#I Heard the bells

[solivar]

Repost: I Heard the Bells

It's Christmas Eve and the former members of Overwatch celebrate as only they can: with unexpected gifts from lonely exiles, assassination attempts, and world-hopping heroics.

[musingsofmemory]

“I heard the bells on Christmas day

Their old familiar carols play;

In music sweet the words repeat,

‘There’s peace on earth, good will to men.’

I thought how, as the day had come,

The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along th’ unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair, I bowed my head:

‘There is no peace on earth,’ I said,

‘For hate is strong, and mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good will to men.’

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

‘God is not dead, nor does He sleep,

For Christ is here; His Spirit near

Brings peace on earth, good will to men.’

When men repent and turn from sin

The Prince of Peace then enters in,

And grace imparts within their hearts

His peace on earth, good will to men.

O souls amid earth’s busy strife,

The Word of God is light and life;

Oh, hear His voice, make Him your choice,

Hail peace on earth, good will to men.

Then happy, singing on your way,

Your world will change from night to day;

Your heart will feel the message real,

Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

-I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

[featherlesswings]

It’s so creepy to me, from a deconstructed perspective, to see the evangelical propaganda farm turn one of my favorite poets’ extremely tragic life into a cringey moral lesson movie to try to guilt people with grief and/or depression into converting. The trailer has such a “depression is warfare against faith” vibe to it. The man lost so much, and sure he probably did regain his faith in a much more scaled down way than they portray in the movie. But he was a real human, who had real tragedies occur all around him, and rather than telling his story in a “human life is hard,” way, they turned it into a marketing scheme. Like, “see how you relate to him? You’re probably going through a lot right now too, huh? Know what would fix all your problems? This famously emotionally abusive religion that tells you all your problems are your fault, and you have to beg forgiveness and hope a supposedly benevolent deity will make things better for you at some point. Doesn’t that sound better than therapy, treatment, medication, and other such yucky things? Oh, and hand over 10 percent of your earnings for the rest of your life too.”

I hate it here.

[autisticabbey]

Elf Christmas movie classic and I Heard The Bells

[thegayhimbo]

With the end of the ceasefire in Gaza right now, as well as the rise in antisemitism, islamophobia, and bigotry that's everywhere these days, this particular verse from "I heard the Bells" hits hard for me:

And in despair I bowed my head

"There is no peace on Earth," I said

For hate is strong and mocks the song

Of peace on Earth, good will to men.

[tctmp]

I Heard the Bells: Directed by Joshua Enck. With Stephen Atherholt, Jonathan Blair, Rachel Day Hughes, Zach Meeker. The inspiring story behind the writing of the beloved Christmas carol and its author, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

[theologyforthelayman]

I Heard The Bells To Be Released

LANCASTER, PA., Nov. 7, 2023 – Following nearly five decades of producing spectacular, faith-based entertainment experiences live on stage, Sight & Sound partners with Pinnacle Peak Pictures and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment to release their debut feature film, I HEARD THE BELLS, for the first time on Digital and DVD on November 14, 2023. The release will contain bonus features delving…

[erhu-american-style]

Merry Christmas Everyone!

[airasilver]

I like to see this now.

[ittybittyremy]

I'm sorry but some of you really overestimate how pro-god Orym is

[solivar]

It's Christmas Eve and the former members of Overwatch celebrate as only they can: with unexpected gifts from lonely exiles, assassination attempts, and world-hopping heroics.

[heycallmeplease]

I love you, so much and so truly darling, I love looking at you, I love whispering all my secrets to you, I love kissing you good night, I love letting you know how much I do, I do, I do, baby I love you, can't you see ?

@skyrigel

[satans-knitwear]

I put the fan on for her and she is absoloutly thrilled and obsessed. Can cuddle without overheating now! A win for puppies everywhere.

[autisticabbey]

Today I went to the movies to go see two Christmas movie, Elf, Christmas movie classic, and I Heard The Bells, and they’re both really good, after I ate Outback for lunch to celebrate Kenneth Branagh’s birthday while I wore my Moon vintage heels

[samcat18]

Liam o'brien absolutely vibrating with anger that he's channeling for orym is making me feel more than anything else in this philosophical snoozery is

[caeslxys]

I’ve mentioned this elsewhere but it feels relevant again in light of the most recent episode. Something that’s really fascinating to me about Orym’s grief in comparison to the rest of the hells’ grief is that his is the youngest/most fresh and because of that tends to be the most volatile when it is triggered (aside from FCG, who was two and obviously The Most volatile when triggered.)

As in: prior to the attack on Zephrah, Orym was leading a normal, happy, casual life! with family who loved him and still do! Grief was something that was inflicted upon him via Ludinus’ machinations, whereas with characters like Imogen or Ashton, grief has been the background tapestry of their entire lives. And I think that shows in how the rest of them are largely able to, if not see past completely (Imogen/Laudna/Chetney) then at least temper/direct their vitriol or grief (Ashton/Fearne/Chetney again) to where it is most effective. (There is a glaring reason, for example, that Imogen scolded Orym for the way he reacted to Liliana and not Ashton. Because Ashton’s anger was directed in a way that was ultimately protective of Imogen—most effective—and Orym’s was founded solely in his personal grief.)

He wants Imogen to have her mom and he wants Lilliana to be salvageable for Imogen because he loves Imogen. But his love for the people in his present actively and consistently tend to conflict with the love he has for the people in his past. They are in a constant battle and Orym—he cannot fathom losing either of them.

(Or, to that point, recognize that allowing empathy to take root in him for the enemy isn't losing one of them.)

It is deeply poignant, then, that Orym’s grief is symbolized by both a sword and shield. It is something he wields as a blade when he feels his philosophy being threatened by certain conversational threads (as he believes it is one of the only things he has left of Will and Derrig, and is therefore desperately clinging onto with both bloody hands even if it makes him, occasionally, a hypocrite), but also something he can use in defense of the people he presently loves—if that provocative, blade-grief side of him does not push them—or himself—away first.

(it won’t—he is as loved by the hells as he loves them. he just needs to—as laudna so beautifully said—say and hear it more often.)