#august righteousness

[vforvalensa]

palisade episode 44

[humanmorph]

JADE KILL - fell a pillar with zero grip or destroy a vulnerable division

manifesting a win for them this week. let's go fuck a train UP ‼️

[rozecrest]

jack de quidt taking any opportunity to add a garden into their rp 🫂🫂🫂

[swallowtailed]

palisade 50 / finalisade pt. 5

structure thoughts

okay, i have a lot of thoughts re structure this week. i had these last ep too, but i wanted to give it another episode to see how a few things shook out, because fatt tends to move quite slowly in that way. (also i had just gotten cursed with dawn work and had no brainroom for real thoughts.) i do still think there's room for some of these things to develop, and fatt tends to hang together much better in retrospect. but this is my read right now.

the reintroduction of cas'alear & co: i am content to wait a bit for some interaction with them or some explanation of why they're here, because palisade is currently being forced through seven separate funnels and a brand new problem won't fit somewhere instantly. that said. bro we better find out what's up. they're physically on the blue channel, that can't just get handwaved

and re material circumstances of blue channel & crew--to my eye the dice valuation of relationships is causing some real siloing off of characters and storylines. which is really unfortunate because the bonds between the crew were a huge strength of palisade and it just feels like an oversight to miss that in the finalisade. (this is also a factor of not doing a ton of rp in this game. one thing i'm really missing is bringing the misfortune options into the result of a scene.)

and on a similar note, i really liked august's scene with righteousness, but it could've been even better if palisade had engaged more with delegate characters and what it means to be a delegate throughout the season. instead this & a bunch of other thematic threads are being advanced way more actively than before now that it's the finalisade, which feels kind of hollow.

i also really wish eclectic was still around. having had a leap scene, i've solidly come down that it was a bad narrative decision to kill eclectic. introducing a new (to the season) character in the middle of the finalisade, on top of a bunch of other new/er pcs, was always gonna be awkward, and leap doesn't work here. his goal, to take kesh for every last cent, has a very similar problem to clem's--kesh isn't there. which is less of a direct issue when the end goal is just "steal", but it's still a goal from a partizan paradigm, not a palisade one. you know? like, leap's fixated on kesh and kesh is a shrinking speck on a planet with new and different problems.

also ideally leap's reintroduction would create contrast for the ways brnine and thisbe have changed since partizan. maybe we will get to that later.

hey i actually think talking about a justice system would be extremely relevant given how many characters have goals in that direction?

i think overall my sense is that finalisade feels disconnected from the rest of the season due to all the character changes and some rushed thematic work.

anyway obv this is fatt so there's every chance all of the above will be resolved by the end of finalisade but from here i'm feeling a little doubtful

various other notes

jesset's gun arm! i stopped to wonder which it was back when that happened, but since it wasn't addressed i figured it was intended to be his prosthetic arm. wild.

the autonomy reveal... love when a reveal is so well seeded and rings so true that you have to be like "hang on was that not already canon". very cool. very perennial. miserable, also.

taking a minute though to sit and think about perennial and loneliness. also taking a minute to think the phrase "did perennial effectively utilize girl power in creating autonomy itself".

re cori's scene: the suggestion that perennial's consecration might change the flora and fauna really caught my ear. not beating the "millennium break is also colonizing palisade" allegations. it seems like they went another direction (just the sky changing?) but that rang really weird to me, especially when the colonial angle of gardens wrt the bilats had just been raised a few episodes ago.

very much appreciated janine taking the time to explicitly bring up the framing of unction's fate as something that would, in-universe, be a question and a conversation

[chemiosmotic]

this episode of palisade was crazy good but it brings up an obvious topic for discussion:

WHO is going to be at the meet and greet!! a PARTY EPISODE B-plot!

[blouisparadise]

Here are some amazing bottom Louis fics posted or completed during the month of August. We really hope you enjoy this list and that you give these fics a lot of love. Happy reading!

1) Louis Confess | Explicit | 1,667 words

Louis always liked Harry, when he sees himself desperate for him, he decides to tell everything.

2) No Turning Back Now | Not Rated | 2,256 words

“Let’s go to New York City, Lou! A fun getaway with lots to do.” Louis nearly choked on his water and shook his head. “No. Absolutely not.” Niall frowned. “But we talk about it all the time. You don’t want to go see it in person?” Louis pointed a finger at his friend and corrected him. “You talk about it all the time. I’m pretty sure I just smile and nod at what you’re saying until I fall asleep.”

3) The Mundane Reminded Me Of You | Explicit | 3,185 words

Things between Harry and Louis have been tense since Louis confessed having feelings for Harry. Harry has been telling him that he’s not interested, but keeps giving Louis mixed signals. When Louis tries to understand what those mixed signals are, Harry just keeps acting avoidant and refuses to answer Louis’ questions. Niall, who is close with both of them, decided to get involved to try to help, but just ended up making things worse. Now, Louis has cut them off both. Niall keeps trying to reach out to Louis, but Louis doesn’t want to hear anything about it. With One Direction being on their Midnight Memories tour, everyone has been feeling that tension and no one knows what to do about it. One day, Harry has had enough and decides to confront Louis about how he’s been treating Niall.

4) Give Me That Adrenaline| Explicit | 4,636 words

It's the 80s, Louis works in a sex shop and it's one of those boring days... until, yes... until Harry enters the shop in all his glory...

5) Symphony | Teen & Up | 4,981 words

Note: This fic is locked and can only be read by AO3 users. 

In the peaceful countryside, Harry Styles is a hardworking farmer who’s all about keeping things running smoothly on his farm. But when a routine check on his crops leads to a nasty fall from his horse, Harry finds himself seriously injured. Determined not to worry his pregnant omega, Louis, he stubbornly drives himself to the hospital, knowing full well that Louis would be frantic if he found out. Meanwhile, Louis gets a call that sends him into a panic—Harry’s in the hospital. Rushing to his side, Louis is a mix of anger and worry, not sure whether to scold Harry or hug him. As they reunite, the two navigate their emotions, and despite the scare, their bond only deepens, proving that together, they can handle anything life throws at them.

6) Desire | Explicit | 6,123 words

Louis Tomlinson is a teacher at a secondary school in London. He loves his job and the students he teaches. He’s been teaching Maths at the school for 3 years now. Before this school, he taught at a school with younger kids In his hometown of Doncaster for a year. Louis left his mum, step dad, and younger stepbrother, Harry, behind in Doncaster. Today Louis received a call from his mum that she and his step dad are having struggles in their marriage and need him to take Harry in for a while because she cant deal with a teenage boy right now. This is not news to him. Since their parents married, they have had a very rocky relationship. Louis and Harry have always been a kind of close that few could understand even them sometimes. They were always tactile and loving towards one another in and out of the public eye. The last ten months have been nothing more than daily text and calls between the boys. Louis being older than Harry and gay always knew it was much more than just a brotherly bond or a bond over a troubled and tumultuous home life. Part of leaving home was Louis’ way of putting a healthy distance between them so Harry could find a nice girl and have the chance at a normal life.

7) The Sacrifices of Righteousness | Explicit | 6,989 words

Priest Harry eats Louis out and then fucks him on the altar in the Sanctuary of the Church

8) Home Is Nest to You | Teen & Up | 7,340words

Being an omega, Louis was well accustomed to nesting. He had lost count of the number of times he'd nested throughout his life. But, there were five times in particular that he'd never forget.

9) I Want Nothing But You Beside Me | Explicit | 10,168 words

Louis is an omega cam boy, desperate to be fucked by a real alpha. When he ends up in heat, he goes live and begs his favourite viewer to come and knot him.

10) Consumed By All These Yesterdays | Explicit | 10,159 words

“I love you too, by the way,” Louis said in his arms. “And I will love you next summer, and the summer after that, and for every summer we have together for the rest of our lives.” “And I will love you more.” Louis would leave Harry’s summer home two days later, and it would become the fifth consecutive year that they would drift apart through fall and winter, but Harry wasn’t afraid. They always had the summer time and without a doubt it would inevitably bring them back together.

11) Bad Logic | Explicit | 14,108 words

Louis tried to tell Harry he was interested in him years ago. When a misunderstanding occurs, leading to a 5 year long feud, can they finally figure each other out?

12) Given Half A Chance | Explicit | 15,226 words

Louis commits suicide and Harry does everything to get him back.

13) Miracles At Sunsets | Teen & Up | 16,351 words

Note: This fic is locked and can only be read by AO3 users. 

Harry and Louis are best friends bound by years of shared memories, but their relationship is complicated by a tangle of unspoken emotions. Harry, an Alpha, is deeply in love with Louis, an Omega, but fears revealing his true feelings might shatter the friendship they’ve built. When Harry decides it’s time to settle down and start a new chapter in his life, he turns to Louis, an interior designer, for help in finding the perfect home. What begins as a light-hearted search for a house soon becomes a journey of self-discovery and emotional upheaval. As they explore potential homes, their bond is tested by the growing tension between what is said and what remains hidden. Can Harry find the courage to reveal his heart, or will their unspoken desires tear them apart?

14) Home Is Wherever I'm With You | Explicit | 20,742 words

Louis' life is changed drastically when he is dragged off to the bathroom by his biggest crush.....his college professor.

15) Porcupine | Explicit | 82,250 words

Note: This fic is locked and can only be read by AO3 users. 

Louis, a broke omega librarian, finds his quiet life in Vienna turned upside down when he meets a charming four-year-old boy named Venus, who insists that Louis is his "Mama." When Venus's father, Harry—a powerful and dangerous mafia leader—offers Louis a lucrative job as the boy's full-time nanny, Louis steps into a world where love and danger are deeply intertwined. As Louis grows closer to Harry and Venus, he discovers the perilous secrets of Harry's underworld life. Their unexpected connection sparks a passionate romance, but with Harry's enemies closing in, Louis must navigate a treacherous path where his heart and life are at risk. This is a thrilling tale of love, danger, and the irresistible pull of two souls drawn together against all odds.

16) Brat Camp | Explicit | 93,099 words

Bratty sub Louis Tomlinson gets sent to ‘Brat Camp’. Dom Harry Styles is the Counsellor assigned to him, tasked with correcting his attitude and behaviour.

Check out our other fic rec lists by category here and by title here.

You can find other monthly roundup fic rec lists here.

[mndvx]

I have cast the dead of a thousand worlds, like rotting dolls, into mass graves. And I stood bathed in firelight as entire civilizations turned to ash before my eyes. All in the name of a child who had not yet been born. Now, drifting here, as if in a dream, fate blessed me with a choice. And for the first time, I felt her hand guiding me. Choosing me. As a vessel of righteousness. REBEL MOON — The Director’s Cut (August 2 2024) Chapter One: Chalice of Blood (dir. Zack Snyder) ››› Dustin Ceithamer and Anthony Hopkins as James (JC-1435) / Jimmy

[tototalks]

Just over halfway through King’s Rising and am eating up all this drama lol. Welcome back weird tension, I have missed you 👀

- And we resume with that poor Veretian boy being taken advantage of by Makedon’s troops. I’m glad Damen sorted that cruelty out. I’ve always liked Damen’s character for his sense of honour, but I LOVE the uncomfortable acknowledgement that he himself was complicit when it came to keeping and participating in the slave trade, and this is a lesson that he is coming to learn.

- Shoutout to Paschal just because. Keep being unproblematic, king.

- Nikandros is just like, so done. 😂 This man sees, knows, and acknowledges that his best friend will see a pretty blond red flag and is but a charging bull.

- The era of weird tension has truly begun again. Laurent is so so petty and I’m so so here for it - that “good boy” for Isander was not, in fact, for Isander.

- This has solidified my belief that we should start having messy fights in public again, because what I wouldn’t give to be some random nobility standing in a hall sipping a dacqueri while Barius Big Balls straight up asks the kings of two nations whether or not they’re fucking 💀

- Damen was an ‘Again! Again!’ kid and you cannot tell me otherwise, except he didn’t want you to read a nursery rhyme, he wanted a whole damn performance of the Akielon Iliad lol

- “Let’s fuck.” - Ah yes, that infamously makes everything better.

- The little girl saying Prince Damianos killed her family and ransacked her village? Ouch.

- The fight between Laurent and Damen was everything I wanted. They’re so well matched in such different ways. Damen is strong and steady, but unyielding, and Laurent is quick and sly, and relies on his wits. With his defeat, Laurent knows he wasn’t good enough to best Damen just as Auguste wasn’t good enough either. There was nothing he could have done.💔

- “I could have done this any time when I was a slave.” And they’re both so RIGHTEOUSLY mad about loving one another because they had no business falling in love, and yet they did. I’d be mad if the universe pulled that kind of bullshit on me too. Like wtf.

- Laurent watches Damen wrestle naked and suddenly the Akielon games are hosted in Vere this year 😏

- Nik: “You surely didn’t suck his dick?”

Damen: “… I might have sucked his dick.”

Nik: “I cannot defend you anymore.” HELP THIS MAN 😭

- Makedon has one drink with Laurent and is going around like yes hello, this is my new best friend!! He’s from Vere!! We’re going hunting actually!!

- The information that Laurent is a lightweight is valuable and precious, but the tonal shift from “I miss you” to “yes uncle” has me chewing on drywall and boiling my teeth. 🫠

- Love how Nik has given up trying to talk to Damen about Laurent, so he just does the equivalent of shoving a box of condoms at him and leaves 😂

- Well hello, Jokaste! 👀 Cannot wait for her to gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss her way around this.

[fanyeline]

maybe i just have f@tt exhaustion & need a break but most of palisade has been incredibly bleak & idk if this post credits ending is going to fix that. let's take a look at where the characters started and "ended" this season

Kalvin Brnine: started unable to talk abt their feelings & with hope that millenium break could change lives. ended unable to talk abt their feelings, estranged 3 important relationships & with a death wish.

Thisbe: started w the idea that they have no freedom. ended with the realization that they have freedom, but also they have an energy thing in them that prevents them from relaxing

The Figure in Bismuth: started w wanting to break free from slavery. Ended up dead.

Phrygian: started w wanting to fight the good fight & end the war. Ended up dead.

Coriolis Sunset: started idealistic & naive. ended up grizzled, chased from planet to planet & having forcibly lost their girlfriend to a contract with a God

from my point of view, if the idea was that they wanted to make a corny, hopeful season, they picked the wrong game from the start. armor astir's pillars are practically undefeatable, that is part of the game.

secondly, the cause VS principality gameplay where the team was split into two groups didn't really work for me. it felt like it created aggression between groups, where both groups wanted to win instead of creating a collaborative story. you can hear austin struggling with this in early episodes of the game against jack & art, and eventually it felt like they just leaned into the opposition between the two groups. This is maybe "fun", but in the end it creates this feeling that there's always a losing side.

secondly part 2, the inclusion of the stellar combuster arc towards the beginning of the season felt super weird, pacing wise. i know we can't always control these things, but overall that whole arc only felt stressful, never fun or rewarding. even when brnine killed the princept, i was just kind of stressed out!

third, i'm not sure the final questlandia game was a great ending game, especially when so many of the character beats couldn't really explored in a system that's talking about kingdom level activities. Besides that, I found the choice of characters to be a little disappointing. Bringing in Levi after figure's death didn't feel like a breath of fresh air, it just felt like 'well who is this guy?'. I felt the same way about Jack's character, August Righteousness. I think either could have played a character we already had a strong connection with. What about Gucci? What about Jesset? How about Mustard Red? Keith bringing back Leap was the right choice, not only bc leap is someone we already cared about but because he's like this incredible force as a character. He is someone who generates change.

fourth, I felt the treatment of Clem as a character was absolutely ridiculous. the immediate dislike and rejection by the cast of an extremely popular character after art brought up playing her felt like it was both disrespecting art as a player and his ability to do a villain justice, and towards the listeners who have been invested in Clem's story since she was a player character in Partizan. It felt like after a certain point, Art had to give up caring about what Clem did or face backlash from the other players! In the last few kingdom episodes, art was going "I mean, whatever, I don't really care" half the time they asked him about what he felt clem would do. And I also found it to be a huge bummer to listen to the players have discourse over Clem.

There's a big difference to me over fandom discourse and players taking part in that discourse. First and foremost, Clem is a character in a story, and while their "what should we do about Clem" discussion should have revolved around how to give her a satisfying character arc, it felt more like they were trying to figure out how to wash their hands of her. I don't really understand how or why the friends soured on Clem so much, and you know what? I get being sick of a character. But having a public discussion about it was really weird, & as a fan, a total bummer to hear.

So yeah, over all I feel really burned out by this season and the decisions they've made. I think it's been a sad time. I don't think it's been fun or goofy for awhile.

Obviously as creators they have a right to do whatever they want with their art, but I can't help but find it disappointing. It feels really different to what they've put out before & I'm having a hard time enjoying this gritty, sad and stressful season.

[weaponizedhorse]

MAGA Evangelical Leader Behind Get-Out-The-Vote Nonprofit Charged With Child Porn

The former leader of a conservative Christian voter outreach program favoring Donald Trump in the 2024 election has been arrested for possessing child sexual abuse materials.

Jason Yates, 55, the former CEO of evangelical nonprofit My Faith Votes, was charged in Minnesota with eight counts of possessing child sexual abuse materials.

According to court documents reviewed by Religion News Service, a relative of Yates' accidentally discovered a hard drive containing more than 100 sexually explicit images and videos of children under 14-years-old, as well as eight pieces of media involving children between the ages of five and 7-years-old. They gave it to another relative, who then handed the drive over to law enforcement.

Yates met with investigators on September 13, during which time he allegedly refused to give the investigators a password to access the encrypted files on the drive. He also revealed that he had a prior expunged conviction related to child sex abuse materials, Religion News Service added.

In early August, Yates stepped down from his CEO position at My Faith Votes and was replaced by Chris Sadler.

Yates was charged on Monday with eight counts of possessing child sexual abuse material.

“In early August 2024, the My Faith Votes board of directors separated Jason Yates from My Faith Votes and board member Chris Sadler assumed the position of Acting CEO,” a My Faith Votes spokesperson told RNS.

“Over the last three months Chris has been working with the dedicated My Faith Votes team to encourage millions of Christians to vote, pray and think biblically about this election in America,”

A few weeks before the hard drive was discovered, Yates published an op-ed in the Washington Times encouraging Christians to push back against "sexually deviant" messaging toward children. The "deviant" messaging he was describing involved LGBTQ issues.

“This infernal programming is being downloaded into our children, and it becomes far easier when it finds no resistance in our public square — when it is allowed to fill the void left by the absence of our faith,” Yates wrote in his op-ed.

The messaging was on par with what can be found on My Faith Votes, which blames Christians for being complacent in the face of "secular progressives."

“As a result of apathy at the voting booth and in public life, we’ve suffered devastating moral decay, declining religious freedom, immoral national debt, and the erosion of traditional family values,” the group's website reads.

According to Wired, My Faith Votes is part of a network of nonprofit groups trying to rally support for former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.

Before stepping down from the group, Yates gave an interview explaining why he thought it was important for Christians to not only vote, but to vote in accordance with conservative Biblical beliefs. He asked Christians to sign a pledge to vote in every election.

“As a Christian, I commit to voting for candidates and policies that uphold the sanctity of life, the traditional family, religious liberty, and justice for all,” the pledge reads. “I believe that my biblical values should guide my choices at the ballot box, ensuring that our nation’s laws and leaders reflect God’s truth and righteousness.”

[sgiandubh]

Pretzel logic

I never liked funerals - who does? - and I have always tried to avoid them, under different pretexts. This is one of the moments we meet the Great Beyond and we are at our most vulnerable. It's only fair and it is not something to be taken lightly, ever.

August 10, 2022 happened a few days before I decided to give OL a try and by the time I landed in here, that YouTube live had already been taken offline, perhaps with good reason.

That people watched it should come as no surprise to anybody: it happens in all cultures and societies - Death fascinates us and makes us curious, even if it's a questionable, voyeuristic kind of curiosity. It was posted for everyone to see, on the biggest content streaming platform on planet Earth. It was posted in consideration of the ending peak moment of the COVID pandemic, to allow for more people to attend, with the family's prior consent. It was most probably shot from the organ balcony, at a respectful distance and I am being told the streaming was blurry: a good thing, if you ask me. People screeching for "more clarity" of those screenshots should, in my humble opinion, think twice: context and taboo and all that.

That people saw something bizarre in the front pew was unavoidable. That the said detail (Occam's Razor would help us conclude that ambiguous things are usually anything but...) was screenshot, edited and made its way in here and elsewhere - impossible to control. However, I have not read any disrespectful comments about the event. Nobody snarked. Nobody grinned. A hole in the plot was pointed out, adding to the whole array of inconsistencies and if I remember well, it was almost missed out entirely (a taboo is a taboo, after all) and started its career online only days after.

Was it shared ad nauseam? Maybe - but who the hell am I to judge? Again, not something you can control, unless you set yourself up as the Torquemadas of this fandom and slap everybody on the wrist with your twisted righteousness. When your people discuss the Data Lounge findings in great, lewd detail, that is called having fun and (I love that one, don't you?) gossiping, as if you were just talking about Miss Scarlett's new petticoat, not a man's reputation. When our people dare to post pictures from a public event, or published for public consumption, that is immediately taxed as being insane or snooping.

A neutral person venturing in here would call out the bias immediately. I call out your hypocrisy and have no problem doing it in writing. And I never peddled neutrality, in here: I simply peddled decency and I remind everyone I have probably never posted any pictures from August 10, 2022 (I will triple check later, but I am pretty sure I didn't). It is a personal choice and, as you know very well, I am not alone in the Shipper community. Far from it.

That you chose August 10 to post the largest, most consistent amount of content I have read on your blogs during the last six months, shows me once more what I already knew: you simply can't help yourself, can you? It's all about slap-a-shipper day, even if this community remained remarkably silent and collected, yesterday. Extremes exist, they are a fact of life: silencing them is useless and unproductive, at least as far as I am concerned.

You have once again showed me your true colors, Mordor. At the end of the day, you do not really have a problem with the pictures floating out there. What you do have a BIG problem with, is the person sitting in the front pew and you would go to great lengths - to any lengths, for that matter - to disguise it under a thick sanctimonious cloak of civic disgust. Your shrieks backfire: if anything, they confirm, not deny. And for the sake of politics, anything goes. It is, therefore, ironic, that in order to post your reasoning, you did look, in great detail and for a consistent amount of time, at the same exact screenshots and pictures you send to hell so gleefully.

Spare me the dramatics.

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

The late S. M. Lockridge wrote this encouragement to trust in Jesus.

No barrier can hinder Him From pouring out His blessing. He’s enduringly strong; He’s entirely sincere; He’s eternally steadfast; He’s immortally graceful; He’s imperially powerful; He’s impartially merciful. He’s the greatest phenomenon that has Ever crossed the horizon of this world. He’s God’s Son. He’s a sinner’s Savior. He’s the centerpiece of civilization. I’m trying to tell you, Church— You can trust Him! He does not have to call for help, And you can’t confuse Him. He doesn’t need you and He doesn’t need me. He stands alone in the solitude of Himself. He’s august and He’s unique. He’s unparalleled; He’s unprecedented; He’s supreme and preeminent. He’s the loftiest idea in literature. He’s the highest personality in philosophy. He’s the supreme problem of higher criticism. He’s the fundamental doctrine of true theology. He’s the cardinal necessity of spiritual religion. He’s the miracle of the age. He’s the superlative of everything good that you can call Him. I’m trying to tell you—you can trust Him! He can satisfy all of our needs And He can do it simultaneously. He supplies strength for the weak. He’s available for the tempted and tried; He sympathizes and He sees. He guards and He guides. He heals the sick. He cleansed the lepers. He forgives sinners. He discharges debtors; He delivers captives. He defends the feeble; He blesses the young. He guards the aged; He rewards the diligent. He beautifies the meek. I’m trying to tell you—you can trust Him! He’s the key to knowledge. He’s the wellspring of wisdom. He’s the doorway of deliverance. He’s the pathway to peace. He’s the roadway to righteousness. He’s the highway to holiness. He’s the gateway to glory. You can trust Him. He’s the Master of the mighty. He’s the Captain of the conquerors. He’s the Head of the heroes. He’s the Leader of legislators. He’s the Overseer of the overcomers. He’s the Governor of Governors. He’s the Prince of princes. He’s the King of kings. He’s the Lord of lords. You can trust Him. His office is manifold. His promise is sure. His life is matchless. His goodness is limitless. His mercy is everlasting. His love never changes. His Word is enough. His grace is sufficient. His reign is righteous. His yoke is easy. His burden is light. I wish I could describe Him to you! He’s indescribable because He’s incomprehensible. He’s irresistible and He’s invincible. You can’t get Him off your hands. You can’t get Him out of your mind. You can’t outlive Him And you can’t live without Him. Pilate couldn’t stand Him When he found out he couldn’t stop Him. Pilate couldn’t find any fault in Him. The witnesses couldn’t get their testimonies to agree. Herod couldn’t kill Him. Death couldn’t handle Him. And thank God, the grave couldn’t hold Him. There was nobody before Him. There will be nobody after Him. He had no predecessor, And He’ll have no successor. You can’t impeach Him, And He’s not going to resign. You can trust Him!

[fourleafclovxr]

3: tapestry

The youngest son of the Sader family is the Seer, and he is also, unfortunately, insane.

There can be no other explanation for it, really. For the way they keep him locked up, his older brothers January and July and his poor bastard sister Evelyn. For the way they watch him with wary eyes whenever he shows himself— or, as people whisper, whenever he is allowed to show himself. At his mother’s death anniversary, or his brother’s wedding, or his father’s funeral. They watch. They are always watching.

And August Sader is always watching the sky, head tilted up towards the sun, unflinching. He is so small, so thin, that he might break if you looked at him the wrong way. That you might wonder how he’s still standing, given the amount of carefully hidden vitriol his family directs at him.

He can’t see, of course. There are many in the Woods who would infantilise him on that basis alone— of course he doesn’t know to be hurt. He can’t tell. They don't tell him.

And then there are others, those who take a different view. It’s not that he can’t tell, they say. It’s that he doesn’t care. Look at him. He’s insane. He’s insane and that’s why they keep him locked up, that’s why he hasn’t seen the light of day since he was twelve, that’s why, that’s why.

August Sader ignores them all. He reaches for the stars. He reaches for the truth that lies beyond this world. He is not insane; he is a visionary.

At least, this is what the School Master says.

He’s been courting Callis for nearly a year and she still hasn’t found out his name.

He seems fond of her, for what it’s worth; as fond as a being hundreds of years old can get. Oh, yes, Callis knows exactly what she’s getting into, and she doesn’t particularly like it. But weighed against the chance to escape Evil— to be able to love—

She’s willing to try. And he’s been kind.

So she follows him, one day, when the School Master extends his hand and asks her to come with him. His fingers are cold; corpse-like. Callis, stubborn to a fault, holds on tightly. She has never been afraid of dead things.

The School Master smiles behind his mask, and spirits her away. Callis closes her eyes. The world burns bright around her.

When she opens them again they’re in the Sader home, and Evelyn Sader is staring them down. She was Clarissa’s classmate, Callis vaguely recalls. Evil’s Class Captain. She’d been a force to reckon with; more so because of the family name she so righteously bears.

But she will never be her brother. The School Master sweeps past her without giving her a second glance. There is only one thing he wants from this home.

Callis follows, and ignores the way Evelyn Sader’s eyes blaze as they pass her: a warning and a vicious sort of delight, all in one.

The door they pause in front of is locked, barred, shut away. The School Master spells it open with a single twitch of his glowing finger.

His fingerglow is green. Callis hadn’t ever seen it, before.

And August Sader lifts his head from the middle of the room.

Admittedly, he’s not the first thing Callis sees. He sits behind a loom, obscured by a completed tapestry; spools of silk thread lie scattered on various stools and tables in some sort of organised chaos, each bundled together with a card covered in a distinct pattern of raised dots. There’s nothing else to speak of in the room, nothing else that stands out, not even the Seer himself.

In fact, she only notices Sader when he stands and circles towards them, hands resting gently on the loom, like he can’t quite bear to let go.

“The School Master, I presume,” he says softly. His voice is raspy, unpracticed, but bitingly sweet. “At least, that’s what my dear sister deigned to tell me. Would you prefer Rafal? Or Rhian? Whatever you call yourself, these days?”

“Rafal will do,” the School Master— Rafal— says thinly. He doesn't argue, despite the unhappy twist to his mouth.

“And your companion?” Sader inquires.

“Callis,” the School Master— Rafal— says smoothly, “of Netherwood.” He slips his arm through hers, and Callis can’t suppress the shiver that shoots through her. “I admit I’m surprised you could tell.”

“Contrary to popular belief,” Sader drawls, irreverent, “I have some semblance of vision left. I will not offer my apologies, if that disappoints you. I am not blind for your benefit. And I can hear the both of you move. You are not special.”

Rafal, audibly, exhales through clenched teeth. Callis doesn't think she’s ever seen him so openly frustrated. He finds most inconveniences amusing; it’s not often that he faces anything he truly believes to be on his level. Not even Callis.

She supposes it’s not a good idea to anger a Seer.

“My apologies,” Rafal says, finally. “To business, if you will. I presume you received my letter.”

“I did,” Sader acquiesces, finally serious. “I will tell you that nothing you offered is of use to me. I don’t particularly care for my sister or my family; nor do I care for a place at the School, given that I shut myself up here before I could ever attend.”

“Shut yourself up?” Callis wonders aloud. Rafal turns his head sharply towards her, clearly displeased; in a mocking mirror of him, Sader turns to her too, a smile gracing his face.

“Indeed, Miss Callis,” he says. “You’re clever, I’m sure, you must have noticed the loom. I can’t bear to leave it, you know.” He brushes his knuckles past the tapestry, an expression that could almost be called loving settling on his face. “When I was much younger my family gave me a choice. Be done with this, they said, or be done with them and the life they had planned for me.”

“And this is what you choose,” Rafal observes, voice brimming with disdain. “Forfeiting your birthright as their Seer. For your art. No wonder your family thinks you insane.”

Sader laughs. “They don’t understand,” he says. “I wonder if you will. Without my art, there is no Seer.”

He waves his hand, almost lazily, and the loom set up in the middle of the room— its centrepiece— rotates to face them, sparking with a familiar shade of green. Callis takes an unconscious step back as the tapestry is revealed—

A village; a lake; and by the lakeside sit two girls. One with spun-gold locks and emerald eyes, one with a dark mess of hair and a sadness to her mouth. And there, in the shadows of the woven sky; a silver-haired, blue-eyed boy, smiling down at them both.

Only the golden girl reaches back out to him. Her hand outstretched. Her face so lifelike, so awed. Her companion’s sadness makes more sense, then.

The future, Callis realises. This is the future, and the silver-haired boy is Rafal, and—

—she’s not there.

“Is this what you seek?” Sader asks lightly, and Rafal inhales. Caught hook, line and sinker. Callis wonders if he knows how easy it would be to manipulate him, through this hunger for knowing what comes next, that he might shape it to his own ends.

She wonders if Sader knows, too.

But after a second Sader dips his head in a clear, if mocking, obedience. “This is the deal I will offer you, School Master,” he says. “This tapestry is yours. For a favour, of course.”

“Anything,” Rafal promises immediately. Does he know how rash he’s being? Does he know what Sader could ask? Callis was never particularly Evil, but even she can think of a dozen ways this could go wrong.

But Sader doesn’t ask for any of that. “I believe art should be displayed,” he says. “All I ask is that you keep this tapestry in your Gallery for Good. You need not tell anyone what it is, or indeed that I was the one who wove it. But I should like people to see. It is my life’s work, after all.” A pause. “And, if you would— my sister.”

“I thought you didn’t care for her,” Rafal says, low and amused.

“I lied,” Sader says unrepentantly. “How else would you accept my offer?” He extends a hand, expectant.

Rafal takes it. The deal is done.

Callis visits him only once, after that; the night before she plans to escape into the Woods. By then she knows that Rafal is Evil, and she is so very afraid— and August Sader is the only person she knows who isn’t scared of him.

He’s expecting her. Of course he is.

All the doors in the house are unlocked; when she finds her way to the tapestry room he’s there, waiting for her, still weaving. Head bent, eyes half-closed, he is a picture of serenity.

“It has been quite a few years, hasn’t it, Miss Callis?” he asks. “Yes, I will help you. But before you go, I would like you to do me a favour, if you will.”

“Anything,” Callis says, uncomfortably aware of how she must be making the same mistake Rafal did, all those years ago.

Sader inclines his head. “I will have completed my current work by tomorrow morning,” he says. “Inform Rafal of that, if you will; that will be my favour. When he comes, you are free to go from the School. I will mark your way into the Woods for you, that he will not find you ever again.”

“Thank you,” Callis breathes. Sader smiles at her, small and secret, and gestures for her to make her way around his loom.

The nearly-finished tapestry is one of fire and smoke and destruction, and the village it depicts is familiar. Sader is methodically weaving wisps of grey and red through the sky. He seems utterly unbothered.

“I am an artist, at heart,” he says, finally. “I hope you understand, Miss Callis. Only I weave with more than thread— I weave with the threads of fate. I would not, if I could help it. But my art calls. It always has.”

His fingers don’t stop moving; they haven’t stopped moving, all this while. Callis thinks of the old tales: the three old women handling the threads of life. The spinner, the alotter, the inevitable. Reducing life to art. Reducing fate to art.

“It’s all one big story, after all, Miss Callis,” Sader says gently. “All of it is art, eventually. It’s just that you don’t want to see.”

[growwithmeastrology]

Tuesday, August 13th 2024

Sun in Leo ♌️🔥 Moon in Sagittarius ♐️🔥

Moon Trine Neptune

Did you wake up this morning having had vivid dreams? If you did, that’s because the Moon is trine Neptune (rx) in Pisces. Creativity, the mystical, the imagination, our dream worlds, they’re all really active right now. This aspect is also great for romance but try to not get too caught up in dreamland.

Moon Enters Sagittarius

Get ready to dive into adventure and maybe some philosophical conversation with the Moon in Sagittarius. Spontaneity, ideas, restlessness, these are all very much a part of this lunar cycle. We want bigger and better of everything. A good story is great but keep yourself in check.

Moon Sextile Pluto

The Saggi Moon will sextile Pluto (rx) in Aquarius and now we’re ready to dig for deeper truths. The philosopher meets the detective with this one. You may learn something profound today without even trying. The need for adventure or learning doubles down. Tune in to your intuition and do what feels good for the soul.

Moon Square Mercury

The Moon goes on to square Mercury (rx) in Virgo later today and now the head and the heart want to play a little tug-of-war. This square can get you caught up in your feelings. Avoid self righteousness or doing things a bit off kilter just for the sake of being right. Keep your mind busy with a good book, movie or deep conversation.

Want to dig deeper?

Learn more about your energies and how the forecast personally affects you! Comment below or DM me for a consultation or birth chart reading.

Please like, comment, share and consider a gratitude tip in support. 🅿️ PayPal, Venmo or CashApp - @NaliniFlor