#ALSO STRIFE AND EMMERICH??

[inkyquince]

i gotta stop romancing people who get other love interests if i dont, like bruh I WILL NEVER ROMANCE ANYONE ELSE brother PLEASE

[alistairssock]

TEHEHEH I'M KICKING MY FEET AND GIGGLING

Spoilers under the cut, mainly just thoughts on relationships and the companions

Love the little off-screen tidbits we get that shows them living their little lives outside of the chaos and outside of Rook's leadership

It's so cute that Emmerich and Strife has a thing going on id you don't romance him. Not a pairing I'd ever expect or had given any thought, but it makes sense and shows sides of Strife we don't see while were on duty

And Taash and Harding's little mutual crush is very charming, they're giving opposites attract tho they're weirdly similar in some ways and it's just so fun seeing them being all flustered but also so chill and safe around each other, taking it in their pace

The crow and venatori couple being in the necropolis until they know where they can go to live their lives in safety and leaving their past behind is also such a charming detail, I didn't expect to actually see them somewhere

Harding inviting her friends to Ferelden and to her Ma, going on excursions with Emmerich, the companions just hanging out as friends and close colleagues

The companions asking you to join them on their personal little missions because you are their friend and they trust you and they want your company and support

Not to mention when npcs start interactions with your companions, it makes it feel more interactive in a way, that these people have lives and thoughts and feelings outside of their saving-the-world work. Gives a little peek into what a less chaotic and turbulent day-to-day in their lives could be, letting us see how they interact with the world

[vampirebiter]

assorted veilguard opinions so like. spoilers.

i wish davrin's storyline actually focused on davrin. i like assan and the griffon storyline but like. Everything in his storyline revolves around assan and the griffons. pretty disappointing, especially since last year we had bg3 have a similar issue with sidelining wyll and now theres another big rpg also sidelining their black man companion.

i like that unromanced companions will like. flirt with/date other people. thats cute and fun. i helped emmerich and strife go on a date last night and that was very nice and cute. i do think neve should've dated bellara instead of lucanis tho. i get more of a vibe between those two than her and him. whatever though. shrug.

its weird for the recurring characters to essentially be just. statues for set dressing. you cant really talk to them and they dont really do anything. they get like. one scene of Look It Is Me, Character You Know and then they just stand in their designated spot and maybe say like. 1 or 2 lines. at least isabela gets to talk and do stuff in some of taash's scenes. her outfit still sucks though. id even take her original da2 dress (? shirt?) over this.

its super obvious some environments had more effort put into them than others. like i was excited to see rivain but all we get is like. a strip of beach with some ruins and no people, just enemies. and then the lords of fortune hq area is a completely different area to travel to on the map unlike every other ally hq area being attached to their environment.

it feels very odd to me that tevinter seems very.. sanitized? compared to the impression we get of it in the other games. like it can be argued that some of it is propaganda and whatever but we also have characters who are from there like fenris or dorian talking about the systemic issues in it but it feels like veilguard is acting like all the bad things and oppression and slavery etc in tevinter are venatori, not something widespread in their society. like. danarius and dorian's father arent venatori. they're just shitty people and empowered to be evil by being magisters and tevinter society. but like even playing a shadow dragon rook it feels like theyre very focused on fighting the venatori but, unless im forgetting, not much mention of non ventatori magisters doing fucked up magister things. which is odd to me and kinda disappointing because i was excited to see if theyd do something interesting with tevinter but i guess not.

overall it is a fun game im enjoying though 👍

[nekropsii]

how did you come up with names for your fantrolls?

Fun Fact: I actually named most of the characters in Sovereignstuck!

I’ll put a list under the cut! Some of them get a little complicated, while others are a bit more… Straightforward.

Content Warning: Long, Lots of Name Etymology.

(If you don’t recognize a word or reference, I recommend just hitting up Google!)

CYNICAL ITINERANT: Incredibly literal. Since he’s a carapacian, his name is just a title that describes who he is as a person. The nickname Tintin, however, is a very unsubtle reference to The Adventures of Tintin.

TEJURI KROMAB: “Tejuri” is based on “Tejat,” a star in the Gemini constellation, and “Dioscuri,” the collective name of Castor and Pollux, the twins that comprise Gemini. “Kromab,” however, is just an alien spelling of a shortening for “chromatic aberration,” referencing her status as a psionic. It was originally a placeholder surname. It stuck.

DYNAMA ZARROW: Not many intricate moving parts to this one, which is ironic. “Dynama” is derived from “dynamic,” while “Zarrow” is quite literally just ripped from “the Zarrow Shuffle.”

PRESAE COVNUL: Another straightforward one- first name based on the word “presage,” while her surname is based on the words “coven” and “null.”

PARDUS RUBATO: “Pardus” is taken from the taxonomic classification for a leopard- being “Panthera Pardus.” Her surname, “Rubato,” is derived from the musical term “tempo rubato,” essentially meaning to play with little regard to exact pacing. Very Timebound!

RETRIS MORAGE: Here’s a long one. The most obvious inspirations here are “Tetris” and “Mirage,” considering it’s one letter off from both. Put together, it’s a reference to the Tetris Effect. The “Ret-” part of his first name is also taken from the prefix “Retro.” This has several uses. (His name is actually severely ironic and deliberate, but I can’t get too far into that without spoiling... Like, 12 different things. Don’t think about this too hard.)

AJAX BARRETT: His name was chosen due to it sounding exactly how we’d imagine an edgy kid with a fixation on shitty action films and post apocalyptic media would name himself. The meaning is intentional, though. His first name, “Ajax,” was inspired by the mythological figure “Ajax the Great.” “Barrett,” however, means “strife.” Rage-y. Very Rage-y.

EMERIC SARGAS: Derived from the male name “Emmerich,” of which has quite an interesting meaning, and the term “emetic.” Her surname is, letter for letter, the name of a star in the Scorpio constellation- which is one of the brightest stars in the sky.

KAUSAT STOLAR: Their first name is derived from “Kaus Australis,” which is a star system in the Sagittarius constellation, and “Rukbat-” for the last two letters- which is of similar origin. It’s rather close to the given name “Kausar,” which has meanings very tied into the Life aspect, in my opinion. “Stolar” translates to “joiner,” which has two meanings. Both are important to him. :)

TOMIEI AERRAS: Her first name is another extremely unsubtle reference, this time to Junji Ito’s horror short story collection called, well, “Tomie.” “Aerras” comes from “Aer,” and “Aether,” the Greek god of air, and the personification of the upper sky, respectively.

ANNOMI ERRATA: Extremely straightforward, and admittedly a bit mean. First name is based on the concept of “anomie,” while having a slightly similar pronunciation to “enemy.” Surname is, letter for letter, the plural form of “erratum.”

PLEOME ALRIUM: Here’s a weird one. His first name is derived from “pleochroism,” for the first four letters, and “acme,” for the final two. His surname comes from “Alrescha,” a main star in the Pisces constellation, and “Piscium,” which is… the name of the Pisces constellation. It’s a bit redundant, but it’s quite fun to say.

[lawrenceop]

Holy Land Retrospective - Day 6

Reminder: clicking on the link for each photo (links are all in red text) will take you to the Flickr page where you can see the photo in larger sizes.

Start with DAY 1, or catch up with DAY 2, or DAY 3, or DAY 4, or DAY 5. Or just read on!

PHOTO 26: It was Saturday; the day of the Jewish Shabbat, a holy day when the highlight of the whole pilgrimage took place: we would have Mass at the Empty Tomb of Christ, in the church of the Holy Sepulchre. Appropriately, we made our way to the church in silence, processing through deserted city, and the church, too, was nearly empty when we arrived. After all, it was shortly after 4 a.m. (!) when we entered the city through Herod’s Gate and walked through the silent Muslim Quarter to the Franciscan monastery. 

Moving some 250 people in silence through the uneven streets of an ancient city, before daybreak, is an impressive feat! But this silence and secrecy was entirely fitting. For the Gospels, too, are silent about what happened on the Saturday, the day of the Passover, after Jesus was crucified. St John says the following about the Friday on which Jesus died, the “day of Preparation” but concerning the Sabbath, nothing is reported – it is only alluded to:

“Since it was the day of Preparation, in order to prevent the bodies from remaining on the cross on the sabbath (for that sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away... But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water... After this Joseph of Arimathe'a, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him leave. So he came and took away his body. Nicodemus also, who had at first come to him by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds' weight. They took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb where no one had ever been laid. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, as the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.” (Jn 19:31, 34, 38-42)

From the Franciscan Monastery of the Flagellation, we began our quiet journey on the Via Dolorosa, sleepy but alert, praying the Stations of the Cross as best as we could. Somewhere in the crowd, Jim Caviezel walked with us, as together with him we walked the path of Jesus through the streets of Jerusalem. 

At around 5:30 a.m. we prayed the last three stations of the Cross in the courtyard in front of the church of the Holy Sepulchre; in the distance, a cock crowed. 

This photo was taken shortly after everyone had entered the church, looking back towards the way we had come; the minaret of the mosque of Omar looms overhead. For many of our group, it was their first time visiting Calvary and the Empty Tomb so I remained outside and I savoured the cool air of the morning; and soaked in the silence of the holy courtyard, traversed only by a cat or a monk; and I observed the colour of the sky change as the light of the new day came. Dawn at the Holy Sepulchre on an Easter Saturday: what a blessed moment!

PHOTO 27: We had a good hour and a half before the time allocated to us for Mass: time to explore, time to pray and reflect, time for Confession and spiritual preparation for Holy Mass. Ahead of us, saying Mass inside the Empty Tomb with a small group of pilgrims, was the Bishop of a French diocese, hence the doors are closed. During this time, one of our group took photos of these closed doors and she came and showed me the photos. One of them had the clear figure of a man robed in a white Jewish prayer shawl standing in the doorway, even though none of us had seen the doors even open! Take a look here and see what you think!

"I saw the risen Lord appearing to His Blessed Mother on Mount Calvary. He was transcendently beautiful and glorious, His manner full of earnestness. His garment, which was like a white mantle thrown about His limbs, floated in the breeze behind Him as He walked. It glistened blue and white, like smoke curling in the sunshine.” - Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich’s vision of the Risen Lord. 

The photo above was taken very shortly before we went into the sacristy to prepare for Mass. I had been watching the sunlight of the new day penetrate the darkness of the Holy Sepulchre church. The rays of light enter through the smaller dome of the ‘Catholicon’ (the Greek Orthodox sanctuary in the centre of the building), and then it strikes the little onion dome and cross of the ‘Aedicule’, which is this structure that envelopes and protects the Empty Tomb itself. As the sun ascends in the sky, the rays of light then travel downwards until it reaches the doors of the Aedicule, and penetrate into the Empty Tomb. 

An hour after this photo was taken, I was standing inside the Aedicule, concelebrating the Holy Mass with my brother priests, standing around the very spot where the angel of the Resurrection had hailed the holy women that first Easter morning. And then, stooping to go into the Empty Tomb itself, I received the Eucharistic Body and Blood of the Risen Christ that was lying on the Altar, on top of the stone where Jesus had been laid and from which he had risen from the dead, alleluia!

This single moment, this sun-lit morning, all we had experienced so far on the 4th of May 2019, was probably one of the most unforgettable and spiritually intense moments of my whole life.   

“Do not be afraid... He is not here; for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead”. (Mt 28:5-7)

However, in every Mass, we encounter the Risen Lord, and we are then sent forth wherever we may be, as though from this Empty Tomb in Jerusalem, to quickly announce the Good News: Χριστός Ανέστη! Surrexit Dominus vere! Christ is risen, Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

PHOTO 28: The focus of this photo is the olive tree, for we are on the Mount of Olives, looking towards the Holy City with the iconic Dome of the Rock, the Muslim shrine built on the very site where the Temple of Jerusalem once stood until the Romans destroyed it, as Christ prophesied, in 70 AD. 

After Mass in the Holy Sepulchre, and after breakfast, we went to the top of the Mount of Olives to take in the view of the city, and then we descended the hill, waving palm branches and singing ‘Hosannas’ as we went; in a few hours we had gone from Easter morning to Palm Sunday! We made our way to the little church of Dominus Flevit where Jesus had beheld the city of Jerusalem, foretold of its destruction, and wept for its people. 

Looking towards the city, one takes in its long and complicated and turbulent history; full of human strife and violence as the One the city had once hailed with ‘Hosannas’ was rejected, taken outside, and executed as a criminal. But, as St Paul says: “In him all the fulness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” (Col 1:19-20)

In this photo, therefore, I wanted to show the city in its splendour and in its divided history, and also to take in the branches of the trees which the people had cut and waved to hail the coming Messiah. But above all, I wanted to focus on the olive branch, not just because it indicated our location, the Mount of Olives, but because it is a universally recognised emblem of peace. 

“For the peace of Jerusalem pray: "Peace be to your homes! May peace reign in your walls, in your palaces, peace!"” – Psalm 122:6-7

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: dona nobis pacem. 

 PHOTO 29: Continuing to mark Holy Week in one day, we went to Mount Sion after lunch, to the site of the Upper Room, the cenacle, where Jesus had celebrated the Passover with his disciples, instituting the sacraments of the Holy Eucharist and the Priesthood. In the same room, the Holy Spirit had came upon Our Lady and the disciples at Pentecost so that “out of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem" (Isa 2:3). 

So, that Saturday afternoon we stood in a 14th-century structure built on various iterations of a church building that has stood here since the earliest days, although it is now sadly just an archeological space, a museum since beneath it is the tomb of King David, a holy shrine for the Jews and I suppose they did not want a church right above. But in the 5th-century, this holy place was called “Sion, Mother of all the Churches”. 

This name is fitting since it is here that the Church was born. As Pope St John Paul II wrote shortly after visiting this place: 

The Church, while pointing to Christ in the mystery of his passion, also reveals her own mystery: Ecclesia de Eucharistia. By the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost the Church was born and set out upon the pathways of the world, yet a decisive moment in her taking shape was certainly the institution of the Eucharist in the Upper Room. Her foundation and wellspring is the whole Triduum paschale, but this is as it were gathered up, foreshadowed and “concentrated' for ever in the gift of the Eucharist. – Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 5.

The photo above is focussed on a carved stone capital from c.1335 that is part of the canopy over the platform where, perhaps, the altar would have once stood. This carving is interesting because of its Eucharistic symbolism. Over the past few days we have seen some other early Christian symbols such as the anchor, and the peacock. Here in the cenacle, in the place where Jesus gave us the Eucharist, we have the pelican. To be precise, two pelicans are shown plucking at the breast of the central pelican, and this symbol is known as the ‘Pelican in piety’. It was believed that pelicans would feed their own young with their own flesh and blood, and so this became an image of Christ feeding the Christian people: the Church receives its life from the Eucharist which is the sacrament of Christ’s Body and Blood; Ecclesia de Eucharistia. 

So St Thomas Aquinas prayed in his hymn, Adoro Te devote: 

Pie Pelicane, Jesu Domine, me immundum munda tuo Sanguine: cujus una stilla salvum facere totum mundum quit ab omni scelere.

Lord Jesus, Good Pelican, wash my filth and cleanse me with Your Blood, one drop of which can free the entire world of all its sins.

PHOTO 30: Standing at the doorway that leads up to the cenacle, we look back towards the tallest building in the area, built on the summit of Mount Sion. This is the Benedictine Abbey of the Dormition, which commemorates the fact that Our Lady, the “Daughter of Sion” fittingly ended her earthly life somewhere nearby on Mount Sion. Psalm 87, therefore, although it refers to the holy mountain of Sion has also long been regarded as alluding to Our Lady. For the Lord has preferred her to all others and has dwelt within her; like a city whose walls are never breached, so has she remained ever virgin yet is the abode of the great King: 

On the holy mountain is his city cherished by the Lord. The Lord prefers the gates of Sion to all Jacob's dwellings. Of you are told glorious things, O city of God! – Psalm 87:1-3

Saturdays, of course, are dedicated to Mary, so within the Dormition Abbey, we had gathered to sing glorious things concerning the Mother of God.  As we headed back to the Old City of Jerusalem, passing by the Sion Gate, I stopped to marvel at the many beautiful roses that bloomed here. They were another fitting tribute to Our Lady, and a glorious end to our tour on Lady Day in the Holy Land. 

Tomorrow: Reliving Easter Sunday at dawn by the Empty Tomb; Bethesda and Mary’s birthplace; Bar Mitzvah celebrations.