#he is definitely aware of his role as a sacrificial lamb and thinking about that always hurts me

[waitineedaname]

ritsu's fursona is a sacrificial lamb... thoughts?

AUGH. my thoughts are: ow

[robertodacosta]

I wanna hear more about evil creation goddesses and your thesis

yeah i got you, dude. absolute favorite thing to talk about. i’ll try and be brief, but i’m boiling down 65 pages of material, so i might get a bit wordy.

so my thesis itself was about how Revelation, the final book of the biblical New Testament, was a politicized adaptation of various regional creation cycles, adapting the recurring principle of death and rebirth, creation through destruction, to fit a monotheistic anti-imperial perspective. basically, my argument was that Revelation argues the old world must be destroyed so that the new world can come as a paradise for the pure among Christian men. Revelation is the most well known apocalypse, but if you read enough creation and apocalypse cycles, you come to realize that in many important ways, very many are all very similar. patron gods triumph over chaos to create (in Revelation, this is found in the conflict between the Lamb of God and the ancient serpent/the sea, read: Christ vs. Satan), and something must die so that there can be birth. The central element of interest in that to your question is creation cycles, and the role of goddesses within that.

creation through destruction, i.e. rebirth, was the essential meaning of the Combat Myth, which is a recurring element consistent in creation cycles of the Ancient Near East region, that can also be identified in creation myths globally. essentially, the Combat Myth goes like this: a hero-god enters into combat with the embodiment of chaos, almost always associated with the sea, and sometimes characterized as a goddess. the hero-god always wins, order defeating chaos, and in victory he creates the world, from the body of his foe. our hero-god becomes a creator-god and thus emerges as the most important god of the pantheon, through an act of combat. but for him to create, he has to destroy.

there are a lot of creator gods, but not a lot of creation goddesses. instead, we see two trends: goddesses associated with fertility, harvest, motherhood, and the earth, and the archetype of the death of the goddess. cross-culturally the idea persists in cosmogonies: creation is the domain of men, procreation, or sacrificial object, is the role of women. for context as to what I mean when I say death of the goddess, here are two key examples: in the Babylonian creation myth Enuma Elish, which was ritually recited for the Babylonian new year, Tiamat, the Mesopotamian goddess of chaos and the sea, is killed by Marduk, the hero-god of Babylon, and he snaps her spine in two to create the earth and the skies. secondly, Kore/Persephone, the Greek goddess of spring, was kidnapped by the god of the dead, Hades, and functionally dies every year when she descends to the underworld to be his queen, only to be reborn each spring. this death and rebirth was reenacted annually by the cult to Demeter and Persephone at Eleusis, an agrarian interpretation of the new year. this is the most common role of goddesses in creation cycles, dying so that creation can result. again, we see creation only through destruction.

the phrasing of ‘evil creation goddess’ is specific to the goddess Perpetua in DC’s Year of the Villain event, as there is no truly evil creation deity that I’m aware of. instead, the terms of creation myths are normally order vs. disorder, rather than good vs. evil. so instead of seeing evil creation goddesses, we do see goddesses associated with primordial chaos, like the aforementioned Tiamat, or the Greek goddess Nyx, who was worshipped by the Orphic cult as being the embodied primordial chaos the universe emerged from. but rather than having destructive functions, instead, it is normally the goddess who is destroyed, so that the hero-god can establish order over chaos and become creator. so in that context, I’m of the opinion that ‘evil creation goddess creates universe, is imprisoned, returns to the world and wants to destroy it’ lacks nuance compared to the roles ascribed to goddesses in actual creation cycles. sure, Perpetua textually functions like a primordial chaos goddess, but destruction for the sake of destruction is boring. Cosmogonies typically relegate women solely to the creative function of motherhood while male gods can be creator gods, so creating a cosmogony of the DC universe that presents a goddess as creator, but then making her inherently evil rather than an agent of either order or chaos frustrates me. creation stories had a clear reason to exist, and they were resonant because they performed a clear ritual and political function. to tell a creation story that’s stripped of that purpose, to me as a reader, feels empty.

but since you specifically asked about goddesses, here are a few goddesses associated with creation I personally think are really interesting and zesty! Aside from Tiamat, the closest goddess to a creation goddess is the Greek goddess Nyx, who was born of chaos, from which everything emerged in the predominant Greek creation myths. Nyx was worshiped by the Orphic cult as the originator of all, rather than chaos, and as the mother of Phanes, the Orphic demiurge (in this context, demiurge is best understood as analogous to the contemporary deist conception of a Grand Motivator, rather than the Gnostic definition of demiurge as false god). she created the world by speaking it into being via prophecy, which is very cool if you also have a niche interest in prophetic women in the Greek tradition, which I do. there are various goddesses associated with the earth who have some creative function in their associations with agriculture or wilderness, such as the Roman Gaia or the Greek Demeter. I have a particular soft spot for Cybele, a cthonic mother goddess from Phrygia, who was adapted by the Romans into Magna Mater, whose cult grew particularly popular when the state co-opted her. she’s referred to the mountain mother and mother of gods in various sources, and she’s a mediator between known and unknown. she also wore city walls as a crown as a protector of cities, which isn’t relevant if your interested in creation goddess only, but is very relevant to my thesis, as two women in Revelation are heavily associated with cities and suggest the iconography of Cybele’s mural crown: the first, coded as the embodiment of the city of Rome (suggestive of the imperial cult of Roma), is brutally murdered, and the second, a bride who is Jerusalem, is bodily transformed into the new world, in the form of a holy city. there are various other goddesses with creation affiliations, as well as some regional war goddesses who have no creative function but are very cool figures, such as Ishtar/Inanna or the Canaanite Anat, who is the primary actor in a fragmentary form of a Combat Myth narrative in the Ugaritic Texts!

if you’re interested in further reading, I’d recommend looking into the scholarship of Tivka Frymer-Kensky, Adela Yarbro Collins, and Eva Feder-Kittay’s article “Woman as Metaphor.” I hope this was helpful and interesting, and if you have questions about anything, lmk!

[migleefulmoments]

Jason Momoa is wearing a PINK tuxedo at the Oscars. According to Abby's color "signs", he must be gay, and in a suffocating closet marriage!

The CCers have spent the week claiming that Darren got married so that he looks less “queer” (they are so thoughtfully inclusive until Darren can legally clarify where on the LGBTQ spectrum he identifies himself) #“no homo”. He needs to look less queer so he can get “straight roles or a superhero role”. As if to prove the ccers are full of crap, Aquaman, Jason Momoa wore a pink tuxedo to the Oscars. We know pink is Darren’s color and OMG, it’s so gay.

This trope is silly of course. Ajw- “who has incredible insight”- claims she doesn’t believe he wants to play a superhero-thats too simple I guess. Or maybe she remembered “if he gets married, it’s his decision ”. Whether the Chairman of the Board believes it or not, I saw a lot of comments repeating the “he got married in order to play straight roles or a superhero” trope.  At some point when they were raging over the wedding and trying to figure out WHY? WHY? the trope was born and the minions were all over it. 

I found this post when looking for a post to show the trope.  I know ajw is denying it here, but this thread is pure gold and if you haven’t read it-or even if you have- do yourself a favor and give it a read. It is the definition of ridiculous.  

ajw720 answered:

Anon, trust me, I am here and I am supporting him, I didn’t leave even though i was tempted to and I am finding this difficult because her smug face makes my stomach churn, but I do have the right to have questions.  

This action very much confuses me as I watched him fight and I cannot figure how this happened. I agree, i think there was extreme duress and threats.  I would guess his ability to work was threatened because I do not buy for one second he did this to get straight roles or superhero roles. I also would not be surprised if they threatened C as well.  There are powerful people that have enormous influence in the industry and they have a lot to hide when it comes to the closeting of D, the closeting of CC (again KEY), the extreme abuse of D, the continuance of keeping him tied to a beard that is harmful to his emotional and physical being.

One of the goals i believe is that TPTB want us to believe that this is entirely his fault.  And right now, in the public eye, to those who know he is queer, that is the assumption.

I have incredible insight into the situation and I am well aware of what his vile team, bosses, and beard have put him through, to some level and so I am extremely concerned about this latest move.  But i am not going anywhere. Quite frankly, I am one of the handful of people that is keeping this fandom in tack, something I do think he needs right now. But I do think we all have a right to be critical and to be confused without being harsh.  And I am very much trying to walk that line because I cannot fathom being in his shoes. And the fact that C is still supporting him tells me this is not something he wanted even if he agreed to go along with this sham.

cassie1022

I’ve had my time to be angry with him, and I will admit that was my initial reaction. I hate that he felt this was his only option. It breaks my heart that he’s in this situation. I very much fear for his safety, as I don’t think many people understand just HOW powerful TPTB are and what happens to people that come to be seen as a liability (apparently Darren signed a contract with the mob)

All of that being said, I will never walk away when he/they need us most. But, I too, have many questions that I wish we could get some resolution for.

Oh, and just for the record? I don’t think I’ve ever had a stronger desire to punch a condescending smirk off someone as I did when those airport pics surfaced. I didn’t feel that way about the “wedding” photos because, well, she did an excellent job making herself look ridiculous and the GA did all the tearing her to shreds for me.

chrisdarebashfulsmiles

Nobody is mocking him. But we don’t have to be hypocrite if we are against something. The fact that almost all the people of our fandom are still here in a way or another despite everything I think it’s very telling about the support. Despite the fact of being pissed or annoyed because of the sham wedding.

ajw720

Fact is, TPTB literally have laid him out at the altar as the sacrificial lamb to atone for all of THEIR sins.  And it sucks, and we have a lot of emotions about it. Mine vary literally from one minute to the next (and yes i accept that i care too much), but now that the wedding is over and there is a “marriage” lavender or not, I am concerned how the next few months/years play out.  Because has to deal with her demands that were bad enough as the public gf and fiancee. What will she be like as the wife?

kfs1001

If we go by history, we can pretty much extrapolate what she may be like. The question I would love to know is what safeguard did D get out of all this? If this is is just and extension of his previous contract, he must have gotten something in return? Now this I can but speculate on but I can strongly assume it includes protections for his true relationship with C. I can see a career path as a second measure.

Two me, the scary bit is the power on industry can hold out someone in a country were freedom is held so high. How can a contract supercede fundamental rights?

Regardless of everything D faced a yes or no question. Yes, marry and face the consequence and, no, come out an face the consequence. Yes and no a simple facts in life. No must have been a super hard pill to swallow, but in all this, somehow, I believe he had a win we may never see.

Not everything is black and white. With D ww see a prime example the question now resolves around not what was but what will come. We will see D rebelling as we have come to known…tongue in check…as the picture goes.

We are all here to support D and C in our own ways. Some ar vocal and direct, while others are mor subtle. In our own ways we have their backs. Going forward as a community that is all we can do.

flowersintheattic254

Unfortunately I’m someone who maybe harsher right now. Am I sad for him - yes because he’s made himself look fool. (wait chrisdarebashful just said “Nobody is mocking him!”)

I believe he knew it would be a spectacle. I believe he spent this year distancing himself from the wedding arrangements during interviews. He knew how this sham wedding would look and the shit storm it would produce amongst his fans and I think at some point made his peace with it. I’m not sure how he managed that but I think he did. (let’s be honest here- NOT his fans, just amongst the ccers) 

Maybe all his choices in this instance were equally shit, but there are more people involved here than just D. When did his forced choices have to impact so many people?

I’m less concerned with the rebellion. Tbh I saw the nail varnish and sighed and rolled my eyes.

ajw720

@flowersintheattic254 you know more than almost anyone the extent of my feelings and why. And I agree, no matter the options, this isn’t the choice I would have made. Life is the most precious thing we have. So I do have a really hard time comprehending it.

And I still would like to know why he did some of the things he did before this happened. You know precisely what I’m talking about.

I’m jus trying really hard to get clarity and answers.