -- Malika -- Neisha -- Nura

- Jabari (Genie) - Dalia -- Lian -- Omar -- Qadira (Jordan)

China - High Princess Tingting - Lord Ling - Empress Mei - Emporer Yao -- Princess Yi-min - Princess Su - Lord Chein Po

- Ambassador Fa Mulan - Ambassador Li Shang -- Li Liang (Lonnie) -- Li Susu (Li'l Shang) - Fa Munan - Fa Fang -- Fa Kai-Ming

Arandelle - Queen Anna - King Kristoff -- Princess Nora -- Prince Noah -- Prince Isak

- Queen Elsa

Kingdom of Atlantica - King Triton -- Princess Aquata -- Princess Andriana -- Princess Arista -- Princess Attina -- Princess Adella -- Princess Alana --- Arabella

- Ursula - Doctor Facilier -- Uma Facilier -- Freddie Facilier -- Celia Facilier -- Oceana Facilier -- Riptide Facilier

- Morganna -- Squeaky Smee -- Squirmy Smee -- Sammy Smee -- Desiree

Atlantis - Queen Kida - King Milo -- Kyan -- Kaldur -- Kelaino

Court of Olympus - King Zeus - Queen Hera -- Aphrodite -- Apollo -- Athena -- Demeter -- Hephaestus -- Hermes - Poseidon

Court of the Underworld - King Hades (exiled) - Queen Persephone (exiled) - Lord Thanatos - Lord Cerberus - Lady Megara -- Lord Nico di Angelo -- Lady Hazel Levesque -- Lady Cora -- Lady Selah -- Lord Harabolos (exiled)

[elspethsalazar]

celestial ink ! ( closed for —@nainadesai )

although her main position was tattooing with a single needle and a spool of thread, elspeth was often landed the unsavoury role of manning the front desk whenever their good-for-nothing receptionist failed to show. such a talent was wasted at celestial ink, they despaired, for the overspill of musical talent kept captive behind her skull plates spluttered into drought after eight hours of administration. alerted by the ring of the overhead bell, elspeth's brow perked and they shifted their attention to the little notebook they kept, complete with doodles and song lyrics, to keep track of their appointments. . “my favorite lady!" they grinned, "—and how can i hurt you today?"

[plumbobbles]

Sound on for cosy thunderstorm vibes.

[kriskalutz]

We finally got to meet Bronson's old nanny, Odine Perry!

She was the one who kept tossing her daughter on us when Ratcliff was younger.

Behind her is Elspeth's husband, Jupiter Belle! We've only seen him in notifications up till this point.

Kinda wish I kept it that way.

And while all of this was going down, the kids had a trip to the museum. Parker's already preparing to raid tombs!

[iironwreath]

Repair [Cadiana]

[a rewrite of an old thing—took me a while to get to but I wanted to rewrite cady's older pieces into exandria like I did for union. this takes place during the year the party is in the feywild. and now it's longer than it was before oops]

Cadiana darkened the terrace of the house. It should have been easy—raise a fist, knock. They had done it before without hesitation, but it was if she were stone again, her limbs heavy and locked in place.

It was by both miracle and effort they found the house at all. Emon had always been a large city, being the first stretch of land to greet newcomers from Vasselheim, but it must have at least tripled in size in the last three centuries. Cadiana had missed so much time that Gwessar had become Tal’Dorei. 

She curled her fingers into her palms, shoulders creeping upwards. Even a subtle shift made noise, tiny clicks of overlapping plates like a second set of joints. 

They had been to their mother’s grave, but none of the surrounding plots belonged to their father. There were too many ifs: he could have moved anywhere from several months to two hundred years ago. He could have been executed and then burned and sacrificed to Neminar’s demonic legion. Cady wanted to complete the puzzle of where he'd gone—potentially sniffing out the start of a trail, then seeing if it ended in another grave or a living relative. Why hesitate, when she knew what she wanted? 

Passer-bys were unbothered by the armour-clad half-orc looming on a doorstep, too caught up in their own chatter or getting from one place to the next. Elspeth and Hadrean waited across the street, Elspeth attentive on Cady while Hadrean surveyed everyone else.

Cady inhaled, raised an arm, and pounded on the door.

Inside came a call, footfalls, then the door swung inward to reveal an elven woman. Her hair was ginger and cropped close to her skull and there were a sprinkle of freckles beneath a pair of pewter-blue eyes. They were similar to her father’s—to hers. 

Cadiana was a few inches taller and could see into the front hall. A staircase climbed the left wall. Furniture had been replaced and rearranged, and the scent wasn’t one she remembered. A dwarven woman, blonde, stood with her hands on her hips in an archway on the right wall, across from the stairwell. She wore a pair of half-moon spectacles that made her look like she could examine Cady for faults.

“Can I help you?” the elven woman asked with a perfunctory smile. Her accent was from Syngorn. The trophy dagger at Cady’s hip weighed heavy. 

Cady cleared her throat. “Cadiana Jacqueline Steelsong. I’m a paladin of Erathis.”

The woman’s eyes cut up and down her tabard. “I can see that.”

“I’m not here on any official business.”

“What brings you here, then, Cadiana of Erathis?”

There was no eloquent way to phrase it. “I used to live here.”

The elf shared a glance with the woman over her shoulder. “Did you?”

“I did. I was wondering when you purchased the house, if you did.”

The dwarf sidled up beside the elf, arms shifting to cross her bust. “Must’ve been about nine years ago now? Why, you lookin’ to buy it back? We’re not lookin’ to sell.”

Her accent was from Kraghammer. It sent a shiver of memory through Cady—of years spent warring beside them. She closed it behind her teeth, trying not to grind them.

“No,” Cady said. “I was wondering if you bought it from an elven man. Ginger hair, about this tall.” She measured outwards from her mouth with a flat hand.

They looked at each other quizzically. “No?”

Cady massaged their temples with one hand. “Damn it.”

“We might be able to help if you gave us more,” the elven woman said, now with a sprig of amusement. “You’re not lost, are you?”

Frustration pricked at the back of her neck and her posture snapped taut. The women, to their credit, didn’t flinch. “I’m not lost. I’m looking for my father.”

“What was his name?”

“Rhys’Erowyn.”

The elf scratched at her cheek, looking apologetic. “It doesn’t ring a bell. Sorry.”

“Taverns’ll be the next best place to ask,” the dwarf added. “Keep fishing with that name and eventually you’ll get a bite, I’m sure.”

Cady’s mouth went firm. “Thank you.”

The couple nodded and eased the door shut. Cadiana backed off the terrace. She trailed the seams of the house with her eyes—the door’s casing, the windows, then past it to the shingles of the roof and the chimney pointing into the dome of the sky beyond. It was the pale pastel of blue hydrangeas, and the occasional cloud scudded by. 

The home had felt more capacious when she was younger. Homes back then hadn’t always been built with orcs in mind, but her parents had made due. The church had always been home more than this place—where she bunked down, where she had made her first friends.

A part of her wanted to say goodbye to it, like it was important, somehow—but they normally didn’t ‘do’ things for the sake of it, for sentimentality. Normally she had orders that determined what was important for her. A part of her missed that—she could seek out as much guidance as she wanted, but everything was only ever a suggestion, never demanded.

Maybe it was to see if there was any remnant of her mother that wasn’t stone, earth, or bones—a scent, possession, or painting. A grave hadn’t been enough. She wanted something with more life and memory, to know that not everything had been or would be war—but it had been so long. The dust had settled. Maybe her father was that missing link.

Was it even the same building if there had been an attack from the Chrome Conclave, or did it just occupy the same address? Emon looked like it had a fresh coat of paint over fresh scars, but its core remained intact. Tal'dorei wore scars on its body as much as its people—she hadn’t seen the physical scars from the Scattered War yet, though she’d been told where to find them. The mental ones—she was living proof of that. 

She reached up to brush her fingers against her lone tusk, then wrung her left hand to pinch the stub at her knuckle. Homes could be rebuilt from the ground up—did it make them the same home? Could she be rebuilt?

Had she ever been broken? Could she replace what she’d lost?

They turned in a huff and strode back to their companions.

[brightgnosis]

March Calendar Nonsense

🌊 Wednesday, March 1st: Lá Céadamh

Paying of the Spring Rents to the Genii Locorum, and drawing of the waters for the Spring Rites.

🎭 Monday, March 6th: Fast of Esther

Ancestral Observance (not observed)

🎭 Tuesday, March 7th: Purim

Ancestral Observance (not observed)

🌿 Tuesday, March 7th: Green ᶠᵘˡˡMoon

Annual Esbat and Full Moon Message Divination

😌 Tuesday, March 7th: Ritual / Lecture with Dr. Daniel Foor

Risking Joy and Happiness: On Thriving in Troubled Times

🕯️ Sunday, March 12th [through] Monday, March 20th: Novara

Similar to Novena (which lights the way to Winter's Beginning), a candle is lit at dusk each night for the 9 days leading up to the Liturgical New Year at Spring’s Welcome in order to usher in the light of the year and light the way for the Great Queen to come forth from the Great Tomb.

💍 Monday, March 13th: Wedding Anniversary!

Celebrating 8 years married!

🦋 Tuesday, March 14th: Lepitera

Celebrates Butterflies and Moths as the representatives and heralds of Spring (especially those which are endangered or at risk).

🍀 Friday, March 17th: St. Pádraig's Day

Ancestral Observance (semi-observed out of habit)

🍑 Monday, March 20th [through] Tuesday, March 21st: Pevitnia

Peach Blossom Festival and the beginning of the Orchard season, with a secondary emphasis on the internal family, the Hearth, and the Home.

🌿 Tuesday, March 21st: Green ᴺᵉʷMoon

Celebrates the reawakening of The Great Queen, and the subsequent beginning the Overworld Era of the Sabbat Cycle; Chava is ritually stirred from her slumber and then drawn out of the Temple Beneath the Earth with song and bells- then plied with lush gifts of welcome for her return as Our Lady of the Green (and in order to curry favor for the yearly renewal of the Contract of Faith and Land).

🥮 Tuesday, March 21st: Vernal Equinox

Adoration / Elevation of HaShem as The All; Center of the Universe and creation.

🍵 Wednesday, March 22nd: Ritual with Baelyn Elspeth

Tea, Ceremony, and Daily Practice

⌛ Wednesday, March 29th [through] Friday, March 31st: Hagging Out

Equinox Redux!

Someone save me. This month is so busy- and how are so many things on one day all at once this year ?!

[alightinthelantern]

Books read and movies watched in 2022, and whether I’d recommend them:

Books:

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (Stuart Turton): Yes

The Devil and the Dark Water (Stuart Turton): No

At Bertram’s Hotel (Agatha Christie): Yes

A Murder is Announced (Agatha Christie): Eh

The Murder at the Vicarage (Agatha Christie): Yes

Destination Unknown (Agatha Christie): Eh

A Pocket Full of Rye (Agatha Christie): Eh

Pavilion of Women (Pearl S. Buck): Yes

O Caledonia (Elspeth Barker): Yes

The Mask Carver’s Son (Alyson Richman): Yes

(Poetry) Ordinary Words (Ruth Stone): Yes

(Poetry) Thirst (Mary Oliver): No

(Poetry) Howl & Other Poems (Allen Ginsberg): Yes

Movies:

Lady Bird (2017, Greta Gerwig): Yes

High Treason (1929, Maurice Elvey): Eh

Brief Encounter (1945, David Lean): Yes

Les Visiteurs du Soir/The Devil’s Envoys (1942, Marcel Carné): Yes

Casablanca (1942, Michael Curtiz): No

Rear Window (1954, Alfred Hitchcock): Yes

North By Northwest (rewatch) [1959, Alfred Hitchcock]: Yes

Once Upon A Time in America (1984, Sergio Leone): NO

A River Runs Through It (1992, Robert Redford): No

The African Queen (1951, John Huston): No

Tokyo Story (1953, Yasujirō Ozu): Eh

Rebecca (1940, Alfred Hitchcock): No

I Married a Witch (1942, René Clair): No

La Belle et la Bete (1946, Jean Cocteau): No

Medea (1969, Pier Paolo Pasolini): No

The Letter (1940, William Wyler): Yes

Among the Living (1941, Stuart Heisler): No

Johnny Come Lately (1943, William K. Howard): Yes

Thunderbolt (1929, Josef von Sternberg): Yes

The Plane that Disappeared (1961, Reginald Le Borg): No

Larceny (1948, George Sherman): Yes

The Woman in the Window (1944, Fritz Lang): No

The Spiral Staircase (1946, Robert Siodmak): No

High Sierra (1941, Raoul Walsh): No

Raising Arizona (1987, Joel Coen): YES

Close-Up (1990, Abbas Kiarostami): Yes

Night Train to Munich (1940, Carol Reed): Yes

Mister 880 (1950, Edmund Goulding): Yes

Encanto (2021, Jared Bush & Byron Howard): Yes