#The Book of Mormon Events

[elposting]

should i write a mcpricely fic where they’re in one of those canon event homoerotic friendships and “if you were a girl I’d date you” type of heartbreak

[aarontveitisonfire]

Gavin Creel Memorial Celebration To Be Livestreamed In The U.S. And UK

Gavin Creel/ Matt Murphy

By Greg Evans, Deadline | November 25, 2024

The memorial celebration for the late Broadway star Gavin Creel will be livestreamed in both the U.S. and UK, with New York’s MCC Theater hosting the U.S. stream and the Society of London Theatre hosting in the UK. The memorial will take place at Broadway’s St. James Theatre on Monday, December 2 at 4 p.m. ET. The event will be open to the public. Those wishing to attend in person are requested to email their name and contact information to GavinCelebration@BespokeTheatricals.com. The MCC Theater-hosted livestream will be accessible on MCC’s YouTube channel. The SOLT-hosted UK stream on its Official London Theatre YouTube channel will begin at 9 p.m. GMT. The event will not be available to view on-demand once it has concluded. Creel, a tireless LGBTQ+ advocate who appeared on Broadway in The Book of Mormon, Hair, Waitress, Into The Woods and, in a Tony-winning performance, Hello, Dolly!, died of a rare, aggressive cancer at just 48 years old on September 30. His death prompted an outpouring of grief within the Broadway community. MCC Theater presented Creel’s original musical Walk on Through: Confessions of a Museum Novice form November 13, 2023-January 7, 2024. In London, Creel was an Olivier Award winner and recognized for his charity work, particularly for Acting For Others. Donations in his memory are suggested to be made to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Broadway will dim its marquee lights on December 3 at 6:45 p.m. ET in his honor. The Off Broadway MCC will also dim its lights in tandem with the Broadway theaters. The YouTube channels for both the US and UK streams can be seen below.

[othystt]

bomtober day one ☆ favourite character(s)

couldn't choose just one! take both connor and kevin.

[emcgoverns]

elizabeth mcgovern attends the press night for “book of mormon” (march 2013) | 📸: stuart c. wilson

[navree]

Justice for Leah Clearwater. Still mad about it to this day.

God the Leah Clearwater stuff was so bizarre. All the stuff with the werewolves was bizarre! Oh Emery's the half brother of either Sam or Jacob or Quil but it'll never get brought up again. Oh Leah's infertile and hates it but there's no resolution to that story. Oh sometimes they can fall in love with babies but it's fine. And don't even get me started on how imprinting in and of itself is deeply fucked up for both the imprintee and imprinter alike but it's never acknowledged as such at all (the fact that Sam and Leah were deeply in love and then that went out the window just because Sam saw Emily, that's such a horrifying situation for all three of them! and that one creepy as Hell bit where Renesmee starts walking and Jacob immediately claps because he just has to automatically do what she wants even if he doesn't want to, along with the general creepiness of this adult man falling in love with a months old baby). And of course using an actual real life Native American tribe for all of this shit.

Listen, Twilight is not good. There's a lot of issues surrounding the writing and plot and worldbuilding, even if the hype against it was absolutely overblown and fueled mainly by misogyny. Unfortunately I read these books when I was ten and had a far less critical eye for the media I consumed, so I tolerated it and they still have the occasional hold on me.

[skeletohn]

I'll be making more gifs soon but of BOM the original cast from like 2011 🙏 bear with me

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Announcing the Picks and Shovels book tour

This week only, Barnes and Noble is offering 25% off pre-orders of my forthcoming novel Picks and Shovels.

My next novel, Picks and Shovels, is officially out in the US and Canada on Feb 17, and I'm about to leave on a 20+ city book-tour, which means there's a nonzero chance I'll be in a city near you between now and the end of the spring!

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865908/picksandshovels

Picks and Shovels is a standalone novel starring Martin Hench – my hard-charging, two-fisted, high-tech forensic accountant – in his very first adventure, in the early 1980s. It's a story about the Weird PC era, when no one was really certain what shape PCs should be, who should make them, who should buy them, and what they're for. It features a commercial war between two very different PC companies.

The first one, Fidelity Computing, is a predatory multi-level marketing faith scam, run by a Mormon bishop, a Catholic priest, and an orthodox rabbi. Fidelity recruits people to exploit members of their faith communities by selling them third-rate PCs that are designed as rip-off lock-ins, forcing you to buy special floppies for their drives, special paper for their printers, and to use software that is incompatible with everything else in the world.

The second PC company is Computing Freedom, a rebel alliance of three former Fidelity Computing sales-managers: an orthodox woman who's been rejected by her family after coming out as queer; a Mormon woman who's rejected the Church over its opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment, and a nun who's quit her order to join the Liberation Theology movement in the struggle for human rights in America's dirty wars.

In the middle of it all is Martin Hench, coming of age in San Francisco during the PC bubble, going to Dead Kennedys shows, getting radicalized by ACT UP!, and falling in love – all while serving as CFO and consigliere to Computing Freedom, as a trade war turns into a shooting war, and they have to flee for their lives.

The book's had fantastic early reviews, with endorsements from computer historians like Steven Levy (Hackers), Claire Evans (Broad-Band), John Markoff (What the Doormouse Said) and Dan'l Lewin (CEO of the Computer History Museum). Stephen Fry raved that he "hugely enjoyed" the "note perfect," "superb" story.

And I'm about to leave on tour! I have nineteen confirmed dates, and two nearly confirmed dates, and there's more to come! I hope you'll consider joining me at one of these events. I've got a bunch of fantastic conversation partners joining me onstage and online, and the bookstores that are hosting me are some of my favorite indie booksellers in the world.

BOSTON (Feb 14): Boskone, 4PM, Westin Boston Seaport District

BOSTON (Feb 14): Brookline Booksmith with KEN LIU, 7PM, 279 Harvard Street, Brookline

VIRTUAL (Feb 15): YANIS VAROUFAKIS, sponsored by Jacobin and hosted by David Moscrop, 10AM Pacific, 1PM Eastern, 6PM UK, 7PM CET

MENLO PARK (Feb 17): Kepler’s Books with CHARLIE JANE ANDERS, 7PM, 1010 El Camino Real

LOS ANGELES (Feb 18): Diesel Bookstore with WIL WHEATON, 630PM, 225 26th Street, Santa Monica

SEATTLE (Feb 19): Third Place Books with DAN SAVAGE, 7PM, 17171 Bothell Way NW Lake Forest Park

TORONTO (Feb 23): Another Story, 630PM, 315 Roncesvalles Ave

NYC (Feb 26): The Strand with JOHN HODGMAN, 7PM, 828 Broadway

PENN STATE (Feb 27): Kern Auditorium, 7PM, 112 Kern Building

DOYLESTOWN (Mar 1): Doylestown Bookshop, 12PM, 16 S Main St

BALTIMORE (Mar 2): Red Emma’s, 2PM, 630PM, 3128 Greenmount Ave

DC (Mar 4): Cleveland Park Library with MATT STOLLER, 630PM, 3310 Connecticut Ave NW

RICHMOND (Mar 5): Fountain Bookstore with LEE VINSEL, 6PM, 1312 E Cary St

AUSTIN (Mar 10): First Light Books, 7PM, 4300 Speedway/43rd

BURBANK (Mar 13): Dark Delicacies, 6PM, 822 N. Hollywood Way

SAN DIEGO (Mar 24): Mysterious Galaxy, 7PM, 3555 Rosecrans

BELFAST (Mar 24) (remote): Imagine! Festival with ALAN MEBAN, 7PM UK

CHICAGO, Apr 2: Exile in Bookville with PETER SAGAL, 7PM, 410 S Michigan Ave, 2nd floor

BLOOMINGTON, Apr 4: Morgenstern Books, 6PM, 642 N Madison St

PDX, Jun 20 (TBC): Powell’s Books (date and time to be confirmed)

I'm also finalizing plans for one or two dates in NEW ZEALAND at the end of April, as well as a ATLANTA date, likely on March 26.

I really hope you'll come out and say hello. I know these are tough times. Hanging out with nice people who care about the same stuff as you is a genuine tonic.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/02/06/picks-and-shovels-tour/#19-cities-plus-plus

[penguininahottub]

This is, by no means, original thought. However, after the release of Beatles ‘64, I just want someone to make a Beatles film that is for us. Forget the mainstream and do what Cynthia said had never happened - people getting the emotion right instead of just the facts. The Beatles story isn’t a success story, it isn’t a rags to riches story, it isn’t an even a story about genius, it’s a story that has the power to change the world and one that will be told for ever. We are living in an era where we get to witness a myth being made and so in tribute to the oral tradition, we need to be the myth-makers. Someone needs to tell the story. I hope it will be Paul. I fear it won’t. Perhaps he can’t or shouldn’t, perhaps he won’t be believed. He definitely won’t be if everyone, including him, keeps recycling the same tropes. We know there’s no new stuff to be created, but there is a new light to be shed on what we know is there. This is beginning to sound a bit like the discovery of the Book of Mormon. No one needs another religion, but we do need is for someone to actually attempt to approach this seismic cultural event with an honest and open perspective.

Yoko allowed John to believe he was the genius. John’s canonisation (his manufactured image does him no favours) means that we can forget that Paul was the revered one in the 60s. He was the chosen one - in every way. John clocked it at their very first meeting.

“I half thought to myself, He’s as good as me, I’d been kingpin up to then. Now, I thought, if I take him on, what will happen?”- John

He took a risk, he made his choice and then never again believed in his own ultimate superiority. The story he’d told himself growing up, was that nobody was capable of spotting his genius because they were all below him. Surely a trauma response to being abandoned by his parents. Never could stand to be ignored, forever desperate to be seen and yet incapable of taking off the armour of cruelty. Look at me! Paul was the same, not armour but a wall of charm. Underneath John was soft and Paul is that almost impenetrable wall. They let each other in, and each betrayed the other. Those instincts of self-preservation that John spoke about.

Anyway, he took the chance on Paul, because he wanted to be somebody and Paul and him together made that a real possibility. Also, Paul was fucking hot and clever and talented. He was also a non-conforming weirdo who made everything look effortless and wouldn’t join John’s gang and wouldn’t let him lead. I wonder if this was Paul knowing, from the first moment of seeing John as was then confirmed by subsequent sightings and (I suspect) recces, strategically carried out to observe John (oh that bus worship carries some significance beyond an appreciation for public transport), that he knew how to handle John. Handle and manage John, in order to make him his very own.

(Is it him? Does it matter, because Paul has told us he “noticed” John many times, even before the chocolate bar.)

But, all the Paul adulation, especially John’s own uncontrollable, unconditional veneration, got to be too much. He couldn’t keep his jealousy in check. No quantity of material objects, women, money, food, fame soothed the ache for long enough. He thought Yoko, and because I am sure this is what Yoko promised him, was the only person who would always be in awe of him. She wasn’t, and the really tragic part is that Paul was from the jump, he still is and his faith never waivered.

If only they’d been able to maintain the connection and never lose the ability to read each other’s minds.

They burned too brightly. They loved too hard.

[jamesrambles]

to my fellow lds/Mormon/ex Mormon/limbo-Mormon friends, please, for the love of all things holy, listen to Native people.

I cannot iterate this enough: the Book of Mormon will not teach you about Native people or Native history. Period.

only actively seeking Native people and their art, work, culture, etc then listening to it and interacting as you are allowed to will do that.

it is so so important to acknowledge that the BoM will teach you about Mormon faith and cosmology, it will teach you about Joseph Smith and the religious and moral questions he was asking, it will teach you life lessons like any religious text will. It will not teach you any sort of comprehensive or accurate information about Native people and their lives.

Find out whose land you’re on. Enroll in a beginners language class if you can. Support Native businesses. Go to Native events that are open to non-Native people. Promote Native voices. Educate yourself. Stand up with Native people when they want and need support.

I have a lot of love for Mormonism. It’s the religion I grew up in and I still am fascinated by the cosmology and doctrine. I think it has a lot to give, and I am not saying this to shit on Mormons.

I’m saying this because the sooner people acknowledge the racist foundations of this religion the sooner they can hold both the good and bad in their hands and try to promote the good. Imo, we cannot fully love a religion until we acknowledge its faults and actively work to stop them from causing more damage. Hold the contradictions close to you and acknowledge their existence. Don’t look away from them. Please.

As far as I know there isn’t a single religion in the world that is perfect, that has never incorporated racism into its doctrine, and that has the ability to define another group of people better than they can define themselves.

so please, listen to Native people.

[224bbaker]

So, hypothetically speaking, if someone had never been interested in Sherlock Holmes before but wanted to get into it because of Fawx & Stallion... Where should they start?

Oh my GOD, anon, so upset we didn't see this until now because what a great question and also, our show inspiring someone to go check out Sherlock Holmes?? Deeply upsetting for our characters but SO exciting for us!

Hopefully since you sent this you've just dived in to the stories--because, honestly, that's how both of our writers got into them as kids, and also because despite what roughly 40 contradicting scholars will try to tell you, the timeline is nonsense and Watson's continuity doesn't make sense (we have made our own peace with this and addressed it in-universe because we didn't want to go on deep-dives to decide what puns we were allowed to use for the place we're at in the timeline it's fine, we're fine).

However, just a quick sidebar before we jump into The Stories--if you would rather start with an adaptation than the original ACD stories themselves, there are two options we'd recommend as starting points that are pretty true to canon while remaining engaging in and of themselves:

The Granada TV series with Jeremy Brett and David Burke/Edward Hardwicke: It rules, and most of it's on YouTube! Highly recommend their Solitary Cyclist, Speckled Band, Scandal in Bohemia, and Blue Carbuncle (we may be biased towards the early, David-Burke-Watson entries). These actors and sets are what we picture when we read Holmes.

For an audio adaptation, the 1989 Bert Coules radio adaptation, which you can get for a single credit on Audible in full and has basically the whole canon! Incredible dramatization work that preserves the stories and really deepens the character work in a way that we're obsessed with. Big fans!

If you're liking the vibe of these, you'll probably like the stories themselves! In which case, there are also awesome online book clubs like Letters from Watson that have great communities here on Tumblr (just peruse the tag, it's super fun!), and also over on Discord.

SO. If you're still here and looking for our direction on the stories:

If you just want to start with what is/will be relevant to Fawx & Stallion, we recommend:

Our goal is that our audience doesn't NEED to have read any Sherlock Holmes to understand anything in F&S. We'll hopefully lay things out or give context clues. However, we do have little jokes for the fans, and in season 2, some subtext may be a bit clearer, or have a bit more weight, if you've read some of the stories.

A Study In Scarlet: I know, I know I know I know, Holmes fans, the Utah Mormon stuff, I get it, BUT. Holmes and Watson meet in this one, and it's incredible. The first few chapters of them meeting, starting to live together, going from roommates with a mutual fascination to, through Watson's unintentional insult of Holmes's writing and a fateful invitation to a crime scene, actual friends, are electric. It's a crime (pun intended) that we have so few dramatizations of this in the canon era (we're trying to fix that), we love it so so much. Sacrilege, but, wikipedia the stuff in the middle, enjoy the fantastic meet cute that bookends the thing.

Hound of the Baskervilles: Happening during the events of Fawx & Stallion season 1. I don't need to tell you this one is a banger, we all know this. Less Holmes content than you expect, but a GREAT setting, mood, and roster of suspects, and a thrilling, well-paced mystery with some great Watson.

The Final Problem: Occurs right before the events of season 2, and though you again don't need to have read it, some stuff might hit better if you have, particularly in the back half of the season. High recommend. On the same note, The Beryl Coronet is also mentioned a few times, which is the case right before this one.

Ok, with that out of the way, we highly recommend:

The "Jump Around To Whatever Short Story or Novel Sounds Cool" Approach

This is the move, in my opinion. As I've said before, the timelines are nonsense, you CAN try to get into the weeds of continuity as we have and there is delightful madness to that, but would I recommend it as an intro? No. They're short stories! They're serialized! Treat it like a TBS rerun series at 1 AM and just pick one that is on/sounds cool!

Now, if you want our PREFERENCE? There are different genres of Holmes mysteries, different types of mysteries for different preferences, but we're going to recommend one particular sub-genre of Holmes mysteries that we find particularly fun/unique: The "It's Not Necessarily A Crime Yet But the Vibes Are There" Mystery.

We love these. They're the best. Not depressing or gruesome off the bat, usually starting with some whimsy at Baker Street, these stories usually begin with a client coming to Holmes and the following interaction happens

CLIENT: Um, hi. Honestly it's pretty silly that i'm even here. It's probably just a Weird Thing, you probably don't-- HOLMES: No no no please tell me I love Weird Things. CLIENT: Ok. Well. My boss/guardian/brother/[insert-person-who-has-power-over-them] has been doing this Thing where he [insert extremely weird thing that again, is not a Crime, but the vibes are there]. It's kinda weird. HOLMES: Yeah, super fucking weird. CLIENT: I know! But it's not a crime, so I don't know, you're probably not interested, I'm just a [not rich not male not high class not privileged identity] so there's really no point in checking that out-- HOLMES: No girl (gn), we are DEFINITELY checking that shit out there's a crime in there somewhere and we're gonna find it!

And we're off! If this sounds interesting to you (and it SHOULD), check out: The Solitary Cyclist, The Red Headed League, The Copper Beeches, The Greek Interpreter, The Speckled Band, The Stockbroker's Clerk, The Musgrave Ritual, The Resident Patient, and honestly probably some others we're missing because it's REALLY common.

Other fun Holmes bangers:

Holmes overworks himself and Watson takes him to the country to rest, only to solve ANOTHER FUCKING MYSTERY: The Reigate Squires

The Christmas One!: The Blue Carbuncle

The Dancing Men: I don't have a fun little thing for this one it's just a banger and the Granada Adaptation rules!

The One Where Sherlock Holmes does NOT fall in love with Irene Adler but does get completely owned because 1) he thinks women don't get up early, and 2) he wanted to have a sleepover with Watson: A Scandal in Bohemia

There are a ton, and hopefully you'll find one that you like and just jump in!

[butterflydm]

WoT 3x06 Deep Dive (additional book spoilers)

spoilers through 3x06 of the show and A Memory of Light for the books (final book).

Everything that the show has been saying about the Dark Oaths that are sworn to the Dark One by regular people are, I'm pretty sure, a show-only situation. In the books, the Black Ajah swear oaths to the Dark One on the Oath Rod (replacing their old Oaths) and it's implied that part of the reason for that is so that they'll keep their 'ageless Aes Sedai' face. But regular old darkfriends are just stuck in it because of either their own character and choices, or good ol' sunk-cost fallacy. This change in the show does mean that it's much harder for a Darkfriend to choose to leave the Shadow, and that trapping a person into it young leaves them with few options.

It also makes it a stronger metaphor for extremist religious organizations which, since Rafe grew up in the Mormon church (as we learned on the 'making of' for s1&2 during the fan global event), I feel like was probably not a coincidence. "If you leave us, you lose your chance at eternal life" is a pretty big refrain in a lot of those high-control religions. We have three high-control groups in Wheel of Time -- darkfriends, the Whitecloaks, and the Seanchan. We've seen youth recruitment in both the darkfriends and the Whitecloaks; and the Seanchan system is embedded deeply into their culture.

The show choosing to have Elayne be the character to keep bringing the focus back to the danger that the collar poses to Rand feels like subconscious seed-planting on the part of the show. She mentions Rand to her mom ("I healed the Dragon Reborn") and now she keeps making sure that the danger to Rand is forefronted when they're talking about their mission here in Tanchico.

Tanchico also continues to feel like a mix of book!Ebou Dar and book!Tanchico, and we eat away at another Ebou Dar thing (Mat and Elayne are clearly getting along much better at the end of this episode than they were when they were trapped together on a boat during 3x05).

So, going over that list again, of the Ebou Dar things we have lost:

Renna is dead.

Seta is dead.

Suroth is dead.

Jaichaim Carridan is dead.

Aviendha and Elayne have already bonded over Aiel culture, which is their main arc together in Ebou Dar in the books.

Mat and Elayne have already bonded, with Mat realizing that actually she can be a lot of fun. Mat and Elayne having an enemies-to-friends arc was their main story in the Ebou Dar section of the plotline.

It feels like Egeanin's entrance from the books (where Elayne believes that she's being kidnapped for being the Daughter-Heir, though it's not a correct assumption in that case) was given to Thom's reintroduction here, with him stepping in to help Elayne out of a tight spot, so if they wanted to introduce Egeanin, it would need to be in a different way

Tanchico being given vibes similar to the Rahad area of Ebou Dar in the books

Now could they still do some of Ebou Dar with cutting all of this out? Yes. We still have Tylin (ugh), we could introduce Bethamin and give her all of Renna & Seta's stuff, we could do the Seanchan invasion with Tuon and Semirhage, and we could do the Bowl of the Winds. So this might be more about streamlining Ebou Dar into one or two episodes as opposed to cutting it out entirely. We will see! (if we get renewed for enough seasons)

In addition to doing some more Ebou Dar stuff, we also touch on Elayne's 'circus arc' from the books by how hard she embraces going undercover here, and we get a bit of the "gleeman's apprentice" stuff that Mat & Rand got to do with Thom in book 1, plus the idea of Thom having a female apprentice (though obviously with very different and a non-sexual context than the books had), plus the scene of Elayne singing on stage pulls at least one line from the books as well.

The show also has chosen to prioritize Min getting bonding time first with Mat, and now with Nynaeve, which I think is an indicator as to where they plan to take Min's character in the future. Bonding with Mat to improve their relationship for the Seanchan storyline at the very end. Bonding with Nynaeve improves the potential time in the future when the two of them are the ones watching Rand spiral down further into isolation and darkness, and trying to help him (basically taking what they're trying to do for Mat here, and applying it to Rand).

And so it continues to be interesting that we have not gotten any Min and Elayne bonding time. I do think that it makes sense to lean away from Min being in the polycule if they are still doing Min's Seanchan-ending from the books, because her being in the Seanchan empire while the others are all in Andor does kinda make it feel like she got the raw end of the deal after the epilogue ends (and I don't think the show will make Rand a deadbeat dad at the end, like the epilogue does - they've shown his affection for children and the desire for a simple life with his loved ones too strongly).

We might get some Min-Elayne bonding in 3x08, but it's pretty packed and I feel like we're more likely to get Min and Nynaeve helping Mat with his memories, while Elayne has a moment with Thom where she remembers him from her mother's court, so I feel like an Elayne-Thom and Mat-Min-Nynaeve split may be more likely for the events of 3x08. I think there might even be a shot of Elayne & Thom running from some trouble together in one of the trailers. Plus, we didn't get any initial reaction from Min when she was introduced to Elayne -- she basically just seemed willing to vibe along with whatever Mat's feelings about Elayne were.

We also get Min lying about one of her viewings in this scene! Very exciting for me! She never does this in the books and I kept wanting her to (especially after she hooks up with Tuon -- like, why are you so devoted to sharing every detail of every person's future with the empress of the Seanchan Empire? why don't you just LIE to her? well, this Min would just lie to Tuon and it makes me like her so much more).

So, Egwene's scene with the Wise Ones, where they call her out on lying to them: the way Egwene reacts here very much fits show!Egwene's behavior as a whole.

I saw people saying after 3x05 how good it was to see Egwene embracing Aiel culture and that is... not what I saw in her at all during 3x05, and this episode confirms that reading for me.

It's Rand who has embraced the Aiel culture much more than Egwene has. She has been interested in learning how to access her power through the Wise Ones' teaching so that she can stop what's happening to her in her dreams, so in this episode, it is Rand that we saw genuinely interacting with the concepts of ji and toh, while Egwene brushes off her lying to the Wise Ones as not important.

This does feel like a deliberate change that the show has made, but very much in line with also not having Egwene be all "the White Tower is my home" after only having been there a handful of months, the way that she is in the books. Show!Egwene considers herself loyal "to the Light" -- not to the Aes Sedai, not to the Wise Ones, not to Rand. And I do feel like that fits her overall story arc better, tbh.

It also makes sense to give the "acclimates to the Aiel culture" storyline to Rand instead of to Egwene, since it's more relevant to him and to his future. It's clear that the show is leaning more into Rand being curious and interested in his Aiel heritage, including having the walk through the columns affect him more deeply than it does in the books.

In 3x01, there were book fans who felt like the show needed to explain why Egwene didn't want to stay in the White Tower but show!Egwene never developed that fast affection & loyalty for the Tower that book!Egwene did, so no explanation was needed for me (and show-onlys were all expecting her to walk out on Siuan and were completely unsurprised by her attitude towards the Tower, from what I saw).

In retrospect, not developing Egwene and Aviendha's friendship feels like an early sign of this decision to make Egwene embracing the Wise Ones' teaching her as more of a pragmatic decision. It's Elayne and Rand, Aviendha's two future love interests, who are interested and invested in learning more about Aiel culture, while Egwene has her own separate path to focus on.

Given the limited time that the show has, it's a choice that makes sense, even if it does contribute to Egwene not having any friends in the Waste storyline (though that might have been a feature and not a bug for the plotting of the season -- much like how I feel like Mat was removed from Rand's plotline more to isolate Rand away from any of his close friends than for anything vital that Mat has needed to do in Tanchico, Egwene not being close friends with Aviendha might have been a narrative decision to help keep Egwene emotionally isolated while on this journey - now I personally think keeping Egwene so emotionally isolated hurt what the show was going for with the Randgwene break-up but... it is what it is).

And the show choosing to have the Wise Ones care more about Rand aligning with the Aiel than Egwene embracing their culture also makes sense.

(of course, they could also choose to have Egwene pivot and become "Aiel-hearted" later on, but as of what we've gotten so far, there isn't any groundwork laid for it yet, and since Egwene's storyline takes her away from the Aiel in the relative near future, I'm not sure that there's any long-term gain from them doing that storyline with her when it seems like there's a greater return in doing it with Rand)

Something I mentioned in the show spoilers only post is that we didn't get any breaks in Egwene's mask to show us the vulnerable woman underneath who is genuinely struggling with the idea that Rand might go mad -- and it reminded me of that being a major issue that I had with a book character. That's one of the reasons that Tuon falls so flat for me in the books -- her mask never falters, not even in her own PoV chapters. And that was kinda the issue that I've been having with Egwene re: her relationship with Rand this season.

Maybe this is them leaning on their "unbreakable" characterization of Egwene, but I feel like we really needed a moment of vulnerability from her earlier this season specifically on the topic of Rand and madness. Before we get her flat-out accusing him of having already gone mad in 3x06. We needed something before that. Or I did, anyway. As it was, she went from zero to a hundred real damn fast. I am hoping that we are finally let more into her emotional conflicts in 3x08, though I'm sure time will be tight.

During Rand and Moiraine's talk, when I closed my eyes and just listened, I'm pretty sure I hear a whispered "Ilyena" which was so exciting! I did not catch that on my first viewing at all. So if Rand is starting to have the beginnings of memories about Ilyena, that's another piece to throw into the pot of "things that were likely affecting Rand's behavior during the Randgwene break-up scene". Also -- the first whispers of Ilyena coming the day after he kisses Lanfear (the first time he kisses her knowing that she's Lanfear and having seen her as Mierin)... that is delicious. I don't think LTT approved of the kiss, you guys.

As for what the change in Faile's backstory does to Deira Bashere... similar to how I felt about the changes to Abell Cauthon, it literally doesn't matter to me. Minor characters exist to bring depth and flavor to more important characters. Deira needs to be a mother that is appropriate for show!Faile and how she interacts with the world, just like Abell and Natti needed to be the parents that were appropriate for show!Mat and how he interacts with the world. Bringing Faile to life and making her a good fit for Perrin is much more important than trying to stay true to book!Deira's characterization.

Theory about Melindhra: she is going to free Sammael from whatever captivity that Rand has placed him in during 3x08 (because I don't think Sammael is dead). It also seems likely that Sammael is the one who put the dragons on Couladin's arms, since he's working with the Shaido in this episode. This may mean that Asmodean is out entirely, or he may still be in but in a different kind of teaching role. We might get either Taimodean or Taimandred in s4. Could go either way! Depends on how long-term a baddie that Sammael is, possibly.

Relatively shorter post this time, since I was able to say most of what I needed to say in the show spoilers only post.

[balkanradfem]

A few weeks ago, I was sitting in a park, and two young women approached me with a prompt. They could have been 16 to 19 years old, they looked young, and foreign, but could speak croatian pretty well. They told me they were holding an event where they prompted people to write down what made them happy. I thought that was nice and harmless, and I accepted to go and write things up on the board. People wrote down things like 'family, friends, love, food' and I added things like 'forest, mountains, sunlight, flowers, garden'. In return they gave me a piece of candy! I love taking candy from strangers so I was pleased.

Today, they approached me again, I was sitting in the same park. They recognized me from the event, and wanted to speak to me again. Both of them were holding the same book in their hands, and I tilted my head to read the title. 'Book of Mormon' it said. My expression changed from a smile to panic, because I hadn't up until that point realized, that they were missionaries. I'd never seen a mormon missionary in this area before. They asked me for my name, and I politely said I would prefer not to share personal information, and that I wasn't interested, and then I kept avoiding eye contact, until they went up to a different person. I felt awkward at first, but then figured there was no better way to handle it anyway, and went home worried. They were such nice and good girls. They approached me so gently and cautiously and never made me uncomfortable for a second, it was only the knowledge of their cause that made me freeze up.

I've been watching Alyssa Grenfell's videos to the point where I understood that these almost-children were on their mission. They were stuck for more than a year separated from their families and homes, and they can't go back until they complete the mission. Before this, they spent months or a year in a facility specifically to learn croatian so they could convert people in this area. They probably lived in someone's house and had a tiny budget of they were allowed to spend on food and necessities. They looked so thin and underfed in the park. They would continue to spend a year of their life trying to convert people to mormonism, because the mormon church could claim 10% of the income of their converts, making it even more rich. And the girls were doing it for free, exposing themselves to danger, isolation, loneliness, and fruitless effort of working 16 hours a day only to maybe get a few converts in a course of a year.

I feel so bad for them! And there's nothing I can do because it's integrated in their culture, their families will expect them to do this, and afterwards they'll be expected to marry as soon as possible. Mormon church integrated the mission of 'making the mormon church richer' into a cultural event that people held as an important part of their life, something to prove themselves over, something that should be an honour for them to do. I'm heartbroken about it, now that I've seen the girls up close. They really are so young, I think they had to be 19 to be allowed to go on a mission, but they looked 16. And croatia is dangerous for young girls, there are so many pedophiles, so many predators. I can only hope they return home safe.

[thoughtfulfoxllama]

Leftism & Mormonism

This week's Hot Take was courtesy of @coolrooster1 (although, based on his Blog, he'll disagree with everything I'm about to say. But I won't pass up an idea for a Hot Take). He made a comment wanting to hear my ideas about how Leftism & Mormon Doctrine can fit together. I am focusing on the Economic Aspects of Leftism (I mean, on the Political Compass, Left is explicitly Economic, divorced from Social Issues)

Law of Consecration-

This is the most obvious example. The United Order (the Lived Economic Order based on the Law of Consecration) is one that stands opposed to Capitalism We see how LDS Scripture stands opposed to Capitalism. The Nephite Society is seen as righteous when "there are no poor among them" (an impossibility in a capitalistic society, as it is based on the idea of supply & demand). Meanwhile, one of the greatest signs of their wickedness is "the wearing of costly apparel" (which is also listed in D&C 42, as a practice to avoid)

This can easily be ignored, if not for the rhetoric given by early Church Leaders. Joseph Smith instituted the United Order, and made a statement about Socialism as preached by John Finch. But the real anti-capitalist sentiments come from Brigham Young (who yes, had his issues) In Volume 15 of the Journal of Discourses, the 30th Talk is given by Brigham Young, on the subject of, as he calls it, the Order of Enoch. Brigham Young not only outlines an idea community, but gives strong critiques of individualism, saying that individualism hinders the community & the individual from becoming a Zion people (even going as far as to say “We want to see the time when men will not say, ‘It is mine,’ but, ‘It is ours.’”). Orderville was a community dedicated to living the United Order, and it is an important part of my wife's family history (as her ancestor, Howard Spencer, was the first Bishop of the community, and instituted the Order). Orderville gives a good example of how the United Order would work (with each family given a stewardship, a council of partly religious & partly elected officials assigned labor & allocated resources, new members being voted in, and so on). However, Orderville (like other Communities) eventually stopped practicing the United Order when silver was discovered. A long series of events led to the Value of Labor was shifted, creating inequality in the community Orderville is the example I use because of how successful it was, but there were hundreds of Untied Order communities formed. The Zeal Young had for this communalist society shows an anticapitalist trend

Social Nets-

"Are we not all beggars" is the rhetorical question asked by King Mosiah. The answer, based on the rest of the verse is "yes." Mosiah used what must have been a common sight, beggars, to prove that we are all equally dependent on God. But, he was also playing on social nets found in the Law of Moses, where Laws were given to support the marginalized (Gleamings of the Crops left behind, treating the Foreigner as ones neighbor, Tithes given specifically for the Fatherless, Widow, Forgieners, and Levites, and so on). The Treatment of the Poor was an essential part of the Law of Moses, and we can see in the Book of Mormon that, with greed also came pride, as we see when the BoM discusses the wearing of costly apparel, not necessarily nice clothes, but clothing as a status (like buying a specific shoe brand to show off that you can afford it). This can also be seen with the Zoramites, who forbade the poor from entering their sanctuary

In our Dispensation, we are still called to support the poor. We do this through Service, through Fast Offerings, and through the Church Welfare Program (which in it's modern form was, ironically enough, kinda started by Ezra Taft Benson as a Stake Program during the Depression). The Church had a shift towards the Right during the Cold War (and while Benson was a major player, he can't be placed as the sole reason), and with this came an emphasis on Self-Reliance (which, while not a bad thing, particularly in a world where it's harder to find people you can rely on, has been weaponized to put down the poor)

Charity is the Pure Love of Christ. It was this Love that inspired Christ to aid the ones who society had overlooked (the poor, women, foreigners, etc). Likewise, it is also what inspired him to turn over the Moneychangers' Tables, and to tell off the Pharasees who declared money "Korban" (sacred, dedicated to the temple) to avoid their obligations to give charity (particularly towards their parents)

The Other Side-

I believe in giving the other side their fair shake. This is because I have considered the other side. Other people might come to a different conclusion to me, and that's fine, as long as they have all the information to make an informed choice

Many Members of the Church will use Joseph Smith's statement about Socialism ("I said I do not believe the doctrine") as a rejection of Communalism of any type (despite the fact the United Order is Communalist). But one needs to analyze it more. Joseph attended 2 lectures by John Finch, a Socialist from Liverpool. To properly understand this off-the-hand comment, we need to understand what specifically he taught (which is a struggle, because we don't have any recordings of his lectures, or John Taylor's Response). It is important to know that Finch was an agnostic, and he was an Owenite. Either, or both, of these might be the cause for Joseph not believing Finch was an agnostic, and the United Order is a faith-based community (although, not explicitly Mormon one, if the Council of Fifty is any indication...). The Bishop of a Community is in charge of the resources for their area (although, like in Orderville, he could be supported by Elected Leaders). Mayhaps Joseph was opposed to Finch's Agnostic View of Socialism, given his belief that all people are dependent of God. Although Finch was an Agnostic, he was also a Unitarian Christian, and believed Christianity was a tool to help provide for people (which seems in accord with Joseph's own view of Religion, although Joseph believed in God Owenite Socialism was based on "Moral Economy," where the treatment of the human was on a higher level than profits, which so far seems to align with Joseph's View. Honestly, I probably need to review it more, but Owenism seems closely aligned to the United Order

And there is the idea that Government Aid is somehow worse than Church Aid. Well, I would've died as a child without Govenment Aid, as I lived on Food Stamps. So, I am biased. But I fail to see the difference between Government & Church Aid And there is the fact that my grandmother (a faithful member) had to go inactive for 30 years, because her husband abandoned her with 2 small children, and her Bishop refused to give her any aid (even a recommendation to work at the DI, which would have allowed her to continue going to Church, as they are not open on Sundays). We have to accept that in a moment of true need, Church Aid was barred, leading to a family being raised outside of the Church, only able to survive on Government Aid

[musical-dash-trash]

my really long intro post

🎃🕷️ PLEASE TRICK OR TREAT HERE 🕷️🎃 (^^yes i know it’s not halloween, my inbox is still open for trick or treating)

💫even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise💫

hi!! here’s a little bit about me!

but first, my 200 follower event! thank you all so much <33

okay, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

you can call me bug!!

my pronouns are she/he/they (though my preference does shift a lot!)

i am genderfluid :)

i have anxiety, ocd, and depression (this is only mentioned because it greatly impacts how i interact with and perceive the world)

i am a minor! please keep that in mind :D

i am absolutely open to making friends— feel free to dm me (please do not dm me if you are over the age of 18)!

along with that, my email is musicaldashtrash@gmail.com, please ask before emailing me and remember that i am a minor! that email also works on google chat :D

please don’t interact with me if you are racist, transphobic, queerphobic, ableist, antisemitic, or otherwise hateful/hostile to anyone. i will block you!

también, ¡estoy aprendiendo español! yo no sé mucho pero si te gustaría conversar conmigo en español me encantaría hacerlo :D

okay!! on to my interests! (below cut)

i love…

•musicals!

 • newsies

  • ride the cyclone

  • tuck everlasting

  • dear evan hansen

  • falsettos

  • hadestown

  • waitress

  • les misérables

  • heathers

 • the book of mormon 

  • be more chill

  • beetlejuice

  • starkid (in general)

  • and so many more!!

•animals!

  •especially ducks and cats

•music!

  •noahfinnce

  •cavetown

  •dodie

• egg

  •more that i can’t remember right now

• books!

  • percy jackson and the olympians 

  • heroes of olympus 

  • tuck everlasting

  • the hunger games

  • the princess bride

• the maze runner series

  • honestly most books i’ve read (i am blanking on what to put)

• tv shows/movies!

  • gravity falls

  • over the garden wall

  •  anything with the muppets

  • enchanted (disney)

  • the princess bride

i also love to sing, write, read, and draw!!

i think that’s most everything! thank you for reading if you read this whole thing!!

^^provided by @theoneandonlypatches (ILYSM)

[resolutelytwistedvoyage]

𖦹Get to know me𖦹

Anabelle-High school-US-She/Her

✿Hobbies✿

Guitar, crochet, random crafts, video games, occult, early human history, legos, video essays, researching things

၄၃‎ Favorite Things၄၃‎

Liminal spaces, weird core, rain, abandoned buildings, 60s hair and makeup, 70s clothes, nighttime, driving through old towns at night, loud music, blankets, nature reclaiming buildings, reptiles, museums, nuclear power, random historical events, renaissance fairs, sharks, language, Aphrodite and other greek gods

ʚɞ‎ Video Games ʚɞ‎

Fallout 4, 3, and New Vegas, The Last of Us one and 2, Cod, FNAF, Still Wakes the Deep, What Remains of Edith Finch, Life is Strange 1 and 2, all Fears to Fathom, Doki Doki, Animal Crossing, all Chilla's Art, Roblox horror games, sims 4

ᬊMovies and tv ᬊ

My favorite movie- Uptown Girls

My favorite show- Our Flag Means Death

Our Flag Means Death, What We Do in the Shadows, Shera, , Brooklyn 99, Mama Mia, I Saw the TV Glow. Arcane, The Good Place, Shadow and Bone, Sweet Tooth, Haikyu, Wednesday, The Umbrella Academy, Demon Slayer, JJK, Kakegurui, Violet Evergarden, Miraculous, Kpop Demon Hunters, Beetlejuice, Twilight, Scream, Labyrinth, Hocus Pocus, Highschool Musical, Mary Poppins, Nightmare Before Christmas, Night at the Museum, the original and newer Parent Trap, Waitress, 500 days of summer, Secrete Lives of Mormon Wives, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hunger Games, Spiderverse, BSD, Dead Poets Society, Coraline, Corpse Bride

( I like a lot of movies and tv shows so if there is something not on here I still most likely watched it)

‎ ᭄᭡Books‎ ᭄᭡

I am extremely picky when it comes to books and if the main focal point is of a girl falling in love with a boy and it going well and they aren't toxic I won't read it. So these are some of the only ones I genuinely liked.

A Good Girls Guide to Murder, Cruel Prince, Six of Crows, DC comics, Outsiders, The Odyssey, The Illiad, Hunger Games, Percy Jackson, We Are Okay, This Is How You Lose the Time War, When Women Were Dragons, The Girl Who Drank the Moon, Fahrenheit, 1984, Cinder, All of us Villains, Not Good For Maidens, You've Reached Sam, Scythe, Paper Girls, Poppy War, Twilight

♬Music ♬

Gorillaz, The Smiths, Crane Wives, Deftones, Hozier, Fleetwood Mac, Rammstein, Paramore, Tv Girl, MSI (Mindless Self Indulgence), Mitski, ABBA, Tyler The Creator, Phoebe Bridgers, Pastel Ghost, Crystal Castles, Blood Orange, Adrianne Lecker, Mirage & Andy Panda, Molchat Doma, Ансамбль Весёлые ребята, Alex g, Paris Paloma

[brothermouse]

How do I celebrate Jovial Visitation?? I want to put together a celebration this year -- what do I do? Any typical events or foods or traditions?

- Sparrow [@hiseyeisonthesparrow]

I've only known about Jovial Visitation for a few years now, and from what I know it's only been celebrated by weird artsy Mormon types, which is good news for you because that means you can make up any traditions you want!

Here's a tiktok video of the guy who got the ball rolling and how he celebrates it.

That said, here's a few things I've seen:

Read Joseph Smith History 27-54

Listen to "September" by Earth, Wind, & Fire

"Angel" foods: Angel food cake, Bugle Chips, sandwiches cut into angels angles, anything that you can connect to Angels in any way, really. The more tenuous and convoluted the connection, the better

"Gold" food: for the Golden Plates, chocolate coins, cheese pizza, quesadillas, etc same rules as above

Giving gifts: Books are common, wrap them up and "seal" them before you give them out

Seer Stone Hat Raffle: put everyone's name in a hat, have someone put on the dopest sunglasses available and draw for prizes (like the sealed books!)

Treasure hunt, maybe????

If you're feeling big dad energy you can also wake everyone up three times in the middle of the night and read scripture at them.

But I'm the end, the great thing about Jovial Visitation is that we can make up the rules as we go. It's our holiday, who's to tell us how we can or can't celebrate it? Just have fun because whatever way you feel like doing it is the right way.