#Young Pope spoilers

[spockvarietyhour]

Same Energy

[bedlund]

[lydiaas]

songs that remind me of the pogues 4/? Forever Young by Alphaville (1984)

[deakyjoe]

Do you mind if I ask a question about the band Ghost please?

I’m (very confused) around the numbered what seems like lead singers? Are they all the same person but different times/phases? Not sure if it makes sense. I find it so interesting when you post about them but I just can’t figure it out!

Oh my god, my time has come… here is a guide to the Papas (lead singers) of Ghost:

So first off let me start by clarifying that the band members of Ghost (Papas as lead singers and Nameless Ghouls as instrumentalists and backing vocalists) are all characters. They’re a group of folks in masks and makeup. There’s a lot of lore and backstory around the band but we won’t touch on that too much here. I’ll just talk about the Papas - the anti-pope leads. (Also the following will contain Rite Here Rite Now/Ghovie spoilers!!)

Ok so the lead singers we’ve had in Ghost so far have been Papa Emeritus I (Primo), Papa Emeritus II (Secondo), Papa Emeritus III (Terzo) and Cardinal Copia who was eventually promoted to being Papa Emeritus IV. These lead singer characters are all half brothers (their father is Papa Nihil who we’ll discuss briefly later) and all pretty much have their own albums (few EPs and live albums in there too but I won’t bore you with those).

All the lead singers of Ghost, all Emeritus brothers, have been played by this guy - Tobias Forge!

He writes and sings all of the songs, does the majority of studio work too from what I understand. So whilst there have been several “different” lead singers of Ghost due to the role being taken over by new Papas, technically they’re all Tobias in masks.

First Papa we had in the early days (around 2010 - 2012) was Primo (Papa Emeritus I). He’s the hardest to find photos/footage of since it was the beginnings. I always affectionately refer to him as “The Old One” since he was supposed to be about 80. His album was Opus Eponymous.

Next up we had Secondo (Papa Emeritus II) for a couple years (around 2012 - 2015). His face is the one that makes an appearance on a lot of Ghost merch I find. I think of him as “The Bald One” (lovingly of course). His album was Infestissumam.

Then we had Terzo (Papa Emeritus III) for a while (around 2015 - 2017) before he was dramatically ripped off stage and (maybe) decapitated. He’s only supposed to be 3 months younger than Secondo. I call him “The Hot One” because he’s fine as hell. His album was Meliora.

Then there was a dramatic shift in the way things worked. We were out of Emeritus brothers as they kept “retiring” (supposedly according to the lore) but it’s okay because a lovely little Cardinal came along to save the day! Introducing: Cardinal Copia!! To me he’s “Just A Little Guy” which is the most accurate description of him you’ll ever hear I promise you. (Also when Copia took over it was revealed that the previous Papas had been “killed”.) His album was Prequelle.

Eventually Copia was promoted to being Papa Emeritus IV (it had been pretty heavily implied up until that point that he was also an Emeritus half brother) which meant he could wear the Papa paints now. Also Copia is my personal favourite. Copia got a second album with Impera.

We had Copia from 2018 - now (he’s just been promoted again to Frater Imperator so will probably no longer be frontman for the band). This means Papa Emeritus V will be introduced at some point (probably Copia’s twin which was a detail revealed in Rite Here Rite Now - the recent Ghost concert movie).

But going back to Papa Nihil (the father of all the Emeritus brothers). I would like to make it clear that Ghost formed in 2006 and released their first demos in 2010 but according to their lore they go back to at least the 1960s. Which is when Nihil was frontman for the group. Nihil is not played by Tobias Forge, he’s had different actors for both his old and young versions, but his songs are sung by him (e.g. the hit song Mary On A Cross). Nihil has not been lead singer for the band on stage at any point (though he does make appearances and play the sax at some of them). Nihil has an EP called Seven Inches of Satanic Panic (“originally” from 1969 and then “re-released” in 2019) which features Mary On A Cross and Kiss The Go-Goat. (Also has an additional song revealed recently - The Future Is A Foreign Land.)

So essentially all the Papas are different characters but all played by the same guy. They have different faces (masks) and makeup, different personalities, different mannerisms, and slightly different singing voices (Tobias switches up the way he sings songs slightly between Papas) as well as talking voices. There’s way more to it all (which you can read about on any fan website, or even Wikipedia,) as the lore is pretty extensive for a silly little satanic band. I’d recommend watching The Chapters on YouTube if you’re interested in more. Also Papaganda Parts 1 and 2 which are pretty funny. There’s also a few helpful videos on YouTube that discuss the Ghost timeline in way more depth.

Sorry if this was a little too much rambling but it’s difficult to be concise with Ghost. Hope this all makes sense. Thanks, anon, for the question as I love to talk about anything I’m interested in!!

[catholic-character-tournament]

Round 5 - Catholic Character Tournament

Propaganda below ⬇️

Pope Pinion IV (Cars)

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

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

he lost the italian character tournament, he will win here

Harrowhark

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

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

she meets god. she’s not inspired

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

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

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

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

Anti-propaganda (spoilers)

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

[princessbrunette]

s4ep6 and 7 spoilers below the cut ♡

why’s young luke kinda

idgaf that his names jackson he’ll always be jesse in my heart

john b is always crashing out over something no one else gaf about 😭

kiara looking good asf oh my

jj and kie r so unaffectionate i honest to god could never. would have my hands all over him whilst he’s talking idk

british auntoomfs accent is so bad that can’t be real surely

pope is so funny 😭😭😭😭😭😭

“rafe cameron, ceo” “ceo of what” ijbol

tired of pretending i don’t wanna fuck hollis

rafe getting mad he can’t talk to wheezie 🥺

ok like why is he punching the table don’t piss me off

rafe and sarah team up let’s gooooooo

omg jj we are in court. where is the decorum

CRASHOUT INCOMINGGGG

this scene is so good for outerbanks oh my god?????????

WAR PIGSSS????

oh jj you are going to JAILLLL 😭😭

the hand kiss on the mannequin. oh my hod.

this is so apocalypse!jj coded idk

kiara calling out to jj whilst he’s inside yeasys is giving TROYYYYYY right now i can hardly breathe OHHH U CAN DO IT JUST KNOW THAT I BELIEVE ….. 🎵

NOOOO POPEEEE

pope getting arrested for jj cos jj got arrested for pope :(

rafe not now.

oh rafe stand up for god sake

rafe always talking about “ill come after you…” and never does 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 that’s my man though.

one thing about jj he’s gonna be on a bridge in danger

jj is so smart n practical i love him

these delinquents really fucked up popes whole future man

yup pregnant sarah i knew it

this isn’t real. the real kiara wojld have said ABORTTTTT

not pope in the military?????????

pope and cleo post sex scene hello??????

groff you will pay.

john b throwing the molotov just in the air KEKDDKXKDKSK

john b so pathetic this season im cryingggg

jj u were born to be a pirate

[jeewrites]

Hold Fast | Ch. 3 - Curdles

Series Masterlist

Rating: M for language, but this blog is 18+ MDNI

Summary: We leave the gym! A little bit of angst (that resolves by the end of the chapter)!

A/N: There are things I’m not tagging to avoid giving away the story. Please remember this is a work of fiction. See the endnote for content warning/spoilers. Tyty to @bloviating-vy for being the best beta.

Word Count: 3.8k

Tags: no y/n, reader has a nickname, swearing, reader is a powerlifting girlie in her late 30's described as short and she has hair long enough to put into a ponytail, Tom is alive unfortunately (we hate Tom), Tom owns a bar called Redfly's, Pope owns a gym, reader's mother is a menace, a lot of Frankie POV oops, use of Daddy but not like that 

<< prev next>>

[text conversation]

😻🐟: Dinner Friday? Pick you up at 7? 🏋🏻‍♀️: 🎉🎉 😻🐟: Gonna to take that as a yes

🏋🏻‍♀️:  💃🏻💃🏻 😻🐟: Uhh, I don't do dancing

🏋🏻‍♀️: 💃🏻 = I'm excited for Friday 😻🐟: roger that 🫡

😻🐟: 💃🏻💃🏻 😻🐟: Did I do that right 🏋🏻‍♀️: 🎉🎉

It's been a week. Time crawled despite your full patient load. Frankie had texted you about dinner on Monday, but you hadn't heard from him since. It's not like you were great with texting either, seeing patients all day and charting in between, as fast as your fingers could humanly type. And the last thing you needed was for him to be texting and flying.

His last text had you chuckling between patients, a half smile ghosting your lips for the rest of the day. Your co-worker remarked on your good mood and you let it slip that you had a date you were looking forward to, before you remembered why you kept your romantic life private. What does he do? Is he also a doctor? Did you land another surgeon? What do your parents think? Does he want kids? Show us a picture!

As much as you liked and cared about the other physicians at the shared practice, they were also all mothers of young children, busy with playdates and the whirlwind of family life. The group practice was set up so the physicians could work part-time while also raising their babies. As the sole single and childless physician of the practice however, it felt like they lived vicariously through you sometimes. Well intentioned but prying questions into your love life or your life in general (what do you do with all that free time?). When you first started at the practice you declared any discussion about your failed engagement off limits. To distract from the drama of that whole part of your life, you sometimes offered up bits about your online dating adventures much to their interest and amusement. That is, until you heard, "I'm so glad I don't have to date anymore" for the millionth time. Ugh.

As you scarf down the last of your lunch on Friday, you feel your phone vibrate, alerting you to a new message. You take a quick peek, smiling when you see it's from Frankie. Your smile falls the next moment as you open the text.

😻🐟: have to raincheck on dinner sweets 🏋🏻‍♀️: is everything ok?

A text bubble appears after you respond, “...” flickering for what feels like eternity before disappearing. Your stomach curdles in concern and disappointment, was he okay? You didn't think he had his daughter this week. Was she ok? You were so looking forward to dinner with Frankie, especially after your last disastrous date with someone from the dating apps.

Frankie was still interested, right? He had hung around for your entire bench workout on Saturday until he absolutely had to go pick up his daughter from his mom's. He had been so protective at the gym when Mike was being an absolute douchebag.

Although he was also protective of Chloe too, that irritating voice in your head, your mother's voice, reminded you. As you sigh, staring at the phone willing him to respond, your favorite nurse Suze pokes her head into the break room alerting you of your next patient that arrived early.

"Ok, be right there," you respond, trying to keep an upbeat tone as you shove your phone and disappointment into your pocket and throw your trash away.

Frankie isn't sure when was the last time he slept more than two consecutive hours since Wednesday. Fuck, Delta-Force Ops Training was easier than this. First, Vanessa had texted Sunday morning, begging Frankie to keep Gabi this week, her week, for some opaque reason related to work being extra busy and Vanessa needing more time for herself. I never ask you for favors, Francisco, Vanessa had guilted him over the phone.

Frankie figured with his work schedule working in his favor this week, he could keep Gabi and have his mamá watch her on the days he flew and on Friday evening so he could still take you out to dinner. His grand plans came crashing down when Gabi started fussing Wednesday, clinging to Frankie and refusing to go to sleep alone. At breakfast she seemed ok, like maybe she just had a cold or something. By dinner time she was burning up, refusing to eat or drink anything. Snot nosed, congested cough, and crying unless he held her. So he did, rocked her all night in her little toddler bed. Waking up to check her temperature, listen to her breathing, was she getting enough oxygen? and jolting awake at every whimper, cough, or cry. 

Gabi's congested cries snap Frankie’s attention back to her as he smooths her matted curls away from her face. She's still feverish to the touch and absolutely miserable. He briefly considers calling Vanessa in his desperation, but could already hear her biting response laced with resentment and anger. Why are you bothering me, Francisco? You're not doing me a favor by calling me when you agreed to keep her. You're the parent with custody right now, so fucking parent already.

This is the first time Gabi has gotten this sick when he had her on his own. Was this the flu? Did she have RSV? Why wouldn't she eat anything? Why couldn't the pediatrician's office fit her in this afternoon?

Call first thing tomorrow if she's doing worse and the Saturday on-call pediatrician can see her, the nurse's aide at the doctor's office tells him before relaying additional instructions on keeping Gabi comfortable and what signs to look for if she needs to go to the ER. It's only after Frankie hangs up the phone that he realizes it's Friday afternoon. He's supposed to take you out in a few hours.

Fuck.

He carefully sets Gabi down and tucks her blankets in around her before walking to the kitchen to wolf something down (when is the last time he ate something?) and text you. He hopes you'll understand he isn't blowing you off, that he really does want to take you out. You'll understand right? You have to know how much he likes you, admires you, is drawn to you anytime you are in the same place together, just wanting to be in your captivating presence. He still thinks you are miles out of his league, too smart, too pretty, too alive, to waste your time on a washed up someone like him with so. much. baggage. 

The fatigue hits him from left field as he texts you to cancel. Eyelids like lead weights despite the bright afternoon sun. As he reads your text response and tries to type his own reply, Gabi lets out a pained cry that sends his fried nerves into overdrive. He drops his phone on the kitchen counter to rush to her side. He tucks her back into his arms, soft words for comfort, and gently rocks her and himself into a hazy half sleep. 

It is still light out when you finally get home from work, but the apartment feels dark and cold for the first time since you left Chase and moved here. Your safe haven feels... lonely now. Too quiet. A single empty coffee mug sits on the small dining table, a ring of tacky coffee dried on the inside, abandoned where you left it as you rushed out the door this morning.

You flop on your small couch and text Frankie one more time asking if he is okay. The silence you usually welcome sits heavy — dense and gray — as you wait for a response. When none comes, you consider showing up at Redfly's to hangout with Benny and the guys, but you realize you'd have to explain why you are there and not out to dinner with Frankie. This is what Chloé must have meant when she was worried things would get complicated.

You need to get out of your apartment, out of your head, before you drown in the silence. You consider for half a second, phone in hand and thumb hovering over a dating app icon, maybe you should respond to the dozen or so messages in your inbox, before you click your phone off. No, you didn't want to make it more messy and you are just reacting. Running from fucking feelings that spread like tendrils down your spine and around your chest the more you think about Frankie and the way he looked at you with those big brown eyes, listened to you, and showed you that he was, is, interested. There has to be a legitimate reason he canceled on you tonight.

So you decide to do what you always do when you need to work out your big feelings. You go work out your muscles. Bigger muscles to handle bigger feelings. Release the not good enough, never good enough insecurities bubbling up and move through them rep by rep. Between a rare work shift tomorrow and the rest of the guys gathering at Redfly's, it feels like as good a time as any to get your SBD day in. You won't have to worry about getting in that monster of a workout after working six days in a row. Small blessings and all that. You pack extras of your favorite snacks.

"Who do we have on tap today?" you ask Suze as she comes around the corner to your work station. You cup your oat milk latte in both your hands, willing the espresso to work faster. Working Saturdays still sucks even if it is only every six weeks instead of every week. The parents are usually more freaked out and the cases often more severe. Fingers crossed you won't have to admit anyone to the hospital today. At least you got paired with your favorite nurse and you both worked together well as a team. 

"Just the one kiddo with RSV-like symptoms so far. Dad's been calling since Thursday afternoon trying to get in for us to see her. Seems really worried, neither of 'em have slept much. Looks like mom is the one who usually brings her in, parents are divorced, and this is Dad's first time here." She continues with a list of symptoms she collected from the parent, adding her own observations and vitals she'd taken before you thank her and grab the tablet with the patient's chart on it to head to the exam room.

Suze lowers her voice before adding,“Oh, and between you and me, the dad is gorgeous.” Suze gives you a freckled smirk before heading back to the front. You flash her your best O, rly? face before you both break into maniacal giggles as quietly as possible. Suze always makes the work day better, you think as you make your way to the exam room.

You take a deep breath outside the door, glance at the patient's first name, and flip on your doctor demeanor as you knock on the door. At the muffled come in, you swing the door open and start to say Hi, Gabriella, I'm Dr. — before you realize you're looking at a distraught and disheveled Frankie cradling his daughter in his arms. 

Was he dreaming? Did he forget to wake up and take Gabi to the doctor's? Why did the pediatrician look so much like you? Frankie rubs his eyes and looks up from his seat in the exam room chair. Nope, it is you standing there, white coat on and stethoscope around your neck looking like an angel despite the harsh fluorescent lights.

"Sweets?" he croaks. Ok, yeah, he definitely didn't forget to wake up because he can't wake up if he hadn't fallen asleep. He's sure he sounds as sleep deprived as he looks. 

"Frankie?" you ease the door shut and step towards him. 

Gabi lets out a congested cry and clings tighter to Frankie when she sees you approach. 

"Shh, bebita, it's ok. The doctor's here to help you feel better," Frankie soothes, voice tinged with desperation.

He needs you to help Gabi feel better so he can feel better too. He looks up at you and catches you with knitted brows, chewing your lower lip for a moment before your face smooths, like you thought something over and made a decision. 

You squat down to eye level with Gabi, "Hi Gabriella, I'm Dr. Sweets." 

Gabi eyes you warily, "My. Name. Is. Gabi." Sniffles punctuate each word.

"Nice to meet you Gabi. Can you come sit up here for me?" you ask as you move to pat the exam table. Gabi buries her face into Frankie's flannel, shaking her head no no no.

"Oh, right, uh... she's been going through a big stranger danger phase," Frankie explains. He's worried you'll think he's the worst father, unable to get his daughter to comply.

"That's perfectly normal at this age," you reassure him, stepping back to give Gabi some space.

You hesitate for a moment before looking at Frankie and continuing, "It's kind of a gray area, treating someone or someone's kid I know... uh, socially." You pause for a moment, glancing at your tablet, appearing flustered. "But, um, I know it's Saturday and I don't want Gabi to have to wait until Monday to see someone if I can help her now. You okay with that, uh, Mr. Morales?"

Frankie nods with understanding, after panicking for a moment in his exhaustion, thinking that you are going to kick them out because he was supposed to take you out yesterday. Was that just yesterday? Also, “Mr. Morales” made him feel old.

"Ok then, please hop up on the exam table with Gabi for me then," you direct him, smooth doctor demeanor back on, as you pull the rolling stool over to the wall mounted monitor adjacent to the exam table. You pull up Gabi's chart on the screen and glance over the information. 

"How about we chat a little bit about how Gabi's doing before we work on the stranger danger?" 

Frankie grunts in agreement and stands with a groan before moving to sit on the exam table with Gabi. The exam table paper crinkles under his weight as he settles onto the table, checking to make sure Gabi is comfortable. You chat with him, running through his concerns, Gabi's symptoms, all the while warmly affirming the care he's given Gabi. He finds himself relaxing into the conversation as you lead him through your questions with a gentle and comforting voice. Everything is going to be fine. I'm going to take good care of Gabi. You did a great job taking care of her, Frankie. Delicate pecks on the keyboard as you document in Gabi's chart while also monitoring Gabi's body language towards you.

"Well, I think I have everything I need besides giving Gabi a once over," you conclude with a reassuring smile, standing up slow and steady, as Gabi continues to eye you, a miniature furrow in her brow identical to her father’s. Gabi burrows her face back into Frankie's flannel. 

You offer soft words to Gabi who continues to shake her head “no” into Frankie's shirt before flicking your eyes up to Frankie as if to ask for his permission.

"How about I give your Daddy a quick check up and make sure he's healthy first?" you ask Gabi, a hint of playfulness in your voice, as you look to Frankie to confirm he's okay with it. You could do whatever you want to him if it would help you help his little girl, he thinks. Stab him with a needle and take his blood for all he cares.

Gabi pauses her head shaking and peeks out at you, soft brown curls falling over her eyes.

"Promise it's not going to hurt him, like it's not going to hurt you sweet pea," you soothe.

Gabi looks between Frankie and you with a bit more curiosity than suspicion. Frankie's heart swells as you talk to her with soft patience, explaining what the different scopes are used for, before demonstrating on Frankie, shining a light into his eyes, asking him to open wide and say aaaahhh, so you could look at his throat. Gabi giggles when he lets out an exaggerated aaaahhhh! He hopes he remembered to brush his teeth this morning. 

Through it all, you worked through Gabi's stranger danger, peeling back layer after layer with your playfulness with the utmost patience and care. Frankie can feel Gabi relaxing her grip on his shirt, softening to you. He can feel the remaining tension he was holding in his stomach slowly unravel at your light touches and soft praise as you pretend to assess him and give gentle words of explanation to Gabi. 

When you click on a disposable tip on the otoscope to check his ears, you let out a mock gasp “What's this?” that has Gabi climbing out of Frankie's arms as you magically pull a small stuffie out of his ear. 

"Can you hang on to this little guy for me and keep him safe?" you ask her with your serious face on. Gabi nods and makes grabby hands before settling back into Frankie's lap facing forward towards you and hugging the stuffie within an inch of its life. 

"I'm going to take a look at your ears now Gabi, okay?" you ask as you receive the smallest little nod from her. She allows you to check her eyes and throat as well. You note the redness in her throat before praising her extra loud aaaahhhh! Frankie's pretty sure you're a toddler whisperer at this point.

As you pull the stethoscope from around your neck, Gabi looks up and shrinks at the new equipment. Just going to use this to listen to your heart beat and how you're breathing, sweetpea, you explain, but Gabi starts to shake her head “no” again.

You pause for a beat before digging around the small toy box underneath the exam table before pulling out a play stethoscope. Now we have matching ones, you say as she abandons the stuffie for the new toy. You show her how to put the ear tips in her ears holding the diaphragm against Frankie's chest over his heart. Can you hear your daddy's heartbeat? Does it sound like a thump thump thump? Gabi nods with wide eyes and delight. He's relieved it's Gabi listening to his heart and not you as his heart started to race at your light touch to his chest.  

It's smooth sailing after that. Gabi allows you to complete the physical exam, taking deep breaths on cue as you listen to her lungs, before you sit back down on your rolling stool. As you add to the electronic chart, Frankie catches your small grin as Gabi continues to play with the stethoscope, smooshing it against his cheek, nose, then forehead.

After a few more pecks on the keyboard, you turn to Frankie to give him your diagnosis (no, it's not RSV, thank goodness), but another viral bug that mimicked some of the symptoms of RSV. It’s been making the rounds in the community, but Gabi should recover within the week. As you move to discuss detailed care instructions and prescriptions to help alleviate Gabi's symptoms, Gabi tires of playing with the stethoscope and turns to you instead, arms outstretched.

Frankie can tell you're surprised as Gabi makes the universal toddler motion for "up." You pause before rolling over on the stool. Gabi leaps at you as you get closer and you manage to catch her in your arms despite your surprise. She immediately settles into you, tucking her head under your chin and plopping a thumb into her mouth, anchoring her other little hand on the shoulder of your white coat.

"No more stranger danger," you joke with an amused smile as Gabi cuddles into you with a sniffle.

You finish delivering the care instructions to Frankie as you rock Gabi, double checking with Frankie if he has any questions or further concerns. You reaffirm what a great job he did with Gabi the last few days, a balm to his frayed nerves and self-doubt. He could wrap himself in your reassurance and gentle patience, your soft, gentle words healing him. Is this what falling in love with you feels like?

"You can call the office if something changes or she gets worse," you offer, voice quieting. "Or you know, call me."

Frankie nods, relieved Gabi doesn't have RSV, doesn't need to go to the hospital, but also so moved seeing you with Gabi in such an unexpected situation. Your incredible care and patience for his baby girl, all softness and gentleness from your words to your touch. This side now melds with his experiences with you at Redfly's, at Pope's, the flirty fun side of you and raw strength he knows you possess. It makes him dizzy to think about the multitudes within you that he's experienced so far and hopes to experience more of it. Soft, strong, playful, and so fucking brilliant.

"I'll walk you out to the front where Suze can finish up and get everything sorted," you instruct as you stand and walk for the door. Frankie sees Gabi's grip tighten on your shoulder as you move. Baby girl does not want to leave. As you approach the exit to the waiting room, Gabi fusses, burying her head in your chest, not wanting to leave. Clinging to you as if she didn't spend half the visit hiding from you in Frankie's shirt.

"I know, sweet pea," you comfort. "Just having too much fun with Dr. Sweets, hmm?"

"Don't wanna go," Gabi pouts, refusing to look at Frankie. "I see you tomorrow?" 

You look at Frankie for a beat before responding, "Well, if it's okay with your Daddy, I can stop by tomorrow and check on you. Maybe bring you some tasty chicken noodle soup? Would you like that?" Gabi nods “yes” into your shoulder. 

"Sweets, uh, Dr. Sweets, you don't have to do that," Frankie balks. You've already done so much, he thinks. 

You look up at him with soft eyes, "But I want to. If you're okay with it."

"Wanna see Doc-tah Weee," Gabi whines, pronouncing your name like weee!

"Okay, but you gotta go home with your Daddy first," you say as you manage to untangle yourself from toddler limbs before handing Gabi over to Frankie. "I'll see you tomorrow, 'kay?" before you boop Gabi on her nose and hand her the stuffie. "Take good care of him for me until then." Gabi clutches the stuffie and nods.

"Hey," Frankie places his free hand on your forearm as you turn to go. "Thank you. So much."

"Take care of yourself too, Morales," you murmur, patting his hand and returning his gaze before heading back to your work station.

<< prev next >>

Endnote/SPOILERS: medical jargon, mention of needles and blood once, Frankie’s daughter Gabi gets sick and he cancels his date with you without explaining why. Frankie takes Gabi to see the weekend/on-call pediatrician and it’s you. Frankie falls more for you as he sees you interact with his baby girl. 

👉👈 A little nervous as the story leaves the gym (we'll be back!), but I have such fun, sweet things planned for them. As always, comments and reblogs give me lifeee and keep me writing. I am open to constructive feedback but please be gentle with this baby powerlifting writer, yeah? I might be able to squat you, but I'm a big ol' softie.

Taglist: @katareyoudrilling @christinamadsen @rebel-held @littlemisspascal @burntheedges @darkheartgatita @enretrogue @titabel @copperhalfcent

[certified-bi]

Okay so(Spoilers up to 65):

Marianne has publicly challenged the Jewel Box and pointed out that it's politically sus.

Moon Owl knows about (and could possibly be) the princes decoy (I'm confused on the timeline given he was with them before the girls died but maybe that was just before the rebellion). Moon Owl doesn't seem clear on his past given he didn't understand he's a hostage.

Moon Owl and Marianne's mother are both from the country that started the rebellion or at least had a controversial part in it.

The pope is buy young girls, grooming them to be helpless powerhouses, and probably stealing their magic if they choose to leave. The Jewel Box either edited this out or the empire is not concerned by this (both are bad but I'm leaning former given how Garnet's people feel about the saints).

Marianne has chosen to conceal herself and run away. The emperor wants her back at attention and being obedient. He is also willing to kill our Obsidian over this but Moon Owl isn't for this.

Alex knows Marianne to some extent and has figured out she's missing. He knows enough about the emperor to be concerned for our Obsidian and so far is only not trusting Moon Owl for reasonable points. He is also concerned for Marianne.

Marianne was pressured to some extent to be in the Jewel Box for her popularity and sway. It's possible that her husband's accident was foul play. It's odd she didn't choose a lover she already had to marry and instead chose to be the face of season five.

The emperor and his family are possibly cursed due to what happened to the Mers which I believe is relevant given Obsidan is established to hate this history before she steps into the Jewel Box (with her husband's collection) and its a mirror to current circumstances.

My thoughts:

Marianne may have more politically outspoken beliefs than we know, and possibly aligns with those who are against the empire given we don't know exactly why they rebelled. She has run away and hidden herself to great lengths. Alex is very likely to be on her side and also against the empire to some extent, given we don't know who he is and his ancestry that could be a further motive.

The empire is willing to use and abuse others, especially concerning magic. Considering how much magic the Jewel Box takes, it'd be interesting if there's resentment from the less fortunate about mana being used in such way given its not endless and comes at such a cost and they're being frivolous with it to some degree for political propaganda romance TV. The pope and emperor might be in cahoots over magic draining but that's purely speculation based on themes so far.

I think the merman tale is important because of the way the legend ties into Obsidian's history and the empire as a whole. It also ties into different characters' themes. Platinum is carrying the curse of his families greed for power. Amethyst is a pawn for the pope, but also a divine healer. Mana stones cost miners a great deal. Pearl is a woman so she's unable to take the throne alone, much like the maiden needing the merman's help. Obsidian is tied fairly heavily to the maiden as well, but more on the grief aspect.

Also keep in mind the broadcast seems to be airing with a slight gap in release, but I could be misremembering.

I think we're looking at a few possibilities:

Marianne and/or Alex are against the empire and looking to start another rebellion. Obsidian will either have to lean towards this or towards some sort of compromise.

Moon Owl had his memories taken, will regain them and will join the rebellion to help Obsidian as she's a pawn with no protection.

Amethyst will heal Platinum.

Platinum will have to break the curse by righting his family's wrongs.

The empire falling in its current form.

[chase-the-music]

I started doing a little doodle of my OC if he became Papa VI one day but then I... couldn't stop-

Cadence in his usual outfit and role

Explanation and details below the cut (RHRN spoilers!)

I feel like if this actually happened he would be VI rather than V because he's still kind of young (36 in 2024) and it would take some time for Frater, who he's been professionally arguing with since 2018, to come around to the idea, but I think by 2028-30 he might. Because Cade was just doing his job, even if it wasn't always reason free from passion, and he could end up seeing it from the whole "pushed me to become what I am today" angle. Every day that he fed him with hate he grew stronger...

I took inspo from Cade's Advocatus Angeli outfit for a lot of the colours and some of the details, and I wanted it to have the same level of detail as Popia's outfits. I almost cut his hair but I think that would have been a crime. He probably wears it in a high braid for Rituals, and I gave it flame colours as nod to his Ghoul grandfather, as well as adding the orange beading and embroidery to bring that into his outfit.

His paint is adapted from his current Ritual makeup, and he keeps his CV version of the Grucifix and incorporates it in, but since he's no longer the AdvAn, it goes the same way up, everything is balanced and shows him finding true devotion to the Ministry. I thought he would wear only one of his red contacts as a nod to the other Papas.

Would he be able to actually be a Papa Emeritus despite not being related to Nihil? Well if it's the same as Papal titles in the Catholic church, that would be up to him, actually, as those are chosen by the Popes themselves. I think if Frater was OK with keeping it as a tribute to those passing the torch to him, he'd happily be Papa Sesto.

(of course, he just has to have the chaos symbol be pretty prominent on his cape... and the heart as a little nod to his amore 🥰)

[rosecorcoranwrites]

(Sorry for taking so long)

Some of the magisterial documents that concern me:

Catechism of Trent, Rerum Novarum 20,36,42,, Quadragesimo Anno 71, casti conubii 120, Pius XII speech to Catholic female organizations (on April 24, 1952) etc

These documents seem to treat women working as a concession rather than as something that should be strived for (usage of the words “should”, “like it or not” etc) 

Which on one hand, yes, I don’t think the modern feminist notion of “women have to be like men in order to contribute” is good, and corporate work culture and such isn’t really good for anyone, and of course there are differences between men and women that should be respected. 

But on the other hand, because of my overthinking brain, I get to wondering if God thinks people working outside of their usual role/men and women who don’t fit their “role” is just something like Old Testament laws we consider unfortunate today, something God “tolerates/tolerated” rather than something He “wants”

It’s probably more of a me problem

No worries about taking long. I am also super busy, so it’s hard for me to find time to focus on things. Anywho, I couldn’t find the text for the Pope Pius XII’ 1952 speech, which wouldn’t be magisterial, as it is just a speech and not an encycliacal or what have you, so we can set it to one side. As for the rest:

The Catechism of Trent:

To train up their children in the practice of virtue, and to pay particular attention to their domestic concerns, should also be especial objects of [wives’] attention and study. Unless compelled by necessity to go abroad, they should also cheerfully remain at home ; and should never leave home without the permission of their husbands.

I’ve read some people’s take on this that their husband’s permission can be understood to implicit rather than explicit. For example, when my mom was a stay-at-home-mom, we would go hiking and shopping and picketing when I was little, but my dad knew we were doing that and wouldn’t have asked us not to.

I have my own take on the passage. The Catechism of Trent was written in 1566, so “home” might not mean a literal house, but more likely a farm or village. Neither spouse should run off to the next village without letting their spouse know, and it’s not unreasonable for a husband to say, “Yeah, don’t go to the next village, because I need you here to help with the (insert myriad duties that weren’t automated at the time).” Running a household back in the day was far more than only child-rearing, and was essentially a job in itself, with cooking, mending clothes, and—if the family owned a shop or farm—helping to run that.

Bringing this perspective to modern day, I think we can agree it is better for families, in general, to “settle down” in one location and build a life there. When children are young, it makes sense for the mother to be the one to stay at home (ie, the hometown) while her husband’s work may require travel. Obviously this is not to say the family can’t take vacations, and necessity (sick relatives, or important speaking engagements on the wife’s part, etc) would allow for the wife’s traveling.   

Rerum Novarum: On Capital and Labor

I assume the concerning passages are:

20. “Furthermore, the employer must never tax his work people beyond their strength, or employ them in work unsuited to their sex and age.”

This actually proves that the Church is fine with women working, as it implies that there is work—paid work, by an employer, which is suited to the different sexes.

It is also important, just above this line, that it says, “the employer is bound to see that the worker […] be not led away to neglect his home and family.” This applies to both men and women. Context is important for all of these passages, as the document itself concerns treating workers justly so as to have a just society. If society makes it such that work outside the home interferes with family life—for both men and women—than it’s an unjust society (spoiler alert: we’re living in such a society).

36. “…if circumstances were such as that among the working class the ties of family life were relaxed; […] if in workshops and factories there were danger to morals through the mixing of the sexes or from other harmful occasions of evil; […] if health were endangered by excessive labor, or by work unsuited to sex or age - in such cases, there can be no question but that, within certain limits, it would be right to invoke the aid and authority of the law.”

The church is saying that the law should step in if family life becomes untenable due to work or if a woman’s health is endangered by her work. I don’t see a problem with this. Now that middle clause about mixing the sexes might sound startling, but read it carefully: "IF in workshops and factories THERE WERE danger to morals through the mixing of the sexes or from other harmful occasions of evil; […] it WOULD BE right to invoke the aid and authority of the law.” It’s not saying that there will be immorality do to the mixing of the sexes but that if there is, the law has to step in. Which secular society agrees with. It’s why we have sexual harassment laws.

Notice, too, that merely by mentioning men and women working in workshops and factories and women being endangered by excessive labor, the Church is acknowledging that women do and can have jobs.

42. “Finally, work which is quite suitable for a strong man cannot rightly be required from a woman or a child. […] Women, again, are not suited for certain occupations; a woman is by nature fitted for home-work, and it is that which is best adapted at once to preserve her modesty and to promote the good bringing up of children and the well-being of the family.”

I don’t see a problem with this, either. There are jobs which, frankly, don’t suit women. Dangerous jobs, jobs which require back breaking labor, or jobs which require heavy lifting in a pinch come to mind. The Church is saying don’t force women into hard labor. As for our nature being “fitted to home-work”, that doesn’t mean we can do nothing else. There are plenty of jobs which are not back breaking and that do preserve modesty—medicine, teaching, office work, and so on. So long as those jobs don’t interfere with the the family, there’s no reason a woman shouldn’t pursue them.

Quadragesimo Anno 71

71. “That the rest of the family should also contribute to the common support, according to the capacity of each, is certainly right, as can be observed especially in the families of farmers, but also in the families of many craftsmen and small shopkeepers. But to abuse the years of childhood and the limited strength of women is grossly wrong. Mothers, concentrating on household duties, should work primarily in the home or in its immediate vicinity. It is an intolerable abuse, and to be abolished at all cost, for mothers on account of the father's low wage to be forced to engage in gainful occupations outside the home to the neglect of their proper cares and duties, especially the training of children

Many things to note here. First, the acknowledgement that wives can help run farms and shops (which they always have done), and that this is not considered an occupation outside the home. Onto the part about mothers, again, notice the language: “to abuse the years of childhood”  “intolerable abuse […] for mothers […] to be forced to engage in gainful occupations outside the home to the neglect of their proper cares and duties, especially the training of children.

This does not mean that mothers cannot have jobs, hobbies, or interests. Mothers of children should not be forced to work because their husbands are not granted a living wage. Mothers of children ought to stay home with their kids. Again, “staying home with your kids” does not mean you can’t also pursue your own interests and hobbies. It just means that your job is to take care of the kids. Once your kids are more grown, and that may mean being school aged or teenagers—that’s probably a matter of prudential judgement—feel free to go back to a paid job.

Casti Connubbii:

120. if even the mother of the family to the great harm of the home, is compelled to go forth and seek a living by her own labor; […] it is patent to all to what an extent married people may lose heart, and how home life and the observance of God's commands are rendered difficult for them”

Again, this isn’t saying women can’t work, it’s just saying they should not be compelled to do so, and that it would be better if they could focus on homemaking.

TLDR:

I would not say that documents “treat women working as a concession”,  though they do treat mothers of young children working as such (note that there are many mothers of older children and people like me: unmarried women). I do agree that they don’t treat mothers working as “something that should be strived for”, but so what?

I’m gonna get on my soapbox here. You yourself said “corporate work culture and such isn’t really good for anyone” Correct. So stop buying into it. Lose the capitalist notion that a person’s worth comes from their paid occupation. Lose the notion that to “do anything” means to be paid to do it. Christians should not be striving to get a job; we should be striving to become saints. The same goes for men and women. It’s frankly toxic to see a person’s worth as centered in their career. To do so leads people to despair when they lose their jobs or cannot get the one’s they want.

God doesn’t care what job you have, he cares about if you love Him and the people around you. If you can love and serve your family while holding down a job, great. The odds are that you probably can’t do that while raising young children. So make the sacrifice and stop working outside the home for a few years. Your family—and you—will be better for it. Then, when your kids are older—maybe in grade school, or maybe older than that—go back to work if you feel like it. The fact there are women saints with jobs proves that God is fine with women working. And as for men working, I wouldn't say that's something God wants, as the reason we even have to labor is because of the Fall, but I digress....

I don’t think you’re overthinking it, I think you’re buying into a combo of feminist and capitalist rhetoric that says a woman’s worth (a man’s) comes from their place a cog in the capitalist machine, and that the goal of life is to have a fulfilling job. It's not. The goal of life for married people is to create a healthy and holy family. Yes, women's role in this usually involves childrearing while men's involves earning a living wage, but how is that unfortunate? You cannot claim to respect mothers while acting like what they are doing is not as worthy as having a career. And, I'll say it again, nothing about being a mother precludes one from having a career so long as your kids come first.

[starkeygirls]

s4 ep6 spoilers below

episode 6:

young luke is fine af

he absolutely killed larissa for suuuute

“when dad died the first time”

did they get a new popes mom

why is kie ok with her parents now ??

not the fucking kid ohhhh my god this is such a STUPID PLOT

bro fuck luke maybank

also would they not get their money back

no wait kie’s parents yelling vs pope’s just saying “oh that’s not necessary” is so funny i laughed

jj’s going to jail for sureeeeee

where tf was this when john b was being arrested tho

ok my old jj loving self is coming out omg???

honestly i like the camera work on this episode

shoupe doesn’t get paid enough for this

ok also the whole kook plot pisses mf off bc larissa didn’t seem like a bitch look you know? so even if jj grew up a kook, he wouldn’t be like topper or rafe you know? idk

i’m so tired of the jiara shit where she thinks she’s the only one who can change him idk

POPE WTF oh that’s how he goes to jail

a night scene with no blue filter is so sexy

i wish rafe would stop signing shit without reading it

YA BABY THREATEN HIM

oh i love how he happened to stop running RIGHT where a little ledge was

[catholic-character-tournament]

Round 4 - Catholic Character Tournament

Propaganda below ⬇️

Harrowhark

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

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

she meets god. she’s not inspired

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

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

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

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

Anti-propaganda (spoilers)

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

Ronan Lynch

Uhh fun fact he saw the devil flash his father once, and that's one of the reasons he goes to church on Sundays <3

context for this scene from book 2: ronan is in church with his older brother declan, younger brother matthew, and ghost friend noah "Joseph Kavinsky isn’t someone I want you being around,” Declan added. “Don’t snort. I’m serious.” Ronan merely invested a look with as much contempt as he could muster. A lady reached over the top of Noah to pat Matthew’s head fondly before continuing down the aisle. She didn’t seem to care that he was fifteen, which was all right, because he didn’t, either. Both Ronan and Declan observed this interaction with the pleased expressions of parents watching their prodigy at work. Declan repeated, “Like, actually dangerous.” Sometimes, Declan seemed to think that being a year older gave him special knowledge of the seedier side of Henrietta. What he meant was, did Ronan know that Kavinsky was a cokehead. In his ear, Noah whispered, “Is crack the same thing as speed?” Ronan didn’t answer. He didn’t think it was a very church-appropriate conversation. “I know you think you’re a punk,” Declan said. “But you aren’t nearly as bad ass as you think you are.” “Oh, go to hell,” Ronan snapped, just as the altar boys broached the rear doors. “Guys,” Matthew pleaded. “Be holy.”

Gay Catholic streetracing farmer. Consumed by catholic guilt NOT because of the gay thing but because he can Create things in a way he thinks should be only God's business. Will literally roll up to mass on sunday morning still drunk and bloody.

THIS GOTH KID IS LITERALLY GOD. This is a god trapped in the body of a Catholic teen and if he ever stopped feeling Catholic guilt he’d end the world!!. How is your confession every week that you creating a whole new being? Babygirl the God is coming from inside the house

eldritch entity from beyond the mortal plane wants to be a Real Human Boy, becomes a real (ish!) human (ish!) boy, goes to mass every sunday

Gay boy got his crush an apartment above his church so he could have his two favorite things in one place

gay. I'm not caught up the the series but I went through the tag when the latest book came out and I remember seeing a quote that said he worried if his boyfriend would make it to heaven when he dies because of his agnostic tendencies.

Kid is like a dream warlock who creates psychic horrors and never goes to confession because why would he? and he’s gay

There are no words

basically ronan's powers are inherited from his dead father niall and it means he can bring anything from a dream into real life. so he's got this whole crisis about whether he is a living piece of blasphemy because men are not meant to have the powers of gods or whether he literally is god. which is not acceptable to him for a number of reasons but mostly because he hates himself. his love interest's name is adam and adam lives in a small apartment above a church which the book says focuses the objects of his worship neatly into one building. I love them both dearly. also, this entire page makes me feel like I'm going insane. Ronan Lynch believed in heaven and hell. Once, he’d seen the devil. It had been a low, late morning at the Barns when the sun had burned off the mist and then burned off the chill and then burned the edges off the ground until everything shimmered with heat. It never got hot in those protected fields, but that morning, the air sweated with it. Ronan had never seen cattle pant before. All of the cows heaved and stuck their tongues out as they frothed with the heat. His mother sent Ronan to put them in the shade of the cattle barn. Ronan had gone to the searing metal gate, and as he did, he’d glimpsed his father, already in the barn. Four yards away from him had stood a red man. He was not truly red, but the burned orange of a fire ant. And he was not truly a man, because of the horns and the hooves. Ronan remembered the alienness of the creature, how real it had been. Every costume in the world had gotten it wrong; every drawing in every comic book. They’d all forgotten that the devil was an animal. Looking at the red man, Ronan had been struck by the intricacy of the body, how many miraculous pieces moved smoothly in harmony, no different than his own. Niall Lynch had had a gun in hand — the Lynches had an enormous number of guns of all sizes — and just as Ronan had opened the gate, his father had shot the thing about thirteen times in the head. With a shake of its horns, the unharmed devil had presented its genitalia to Niall Lynch before bounding off. It was an image that had yet to leave Ronan. And so Ronan became a reverse evangelist. The truth burst and grew inside him, and it was laid upon him to share it with no one. No one was meant to see hell before they get there. No one should have to live with the devil. So many homilies on faith were ruined once you no longer required it for belief.

Our boy CHOOSES not to receive the Eucharist because he doesn’t believe he is worthy. The spiritual insight, the devotion, the fact that this teenager is worried he may have a mortal sin weighing on his soul…this boy isn’t just going through the motions, he’s putting work into this.

[agentcable]

Chicago Fire Season 4 Ep. 10 "The Beating Heart"

Squad members gather at Chicago Med after one of their own is attacked. Cruz works with the Chicago P.D. to find Freddie, who's missing. Choi and Halstead work on an attempted suicide victim. Mouch surprises Trudy. Brett and Jimmy worry about Chili, who's acting oddly.

This episode starts a crossover with Chicago Med and Chicago P.D. that continues on "Malignant" and ends on "Now I'm God".

If you want to watch the series for yourself, stop reading! This post contains spoilers to the storyline.

Freddie, the young man Cruz had been trying to help, stabbed Herrmann in the last episode. The Chicago firefighter is in trouble.

Freddie was offended when Herrmann called him "short and fat". He stabbed him and ran away, leaving Herrmann to bleed to death. Dawson had broken one of Herrmann's rule about maraschino cherries. She went into the break room to make a cosmopolitan. She found Herrmann in time. Dawson, an EMT, helped her friend. Otis called 911. Severide was on edge. He wanted to blame Cruz for Herrmann's problem. He should have told Cruz not to bring Freddie around them.

Freddie was a former gang member. Boden didn't think it was right to complain about things they couldn't control. He told Severide to leave Cruz alone.

The police had been told about the crime and Cruz had given them all the information they needed to find Freddie. That left the firehouse to support Herrmann. And that meant taking over babysitting duties since Herrmann was in the hospital and his wife was by his side. Someone had to be at the hospital to give the crew updates.

Dawson stayed at the hospital. She had been with the crew when they answered their first call of the day. Casey thought it would be better if she took a few days off to help Herrmann.

The fire left some issues. A building caught fire. It was caused by a gas leak from the basement where a woman tried to kill herself. She tried to contain the gas in a bag on her head, but it spread upstairs and eventually caught fire. Jessica Pope's actions were not a concern. People were worried about the fallout. Some residents were badly burned, and Cruz inhaled too much smoke. He and the others had to go to Chicago General.

Burgess went to the hospital to question Jessica. She had nearly killed several people, and the police wanted to make sure nothing else was going on. Jessica was still unconscious. Burgess wandered around the hospital and ran into Cruz. Cruz wanted an update on the Freddie search. Burgess told him the police still couldn't find him. Cruz left the hospital against the doctor's advice and went straight to the gang's territory.

Cruz went to Freddie's old crew's house and ran into trouble. Cruz nearly got killed looking for Freddie. But at the last minute, Severide saved him. Otis heard Cruz was leaving, so he warned Severide. Severide knew where to look.

Cruz did a stupid thing, and Severide had to talk to him about it later. Later, he asked Cruz what was going on. Cruz said he made a mistake. He promised he wouldn't do it again. That wasn't true.

Anyway, Herrmann was bleeding into his liver when he was brought in. The doctors couldn't stop the bleeding. The situation got worse. The doctors said Herrmann needed surgery. He wanted to talk to Cruz before the surgery. Cruz took a while to get to the hospital. Another emergency call came in from their firehouse. This time it was Freddie.

Freddie was running from the police when he went out on the fire escape, and it collapsed. Firefighters used the ladder to get to Freddie, and Cruz volunteered. He asked Chief Boden for a chance to clean up his mess, and the Chief gave it to him. Cruz had to convince Freddie to take his hand. Freddie was worried Cruz would be mad at him, but he let Cruz take him to safety after being reassured. He was then arrested.

Cruz got to speak with Herrmann. He told him he was sorry and that he never wanted this to happen. Herrmann told him he never blamed him for what Freddie did. He said he was mad at Freddie, not at Cruz. Herrmann would have said more, but he started to crash. The doctors rushed him into surgery.

Herrmann might not make it, but he did a lot before he was rushed away. He helped Cruz with his guilt and told Mouch to propose to Platt. Mouch and Platt got engaged and hope Herrmann will be at their wedding. If Herrmann dies, they won't be able to do much. Chili might go crazy. She's been having issues with her friends, but Herrmann was like a father to her. If he doesn't make it, it'll only get worse.

[madscarypod]

Episode 3 Recap: Talk to the Hand

We are back! For episode 3. Or 4? Who's counting? We are, I guess.

Trigger Warning: This episode talks about self-harm, suicide and other tough subjects. Skip it if you think it'll upset you.

In this episode, Millie waxes poetic about her love of Rick Rubin's book The Creative Act. His book straight-up offers practical tips for creatives to tap into thee "source" and overcome emotional blockers in order to create. We discuss our plans to participate in a spooky event - at the Church Street School for Music and Art - in October. We'll interview peeps about their favorite scary movies, what frightens them, and maybe craft a scary story on the spot! Stay tuned for that fun little bonus ep.

Hey, what's up with the SAG-AFTRA strike? It's still going on so we'll continue to adhere to the mandate - don't watch non-compliant movies! We'll do our best.

We also dig in further on our wild speculation about local crimes possibly involving a serial killer aka the Newton Creek Killer. We theorize it could be the work of a serial killer, possibly a female who targets intoxicated men. Rina goes in on The Pope's Exorcist, a Jules Avery joint, with fan fave Russel Crowe. Russel Crowe's character is an exorcist and gets assigned the case of a possessed young boy in Spain. The Pope sends RC, aka Father Lankford, to perform the exorcism. This movie is too silly, with gratuitous nudity and unnecessary sexiness. Also, not scary enough. But as per Rina's recommendation, "Watch it. Don't watch it. Who cares!?" Next we dig into our movie of the ep, Talk to Me by the cutie pie Philippou Bros. An A24 production, this Australian horror movie is about a group of teenagers who use a cursed ceramic hand to commune with spirits. And film it. With their phones.

The main character Mia immediately gets in too deep after contacting her deceased mother. Things go awry (you gotta follow the rules!) and her young friend Riley gets possessed. Riley's possession leads to a traumatic event (very, ew) and hospitalization.

Mia becomes obsessed with the hand and uses, but it starts warping her grip on reality. SPOILER ALERT: In the end, the hand's influence leads Mia to sacrifice herself for Riley. She throws herself into oncoming traffic.

Hot commentary in this film; phone use is a driving force in the film, with people filming everything and sharing everything on social, even the private moments of others. The pacing of this movie was a bit off but all in all a spooky, thoughtful romp. 4 1/2 Corns. That's good.

We rap the episode by digging further into the common tropes we've seen across the 4 films we've watched. Check out our list below. Lots of commonalities across them.

Anywho, thanks for listening and reading!

[good--merits-accumulated]

Vesuvius: Historical Tidbits!

So I just posted Vesuvius, my Italian Renaissance Anderperry oneshot, over on the AO3 - read it here, especially if you haven't read it before seeing this post. It was never meant to be anything more than the vaguest of historical fictions, and is exactly zero percent accurate, but a couple of the places/terms I used had some fun facts behind them, so what I couldn't or didn't want to fit into footnotes goes here!

WARNING: PRETTY MAJOR SPOILERS HERE! IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED, GO READ THE FIC FIRST!

First; names were gotten mainly from the Peiraeus Public Library, the Academy of Saint Gabriel, and a Reddit thread that I can't actually find now.

Also - never actually mentioned in the fic, but Neil's first name is Niccolò! It seemed fitting for his name to be lost to history; it's tragic because the whole thing is a tragedy and ends with the demise of the House of Pisani; it's logical because I can't imagine that Andrea would want his old best friend/erstwhile rival's name to remembered, especially in connection to Todd's death; it's happy because the best thing I could do for Neil was to let him fade quietly out of history and never have to deal with anything like that again for the rest of his life. But I couldn't resist giving him a name that means "people's victor" lol. Dramatic irony ftw

Sidenote: I only chose Tommaso because it sounds like Todd and I was trying to stick pretty close to their canon names, but it does mean "twin", so... whoops! Uh oh! What a thing to name the guy who spends most of his childhood and early adulthood alone and searching for a family! Sorry man!

"Il triumvirato" - probably very obvious, but Italian for "triumvirate".

Speaking of the painting - did you catch the broken cup corresponding to the cup on the de' Rossi coat of arms? Looks like someone's been hungry for power for a couple of years, Andrea! (In my mind he has the portrait commissioned at the height of the "golden years", when he's drunk on power and Todd and Neil have not yet abandoned his cause.)

Last note on the paintings is on the clothing; the cloak is a mantello, the undershirt a camicia, the doublet a farsetto and the tabard a giornea, and the hose calze. I didn't do much (any) research on the colours/materials, so that will likely be anachronistic. Andrea's outfit looks a little like this:

Neil's like this (on the right):

And Todd is in cardinal's robes! More on that in one or two bullet points.

I only mention One Thousand and One Nights in the footnotes but actually all of the stories our narrator mentions are anachronistic - Maestro Lattantio and Costatino Fortunato (an early version of Puss in Boots!) were both first published in The Facetious Nights of Straparola by Giovanni Francesco Straparola, circa. 1550-1553

Actually, quick note to confirm the dates; Todd first becomes a cardinal in 1479, and the conversation witnessed by our narrator happens around 1484.

Todd IS quite young to become a cardinal (think mid to late-20s), but that makes more sense in the full AU ;)

As said in the footnotes, the Palazzo is based on the Palazzo Reale/del Broletto Vecchio. Check it out!

(Yeah, narrator, go ahead. Try hiding in THIS one.)

Cardinals have red robes! And of course once I realised this the blood comparisons were endless and overwhelming. Like, come on:

WHAT a red. Thank you, Jeremy Irons in The Borgias.

And this is a galero, the red hat of the cardinals:

Wide brim for obscuring the face while telling secrets.

The Pazzis briefly alluded to are the Pazzis of the Pazzi conspiracy, which has been taking up just absolute miles of my brain space since I started reading about it. Like holy shit. What was going on there

Cardinals are valuable to have at the time; mostly covered in the text, but they're ways to have your family's fingers in all the political pies. (Popes are of course better, but cardinals more attainable.) But then again, now your son owes his first alliance to Rome. Uh oh!

The Castel Sant'Angelo is this huge imposing museum in Rome that has been by turns a fortress, mausoleum, and a prison:

The Bible verse is from Luke 2:9 - the birth of Jesus. Fun fact; the image of Todd as a soft-spoken, mild young cardinal, believed to be harmless and gentle by everyone around him, absolutely glowing with a kind of divine rage was the thing that first kickstarted this oneshot!

The Duomo di Milano:

Hell of a place to die in the arms of your lover (+ in front of the man who's always loved you, but loved power more). (Sidenote: in the full AU (which lives only in my mind) I have SO MANY SO MANY thoughts about Andrea/Todd/Neil as a triumvirate and SO MANY SO MANY thoughts about how they interact and what turns all of their stories into tragedies. So if anybody wants to ask me about them.........)

Feast day of St. Matthias: May 14th. St. Matthias replaced Judas as the twelfth apostle (there's a certain betrayal echoed here between the triumvirate that makes me go crazyinsane) and is the patron saint of carpenters, tailors, smallpox sufferers, and in prayers for perseverance and hope.

The crypt of the Duomo di Milano, where Todd is buried:

And... that's it! I think! Thanks for reading!

-

Edit 25/10/23 - just a minor thing that doesn't really impact the fic at all, but I do think that Todd's death also plays a part in the complete destroyal of the de' Rossis - not because of Andrea's wrath but because of the Pope's. Like, he's not an important cardinal or even a very well-respected one, but he is still a prince of the Church! And killing him would definitely provoke some papal blowback. Just been reading about the Cardial di San Giorgio after the Pazzis, and the Pope sending messengers to get him, and when that was denied essentially declaring war on Lorenzo de' Medici (although of course that wasn't all on the Cardinal's account). Like you know. Family is family. (He was TWENTY-SEVEN when it all went down, what the fuck!)

[scrunchie-87]

Oh my god you should not have asked that I have 3, the royalty au, the pure fluff au, and my new bodyguard au. I’ll explain the last 2 first since oh boy that royalty au is a real piece of work

The fluff au is just your average Nothing bad happens and everyone is happy and gay. It takes place with the main cast as adults and it’s also where i dive into fankids(This was just called the fankid au since it mainly centered around them, but now it centers more around the chansaw family’s life)

The bodyguard au takes place in a elitist private school westerberg, where it’s all about connections, power, and money, a place where Chandler’s bitchy self can truly thrive. What Chandler “fails” to “realize” is that her actions have consequences no matter how many people act like they like her, and she’s actually hated by more than half of the school.(lmao she knows they hate her)

As they are all hormonal kids with too much money on their hands it’s a common practice for there being a hitman or assassin after Heather. Mr Chandler has enough of seeing his daughter nearing her death and hires a hitman, a young talented girl who could easily pass a student in westerberg and manage to protect Chandler at all times.

This is getting quite long but basically Veronica teaches Chandler to be more aware and respectful so she doesn’t have 27277291 million people after her ass, and Chandler decides to teach Veronica how to live life little, taking her body guard to do rich people activities.

*cracks knuckles* oh boy, i’ll try to break this down in simple terms.

The royalty au is just me acting like i know politics but basically. Veronica Sawyer is part of a noble family and is the only heir, Heather Chandler is a crown “princess” and is also the only heir. This information is important as Veronica is an only child out of choice, but Chandler is actually an orphan and doesn’t open up much about her parents, especially not her mother(this woman did shady things but thats a spoiler)

Since Heather is an orphan, “who tf is taking care of the kingdom”, you may ask, surely they wouldn’t make an literal 7 year old the ruler of an entire nation? Well this is actually correct and wrong, Chandler gained the title of “Queen” at 7 but the real government is the royal court, made up of high ranking officials, noble families like Veronica’s, and overall old people that think they’re better than everyone else. They’re all there to entertain Heather, shit on each other with eloquent words, and like %2 of it is actually solving problems within the kingdom which i have yet to name.

Some of the royal council is highly sus tho, and surprise surprise, trouble is brewing between the fractions and Chandler herself. Veronica is put in the spotlight as the Sawyer family had amassed many followers against the young queen and the shady ass “royal advisors”, even coming into contact with the Duke’s who are appropriately named, and the Mcnamara’s as Mr Mcnamara is a popular pope father person i am not original nor did i put as much thought on characters besides Veronica and Chandler.

Anyway Veronica knows that something doesn’t feel quite right and overhears a few members of the royal council, including her parents, talk about planning a coup against Chandler. Luckily a few are unsure and it gives Veronica time to at least talk or warn the queen about the possible uprising. At first Heather, who has her head up her ass, doesn’t really believe that anyone would betray her, but Veronica is everything if not constant in her warnings and even saved Heather from an attempt at her life. After that Chandler takes her seriously and finds herself interested in wanting to know more about Veronica who’s seems to actually care about her.

Anyway this is getting to long so yadda yadda yadda boom chansaw but since they’re like both girls and therefore unable to give their respective families any heirs, also, they’re like “no gay” but chansaw is like “fuck you” to them and monarchy and end up creating a new council with the rest of the og characters, and no president either it’s legit just based off whatever warrior cats was on. The kingdom is big enough as it is so everything gets “neatly” separated in cities or towns and the each chose atleast 3 representatives to go and actually discuss the now nations needs.

Can you draw Heather Chandler movie version?

Nope.