#I should probably add the disclaimer that I am not Catholic nor do I play one on television

[katakaluptastrophy]

The thing about TLT being "a Catholic book" isn't really to do with it making references and gestures to Catholic figures or ideas (though it does that), or that characters reflect different experiences of being queer and raised Catholic (though it does that too), but rather that the fundamental mechanics of the plot draw upon and play interesting games with a specifically Catholic understanding of metaphysics. Gideon isn't "meant to be" Catholic, or in some way endear us to Catholicism. But her conception, the arc of her life, and the outworking of her death are all underpinned by an engagement with Catholic sacramentality and its implications.

In very general terms, the Catholic understanding of how the universe works is bound up in the physical outworking of sin and redemption: the sin of Adam and Eve is transmitted from generation to generation, God acted out of time and space to preserve the Virgin Mary from that sin so that she could conceive and bear Jesus, who died and rose again and repaired the breach that first sin made in the universe. But also the belief that God saves people from sin and death through consuming Jesus' body, blood, soul, and divinity in the eucharist; and through the literal effect that baptism and confession have upon the human soul: that is, to put it in a state of grace, untarnished by either Adam's sin or their own, on a wavelength with God, as it was in the beginning.

The logic (if very much not the magisterial interpretation of) Catholic metaphysics is one of the key drivers of the overall story of TLT. How the nun urged John to aim for a state of grace, but how he instead chose an indelible sin that tainted everyone in the world he re-made in his own image. How his daughter, conceived by a woman oppressed under empire but untainted by that original fault, chose differently when she too was confronted by a nun with a terrible truth (and achieves that elusive state of grace). How Gideon is consumed body and soul by Harrow to fuel her immortality, and how it transpires that Lyctorhood is a terrible transgression that cries out for restitution. How Harrow faces the awful truth of John's falsehood and walks backwards into hell to harrow it, in what one has to assume is the beginning of the end for necromancy and the putting right of the world, whatever that may look like.

This is absolutely not to say that you must interpret TLT only through a Catholic lens. For a start, death of the author is a thing (properly understood, that is, not as authorial intent being irrelevant, but as readers as individuals interpreting that text through their own knowledge and experience as a valid mode of understanding), and I think the fandom would hugely benefit from hearing more perspectives from people who can bring a diversity of knowledges and experiences to the interpretation of these stories. But also, these stories draw on such a rich and varied spread of sources: for example, the River is Catholic purgatory, but it's also the rivers of the classical underworld, full of mad hungry souls. There's Orphism and the Eleusian Mysteries in there too, alongside the sort of things you'd find in Papal encyclicals. Characters are entangled by relationships that apparently only fully come to light in the context of the extended lore of Homestuck (this is a chunk of context I'm terribly aware that I'm missing). A huge swathe of literature and media cuts through the story.

TL;DRN version: TLT is a deeply Catholic book series in a very weird way, but that's a starting point, not a restriction.

I honestly never read TLT as being a Catholic book series. It has some Christian imagery but as a practicing Jew I saw a lot of myself reflected in Gideon specifically - but I see what you mean about the sword being like a cross, about the sin and the guilt. I propose a new argument: Harrow is the Catholic in this series and Gideon is the one being like "stop being such a Catholic"

that’s interesting!! obviously there’s confirmation bias at play but to me a lot of elements of the series read very specifically as catholic - i.e., references to the sacraments (baptism = pool scene, eucharist = consuming flesh for lyctorhood, etc), notions of hell and the afterlife, and especially wake as the virgin mary (and other references to marian devotion). but i don’t think that catholicism is the only “right answer” to the series and you’re 100% real in saying that gideon is absolutely opposed to all of that lol

[27koi]

ok im kind of bored maybe sometime i should write and publish a literary paper on the role religion (russian orthodox specifically) plays in crime and punishment

here’s a brief rundown (disclaimer: i am a kid i do not have a background in religious studies nor am i russian orthodox but my parents forced me to go to roman catholic church until i was like 13 or some shit): - the main characters last name literally has the word “raskol” in it which refers to the split of the religion into the official church and the old believers - im 90% sure one of the painters in the investigation belonged to a specific sect of the old believers and it was explicitly mentioned but i forget what it was OH YEAH he was part of the stranniki (wanderers) of the bezpopovtsy denomination - the role of raskolnikovs guilt during the investigation of his murders (90% sure this connects to the role of toll houses (not the chocolate chips) in the discussion of the afterlife in the russian orthodox religion or the writings of climacus idk potato potahto)

a few years ago i wrote a paper on which characters are old believers and which ones belong to the official church i might just add to that there are probably writings on this in russian its just that i cannot read <3