#Discourse of the Great Goddess

[jjongslight]

Don't come for me, but on first listen I feel like the Good and Great mini-album lacks variety. Like this is fucking on brand for him, but I feel like I heard that sound a lot from him.

Maybe after a few more listens, I will change my mind.

[twenty-qs]

I guess why the ending of arcane still doesn’t feel real to me and why jayvik moves me so much is because it defies so much of what I was taught to expect by conventional male-dominated, heteronormative narratives. Because at the end of the story, Jayce had everything he should have wanted. Saved the world. Both Piltover and Zaun respected him. He had strength and charisma and the cool magic hammer he’d fantasized about wielding since he was a kid, and his battle scars only made him hotter somehow. And he had a goddess of a woman expressing trust and care for him, and who probably would’ve liked to get back together with him, at least in some capacity. Meanwhile, characters like Viktor are supposed to die at the end. No matter how sympathetic of a villain he is, the gay disabled guy who irreversibly gave up his humanity to be an evil robot is supposed to self-implode. That character archetype is supposed to redeem himself by taking himself out of the narrative so that the hero can get the happy ending. Someone made a great comparison to the Phantom of the Opera, but this pattern is true for pretty much every mainstream story I can think of. Hell, even Jinx sort of did that, literally ejecting herself from the narrative so that Vi can live in Piltover and get together with Cait. Viktor seemed self-aware of this trope at the end. He had closed his eyes, deciding to accept his own lonely demise if it meant Jayce would live.

But Jayce rejects all of that. The story rejects all of that. And it doesn’t even blink twice to do it. Jayce says all I want is my partner back, and he chooses to die holding hands with Viktor instead. And the story says of course Jayce will choose this, because he always loved Viktor and wanted to be with Viktor more than he wanted any of those other things men are supposed to want. More than power, or respect, or sex, or legacy. Just Viktor. Always Viktor. And in the end, Viktor finally embraces that love, accepts and reciprocates it, in allowing Jayce to be with him in his final moments.

It’s so beautiful and it’s so, so queer. Do not come at me with platonic/romantic discourse because I do not care, I genuinely do not care. The story practically sings with queer love. It’s undooming him from the ableist patriarchal narrative so you can exchange magic wedding rings and hold each others’ souls forever in the astral plane. It’s everything I was afraid to ask for from a story because I never thought I would get it. I still can’t quite believe it’s real, and canon, and carved into the very bones of the story. I love it so much.

[bekolxeram]

Another day, another spin around the Great Cycle of Fandom Discourse™. Today we seem to be at the bachelor party costume debate for like, the 7th time. Let's just go all out and read too much into all of the characters' attires.

Buck and Eddie, they're the only ones dressed correctly for the theme, it was Buck's idea to throw a 80s themed party and Eddie's idea to dress up as Crockett and Tubbs after all. Although, as I've mentioned a while ago, they didn't coordinate with each other beforehand, so they both showed up dressing up as Crockett.

It's Crockett who usually wears pastel, Tubbs seems to prefer darker colors.

Now, Hen is wearing some kind of a retro costume, it's not exactly her usual style, but judging by the high waist flair jeans, it's more of a late 60s-70s outfit. Karen, on the other hand, dresses like uh..... Karen, aka goddess among men. It's probably Henren's normal going out attire.

I'm convinced this man has a closet full of Henleys in each pantone color. Tommy is in his usual Henley and jeans, and he explains it on a technicality: people did wear Henleys in the 80s. We don't actually know how much time passed between the coffee apology-not-date and the wedding, but it can't be too long. We also don't know when Buck invites Tommy to the bachelor party, he seems to be still scouring for venue 2 weeks before. There's likely not enough time for Tommy to shuffle his schedule around or throw together a specific costume. The best he can do is put on whatever he has and try his best to show up while on standby, Buck is glad that he can make it though.

I have no idea what Ravi is wearing. It's a regular button up with some subtle pattern on it and black pants? I don't think he's dressed up as anyone or anything in particular, I'll just put it in the same category as Tommy, there were people who dressed like this in the 80s.

Although Chimney got encephalitis-blocked, we learn from Maddie that he was on his way to the party. This is very possibly what he chose to wear for the occasion, it's not even casual, it's more business casual. In fact, this is the same shirt he wore to the Lee's a couple days ago, but this time he loses the jacket and puts on more informal pants.

We know he's not too stoke about going to a bachelor party and he's getting progressively sicker at that point, so it's understandable he would be the last person to wear a costume for the party.

In short, outside of Buck and Eddie, no one wear costumes to the bachelor party except for Hen, who wears the wrong one. I believe this scene is meant to be a silly little set up for Chimney's disappearance, but if we decide to read too much into, the only person who comes out looking less than positive is, unfortunately, Buck (and a bit Eddie for encouraging him).

Buck insists on throwing the party despite the continuous disapproval and refusal of the groom himself, whom the whole wedding is supposed to be about. But everyone understands Buck is doing it out of love, he just wants to celebrate Madney's epic love story, so they all show up the best they can even though they are mildly annoyed. They take time out of their busy lives, stay for a bit, then return to their obligations when it becomes clear that the night isn't going anywhere without Chimney's presence. At the end of the day, Buck didn't know Chimney was sick, his excessive enthusiasm also isn't that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, but if you really want to read this scene by itself as the writers painting one of the characters in less than favorable light, it would be Buck.

Ravi is totally in it for the free food though.

[catholic-character-tournament]

Round 5 - Catholic Character Tournament

Propaganda below ⬇️

Pope Pinion IV (Cars)

HELLO. IT IS I. THE GREAT AND ALMIGHTY ITALIAN TOURNEY. PLEASEPLEASE PUT HIM IN THERE WAS SO MUCH POPE DISCOURSE ON MY ACC AND HE WAS SOLOED IN THE FIRST ROUND BY LUIGI😭😭😭💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔 PLEASE AVENGE HIMMMM

The existence of Catholicism in the Cars universe implies that there was (or at least there was believed to be) a car Jesus who died for the cars’ sins, and I for one would like to see how a car gets crucified or sins. I guess the blood/wine here would be gasoline, but what would the body/bread be? How did they sit at the last supper? What is the layout of car church? How does a car build a church? Do other human religions exist in the cars universe? How does a goddess with the body of a human and the head of a cat translate to a car? Do Buddhist cars rein-car-nate? Do cars have souls?

he lost the italian character tournament, he will win here

Harrowhark

I'm pretty sure you've already got plenty of submissions for her so I'll just say she was raised in what is basically a cult (technically a nunnery but let's be real) dedicated to keeping the body of the thing that will kill God behind the rock. One of their prayers is actually "I pray the rock is never rolled away". Harrow is extremely devout as penance for her earlier heretical actions in the tomb as a child (spoiler!) so the Catholic guilt really comes through

imagine being a catholic nun and you meet god, but it turns out he’s a twitch streamer from new zealand who became god because everything got a little bit out of hand. and just before you met him you gave yourself a diy grief-fuelled lobotomy with the help of your best frenemy. imagine how insane you’d be. now multiply that insanity by nine. that’s the fictional love of my life right there.

she meets god. she’s not inspired

she’s number one practitioner of space Catholicism. The locked tomb is chock full of Christian (catholic) imagery themes metaphors etc. just look at her she’s got a bone rosary

They're Catholicism with extra bones. Everyone is a nun. They have what is basically a rosary made from knuckle bones. They technically worship the same God as everyone else, but they're waaaay more focused on The Body in the Tomb (Mary) and we get a moment where we find out that while everyone else prays the equivilent of The Lords Prayer, they're doing the equivilent of Hail Mary. And they paint their faces with skulls.

She thinks leaving dry bread in a drawer is taking care of someone. She's in love with a 10,000 year old corpse (the same one they worship). She spent ALL NIGHT digging with her bare hands to make sure a field had bones every 5 feet so she could fight her girlfriend - I mean, greatest enemy. Spoiler territory: She's been puppeting her parents corpses since she was 8 years old. Instead of grieving her dead girlfriend, she gives herself a lobotomy. She makes soup with bone in it so she can use the bone IN THEIR STOMACH to try and kill them.

The author is/was Catholic and the entire series had heavy Catholic overtones. https://www.tor.com/2020/08/19/gideon-the-ninth-young-pope-and-the-new-pope-are-building-a-queer-catholic-speculative-fiction-canon/ A good breakdown of how it's Catholic

Anti-propaganda (spoilers)

I love the Locked Tomb series but Harrowhark has daddy issues with God, had a childhood crush on God's cryogenic partner, and is in love with God's daughter, not to mention that she's essentially a bone-bender. The religion on her home planet exists in a way that is technically against the will of the canon in-universe God, even. All of this to say, Harrowhark is heretical at minimum if not an outright witch. Terrible Catholic. Burn her.

[ex35life]

I've seen a lot of discourse about the changes the song "There are Other Ways" in Epic makes to the story of Odysseus's encounter with Circe. Most of the discussion focuses on the implications for Odysseus's morality and problems of consent in the original story and what the change means for that. I get the concerns, but I guess for me the change was more about Circe's character than Odysseus's. Sure you get the emotional moment of Odysseus dramatically declaring his devotion to his wife, but how would the original Circ react to being denied? Things would not have gone well. But, this version of Circe was empathetic and changed her mind because of Odysseus's love for his wife. 

Let's face it, as much as I love The Odyssey, it is slap full of misogyny (like most ancient Greek literature). Almost every woman besides Penelope (a totally devoted wife) and Athena (an eternal maiden who aids men in achieving greatness) is pretty much evil. The poem takes every chance it can to instruct the reader in the evils of the female. They are duplicitous and lustful. There are warnings from the dead and stories of adulterous Goddesses on how terrible women are.

What Epic has given us in the song "There are Other Ways" is a powerful female character that isn't a predator. I never want to downplay the feelings of victims, but I just wanted to throw this thought into the conversation.

[raspberryfem]

not to continue to engage in the discourse but tbh the anti-atheist sentiment i hate most is that we don't care abt nature and don't have a sense of 'wonder' or whatever. i'm chock full of wonder! in fact, my lack of belief in god (/goddess/whatever spiritual way you'd put it) makes me feel MORE wonder! nobody designed our universe! the stars, the oceans, the summer rainstorms, the tiny leaf chameleons, the kitty cats, the volcanoes on mars or the great red spot of jupiter! it all happened by chance, and we are SO lucky to live in this very unlikely world where ALL of these things exist!! knowing that the whole universe could have developed and evolved differently if things were even the slightest bit different makes me so thankful for the wonders all around us!! life without intelligent design is beautiful and wondrous!!!!!!

[alatismeni-theitsa]

Hi! I'm not sure if this has been answered before but what are your feelings on the trend of turning Greek mythological figures like Achilles into sexuality labels like "achillean"?

I assume it may be different and more loaded than, say, using a historical figure like Sappho (a non-mythological figure afaik) in "sapphic". Nowadays I feel cautious whenever westerners decide to just personally identify with gods from cultures they're not even a part of, especially from a completely different cultural/political angle.

(fyi i'm asking because a queer community i'm part of has started considering adopting a similar label using Artemis, a goddess, which may be a LOT more insensitive. it isn't a huge topic or discourse, just something i spotted out in the wild but has gained some traction within that community - yet again neglecting to consider how actual Greeks might feel about it)

@roomba-mangga I apologize for the great delay but my askbox is full for months back :(

I feel "Achillean" is misplaced because it does not describe a real situation. For Sappho we have some indications at least but for Achilles and Patroclus things are different. Not only were they cousins but also excerpts of anything sexual between them have not been saved.

The fact that ancient people wondered about their sexuality (speaking about those who say "but ancient Greeks also saw them as gay") does not mean that it was a widely held notion among all Greeks (people were just discussing headcanons, to put it simply), and it does not mean that they viewed the relationship or the people as "gay" the same way we view "gay" today.

People who read the Iliad and see Achilles and Patroclus as a sexual couple - I feel - ignore the intimacy of Mediterranean men in friendships (and those of a different time!) and project their own modern standards of physical and emotional relationships onto them.

I am scared to know what they were saying for Artemis :o Does it have to do with asexuality?

[muninnhuginn]

madohomu for the ask meme?

Thanks for the ask!

Disclaimer before I start this that I have been holding off on rewatching PMMM for ages because I wanted to know when Walpurgisnacht was going to be releasing first, so I've not had a proper watch through in a few years (aside from ep 10 a few months back for, uh, research reasons)

Ship It

What made you ship it?

It's the classic execution of the "you were kind to me" trope. Homura was in hospital much of her life, didn't have great self-esteem, and it's her first time properly out in the world. Everything crashes and burns as Kyubey interferes, but Madoka is there at such a key time that it's incredibly formative for her. Madoka's kindness could have been aimed at anyone, but in this case, it was aimed at Homura, and Homura will always be thankful for that.

The series toes the line with the subtext and Rebellion takes it further, but it's still ambiguous enough that you get so much discourse over it (or at least, you did in the olden days, by which I mean: five years ago on reddit).

(It's funny. I had another ask about Harrow and Gideon before this. And both Harrow and Homura have a catholic (or adjacent) background that informs much of their behaviour. For Harrow, she worships the Body as a goddess (and has worship-like behaviour towards several other characters) but she decidedly doesn't worship Gideon in that way, which means her relationship with her is much more grounded by comparison. For Homura, she transfers her faith to Madoka, and though other people certainly exist (I don't buy that she doesn't care for the others; she's simply had to try to prioritise best she can) she pours everything she has into Madoka. They're both different approaches, but both work within their respective contexts.)

What are your favorite things about the ship?

The push and pull of selfishness and selflessness. Homura tries to save Madoka, no matter the cost, and in the process makes an even more tangled mess. And then, when all seems lost, Madoka saves her again. Homura was supposed to save her, to repay her thanks to Madoka. But she can't even do that.

In the main loop that we saw, Madoka spent most of her time terrified and kept in the dark. Homura was the one with the knowledge where Madoka once guided her. Madoka had no real reason to trust Homura, especially with how suspiciously she was acting, but she still wanted to. And when the time came, Madoka still stepped up.

Madoka sacrifices herself for the sake of the world and Homura should be happy, but Madoka isn't. And so, because Madoka isn't happy, Homura goes further. Madoka's selflessless is rewarded with pain time and again, but if Homura can bring her some happiness, then she will be selfish for selflessness' sake. Homura will sacrifice herself to play the villain if that's what it takes for the world's karma to turn in Madoka's favour. It's a cycle all the way down.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I feel like any opinion I could have on Homura would be contentious. But, to stick to madohomu specifically, I think that whilst Homura does override Madoka's agency in Rebellion, she does believe she's respecting Madoka's wishes. That Madoka was forced to make a choice with no good ending and if Homura can change that, she can make her truly happy. I don't think Homura arbitrarily decided that either. I think she asked and then took Rebellion!Madoka at her word. But Rebellion!Madoka was lacking key context and so her answer shouldn't be taken at face value.

[warningsine]

France was hurt, divided and in need of a great federating event after recent elections. And Emmanuel Macron framed the Olympic Games as an opportunity to “unite around a France that welcomes the world”, calling for a “political truce” during that time.

Conservatives, however, believe that the great moment of national cohesion has yet to take place. From the Republican party to the far-right National Rally, politicians throughout the conservative spectrum have described the opening ceremony’s scenes as “insults to the nation” and largely approached the event as a Trojan horse for the “woke ideology”.

Often heard in France in tandem with another idiom, “islamo-leftism” (islamo-gauchisme), which denounces the alleged proximity of the left with Islam, wokisme is increasingly the bête noire of a fringe of the political establishment. My research as part of the project funded by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche, HLJPGenre (History of Law and JurisPrudence, studied from a gender perspective), has already led me to analyse and decipher the use of the terms “woke” and “wokisme”.

But what exactly is “woke ideology” - or as the French would call it, wokisme?

Insult through awakening

The word “woke” comes from English. From the verb “to wake”, the noun qualifies a group of people who have woken up and suddenly taken up the issue of discrimination.

The progressive movements targeted by the term are far from exclusive to the English world, however. In France, conservatives tend to focus their anger on the left’s promotion of gender-neutral inclusive language, and championing of minorities as modern excesses. And yet, any Francophile knows that the country is home to a rich feminist tradition starting with Simone de Beauvoir as well as the progressive ideals of the 1789 French Revolution.

Semantic analysis of “antiwoke” discourse reveals that they are using an English term to evade openly discriminating against minorities’ protected by so-called woke ideology. The term’s catch-all and vague nature is to the benefit of the ones using it, making it easier for them to colour its targets negatively.

Scenes of unease on the Seine

Following a process of moral panic, woke critics often denounce the left’s general identity politics without identifying a clear target. The opening ceremony remedied this, with the niece of Marine Le Pen, Marion Maréchal, promptly taking to X to criticize the scene mistaken for a satire of the Last Supper.

On 28 July, the Paris Olympics artistic director, Thomas Jolly, has specified that the Last Supper was “not his inspiration” and the vignette referred in fact to The Feast of the Gods, featuring a banquet to celebrate the marriage of Thetis and Peleus.

“I believe it’s quite clear, we can see Dionysos arriving at the table. He’s there, because he’s the god of festivity, wine, and father of Sequana, goddess linked to the river. The idea was to throw a great pagan party linked to the gods of Olympus, Olympus”

By the time Jolly’s comments had landed, much of the damage had already been done. Echoing Marion Maréchal Le Pen, the Conference of Bishops of France lamented “scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity”.

Even before the event, the Olympic poster was the talk of the town. The “woke ideology” was suspected of plotting to erase France’s history:

“On the Paris Olympics’ official poster, the cross at the top of the Invalides has been erased and not a single French flag appears. The decision to make our identity invisible is an unacceptable mistake. Wokism must be fought against everywhere without wavering”

However, the edits simply complied with the requirements set out by the Olympic Charter prohibiting religious signs and the favouring of one country over another.

Those who claim to speak in the name of history are often the first to forget it when less convenient: indeed, why could a French artistic director not represent the decollation of Marie Antoinette under the French Revolution? Meanwhile, Da Vinci’s L'Ultima Cena is not strictly speaking a religious relic, but rather a piece of artistic heritage by a presumably homosexual painter.

What’s more, “wokisme” is also a movement that gives particular visibility to the place of women in our societies. Those who expressed outrage at the opening ceremony were quiet about the 10 statues representing outstanding French women. Since it is no longer appropriate to campaign against women’s right to abortion, few people, if anyone invoked the “woke ideology” to comment upon the gilded statues of Simone Veil, who legalised abortion in France in 1975, and lawyer Gisèle Halimi, who campaigned for it throughout her life. In the same vein, there were no public criticisms of the image of Paulette Nardal, who theorised négritude (“blackness”), rising from the Seine, or of the writing of the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Citizen by Olympe de Gouges, a woman long forgotten and resurrected historically by feminist studies.

But what does the law say?

On closer examination, “the woke ideology” seems less radical, if not non-existent as currently described. Behind this ‘wokist’ accusation are people who open up to others, try to understand particular situations, analyse them and offer possible remedies.

What’s more, the very target of criticism is a set of freedoms that are guaranteed, and of which France can indeed be proud: secularism, creative freedom and freedom of expression, guarantees against discrimination, etc. Added together, the ceremony’s most controversial segments show that normality remains undefined and that every human being must be considered as such, can express himself as such.

France still has a long way to go before equality is effectively guaranteed. However, we cannot say that these values do not represent France: they are our laws, constitutional achievements or texts debated by the nation’s representatives in the Assembly. Equality regardless of skin colour, abortion, ‘ marriage for all ’, transidentity, the fight against grossophobia – protected as part of the fight against discrimination, gender equality.

Incidentally, since one of the aims of major events is to bring people together, ‘ the woke  ideology’, by offering a platform to diversity would be to thank  everyone was able to identify with this show at one time or another. We mustn’t forget that issues of gender, sexuality other than heterosexual, gender equality are still potential sources of tension in sport. Sportsmen and women who cannot/willingly display their distance from the social norms of their respective countries, were welcomed to Paris.

Those concerned about the political undertones should refer back to the Olympic Charter:

Olympism is a philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a balanced whole the qualities of body, will and mind. Blending sport with culture and education, Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy found in effort, the educational value of good example and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles.

[creature-wizard]

I figure the next Satanic Panic literature I'll look at will be Wicca: Satan's Little White Lie. It was written by William "Bill" Schnoebelen, a guy who claimed to have been involved not only in Wicca, but also Freemasonry and Mormonism, and discovered that each one of them was Satanic. The dude claims he was involved with the Illuminati, which was of course Satanic.

Now of course, if you're active in witchcraft and neopagan discourse, you'll know that Wicca has been subjected to lot of criticism - particularly regarding its members being culturally appropriative and overstepping boundaries by claiming that all gods and goddesses are aspects of Wicca's Lord and Lady. But I think you'd also agree that it's not Satanic, and that claiming that it's part of a giant Satanic conspiracy is just... silly.

The book was published by Chick Publications, as in Jack Chick, as in Chick tracts. Jack Chick, for the unaware, spent his life creating small comics meant to lead others to Jesus. They were full of conspiracy theories and general hatred toward anyone who wasn't an Evangelical. Though it seems that as of late, Chick Publications (no longer run by Jack Chick, who is deceased) has cut ties with him, because Schnoebelen has been getting into flat earth and defending Christian use of Kabbalah.

So. Yeah.

On the first page, Schnoebelen describes Wicca as "one of the more seductive deceptions that Satan has come up with." Now Bill, I know Gerald Gardner was... not great, but I don't think he was Satan.

He claims:

It claims to be a “back to nature” religion which worships the sky and earth, and thus has attracted many adherents among those sympathetic to environmental and ecology issues. Yet, for all its charm and nostalgic fantasy, Wicca drew me into the deepest quagmire of satanic evil imaginable.

Dude... if you decided to jump ship from Wicca to Satanism (or at least, Satanism According To Evangelical Conspiracy Theorists), that's on you. If you were so greedy for power that you went as far as you claim, that's your fault.

Um. What:

The actual spiritual difference between Wicca and satanism might best be illustrated this way: Practicing Wicca is like having a hand-grenade blow up in your face, in terms of the spiritual impact. Practicing satanism is like having an neutron bomb detonate in your face. The difference is there and discernable, but it is still an utter disaster for you, either way.

Schnoebelen points out that Wicca was created in the mid-20th century, which I mean, fair enough. But then he tries to assert that Wicca Is Bad because Etymology and also the Dictionary and also there's arguments over what a witch is among neopagans, and like. It's just absurd because it's not like Christianity is free of questionable historical claims or infighting.

And then he claims:

In my own personal development as a witch, and the development of almost all our colleagues, I found that after about five or six years it was necessary to begin pursuing the study of the “Higher Wisdom” of Satan in order to keep growing. Magick is like a drug. You keep needing more in order to stay at a level at which you feel fulfilled. There is no end to it! If you’ve stayed a Wiccan or “white” witch for a long time, it’s only because you don’t have enough of the Promethean itch to grow. OR it may be that you have many Christian friends or loved ones praying for you.

Did you ever think of that?

Bill. My dude. The problem is that you are a power-hungry fuck, who apparently lacks any ability to recognize when a spiritual claim or worldview is just kinda ridiculous or fucked up, and drop it like the crap it is. I'm guessing that's why you're getting into Flat Earth these days. You just don't know where to quit, and you're projecting this onto everybody else.

[controversial-blorbo-bracket]

clementine kesh is a character i'm glad most people don't know because she's controversial in the way that she's built to suck and be hated but people are obsessed with her because she's compelling narratively and i think the discourse would be insane. anyway she's a space princess who can't dream of a world better than one where her power comes from slave labor as long as she gets to be on the throne, so transparent in her maneuvering she becomes completely divorced from power pretty much on the grounds that she sucks and no one likes her but she's so entertainingly unable to change she gets adopted by a capricious heretic goddess-machine built around cycles and becomes the witch-queen of a floating city of the resurrected dead which is itself a kind of god no allowed to die and a stolen symbol of the imperial house that disowned her. personality-wise she's petty, violent and pathetic. i haven't even touched on her mom not liking her or her homoerotic rival. anyone interested in ttrpg podcasts and spaces drama should listen to friends at the table season 6 partizan the person who plays her fucking commits to her worst qualities at all times it's great

.

[baroquespiral]

hello. i saw a video featuring aella then saw your twitter through it. i immediately stopped watching the video as i do not agree with many of their takes, but i would like to understand them without watching a video about kinks through the lens of the political compass. could you possibly explain what gender maximalizing is, what a gynocratic traditionalist is, and what the sphere you operate in is called? Thank you. (there was an article when i looked it up but im not going on medium)

wait what video with Aella am I in lol. anyway most of the things in my Twitter bio are at least partly a bit, do not represent any kind of relevant external movement or phenomenon, and you are not going to find explained anywhere else anyway so. "gender optimizationist" is a kind of contrarian response to the formerly popular position of "gender nihilism", a framework that tried to decentre the discourse of innate identity in justifying/accounting for gender fluidity, transition etc. by basically adopting the maximally deflationist position that gender is entirely an ideological construct covering material oppressive systems but letting people identify & do whatever they want with it is truer to the premise of its abolition than restricting specific behaviours and identities as actually existing "gender". I actually do find this useful to bring up when TERFs claim stuff like "trans people believe in innate gendered souls or what role you fit determines your gender" etc. but still think it concedes too much so my own position of "gender optimization" is like, gender is real at least insofar as something we consciously construct, people's identities aren't less objective than their historical origins and we can and should continue the project of shaping and rebuilding it until we make it something that can accommodate the maximum of everyone possible (and leave exits for people who don't want it)

"gynocratic traditionalism" is not entirely compatible with this and while I didn't take either completely seriously I used to struggle with this more before I got into Thelema and clarified my spirituality & ontology in a lot of ways. for completely personal poetic/psychosexual reasons I was simultaneously inclined to read gender as actually real in a metaphysical/spiritual sense, albeit one that doesn't map to biology or patriarchal gender roles and mostly derives from reading The White Goddess by Robert Graves way too young. almost nobody remembers it now but that book was part of the broader "matriarchal antiquity" trend, a huge influence on Wicca and the New Ageier side of second wave feminism, and argues that the original religious/magickal tradition was the essentially henotheistic worship of a Great Goddess of life, death and nature, who was self-sufficient but produced for her own pleasure a secondary male god who dies and resurrects with the agricultural cycle. human gender is then a reflection of this higher metaphysical order, with woman as the superior term in the hierarchy, and the "warrior" dimensions of masculinity being descended from a form of sacrificial kingship ritually representing the life-death cycle of the Goddess' lover. I'd basically argue the "gender optimizationist" position relative to left queer theory but this relative to right-wing mythopoeic traditionalist accounts of gender, which as an intensely capital-R Romantic personality I did at least get the appeal of and offered it as a "feminist" alternative to. people like RFH have kinda picked up the baton of that now although I have some obvious issues with her framings. I used "gynocratic" instead of matriarchal bc one of the interesting things about Graves' version of this hypothesis is it doesn't actually focus on motherhood and reproduction as much as the wombyn TERF stuff; for instance instead of the more famous Wiccan "maiden/mother/crone" formulation for the Goddess' three aspects he uses "maiden/nymph/crone", implying that the default adulthood stage wasn't necessarily settling down and popping out babies but a freewheeling sexuality where reproduction was an individual choice supported by the community, controlled by abortifacents etc. should probably clarify that, after quite a bit of going back and forth on it and my Twitter presence was designed to be plausibly deniable in either direction, I am pretty much a low-Kinsey bisexual cis guy who socialized into predominantly queer, especially trans spaces mostly just due to neurodivergence and general nonconformity. a lot of my weird gender politics is subtly in dialogue with MonetizeYourCat-era Tumblr stuff (imo the more honest version of today's mainstream heteropessimism) about whether it's even possible or ethical to exist as that you didn't mention them but just to have on record re: the other stuff in the bio, "presuppositional leftist" applies the idea of presuppositional apologetics to my left commitments in the sense that they're not premised on any descriptive claim about reality but rather presuppositions of why politics would even matter to me in the first place, and "Canadian materialist" is a joke on Canadian idealism. my Substack bio is more up to date with where I'm at now but I like keeping the Twitter one around bc every now and then someone has a really funny reaction to it I don't really have a "sphere I operate in" so much as I float around the edges of different subcultures, study them and make friends with people I find interesting. currently I feel like I'm kind of in tpot, kind of in the "irony left" and kind of in parapolitics/esoteric "schizoposting". and also trying to carve out a niche in the online subcultural arts scene: my major passion project rn is my indie press and in particular our serial fiction journal (new issue coming out this month!) featuring two of my novels

[mannazandwyrd]

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A post shared by Nordic Animism (@nordic.animism)

Really appreciated the academic evidence of *Ostara as a correct reconstruction of a name of a goddess of spring, as explained by Mimisbrunnr’s Joseph Hopkins, in the caption of this post by @nordicanimism - and thought it was worth pointing to here given the Tumblr discourse about Eostre for the past month or so. Click through to check it out.

Hope you’re all having a great long weekend and enjoying your Eostre / Varblót / Sigrblót celebrations!

[catholic-character-tournament]

Round 1 - Side A

Propaganda below ⬇️

Pope Pinion IV (Cars)

HELLO. IT IS I. THE GREAT AND ALMIGHTY @funny-polls ITALIAN TOURNEY. PLEASEPLEASE PUT HIM IN THERE WAS SO MUCH POPE DISCOURSE ON MY ACC AND HE WAS SOLOED IN THE FIRST ROUND BY LUIGI😭😭😭💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔 PLEASE AVENGE HIMMMM

The existence of Catholicism in the Cars universe implies that there was (or at least there was believed to be) a car Jesus who died for the cars’ sins, and I for one would like to see how a car gets crucified or sins. I guess the blood/wine here would be gasoline, but what would the body/bread be? How did they sit at the last supper? What is the layout of car church? How does a car build a church? Do other human religions exist in the cars universe? How does a goddess with the body of a human and the head of a cat translate to a car? Do Buddhist cars rein-car-nate? Do cars have souls?

he lost the italian character tournament, he will win here

Doomguy

PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PUT DOOMSLAYER IN HERE

In the books he's canonically Catholic. Haven't played enough of the games to know but I think they keep it vague in the games. The books are pretty divergent from the games in some ways though so idk

Literally insane. Kills demons because of murder of pet rabbit. Traps himself in hell to give demons more whoopass.

In addition to being Catholic, Doomguy is canonically celibate, meaning he is, in fact, eligible to become the Pope. He's also very proficient in exorcisms, if "blasting demons into a bloody mess with a shotgun" counts as an exorcism.

Literally kills demons & his universe's equivalent of Satan

HE GOES TO HELL like 5 times to fight demons and protect earth. He's also canonically celibate.

[gctchell]

"Marrow made a wife of Eve, but no one gave up a rib for me and mine. Brick and mortar between my bones, built a kingdom fierce and fortified."

Lilith headcanons, history, bits of combined mythology & Hazbin's currently lore, and divergences (1/30/2024);

Warning: Briefest mention of domestic discourse below the read more. I do not apply this portrayal of Adam to anyone else's other than mine and will not reference to it with other Adams.

"Who is Lilith?"

Fiercely Independent and a Visionary, Lilith is the First Woman to exist and walk the Earth, and the first female Demon. The Queen of Hell. She is known as a Night Goddess, a Vampire, a Siren, a Witch, the Mother of Succubi, and the Mother of all Demons. She is the fallen angel Lucifer's beloved, and the mother of the Hazbin Hotel's owner, Charlie.

Created from the same dust as Adam, Lilith stood as his equal as the intended mother of humanity. However, Adam saw it differently; Adam saw himself as her superior and time and time again, he tried to assert this belief just to be met with Lilith's defiance that tirelessly insisted that they were equals. This is a clash that was a continuous in their relationship, it never saw end and only provided further strain for the courtship they shared.

When the time to mate came, Adam would claim that man belongs on top while Lilith would refuse and remind him once more that they are equals, and say that she wanted to be on top. This quarrel spun out, a collision of two defiant wills in one storm, their worst argument yet.

Lilith would turn to leave the Garden only to be met by Adam's painful grip to keep her in Eden, and in turn, he was met with her teeth in his neck. Blood was spilled in the Garden of Eden for the first time. He was able to break free from her grasp and they tore apart from one another, Adam grasping at the punctures in his flesh and looking to Lilith in disbelief.

With Adam's blood soaking her skin and the situation hot and maddened, Lilith would cry God's name in anger for their union and the inequality, sprout the wings of an owl from her back, and take flight from Eden, leaving the First Man wounded, angered, confused, and alone.

Fleeing to the Red Sea for solitude and solace, Lilith would find that she had company from the Angel Lucifer, who, like her, was an outcast amongst his kind. He praised her independence and sheer force of will, and she found great comfort in that. Time would roll on outside of the Garden, and the two rebellious souls fell deeply in love.

Eventually, Adam would be given a new bride in Lilith's absence - Eve, born from his rib. Having experienced Adam before, Lilith was of one mind with Lucifer when they decided to gift the fruit of knowledge unto Eve to allow her the same taste of free will of which they possessed. This proved to be a chaotic choice however, as it birthed sin in the Garden of Eden with the couple that would populate the Earth, infesting the many, many lineages that would spawn from their union.

Lilith and Lucifer were punished by Heaven for their transgressions, and were cast together into the created Pit as punishment.

Lucifer languished in banishment, forbidden from seeing the wonders that would be done with the free will that he and his beloved had helped introduce to humanity, and forced to only see the evil. Lilith, on the other hand, thrived.

As the first female demon, Lilith, with Lucifer's aid, turned the Pit that was meant to be their realm of punishment into a realm of demonic Elysium -- Hell. In a way that could be seen as mirroring (or mocking) God, Lilith rose varieties of hellspawn from the crimson soil and empowered them with the vitality of song, and in doing so, she became known as the Mother of Demons -- an ironic twist of fate, instead of becoming the intended Mother of Humanity.

The new civilization flourished, especially as the rejects of humanity came tumbling down into the dark rather than rising to the light of Heaven. It was no longer only Lilith and Lucifer's home, but many others as well. Communities grew, and powerful beings that came to be known as the 'Deadly Sins' allied with the lovers and helped to rule the different sects of the domain called 'Rings'. Human souls, 'Sinners', would stay within the Ring of 'Pride' where the Queen & King made their home, naturally belonging within the proximity of the once human Lilith.

The times were pleasant, the population grew and filled out the infinite reaches of the Pride Ring. Demonkind relished in the comforting, invigorating strength that would fuel them stemmed from the Mother of Hell's voice and song. The power of Hell itself grew! And Heaven noticed, and Heaven felt threatened. Hell was never meant to be the Utopia that Lilith and the rest of the Damned were raising it to be - it was meant to stay a place of shadow and shame, and they defied Heaven's intent. Their power could grow to rise against their own. So, Heaven made the decision as it watched the numbers grow higher and higher; It would unleash a culling of the Pride Ring once a year to bring the numbers of its human souls down, an Extermination led by Lilith's spurned lover, Adam, and remind Hell and all of its people that it is the below.

It both broke and enraged Lilith's heart.

But Hell is Lilith's Pride and Joy, it is both her and Lucifer's home - it is their people's home. It is more than worth saving. Tirelessly, Lilith would meet with representatives of Heaven at the erected Holy Embassy and attempt negotiations of peace to bring a halt to the Exterminations once and for all. Time after time, her attempts would end in failure, yet she would never give up.

Even under the light of adversity, dark blessings bloom. A daughter would be born with Lilith's dreams at her core; Charlotte Morningstar. The Princess of Hell, and the apple of Lilith and Lucifer's eye.

They were happy. Lilith had her responsibilities as the Queen of Hell and the more social spirit of the royal marriage, but now as a mother to a child, she would make time for Charlotte. She was attentive, and she was nurturing. She was intellectual, and gladly tutored Charlotte in the ways of her own favored hobbies such as music, art, magic, and gardening. Charlotte always knew music and creative outlets with Lilith (as well as her father Lucifer), she knew them by heart - they were such an enormous part of the household. Lilith the painter and sculptor, and Lucifer the inventor. There was no room for the Princess to lack sources for self-expression - it was the culture of Morningstar Palace.

So..

"What is going on? Where is she?"

Many years after Charlotte, now preferring her name shortened to 'Charlie', was grown, Lilith felt more comfortable to depart on diplomatic missions. They were long and arduous, but she would always come back home. There is one, however, that she has not returned from.

Seven years ago, Lilith would depart from the Palace with her selected guard and a selection of human souls that were indebted to her; the most powerful, or promising, ones at the given time who were different in their own right. This mission was of grave importance, as Lilith had finally managed to gain an audience with the closest ties to the Speaker of God, Sera. The most promising and enticing meeting yet, one that Lilith felt would finally turn the tides of the Extermination. Given this is such an important figure visiting straight from Heaven though, there were conditions to keep her arrival a secret. Lilith was not about to put this meeting in jeopardy, so she would agree.. and only tell Lucifer where it was that she was departing to.

There was a disagreement risen from concern. Sera was not the sort of angel who had duties to Hell, and in Lucifer's expert opinion, had zero interest in visiting at all. Lilith would speak with Lucifer and explain this was as close as she could possibly get to achieving the goal of peace, and that she understood the situation - the proposal - was suspicious. She was not naive, something underhanded was no doubt going to take place, but with tensions as high as they are, the risk of diving straight into war is too sensitive. She would be taking her most trusted guard and contracts to stay by her side and keep her safe. Lucifer insisted he would come as well, but she rejected the offer and told him their domain needed at least one of them home.

Gathering her chosen entourage, the Queen prepared herself and set out to the Holy Embassy. There, Sera was indeed waiting -- along with Adam and his Lieutenant.

Lilith and Lucifer were right. This arrangement was a sabotage. Lilith and her Guard disappeared from Hell as quiet as a sigh. The only one aware of it taking place at all was Lucifer, and he was quick to connect to Heaven after his wife failed to return home after a given amount of time.

Heaven had taken Hell's inspirational songbird of a mother captive, and she, both enraged but determined that this circumstance will eventually be turned into her favor now that she had Sera's ear, was a begrudgingly willing captive. It was only natural that there was very little Lilith could do to soothe her husband, but she could in the least convince him to wait. She would find a way to call for him if she needed to be free, but for now, she was in Heaven's grasp.

To this day, this served to be a very miserable circumstance. It is only as of recent days that Lilith was able to make enough headway to convince her captors to release her Guard and return them home, they had no business being here - they had families of their own to return to. Was she, despite all of her power and ability to shake Heaven, not the ideal prisoner?

That thin threat combined with the facts was more than enough to finally win in her favor. The Guard were sent back to Hell, and amongst them was the Radio Demon, who has constant spiritual two-way communication to the Dark Queen.

I enjoy the theory that involves Alastor being indebted to Lilith and have built upon that a little bit, following her request to act as something of a guardian over her daughter in her absence. However, I will not apply this to Alastors that may wish to write with me unless explicitly told they are interested in toying with it!

Now, about Lilith.

Independent and astoundingly composed, Lilith is a bewitching and regal matriarch personality with melody at her core, much like her spirited daughter Charlie. She is an abundantly creative soul who suffers when cut off from self-expression to the point of deep melancholy. She is a singer with grand performances that travel across the Rings of Hell whilst on her diplomatic missions, and you best believe there is never an empty seat in her concert hall. These performances paired perfectly with the dramatic flair of her husband, the Ringmaster, and they never fail to put on a grand show when combined together.

Born in Eden, it is only natural that Lilith is a notorious green thumb and animal whisperer. This was her bread and butter to begin with and it only continued into darker palettes after her banishment. Two of the most notable agricultural wonders of Hell are the Morningstar Apple Orchard and Palace Garden.

Creation has always been a core characteristic, as well. Sometimes considered the dark reflection of God for her creation of demons, Lilith has her own workshop within the Palace District that is dedicated to both the creation of art -- and demons. She has not stopped spinning the unholy to life just because Hell is plentiful and thriving.

Lilith adores her people faithfully, making the greatest sacrifice of her precious and treasured freedom to end the yearly genocide once and for all. However, there are always children who misbehave and treat their fellow sinner in a way less than agreeable, and they know to walk lightly with a straightened spine when the Queen is around. It is not wise to disrespect and abuse one another in her presence - the punishment can be quite severe.

tidbits;

Unless canon provides a voice that I like, her voice claim for the time being is the lovely & sultry Mary Elizabeth McGlynn. Hear it here!

Lilith is associated with snakes, spiders, owls, nightjars, and even cats ( cats are somewhat headcanon ). These sorts of creatures are regular inhabitants of the Palace and the Garden.

Lilith is fully able to change her horns to fit her desired look, as well as being able to make them vanish entirely!

Her favored drink is blood - particularly her husband's!

KeeKee was originally hers, she gifted her to Charlie once she decided to strike out on her own.

While Lilith is able to sprout the wings similar to an owl & a bat to take flight, she does, in fact, have her own broomstick she enjoys flying about the place with.

In concern for elements, Lilith's element is water. She is deeply associated with the Red Sea and considers it to be her own. There are large bodies of water found throughout Hell as a result, and she had an enormous hand in the creation of the aquatic Envy Ring.

Lilith is bisexual.

Despite Charlie preferring her shortened name, Lilith habitually calls her 'Charlotte'.

The woman's hair is animated and in constant motion. She is also able to control it.

Due to Lilith not being in canon at this point and time ( 1/30/2024 ), I am taking enormous liberties with her character. As / If canon ever divulges into her, these things listed here are liable to change!

Mains ;

Established with these babes in mind, these characters are attached to Lilith's core. I'm very happy to interact with anyone and everyone, these are just the lovely folk that are in mind whenever the character is mentioned.

Lucifer; @punchedpentagram & @sinnerswinners !

Charlie; @heavenslie & @soughtbirthright !

Emily; @heavenslie !

Chava / Pomni; @heavenslie !

Asmodeus; @jizzlords ( & @punchedpentagram ? ) !

Divergence notices;

I refer to God as the creator of Lilith and Adam, but I can easily swap to the Angels no problem at all. My portrayal was posted 1/30/2024. The beach scene is not my lore, nor is this vague deal made with Adam. If I like it in the future, I might play with it, but for now I'm just doing my own thing. I've had this woman for a year prior in private and am going with some of the things I have worked into her from behind the scenes to mix with canon as much as I am comfortable with. As my default telling, Lilith and Lucifer are not actually separated in my portrayal. Hell could certainly think so though, and Charlie could definitely think that they have some issues going on, i.e, the last time she saw them together, it was in disagreement over the Sinners and the Extermination, the one thing that Lilith and Lucifer collide on as they exist at polar opposite points on the spectrum in their personal regards. As stated in my rules, I personally do not accept the sexual innuendo involving the apple. I am playing the marriage as monogamous and do not have interest in playing with an open relationship/marriage concept.

[writernopal]

Happy WBW, Nopal! If I were a tourist in the Holtep Empire, what would the recommended experience be? (I'm interested in what their home and culture is like--you could walk me through an imaginary tourism day or just talk about sites to see, food to eat, etc).

Happy (late) WBW, Moshke!

Get ready because this is going to be long haha. Lizardfolk are very schedule driven so they'd take you around their daily life with a few special visits since you are their guest!

Lizardfolk are early to rise. This is because they need to take the sun to regulate their body temps! Taking the morning sun is a group activity, so you'd be expected to rise with them and sunbathe for about an hour or so either in their courtyard or on the roof of their house. During this time, they'll usually do some kind of stretching and easy movement (think yoga or tai chi), talk, read, and have a light snack to break their fast. This snack varies, but it's usually some kind of protein and will probably be raw since that is what they can most easily digest.

Once that's done, they'll get dressed, and if you were staying with nobles, then they'd host you for a proper breakfast in their home else, they'd take you out to eat. Whether you're eating in or out, you'd likely have more protein, a mix of cooked and raw (something like beef tartare and quick-seared pork are a popular combo unless you're by the sea, then you'll likely have things like caviar and sashimi!) and a helping of fermented sticky rice. It's one of the few carbs they can easily stomach! They usually have some kind of warm tea with their meal to stay energized for the rest of their day!

After that, they'd take you on a rickshaw tour of the town, likely starting with the many shrines to Kava, Goddess of Lizardfolk. They'd explain her rising to heaven and probably talk your ear off about how great she is haha. If you're in the capital city of X'chifostla you'd be taken on a tour of the Courtyard of Emperors and be told of all the great emperors in the Empire's history, including the first Emperor, Galan (more on him here!) If you're not in the capital city then you'd be taken on a tour of the surrounding deserts to see the exquisite vineyards of native desert plants which they cultivate to produce special wines, ointments, and poultices! They're quite proud of them!

You'll have lunch after that, which is typically light then, depending on the House that is hosting you, you'll participate in their chosen activity of leisure. For War, it's sparring or having discourse over fighting and battle strategy. For Law, debates on ethics or doing some reading and subsequent group discussion. For Dreams, you'd likely meditate with them or read star charts (not like horoscopes, as in making sense of the Realm of Dreams). If you manage to slip away from that and hang out with the kiddos, then you'd likely play the equivalent of polo but not on horseback, you'd be on the back of a misindah, a large horselike insect. Just be careful because they do bite! Or you might be invited to play with their pets (jaguars and other big cats) be careful with them too!

You'll have high tea after that if you're with nobles if you're not, then you'll probably go to an inn or tavern to pass the time. If you're at a tavern, you'll have to eat bugs, dead and alive. They serve them by the bowl-full! Also, Lizardfolk can get kind of competitive, so you'd probably be asked to join in a game of osjta, or darts but with a twist! The darts themselves are loaded with poison, and the loser of the game has to lick the end of it. It won't kill you, but your stomach won't be pleased with you 😅

After that, you'll have dinner, the heaviest meal of the day! It contains the most protein (enter Holtepian Claypot lamb!), including insects, and you will be expected to eat it ALL. There will be more fermented rice and chopped dates as an accompaniment. To end the meal, you'll have boiling hot tea and some kind of sugary treat, like lokum or syrupy berries! A nightcap of some kind of hard liquor is required (even for the kids lol), and then it's off to bed!