#WHICH CONNECTS TO CATHOLIC FUNERALS

[thatbuddie]

if 7x09 (ashes, ashes) really has a death in the diaz family and this connects eddie's journey even more to his catholic guilt i am seriously going to lose my fucking mind

[fromgoy2joy]

I have been… biting my tongue from saying things. 

Partially because I’m not “really Jewish” (on the way to it via conversion), and because I didn’t want this blog to be political. 

But I realize I want this page to be a safe space. If anyone takes issue with what I’m about to say, I don’t want them on this page. 

I joined the college jewish community very shortly after 10/7 and was immediately welcomed in. There was no separation between me and the girl who had gone to orthodox shul all her life and was the head of the state youth group. I was told explicitly  “you are one of us. And together, we are mourning. We have lost our people and so have you.” 

Still I felt no authority to speak on things as insidious as antisemitism until recently. But how many times do you have to experience an antisemitic incident until you get to stand up? 

Six. The answer is six. 

Since explicitly aligning myself with Jewishness, I have lost friends who told me I have “dual loyalties” in so many words. I’ve been ostracized in events because we were singled out . I’ve been followed back to my dorm room from events by people hurling genocide accusations at me- white girls wearing keffiyahs who don't know anything about the Nakba when I try to connect with them about how awful it was.

My face was used in a local “fight jew hate” campaign” where I’m in a group of people with clearly middle eastern descent. But what circulated around my campus was my blonde hair and blue eyes, with people using laughing emojis.

“This is who we’re supposed to be defending!? Bitch please! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣” 

(Which is perfectly ironic because they singled out the person who wasn't ethnically Jewish and focused on her. )

Campus security and the disciplinary office knows me quite well from all the reports I've filed whether for me or other people.

I leave campus for breaks. Even though I’m returning to my highly Catholic conservative family, I breathe a sigh of relief. I don't have to look over my shoulder constantly or check myself in the surroundings I'm in. I already feel the dread about returning in January.

What hurts is the blindness- the lack of nuance- that is being given. Every single Jewish person at my school is not a self described zionist, other than that they acknowledge Jewish indignity to the land, and that there was a reason for the creation of Israel- not even justification in the current state or the matter it came about.

But they- and we- shouldn't have to prove ourselves. We shouldn't be debating if we should fundraise for Gazans (we are) in case someone accuses us of "lying about our intentions" or if we'd be pointed out as "the good jews!" They shouldn't have to have a tab open on their computer for Israeli passports, even though they desperately don't want to leave the United States. I shouldn't have to wonder whenever I'm at a synagogue "If I get killed here in a terrorist attack before being immersed in the mikvah, will I get a Catholic or Jewish funeral?"

But that never mattered. Our voices never did. Unless the antisemitism came from a high school dropout neo-nazi with a shaved head and swastika jacket, it's never going to matter.

I will never forget- even as I advocate for Palestinians, call for a ceasefire, and donate. Or any other cause where I'll be marching besides these activists I can never call well meaning.

I could go on and on about it. But I won't be able to write it out in this post.

All I know is when the counsel of rabbis ask me if I'm ready to be apart of an unpopular group, I'm going to have to fight myself from laughing at the question

[simply-ellas-stuff]

Someone commented on one of my posts that Alicent not comforting aegon was because she had him at 15.

Strained relationship, yes. Unable to connect and bond with him, yes. Awkward as fuck around him, yes.

However.

It is basic human empathy and sympathy to comfort someone crying hysterically in their bedroom after the death of their child. You hug them, you apologize, you put a hand on their shoulder.

It doesn't matter that it was Aegon. Or Helaena for that matter. A father's son was just murdered. And Alicent leaves him alone to sob hysterically. A mother just had to choose between her son and daughter and *saw* and *listened* to her sons head be cut off. And Alicent tries to talk to her about being caught having sex with Cole.

Regardless of circumstances. Someone as pious and emotional as Alicent should have been able to comfort both Aegon and Helaena in that moment.

And, to apologize to Helaena for her being forced to join in parading her dead son outside surrounded by strangers that clearly made Helaena wildly uncomfortable.

Her concern regarding getting caught with criston when speaking to Helaena, who looks like she hasn't slept in days after having to choose which child would die, and her ability to just walk away from aegon, who is sobbing hysterically, shows there is something else going on with Alicent.

Either her own catholic guilt regarding Jaehaerys not having a guard because she was having sex with with the guard, bad writing, or Alicent just completely disassociating her children until they are nothing more than pawns as a way to Cope. She does not see them as people. She does not see them as people to comfort.

Dyana, a stranger raped by Aegon, saw more comfort from Alicent than Aegon or Helaena did this episode. Aemond, when he lost an eye, saw more comfort from Alicent than Aegon or Helaena did this episode.

Regardless of reasons, I think we can all agree that it was cruel of her to walk away from Aegon while he's sobbing into his hands and it was wildly inappropriate to bring up what Helaena saw while Helaena is actively grieving her son in his bedroom and holding his funeral shroud.

[dcdreamblog]

What do Think Of Superhero cults like The Cult Of Superman?

Superheroes have always been religiously...thorny, depending on the kind of religious worldview you're looking at them from.

From Hawkman's tales of pagan reincarnation, to the Spectre's claims of being god's righteous right hand, the arcana of Dr. Fate, even just being confronted with a worldview in which human beings are able to do the impossible. There's lots of reactions to this, a crisis of faith, rejection of the heroes outright as frauds or even agents of evil. Then, of course there's the kind that you mention.

"Worship" of superheroes has taken a lot of forms. Some people have be rebuked by the Catholic church for instance for "praying for superheroes too often", like they were trying to make them into saints if the Holy See is to be believed. The most high profile version is, like you said the Superman Cult

(Image of a procession put on by the Cult in the wake of Superman's funeral, Daily Planet)

Originally called "The Fellowship" under a troubled young man named Robert Galt in California they raised a lot of hell in their original incarnation, starting an all out gang war with a rival group called The Consortium some of its members even gaining superpowers for a short period under unknown circumstances. They became nationally famous in the wake of Superman's apparent death, treating him as an almost Christ-like figure who died for humanity's sins and would arise from the dead to bring those who believed in him and his "deeds" into a better world as "The Man of Tomorrow". When Superman returned to life indeed less than 6 months later and their "better world" failed to materialize as Superman of course had no interest in dividing the world along ethical lines, any more than he had been before his absence their loudest period ebbed.

They're not GONE, that's for sure. When I lived in Metropolis I saw them in their funny blue robes out on street corners, or saw their literature in waiting rooms. An offshoot of their movement even tried to burn Lois Lane at the STAKE for "rejecting" Superman in favor of Clark Kent. Superman and Batman put a stop to that foolishness very quick, of course. (There are still jackasses who harass Lane and her husband to this day for reasons like this.)

Look, showing all my cards, I'm an atheist. I don't believe in any "higher power" as such. I know that magic exists, that various beings claiming to be connected to gods of various pantheons or even to BE gods themselves also exist. But I don't believe in any of them as some all good creator deity who holds my eternal soul in hostage for my good behavior. I do good because it is good and for no other reasons, and of course I take INSPIRATION in that from the heroes that I've studied but I'm not about to start sacrificing goats about it.

Superman is a man. Not a human man, of that much he has been very honest. But he's a person, blessed by abnormal circumstances with the power to do good and he uses that power to do right by others. To attribute that to divinity would be to undercut the message he has always (ironically) preached, that WE are capable of being better, as we are.

If you ARE religious, you can of course correct me. But the mainstream religious opinion these days seems to be counting our superheroes as blessings. Delivered in the manner that any other blessing is delivered by whatever divine hands you believe in. Maybe you are a Christian who truly believes that those who claim to be angels walk among us once again in the form of The Spectre or Zauriel. Maybe you believe that even if they're not LITERAL angels of the lord, they do good work in his name so what's there to worry about. My advice. Do good in "their name" by letting them set our example, not because you fear some kind of wrath from Superman on high. It seems like it makes him VERY uncomfortable.

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

my favorite scully moments from s3

walking to her mother’s house barefoot in episode 1, after having been placed on leave for her involvement in the quest to smuggle secret alien files- how she falls into her mother’s arms, says she made a terrible mistake, and that dad would be so ashamed of her (my heart melted out of my body… she did the right thing and still doubted herself 🙁)

and then even AFTER she was removed from her job, she visits skinner’s office with information on the case- when he suggests she’s just trying to get her job back, she is indignant and explains that it is about finding answers and saving her friend (she had AN INTENSE fury in her eyes that skinner would suggest that, i love when she is filled with righteous rage and driven by the quest to Do The Morally Right Thing no matter what)

attending mr. mulder’s funeral, and telling mrs. mulder she knows her son with be found, even if she isn't sure why she holds that belief

and this is STILL in episode one, but when she is convinced skinner is trying to kill her and she is NOT playing around, holding him at gunpoint- “don’t think i won’t do it, you son of a bitch”, she says, to which he replies “no, i believe you” (he knew he was in danger!!)

they need to know a certain number- napier’s constant- in episode 2 to get into the secret disease center in west virgina, and she knows it off the top of her head (it’s 27,828 for those who are curious) (when she knows random facts my heart skips some beats)

and in the same episode, when they’re about to embark on learning some dark secrets on mulder’s father in the disease center archives, scully wants to know if he will be okay, because “i just know how it would affect me” (she is so thoughtful...)

scully not believing any of the things clyde bruckman is predicting in episode 4 until he starts talking about how mulder will be attacked, and then all of a sudden she is tuned in

(and her whole relationship with bruckman- how she asks him how she’ll die even though she is terrified, and how he refuses to answer and burden her with that knowledge; how they play poker and talk about macbeth; how she feels that he has no joy in his life due to his abilities, real or imagined; how she listened to his prediction about mulder’s death and was there to save him; and how she cries when he ended his life)

“a woman gets lonely. sometimes she can’t wait around for a man to get reincarnated” <- tea (said in episode 5)

in episode 7, she is listening to a man describe his symptoms, and she writes a note and passes it to mulder. not even sure why this was so endearing to me- the combination of her Doctor Mode and seeing the tiny details of her passing notes, perhaps? but i loved it

in the same episode, the people from the military were trying to stop their investigation, and she put her foot down, point blank telling the general to “make himself available”, and calling out the obstruction and hidden details on the case. i love when she is full of righteous rage

when she saves mulder by finding the code to disarm the bomb in episode 10 by going to his house and playing his $29.95 autopsy video frame by frame... a hero on many levels

ALL OF EPISODE 11… her catholic lore dropping (how she knows the number of stigmatics in the world at one time, the saints whose bodies didn’t decompose, and how st. ignatius could be in two places at once), her connection with the little boy, him asking if she was sent to protect her and her believing it, promising she won’t let him be hurt, convincing mulder to let the kid come to the hotel with them, running him a bath (and mulder’s fake pout- “you never draw my bath”), when she becomes convinced the kid is at the recycling plant, and he is, so she saves him with a miracle... and when he says they’ll see each other again <3

the “i… believe in the idea that god’s hand can be witnessed. i believe he can create miracles, yes” “even if science can’t explain them?” “maybe that’s just what faith is” exchange with mulder

THIS NEXT ONE…

“how is it that you’re able to go out on a limb whenever you see a light in the sky, but you’re unwilling to accept the possibility of a miracle, even when it’s right in front of you?” “i wait for a miracle every day, but what i've seen here has only tested my patience, not my faith” “well, what about what i’ve seen?” (screaming. i am screaming. he is so quick to believe in anything except what she has put her faith in, and she rightfully stood up for herself against his disbelief, even if he didn't mean to be offensive, and he should take her seriously even in matters of god, and i need to stop typing or i will keep going for hours)

the way she goes to confession at the very end, telling the priest she doubts what she has seen because mulder did. and he responds that perhaps the miracles were meant just for her. how she says that she is scared that god is speaking, but no one is listening. she’s so haunted by what she has seen and the need to get justice for it, but still, god sent her a miracle, so there is hope.

screaming... i just LOVE that episode so much…

seeing her at home during episode 12- reading breakfast at tiffany’s, cleaning her gun and chatting on the phone, bathing the dog, eating ice cream out of the carton, and answering all of mulder’s obscure medical questions

and how annoyed she is with mulder’s infatuation with “dr. bambi” lmao she clocked it SO fast

in episode 15, she tears up when skinner says those above him are interested in closing her sister’s case; she becomes furious that they can seemingly solve every crime but this one (and bonus points for skinner fighting for her, even though it nearly killed him <3)

in the same episode, she immediately identifies the type of plane she is looking at as a north american p-51 mustang, because she used to watch her father and brothers build model planes

in episode 16, she visits skinner in the hospital and takes charge- making sure he is guarded at all times, that the investigation on who attacked him moves forward. and how she grabs his hand before he is wheeled into surgery and then visits him to ask how he is feeling when he wakes up

(and when she puts together that whoever shot skinner was also the person who shot her sister… truly in her detective era)

saving skinner’s life later in the episode, confronting the gunman, and how she screamed and screamed, asking if he was the one who killed her sister. god, that broke me. i need to analyze it for a few weeks

“i think the dead are speaking to us, mulder. demanding justice” <- it’s so tied to her fundamental need to do the correct thing and augh. she wants to find answers for her sister so terribly. she deserves them

in episode 17: (incredibly deadpan) “please explain to me the scientific nature of the whammy” (some people write her as too serious to be funny and it's like... are we watching the same show because she has me dying)

when she agrees with mulder’s theory that somehow the pusher is bending people to his will, even if she has no way to explain it- yet! a big moment!!!

she also immediately identifies the movie playing at the pusher’s house as svengali, further proving her horror movie fan status

(plucking a rat out of a car in episode 18) “label that” “as what?’ “partial rat body part” <- this killed me

(also, when she wipes blood off of mulder’s face in the woods... terribly intimate)

she makes a stupid joke about the organ trafficking victim leaving his heart in san francisco in episode 19 and it makes mulder laugh

her being such a big fan of jose chung in episode 20 and agreeing to meet him even though mulder refused. when he later mentions another of his books she gets so excited she says it is “one of the greatest thrillers ever written” … nerd <3

scully being mortified that she was featured in a late night television clip of an alien autopsy (she was autopsying a normal human being in an alien costume, but one thing led to another and now her face was briefly on the stupendous yappi show!! so embarrassing for a woman of science!!)

how she tells jose chung that their case might not have a lot of closure, but it's more closure than they usually get (while fidgeting with her flower-shaped earrings)

(and then when she reads his final book, she is described as “noble of spirit and pure of heart” but “nevertheless a federal employee” which had to both please her immensely and make her laugh)

there’s this moment in episode 21 where she is on the phone with mulder while driving in what looks to be a torrential downpour, and i cannot explain why it was so funny to me. it just was. she is flooring it through a damn hurricane to get there and it makes me laugh.

watching her slowly lose her grip on reality in episode 23 until she becomes convinced it was mulder who was behind her abduction… how she calls him and only flatly asks “where are you?”, how she holds mulder at gunpoint, certain he abducted her and killed her sister. how her mother finally convinces her that she is safe, which causes her to fall into her mother’s arms, sobbing. gooooooooosh...

when she hears someone was shot in episode 24 but somehoe miraculously recovered, so she just lifts up his shirt to examine his stomach without asking. it had me giggling!! she is entering Doctor Mode, decorum be damned, that dude's tummy WILL be inspected.

and then using all of her Doctor Mode knowledge to assure mulder that his mother has a chance at a good recovery, and trying to book a motel room for him to be by her side in the hospital; when he refuses and insists on going back to work, she tries to remind him he hasn’t slept in forever to no avail (these two will watch out for each other and it kills me every single time)

[cleoselene]

had a thoroughly lovely and sociologically fascinating Christmas Eve. look, I ain't no Christian, I'm just an American with atheistic tendencies who was raised celebrating American Christian holidays, but it was never religious, just you know. Holidays. For fun. To enjoy. That was always my concept of every holiday. Like, absolutely opposite of "Jesus is the reason for the season" because we never ever went to church, ever. My mom is vaguely Christian/loves to talk about "the angels"/also believes she was Jewish in a former life. Which is to say she's a new age flake with American Christian seasoning. And she was like, SO SHOOK when i told her I didn't believe in God or anything. I was like, Mom, if you wanted to indoctrinate me, maybe you should have... tried? lol

So my old friend who goes all the way back to middle school invited me to go to dinner with her and her husband for Christmas eve. Our familial traditions have always been that Christmas day is the important one, that's the feasting and presents. Christmas eve was never a solid tradition and actually most of growing up i went to a friend's house for Christmas eve because her parents had banger parties for it. i did that from like, ages 11-23 and my mom always did something with her friends. Christmas eve is traditionally my social holiday outside of the family.

So when she said, "let's go to Shula's, my treat," I was like WORD, because I have always wanted a 90 dollar steak but could never actually AFFORD a 90 dollar steak. but I guess I missed in the ask a couple months ago the "we'll do church first part" and yeah, lol. The last time I was in a church was my father's funeral 24 years ago. THC lozenges got me through that service and got me nice and munchied for Shula's after word (yes, the 90 dollar steak was excellent, I got it with chimichurri sauce, and had this thick cut maple bacon with tomato jam appetizer, hnngh). So it wasn't until a few days ago that I realized I would be going to church, and like, intense church, because these are super churchy people. I realize it is actually the very first time I've ever gone to church on a holiday? Like I used to totally joke about how I couldn't think of a better way to ruin a holiday, but given that I've become a sociologist since the last time I was in a church, it was a way more fascinating experience. No, I was not moved by the spirit but as a student of human ritual and human behavior and human group activities, I was pretty riveted. It was your pretty basic nativity reading/Christmas songs combination with a short sermon that had a very South Florida message, lol, because the pastor made very certain to tell us that just because Jesus was born in a manger doesn't mean he was POOR, as Joseph was a carpenter and that was a good job!! And some lady called out "AMEN!" and i was like, just riveted at the exultation of "Thank God Jesus wasn't really a Poor" roflcopter. They also had an Israeli flag hanging and I asked my friend what the connection was there, and she said there was a Biblical mandate to support the state of Israel, and I was like, but isn't the concept of the nation-state way newer than the Bible? And then she said it was something related to the 'end times' and I was like ohhhh. Okay then. Everyone was friendly, though, it wasn't overly long.

They also did a communion, which. Honestly, Christians, ritual vampirism and cannibalism is fucking fascinating. I find the whole virgin birth story horrifying and ghoulish, but the ritualistic vamprism and cannibalism is FUCKING METAL. So goth. This wasn't a Catholic place so they invited us all to join in and the goth in me couldn't resist joining in.

It was SO lovely to go out and do grown up normie things. I never go out to dinner, let alone at a place like Shula's (still undefeated like Shula -Pitbull) so it was a rare treat. We got hot chocolate afterward and went to this neighborhood in town that is super fucking intense about their Christmas lights, like it's in the HOA that you have to put up holiday lights and each street is given a theme. It's a Southwest Florida thing. People sit in their parking lots and project movies on their garages around a bonfire and kids stand through sunroofs in pajamas as they slow-cruise the neighborhood like they're drunk bachelorettes at a party, it's cute.

My friend and her husband are lovely, kind, generous people. She was my lab partner in science class and it was a great deal for me because she was willing to do all the gross dissection that made my stomach churn, lol. She asked if I wanted to split a calamari appetizer and i was like, nooooo, remember in science class when we had to dissect them???? And then we deep fried them??? And the portable smelled like fried fish for two weeks???? I haven't been able to get that horrible rotten fish smell out of my mind every time I see calamari.

And she was like, "that was when I became a fan!" rofl. Everyone who's grossed out in science class should have a lab partner like her.

I also got to meet her two cats which, spectacular. one of them jumped on my lap and headbutted my hand. Excellent experience. I am grateful for her friendship, she has been so kind and friendly and warm all our lives, really.

Anyway, Merry Christmas and Happy first night of Hanukkah! It's after midnight where I am so we're on to both. I hope whatever you're doing for your holiday season is comforting and peaceful. I have been in a major depressive funk the last couple months since the election and Ernie's death happened in the span of a week, so it was nice to get out of my routine and put on jewelry and do my hair (I don't do make-up).

Just ate the rest of my steak. Sylvie got my little pieces of gristle. She still has mad separation anxiety and my roommate's said the first hour I was gone was rough, that she made both of them cry because she was crying so hard. Just wailing :( But she settled after an hour and then bonded with both of them even more, when I got home and they went to bed and I went to my room, she was like, "no, but mom, can we go back out and hang out with our friends??" She is still just a baby.

[respectthepetty]

Tagged in by @elizabethsebestianhedgehog @telomeke @wen-kexing-apologist @pandasmagorica (I'm missing someone. I know it.)

Current time: When do we roll back time? Today? Tomorrow? My current time is time is abstract, and I don't understand Daylight Savings.

Current activity: I just got back in from a Día de Muertos celebration the local funeral home was holding at a cemetery. Very quirky. Very small town. I loved it! Now, I *should* be grading, but instead I'm booking the hotel for a wedding I'm attending on Friday. I'm dragging my feet since I don't believe in marriage, but I'll show up in the name of friendship.

Currently thinking about: Why I'm into Dan x Shadow.

Current favorite song: I went to the When We Were Young Music Festival again this year a few weeks ago, so I'm fully in my emo feels, which means I'm listening to the most toxic songs like Bring Me the Horizon's "Die4u" with lyrics like "'Cause the truth of it, you could slit my wrists, and I'd write your name in a heart with the hemorrhage"

It's very Eddie coded. It has the lyric "I keep holding my breath for a miracle" which really just rubs salt in the Kiseki (aka Japanese for miracle) wound right now waiting for confirmation that Chen Yi is alive and well in this finale.

Currently reading: It should be students' essays, but I attended a lecture yesterday from Dr. Jody Shipka over Edible Rhetorics where she talked about recipes as a valid form of composition and technical writing as well as the narratives involved in them, so now I'm reading her book Toward a Composition Made Whole, which calls for people to move composition off of the page, and as an emo with plenty of Converse that have lyrics written on them, this hits me in all the right spots.

Currently watching: What am I not watching would be an easier question because I'm watching all the shows, all the time, but I'm about to rewatch ALL of Kiseki: Dear to Me before the finale because I'm obsessed with it. I'm also stuck on episode four of Shadow because the theme of "praying away the trauma" is really hitting my Catholic heart hard.

Current favorite character: EDDIE! All roads lead to my Multicolored Menace. He stole my heart in the very first scene when he said not to look back then tried to run away from Chen Yi, and my love for him has only expanded each episode as he continues to be the most colorful character on the outside in bright cardigans yet the darkest on the inside, just like me! If only he wore black nail polish with his chokers, then it really would be me.

Current WIP: I'm presenting on Polynesian rhetoric in a few weeks, and I'm connecting it to rap music since both are based on oral traditions and incorporate mastery wordplay even in everyday situations, but I'm trying to find "academically appropriate" examples since apparently "Pussy get popped, piñata" is too much for some people. *rolls eyes* Who knew?

Tagging no one because it always reminds me of MySpace Top 8, and I don't want my heart or favorites exposed like that.

[wolves-in-the-world]

tags on krakenartificer's post about a leverage au where nate enters the priesthood but ends up running cons for people who come to him for help anyway:

#now i need a crossover episode of catholic priest nate who's still running leverage style shenanigans #with father brown [via @trivalentlinks]

thank you for making me stare at the wall in fascination and horror about this crossover

they'd be occasional allies occasional confidantes they'd go behind each other's backs once or twice and only kinda regret it. This nate hasn't gone through the same loss as in canon, but that wouldn't make him a whole lot softer, so he'd be fundamentally irritated with father brown - his tested and unshakeable belief and his optimism about the human condition - and father brown would be generally concerned about everyone on nate's end, and nate not the least of it. They'd play chess together and be fairly well-matched. They'd visit each other's confessionals to check in.

we'd get some interesting acknowledgement of father brown's "I'm nice and simple and harmless" grift (which I could also call power negativity) which is only kind of a grift because he really is that nice and harmless beneath, except that he uses it to get information from people.

flambeau would be utterly thrilled and (playfully?) insulted not to be father brown's only criminal associate.

the leverage crew would be correctly suspicious of flambeau, I think, but sophie would greet him by name - possibly with a kiss to the cheek, possibly eyeing him like he's a viper in their midst - and reference some very improbable occasion when they were after the same prize. He mentions she was using a different name then; he doesn't say what it was. Bonus points if he also had his eye on the dagger in the Rashomon Job but had the flu / was unexpectedly in prison / had to attend a grandmother's funeral at the time.

I have this certainty in my mind that the leverage crew would be largely dismissive of sid's abilities and he'd kind of snort and roll his eyes about it - he's at worst a common criminal and very lower class, so he's used to being understimated - and surprise them with his connections or lock-picking or holding his own in a brawl or fixing an elderly car in the quickest dirtiest way imaginable. (Parker would decide she likes him then; the others would be reassured after seeing how gentle he is when talking with her.) He'd also nope out of leverage's business at a sensible time, because father brown's rubbed off on him and he doesn't actually want that kind of danger - unless the con's personal.

(I'm not sure whether to set this in leverage time or drag it back to father brown's 1950s so I'm settling for mashing the two together and pretending it's not an issue. See also: geography.)

… father brown would have I think one harrowing conversation with eliot where they mention their time in the military, the marks that killing people and losing people leaves on a person - father brown already does this in canon, tells someone it's unfair that they're mired in trauma and alcoholism when he found his faith through trauma instead, it floored me - and after brushing on repentance and god here, he wouldn't bring it up with eliot again. (I think father brown varies on this in canon, frankly, but he often respects that kind of boundary, and I think he'd recognise a wound so sore it should be left to heal however it can.)

(yes I'm playing with fictional priests like barbie dolls but no I'm not comfortable with the conversion aspects, so apologies and bear with me while I skate on past that.)

(he'd describe eliot as a good person, once, or as someone working very hard at it. Eliot would be on edge about that for the entire con, finding a little too much uneasy satisfaction in getting to knock people out and play the bad guy - play at the simpler stuff he used to do. Sophie might catch father brown for a word about it; father brown wouldn't be that clumsy again.)

I think father brown and nate would both talk bunty out of getting involved in a joint kembleford-leverage operation except in the most innocent way possible. The problem is she actually would make a good getaway driver, and she's thrilled with the idea, but she's already had some run-ins with the press and the law and can't risk another; luckily she's better used as a distraction elsewhere.

and I'm sorry to do this, but I think lady felicia's husband would be a mark or potential mark at one point. It would be fraught.

(the main reason I haven't recommended father brown's heist episode (s7e10), aside from not having a background on the politics in it, is that it shows lady felicia as a victim and pulls the heist on her behalf. The show largely convinced me to ignore the messy reality of her and her husband's inherited wealth, but that episode made me kinda uncomfortable - which is a shame, because seeing these characters pull a heist was fucking great.)

mrs mccarthy would be used against her will or knowledge as a distraction while someone's pockets are picked. She isn't told until afterwards, and then only half by accident. She is, of course, horrified. Father brown was absolutely the one to suggest it in planning, but flambeau slips in mid-apology to smoothly take the blame.

I could in fact go on and this is in fact a problem.

—

editing to continue:

I'm actually thinking that father brown might approach eliot from an ex-military angle and not a Religious Authority angle at all - eliot was raised protestant, after all, and it's an entirely different vibe. And I have to think eliot's guarded around father brown for the very fact that he's a priest and seems to mean it in a way that nate, I feel, wouldn't. So they may avoid the topic entirely, or as close to it as they can when brushing on, well, eliot's entire moral injury situation. Which is good news for me.

bunty would admire parker for being different and capable and getting up to exciting things, though would probably fail at any attempts at friendship until she thinks to ask what parker likes doing and ends up learning to pick pockets that evening. The second those two are around buildings tall enough to rappel down she's in danger. (The second parker can slip away at night she's giving the church a go; father brown gives her a look the night before and quietly warns her about the dodgy roof.)

mrs mccarthy decides fairly quickly that hardison is a very nice young man (his nana instincts are online and functional) even if he spends far too much time on the wretched computer. She's determined to feed him and half the time he's determined to find ways to politely refuse, though the strawberry scones are actually pretty good.

she's appalled by eliot's job, and fiercely territorial of her kitchen when he offers help, even just cleaning up, but once she's seen him get in the way of trouble she's absolutely catching his arm and half hiding behind him in any crisis real or perceived. (She still doesn't approve of him.)

lady felicia sees hardison and eliot as two very different kinds of novelties and does some talking to hardison about tech (mostly listening and marveling) and some quietly ogling both of them, and especially eliot once she's seen him fighting. (Eliot unfortunately turned on his charm when he realised she sort of expected it. She doesn't get to chat with charming southern gents all that often - it's very shallow, and she's not serious about it.)

thank goodness bunty's too young for eliot so I don't have to go there. He has to tuck her out of sight in a barn at some point when trouble's headed their way; when the mess is almost cleaned up and she's grabbed a rifle from somewhere to tell the the remaining goon to clear off, with every appearance of competence, eliot takes it from her and disarms it with a smear of blood under his nose and a slightly betrayed expression.

hardison and sid get along, aside from a little initial insecurity on the parker front, and get to bitch a bit about flambeau, who hardison mistrusts from the start.

flambeau... he admires parker, from a distance - professionally and not very effusively - but after he watches her work for a while he seems to realise who she was trained by, and tells her as much. He says he was too, for a very short time, and it's unclear if he'd gain anything from making it up. Says that he and archie had a difference of opinion - and has a way of saying it that implies there might have been fire involved.

[calabria-mediterranea]

The Story Of Natuzza Evolo: Calabrian Mystic

Natuzza was a Calabrian mystic who acted as a medium and healer, showed evidence of stigmata, and could “bi-locate” — be in two different places at once. She is also connected with “hemography,” which is when blood stains miraculously transform into symbols, shapes, and even words, particularly Christian ones like crosses.

Natuzza was born in 1924 in Paravati, a tiny hamlet near Mileto in Calabria. Her given name is Fortunata, from which the diminutive “Natuzza” comes. Natuzza’s father had left for Argentina a few months before she was born, and he never returned, leaving Natuzza’s mother alone to care for her newborn as well as her other children.

Natuzza never learned to read or write and helped support her mother and siblings by working for local families. She allegedly began having her first visions as a small child — Jesus, it is said, appeared to her as a boy who played with her and one of her brothers — but her brushes with the dead didn’t become popular knowledge around town until she began experiencing them as a young teen at work.

And it wasn’t just apparitions with Natuzza, even as a child. At her First Holy Communion, her mouth reportedly filled with blood when the wafer symbolizing the body of Christ was placed inside. At her Confirmation, a large stain of blood in the form of a cross formed on the back of her shirt.

Because of Natuzza’s experiences with the paranormal, as a young woman she was closed in an asylum with a diagnosis of "hysterical syndrome" for a few months by the local priest and was not permitted to enter a convent to become a nun.

Natuzza became known for the appearance on her body of blood-coloured images and words around the time of Easter and these caused her great psychological and physical pain. Some of the words were found to be Hebrew and Aramaic which was strange because she could not read or write, even in her native Italian. For decades devout Catholics from Calabria, then the rest of Italy and other parts of the world, began coming to her to ask for advice and prayers and to ask her for information about the souls of their relatives.

In addition to seeing Jesus, Natuzza also claimed to have also seen and communicated with the Virgin Mary, angels, and the dead, particularly souls in purgatory, throughout her life.

Natuzza was also considered a healer, credited with being able to look at a person and tell them what was ailing them, physically — using formal, medical terminology — as well as suggest treatments. She could also see the future and sometimes spoke in languages she didn’t know (remember, again, she was illiterate). In fact, some of her blood stains even transformed into phrases in foreign languages.

However, Natuzza never accepted money for what she did or was accused of participating in anything fraudulent based on her abilities, which, in the eyes and hearts of many, lend credence to her and her followers’ claims.

"It's a question of removing the suggestive religious context from the event. It doesn't allow rational reading since it cloaks it in mythology and unprovable hypotheses," says the Italian Committee for the Checking of Pseudoscientific Claims, or CICAP.

The group believes the so-called stigmata cases are really examples of Gardner-Diamond syndrome, "a skin condition that, although rare, is well documented in medical literature." The syndrome gives rise to a series of periodic, painful and bleeding bruises of unclear origin, combined with psychiatric disorders such as self-harm.

Although she’s relatively unknown internationally, Italians have been fascinated by Natuzza for generations as she has been a popular subject of books and various Italian television programs.

After Natuzza passed away on All Saints’ Day in 2009, about 30,000 people traveled from all over Italy and beyond for her funeral in rural Calabria. One-hundred priests and six Italian bishops were also in attendance.

Follow us on Instagram, @calabria_mediterranea

[barnbridges]

On Denomination Semantics, Church Authority, Bunny, Marion and Julian

I'll say that much, the Greek class is predominantly Catholic, with it being noted that Richard is a non-denominational Christian and Bunny being an Episcopalian.

"Bunny’s family was Episcopalian, and my parents, as far as I knew, had no religious affiliation at all; but Henry and Francis and the twins had been reared as Catholics;"

This established dynamic is a setup to a later conversation in the book, where Julian questions Richard on the changes in Bunny's behavior, attributing them to a possible conversion of either Bunny or Marion, wherein we learn she is a Presbyterian. All fun and good, we just learn that Bunny is so panicked Julian thinks he's having a mental breakdown, right? This is just foreshadowing to Bunny writing the confessional letter to Julian, right?

Upon closer inspection... why would we need to know, in particular, the specific denomination that Bunny holds, when his social status as a Protestant has already been established, and even less so Marion, who Richard doesn't even know?

Well, that is because the confessions are a metaphor for the structure in their lives.

The Roman Catholic Church is one of the three major divisions of Christianity in the Western World. It has a known structure, and it bases its belief both on the Christian Bible and the Papacy, with the structure of the Church as important as the religious text itself. It is a very rigid structure, and it is indeed, as Julian says, "a worthy and powerful foe".

Episcopalians on the other hand, are seen as a "halfway" point between the structure of the Catholics and the relative interpretative freedom of other Protestants. While the Episcopal Church is a Protestant denomination, meaning it does not hold the Pope as any authority, it has structures of authority (mainly, bishops and cardinals) and holds different views on sin as opposed to Catholics (as Francis ironically points out in the Epilogue).

The motto of the Episcopal Church is "Protestant, yet Catholic!", I kid you not. EDIT: The phrase "Protestant, yet Catholic" has been associated with the Episcopal Church and their beliefs.

Not relevant to the theological discussion, but the Episcopal Church also was founded in the US and is a very American phenomenon, being one of the most common denominations for American Presidents and wannabe DC political larpers as well.

A noteworthy detail is also that... the central book of Episcopalians is The Book of Common Prayer... Which Charles desecrated at Bunny's funeral service by using it to kill a wasp. This shows both the particular lack of respect the other characters have for non-Catholic tradition, but also their lack of connection to the gravity of such an act. Charles desecrated a religious text in a church, and it was a comedic moment. They are very in touch with reality /s.

"Charles had killed it with a resounding thwack from The Book of Common Prayer."

Presbyterianism is not a church, but rather a set of beliefs and principles. It is one of the most reformist of Protestant beliefs, and does not at all recognize the need for any religious authority or church to practice. Presbyterians believe in a personal relationship with God rather than a need for a house of worship or sin to practice. Presbyterians are also stereotyped as low class, again as our judgemental professor puts it "

"He had a habit of attributing all of Bunny’s faults indirectly to her—his laziness, his bad humors, his lapses of taste."

What this primarily means for interpreting our characters and their morals, is that Bunny finds himself at a middle-point between the strict hierarchy of the Greek class and the personal freedom afforded to him by decentralized beliefs. He has all his life existed in a state of "in between" authority and lack thereof, and Julian is questioning if the main force in his life that feeds the "contrary" impulse in Bunny is gone with Marion's hypothetical conversion.

This speaks mostly to that... our Julian was probably reared Catholic himself (calling it The Church... yeah he totally also was Catholic at some point), but has turned his back on the particular beliefs of the faith to where Richard finds him today. This also implies that of his 6 students, ironically enough, Bunny would be the one that has a relationship to religious authority most similar to Julian's own, and that has been since he joined the Greek class. This contempt would only grow larger as Bunny engages with people who care even less about religious authority than he does, which Julian might not like or respect, but certainly affirms Bunny as... uniquely able to challenge authority, and certainly the most "liberal" of his students on matters of authority. Bunny is the only one of them who indeed, has a girlfriend. A girlfriend that has been a problem to the Greek class that they simply do not want to even address her at all, to the point where Francis goes into prayer that she leaves Bunny.

It's also quite a touch ironic that after Bunny's death, the next one to question the hierarchy of the group, Charles, is coincidentally the one most influenced by Marion herself. Symbolically, Marion represents the "normalcy" and "gateway" from the Catholic-like structure of the Greek class, and Richard, Henry, Camilla and Francis' disregard and mockery of her presence is just a sign that they are quite far removed from any notion of leaving the cult of Julian or challenging why the belief in Classicism needs Julian for a God and Henry for a priest.

[simgirlsofhillsidehaven]

Meet the Girls

The family origins of Jamie Parish are shrouded in mystery. Indeed her very name comes from a juvenile mispronunciation of "Jane" or "Janie" and the surname Parish relates to the Catholic church where she was abandoned/found. Jamie was living a tough life in the system and most recently on the streets; until a fateful and booze-soaked night left her pregnant and in desperate need of help. Luckily she's found Hillside Haven and is now in a safer place.

Rose Williams was orphaned and injured in the vehicular accident which killed her parents. You can't often see the scar on her forehead, which she mostly keeps covered with a fringe. Rose has been at Hillside Haven the longest, staying with Vicky for several months now. She also had the most "normal" childhood of the three girls, at least, she was the only one to have both parents present while growing up.

Chloe Samuel is the newest resident of Hillside Haven. Hers is, potentially, the most dramatic story. Young Chloe lived with her artist mother (Zuri) and their beloved cat until one night when she was out in Totter Park a little too late and was viciously attacked by a stranger out of the dark. Chloe was pronounced dead and Zuri was making arrangements to bury her daughter when Chloe came back to life in the funeral home. Fortunately for Chloe, a small, connected faction of the Copperdale community know vampires are more than myth and they were able to secretly spirit Chloe to safety. Now Chloe must navigate a new hunger and a new world. As our story begins, she has yet to be reunited with her mother or classmates.

Vicky Martin is the bold, blonde paralegal who runs Hillside Haven. In her early thirties, Vicky has no children or partner as yet; but rather devotes herself to championing young girls in need. She has just recently been bought into the loop on the vampire front and Chloe is her first supernatural charge {as far as Vicky knows...}

Vicky is supported by her loving father Robert plus many colleagues and friends.

Her rules for Hillside Haven are fairly simple.

I) Speak the truth, always. Omit if you really must, but don't tell falsehoods.

II) Make your own bed (it's a small accomplishment but it sets one up for the day and declutters the room, clearing mind space).

III) No alcohol or drugs (if you're here, you're here for a reason, no need to go making problems worse).

IV) Curfew is 9pm (no late night shenanigans).

In return, Hillside Haven is exactly that. A safe space where residents can put the pieces back together and find their feet again.

[blueiscoool]

Roman-era Tomb Scattered with Magical 'Dead Nails' Found in Turkey

A 2,000-year-old tomb discovered in Turkey was sprinkled with "dead nails" and sealed off with bricks and plaster, likely to "shield the living from the dead."

In ancient Roman times, people may have feared the "restless dead," according to the discovery of a cremation tomb sprinkled with intentionally bent nails and sealed not only with two dozen bricks but also a layer of plaster, a new study finds.

The unusual grave, found at the site of Sagalassos  in southwestern Turkey and dating to A.D. 100-150, had 41 bent and twisted nails scattered along the edges of its cremation pyre, 24 bricks that had been meticulously placed on the still-smoldering pyre, and a layer of lime plaster on top of that. The individual — an adult male — was cremated and buried in the same place, an unusual practice in Roman times, according to the study, published Feb. 21 in the journal Antiquity.

"The burial was closed off with not one, not two, but three different ways that can be understood as attempts to shield the living from the dead — or the other way around," study first author Johan Claeys), an archaeologist at Catholic University Leuven (KU Leuven) in Belgium, said in an email. Although each of these practices is known from Roman-era cemeteries — cremation in place, coverings of tiles or plaster, and the occasional bent nail — the combination of the three has not been seen before and implies a fear of the "restless dead," he said.

The archaeological site of Sagalassos was occupied from the fifth century B.C. to the 13th century A.D. and boasts numerous examples of Roman-era architecture, including a theater and a bath complex. Following its abandonment, vegetation quickly overgrew the city, preserving it.

As part of the Sagalassos Archaeological Research Project, burials in the outskirts of the town were excavated and studied, including the "non-normative cremation." Typically, Roman-era cremations involved a funeral pyre followed by the collection of the cremains, which were put in an urn and then buried in a grave or placed in a mausoleum. The Sagalassos cremation, however, was performed in place, which the researchers could tell from the anatomical positioning of the remaining bones.

Even more unusual was the contrast between the grave goods and the closure of the tomb. The archaeologists discovered typical funeral items — fragments of a woven basket, remains of food, a coin, and ceramic and glass vessels. "It seems clear that the deceased was buried with all appropriate aplomb," Claeys said. "It seems likely that was the suitable way of parting with a loved one at the time."

Marco Milella, a research fellow in the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the University of Bern in Switzerland who was not involved in this study, said in an email that "I tend to agree with their conclusion" about the bent nails, which Milella said are frequently found in Western European cemeteries dating to the first to second centuries A.D. "The sealing of the remains is also interesting and tantalizing given its possible association with the deposition of nails," Milella noted. "Fear of the dead is a possibility, as well as amulets to protect the dead — or both, perhaps."

Claeys thinks that the man in this strange cremation grave was likely buried by his next of kin in a ceremony that would have taken days to prepare and carry out. The set of beliefs that encouraged people at Sagalassos to bury this man in an unconventional way are best understood as a form of magic, or an act intended to have specific effects because of a supernatural connection. It is possible that his odd burial was made to counteract an unusual or unnatural death; however, the researchers found no evidence of trauma or disease on the bones. Unfortunately, even though the "magic cremation" overlaps in time with other graves, Claeys said that "it cannot be established with certainty whether or not any family members were buried nearby," as DNA is usually destroyed by high temperatures in ancient cremations.

"Regardless of whether the cause of [the man's] death was traumatic, mysterious or potentially the result of a contagious illness or punishment," the researchers concluded in the study, it appears to have left "the living fearful of the deceased's return."

By Kristina Killgrove.

[catinfroghat]

About THAT succession filming location

Possible spoilers for season 4 below!

Succession was filming a funeral scene and there's been a lot of speculation about whose it could be.

Characters present on set: Kendall, Logan, Shiv, Roman, Connor, Greg, Karl, Frank, Hugo, Karolina, Matsson, Mencken, Sandi, Sandy, Jess, Willa, Colin

Not seen as far as I know: Tom, Gerri, any of the Pierces, Rava, Sophie, Iverson, Marcia, Ewan, Cyd, Kerry, Stewy

Top candidates:

Ewan

Pros: he's Catholic so the church would make sense, he wasn't seen on set, Greg's inheritance could come up again

Cons: why would a proud Scottish-Canadian have a funeral in New York? And I don't buy that he would be notable enough for all the characters plus paparazzi to be present at the event

Naomi

Pros: 4chan leaks suggested that she dies, possibly of an overdose

Cons: the Pierces are not Catholic and none of their family were spotted on set. These leaks seem false for other reasons too

Logan

Pros: seemingly the only character with connections with all the people seen on set, his failing health has been the subject of the entire show, also Catholic and is likely to have a large ceremony due to his fame

Cons: Brian Cox was seen on set, however it could be an open casket funeral. If there is a season 5 it may be difficult to keep up momentum without him. Some characters you would expect to be at his funeral were not seen e.g. Marcia, but they may have just not been spotted

Sandy

Pros: is already on his last legs due to syphilis (?). Also could give Sandi a chance to rise in the ranks

Cons: casting notices when they were filming at a funeral home last year were looking for a Stewy stand-in who would be "comfortable pushing a wheelchair" which suggests Sandy is still alive. Plus it's doubtful that he had connections with all the characters on set such as Matsson

Tom

Pros: would be kind of funny

Cons: I think Matthew Macfadyen is just very good at not being spotted in public tbh. Also I don't think Tom is notable enough to have a huge funeral like the one they were filming

Conclusion?

Idk... maybe Logan if I had to guess or maybe someone random

[conjuremanj]

Vodou. The Soul and the Body.

Unlike many of the commonly known Western spiritualities. Vodou looks at the individual human in a unique way. The Western view of a Body animated by a singular Soul is simple in relation to the Vodou which has many factors. These pieces are thought to be placed their by God during the creation of the individual life, and upon death are ritually separated and allowed to go to their separate destinations.

Animating the body, instead of a single ‘soul’, Vodouisants see two main principles/components, the Gro Bon Ange (big good angel) and the Ti Bon Ange (little good angel).

The Gro Bon Ange is the animating principle, a piece placed in the person at their creation by God (also known as the ‘life spark’, This is the individual’s “spirit”. an energy that gives life, motion, and bestows self awareness). Without this component, the person wouldnt be a person…

Upon the death of the individual and the completion of the funerary rites, the Gro Bon Ange is believed to return to its Maker.

The Ti Bon Ange, is seen as the seat of the personality where all the traits that define that person. Thoughts, memory, temperament, character, all are housed in the Ti Bon Ange. Ti Bon Ange has a more tenuous connection to the body, and in certain situations it can be be temporarily separated from its seat in the person’s head. Let me explained. Shock and trauma both of these can temporarily push away the Ti Bon Ange the spirit. (if you’ve ever seen or been a in a car accident and is dazed and unfocused it is seen as a temporary loosening of the Ti Bon Ange as it trys to escape the trauma or finds its way back after being shaken out).

In possession, it is the Ti Bon Ange of the individual that is unseated and pushed out by the incoming Lwa or possessing spirit; to convey a message to a bystander in hopes that the listener would convey the message after that, the person had returned to normal consciousness understandably dangerous, these practices are known only to initiates, but have different applications. In kanzo initiations and Lave Tet (ritual head washing), the bodily connection to the Ti Bon Ange is loosened to make future possessions a lot easier for the body. accompanied by the making of a Pot Tet, or head pot. A physical zonbi is a person who has had their Ti Bon Ange removed or banished, leaving them devoid of thought or personality; (like some who is on a mental hospital they may look all there but aren't.)

After death, Vodou’s funeral ceremonies disconnect these pieces and send them on their way. Just like a Catholic priest would preforming a last rite. The body is prepared for burial, the Gro Bon Ange (soul) is returned to God, and the Ti Bon Ange is ritually sent “anba dlo“, or “under the waters” to rest for at least a year and a day.

After its rest period, the Ti Bon Ange of the deceased is ritually called forth from the waters and installed in a specially prepared Govi, or terra cotta jar, which is then placed in the temple or in the altar for the Family, now that individual’s Ti Bon Angeis now served as an ancestor spirit, and will watch over future generations.

[tryst-art-archive]

March 2010: "Drowning"

This one's going under a cut because it is once again about suicide. Specifically, this is clearly me imagining my own death by suicide. SO, do proceed with caution.

Something I'm learning from my journey through my archives is that I've been much, much, much more depressed than I realized over the past two decades.

Drowning

              She was drowning.

              Bubbles burst forth from her lips in a chaotic swirl, speeding towards the surface as she sank into the lake’s silt. Her body heaved with the effort to breathe, drawing in yet more murky water, suffocating itself in its own effort to survive. A darkness began to pulse at the edges of her vision, progressing and receding like a wave reaching up toward sun bathers on the beach. As the dark tide rose and began to close in, she felt her heart’s beat within her, shaking her every fiber so that she could hear the faint movement of the water in response to her fading pulse. She felt her weakness, felt the fragility of her body and its impermanence. The darkness closed in, and her diaphragm ceased its frantic efforts to feed her lungs. She listened to her pulse fade to nothing and followed it into the abyss.

              It was a closed-casket funeral. They hadn’t, after all, found the  body for several days, and when, finally, they pulled it from the lake, it had become alien, it’s grotesqueries caused less by the bloated deformation and more by the humanness still visible within its bulk.

              The mother cried throughout the ceremony, silently heaving, her face lost in tissue after tissue. The father simply rested his hands on his wife’s shoulders, blinking against the tears that hovered on the brinks of his eyelids. He would not let them fall again.

              Other relatives crowded about, some weeping, some offering sober condolences. A few townspeople had come – an English teacher the dead Girl had abhorred, a policeman She had never really gotten to know, and a host of high school classmates who may have remembered Her name but who certainly never knew anything else about Her. Her friends, old and new, mourned in their own ways. A few came to the funeral, but several wept in the privacy of their homes, too afraid of finality to face the funeral, although the coworkers whose primary connection to Her was the service industry itself had elected to come.

              The ceremony was a proper Roman Catholic ceremony, though the dead Girl had rejected religion some years before her demise, and this failure to observe who She had been rankled Her best friend, who stood, trembling, by the mother. The boyfriend didn’t notice this peculiarity and would, later, disagree with the best friend’s view that a religious funeral was disrespectful to an irreligious corpse. They would fight and, for several days, refuse to speak to one another in spite of sharing an apartment. Eventually, their tears would force them into a camaraderie for the duration of their morning period after which they would return to their eternally uneasy friendship. In their bitterest arguments, they would accuse one another of being the cause of Her death generally via the murderous force of insufficient love.

              In truth, they were each haunted by the possibility that they had contributed to Her death. They could never be certain; She had left no note.

[agroveinthesavagegarden]

Mayfair Witches ep 3: stuff happened and yet it kinda felt like nothing happened?

I liked that they gave Ciprian some of Michael’s chilhood connection to the house.

I liked how afraid Cortland is of Lasher. I think they’ve also effectively set up Cortland and Carlotta as two different factions while still keeping some mystery about what exactly the each represent.

The whole funeral procession didn’t do much for me because I find that kind of “character is inebriated so every things blurry and trippy” scene really annoying, but I recognize that is a personal preference and not the show’s fault.

As soon as I saw her having a drink I was sure Carlotta was poisoning the poor nurse for letting Deirdre get away But 1) should’ve shoved her in the ATTIC with the other dead body and the creepy witch jars because that would’ve been an awesome horror scene and 2) if Lasher really is that attached to the necklace why not throw it in the ocean or in a volcano or something??? I don’t understand how the show thinks the necklace works and it bugs me.*

In general, I feel like there’s some Mayfair lore being taken way too seriously (acting like the necklace has actual power beyond symbolism) and some not seriously enough (again I am annoyed at the casual use of Lasher’s name by people who should be avoiding it). The fact that Deirdre just got a little wind and not the full, uncannily localized storm that is supposed to mark the death of the Witch made me sad.

Absolutely uninterested in this witch hunter rally nonsense the coroner is into. Do not want, do not need, bad and dumb idea. I honestly don’t even care enough to want to know why or where they’re going with it it’s just too stupid.

*writing this it occurs to me that maybe it’s Carlotta not understanding how the necklace works which could be ok actually. Like what Carlotta knows and what she misunderstands and what she thinks she knows but has put her own worst-kind-of-Catholic spin on is one of the more interesting mysteries in the book.