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catholic-character-tournament · 1 year ago

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Semi-Finals - Catholic Character Tournament

Propaganda below ⬇️

Sister Michael

She drives a DeLorean. She does judo on Fridays. She likes a good statue and despises the French. Her full nun name is Sister George Michael, after the guy from Wham!. She is the fiercest nun you’ll ever come across and, if you’re attending Lady Immaculate College, she’s the woman in charge. So whatever you do, if you’re feeling anxious or worried or just need a chat: don’t come crying to her.

joined the nunnery for the free accommodation?

she does love a good statue it has to be said

She is the headmistress of a catholic school <3

sister michael so reminds me of the nuns who taught me. they're tough and sometimes a little harsher than a woman who dedicated her life to god should be but they're also wonderful people. i had a nun teacher who was 60 years old and would do handstands. another nun (also in her 60s) told me god was nonbinary. another was really mean and made me cry. (so did the handstand nun.) while the catholic girls school is The Catholic Experience, the school wouldn't have been the same for me or the derry girls without at least one nun who seemed to have sprung up out of the ground fully formed, ageless.

Shadow

In sonic destruction (the AI generated fan thing snapcube made a while ago) shadow was catholic or something which I think is reallyyyyyyy funny

Ok listen. I know this is a stretch but hear me out. He says “oh my God” in the Twitter takeovers so we know this is a possibility. I see him as a Christ-like figure because I saw his whole confrontation with Mephiles and was like “this is a thing that happened in the Bible??” and the pose Mephiles shows him in is literally like a crucifixion and Mephiles is meant to be a demon / false prophet reference. And also he’s called a demon in Shadow The Hedgehog 2005 then the guy who calls him that is like “I was wrong I’m sorry” and that also reminds me of a thing with Jesus in The Bible. But the biggest reason is his whole thing with Maria cause I think he’d come to earth and hear Ave Maria once and convert to Catholicism idk he’s like we’re comforted by a female familial figure named Mary sometimes called Maria?? And her color is blue????? Heck yeah I’m in because I Will Cry. Also feel free to share this as propaganda obv even if he doesn’t get in the bracket just. It’s funny.

I feel like he’d battle a lot with being seen or portrayed as a demon and how the aliens he’s related to very much look and act like demons idk lmao- and also I feel like confession would just be good for him I think he needs it for his mental health

There is a debate on the lovely website tunblr that Shadow T. Hedgehog is an allegory for Jesus Christ.

He is Jesus, idk what to tell you. He lived, he was sealed away, he was awakened again and deemed the ultimate lifeforms, he’s angry but not evil, does what he believes is best for people and the world at any given time. Total loser.

Vote for Shadow the Hedgehog

There seems to be some confusion in the notes. He is Catholic. It may not be explicit, but it can be inferred.

Shadow was created by Professor Gerald Robotnik, and for the early part of his life, lived with Gerald and his granddaughter, Maria Robotnik.

Robotnik is not a made-up name. Google Search results may only bring up pages related to the Robotniks of the Sonic the Hedgehog series, however, it is a rarely used Polish surname. Poland is a historically Catholic nation, and… come on. Maria is the most Catholic name ever. The Robotniks are Catholic. Shadow was created and raised by Catholics.

Now you may be wondering to yourself: Does Catholicism even exist in Sonic? The answer is yes, at least in the Archie comics, where Protestants are explicitly mentioned.

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Couple this with the fact that several characters, including Shadow, have canonically taken the Lord’s name in vain, it is reasonable to infer that Christianity, and therefore Catholicism, exists.

So… while Shadow’s own religious beliefs may not have been explicitly addressed… at minimum:

Catholic is a cultural designation that Shadow will always be allowed to claim based on the family that made him.

Whether he’d actually want to claim that designation is a different conversation, but the other propaganda does a fine job of explaining why it may be appropriate to headcanon him as a practicing Catholic.

Now that we’ve established that Shadow has as much of a right to be in this tournament as anyone else, there’s one very important reason you should vote for him:

It would be funny if he won.

Thank you.

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Essays are done!! Here’s some Shadow propaganda because the propaganda we currently have sucks and I need to fix that. While yes, Shadow being Catholic is a meme, there is more to outside of the simple “fandub said so” and its not quite stated its Catholicism but just how he behaves and his actions. There’s a lot of Sonic content so I will try to keep this brief. Gonna get headcanons out of the way.

Shadow is Chilean and so are Maria and Gerald Robotnik because I fucking say so and they’re Catholic. He definitely had un rosario next to his like. Bed or test tube whatever he slept in. So did Maria btw. Alright let’s move on because I am 100% correct.

Let’s start with some background for Shadow. Shadow was created as a cure for a girl called Maria and he grew to care for her as a sister and loved her deeply. He was artificially created but still holds a soul that is similar to Maria’s. Long story short, Maria is killed protecting Shadow who watches as she’s shot in front of him. He has his memories tampered by Maria’s grandfather, Gerald, who manipulates him into carrying out revenge on the Earth, even if Shadow ends up as collateral.

Shadow struggles with frequent identity crises, even before Maria’s death and always wondered what his purpose was, what he was made to do. Was he a weapon? Was he a cure? He’s the Ultimate Lifeform, but what does that truly mean? ? He’s Shadow, but what more is there to him? He doesn’t know what his purpose is other than what others have prescribed to him, and he guides himself through the will of others (something that he breaks through afterwards but not yet). Shadow at his core is self-sacrificing and constantly punishes himself. This is where you can see some of that good old guilt that everyone has been using as propaganda, but we also see someone who is giving and kind.

He is snarky in the game, especially when interacting with Sonic, but he’s having what is essentially an ongoing mental breakdown but keeps moving because it is his duty to his sister. He doesn’t believe himself important enough to continue on after her and sees it in himself to act out on “Maria’s wishes”. After the revelation that Maria’s final wish for Shadow was for him to make those on Earth happy and to protect them, he immediately sacrifices himself to do so.

Okay, that’s a lot and you’re probably asking “Okay, you mentioned he is a giving person and yeah he has guilt, but that’s not really Catholicism” and yes you would be right! So let’s go into the more important part of being Catholic. The charity, the community, the kindness, etc. Shadow is a very reserved person and has the habit of being a dumb teenager because well. Yeah. Anyways, he definitely has a soft spot for those he cares about and while his whole arc (in my opinion) is about finding the freedom of self-autonomy, it is also Shadow growing as a person and deciding not to save people because others have told him he needs to, but because he wants to. It is born from his soul and its his nature to care for people. It is who he is, and he knows it now. He’s not doing it because he’s a hero or because he is told to do so. Shadow is a very giving person and I think people tend to forget about that especially due to bad writing from the past decade or so. He is also stated to help out at food shelters and volunteers a lot. He is proud and a bit prickly, but he cares so deeply about those he loves. He is stronger with his loved ones and will always do his best to protect them. These are minor, yeah, but you don’t need sweeping and enormous acts to get attention for the good deeds you do. Most of what you apply of Catholicism is done at the personal level, between your friends, family, and community.He also goes to Mass whenever he can and if he can’t he goes to the capilla and also does the sign of the cross whenever he runs by a church. Cutting this off because this is already 740-ish words and I had to send these across multiple asks I am so sorry Catholic mod

#cct polls #tumblr tournament #tumblr bracket #tumblr polls #polls #r7 #the derry girls #derry girls #sister michael #sonic the hedgehog #Sonic Destruction #shadow the hedgehog

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oksurethisismyname · 8 months ago

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Hiiiii as a queer person living in the Bible Belt of the USA, I’m envisioning a “Christian trauma AU / general theology AU” because you know my main focus is always Sanji. This assumed that we’re in the USA, modern era, and I guess maybe a college or post grad AU for how they meet each other? This is a lonnnnnnnng text post so scroll at your own risk. To keep it from being toooo long I’m also sticking to east blue crew.

Hear me out:

There are a million different sects of Christianity so we’ve got a ton of angles to use.

Garp is catholic (but think FRENCH laïcité instead of American Amy Coney Barret Supreme Court justice weird catholic cult), Dragon straight up rebels against the strict structure and goes about his atheist ways. Neither of them really raise Luffy anyway so 💁🏻

Luffy ends up being agnostic. It’s not that he doesn’t believe in a higher power but he knows he needs to take action and that he can’t rely on a higher power to fix the problems of the world. Very Albert Camus, revolting against the absurd and holding himself to a higher responsibility in life

Zoro comes from a Shinto or Buddhist background. He’s not judging anyone’s religious beliefs unless they’re harming others.

Nami has religious trauma from the Baptist church that set up in her town and made it impossible to be herself. Belle Mere is so clearly queer and she’s harassed and dies at the hands of some zealous bigots who were emboldened by the words of the local Baptist church pastor (Arlong)

Ussop comes from a chill Protestant background (maybe Presbyterian?) But he’s more of a CEO (Christmas Easter Only) in terms of actually attending any sort of church. Honestly, with his dad out of the picture and his mom dying, he just had bigger things on his mind like living every day.

Finally, Sanji. Oh boy, Sanji has major “Quiverfull movement Christian” trauma from Judge. For those who don’t know, quiverfull is a Christian extremist movement where the idea is to have as many kids as possible and adhere to very strict purity rules and gender roles. Contraception isn’t allowed. Women wear long skirts and non fitted shirts to hide their womanly form (ew), and most of the time these parents homeschool there kids to avoid the “temptation” or “impurity” of modern society.

Judge had these 5 kids who he’s raised in this faith but Sanji never liked how Judge treated his mom. Why was Sora supposed to be “seen and not heard?” Why was it ok for his brothers to use scripture to bully and hurt and spread hate? Why would a loving god create women just to subjugate them? Judge wouldn’t like this, and once Sora passes away (probably because Judge wouldn’t let her seek medical care post birth of the quadruplets, so her health deteriorated for years), Judge locks him up and makes him do all sorts of horrible “prayer” and “repentance” practices, which are really just abuse.

Sanji would maybe escape when they go into town to get something mundane like a printer or a new wifi router (which only judge is allowed to use the internet). He’d probably bolt first chance he gets and when he meets Zeff, Zeff can recognize the signals of abuse. He takes Sanji in and even though Sanji never believed women were less than men, he still has years of trauma and gender roles beaten into him that he has to unpack.

His choice to cook? That’s a huge rebellion. Wearing tight fitting suits that look sinful? That’s a middle finger to his dad. He always treats women like goddesses because he feels so much guilt for the sins of his father. When he finally joins the Strawhats, he’s so overwhelmed with how free and nonjudgmental they are (of important stuff, obviously they’ll still poke fun at small stuff) that he feels comfortable dropping little comments here and there, opening up.

Ussop will be comforting Nami about something and sanji will tell him is so refreshing to see a man be so nurturing. He goes to Ussop often, asking how he’s so confident sharing his emotions.

Nami will be ordering them around and he’ll do everything she says with a smile, just happy to see her free to do what she wants (which is be a bossy bitch)

Zoro will talk about Kuina one night and Sanji will sob, overwhelmed with joy that she got to have all that strength and a friend like zoro even when faced with hurtful gender expectations.

Luffy above all is the most jarring for him. He grew up hearing about sin and sinners and temptation and evil but when he sees Luffy doing his thing, taking down bad people, fighting for the underdog, he knows that if there is a God (he she it they? Who cares), Luffy is doing their work.

——————

Bonus Gay Cherry on top is that Sanji meets Iva and gets into drag, starts performing, does some events, and through that gender liberation is able to find some peace in who he is, tucking away all the hate he was born into. And he ends up with zoro the end bye

#too long don’t read #one piece christian trauma au???#east blue crew au text post #black leg sanji #monkey d luffy #east blue crew #one piece #text post #cat burglar nami #god usopp #sanji #roronoa zoro

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these-detestable-hands · 1 year ago

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Damn. Saw your post about being a minority POC in Denmark and how you've always got confused with Middle Eastern people, Muslims, or... Catholics? Feels like a toil to get through.

Does make me wanna ask about your stance on the "where are you from?" question. I know it's a question with justifiable bad rep, especially when that person does see themselves as part of the local community, their looks be damned. But I also know I would love to ask something like this because I wanna learn about that person's life thoughts and experiences.

If I were to ask you something like this in real life, Pie, how would you wish I would go about my wording? So that the answers elicited from you will be interesting, it will tell me more about you, feel cordial, and make you feel comfortable?

My go-to answer for this question involves taking as long as physically possible to give the person the answer that they want. I know they only ask it because they want to know why I'm brown, so I take forever to actually get there. A very normal outcome is this:

Them: where are you from?

Me: a town about a 15 minute's drive from here

T: where are you originally from?

M: well, I used to live in a different region of the country, I think my accent is mostly gone though

T: before that?

M: before we moved to Denmark then my family lived in England, that's where I was born, but I only lived there for about 3 years

T: where are your parents from?

M: my dad was born and raised in Denmark

T: and your mom?

M: oh, she's Brazilian

They stop asking questions after I finally say my mom's Brazilian lol

Also in regards to religion, most Danes really do not know much about other religions. They know there's Christians and they think there's just protestants and catholics. Most aren't even aware that they're lutherins!! They also know of Muslims and Jews but nothing about the actual religions. I know some Danes know of Ramadan, but that's mostly only if they have an Islamic classmate.

Growing up, I was constantly asked "why aren't you getting confirmed?" so I'd have to explain that I'm not a protestant or a catholic. They'd always get surprised and insist there's only two types of Christians and I'd said there's tens of thousands of denominations. At that point, they get confused and bored and give up before I can do my spiel about my very tiny denomination

#Asks #Kafkaoftherubble #Pie won't shut up

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ask-sister-solaris · 1 year ago

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Coming Out

Warnings: mentions of abuse, blood and scarring.

Words: 503

Heavy footsteps echoed across the empty corridor. They stopped infront of the chapel, which laid silent and still, as it had for nearly a millennia. Dust had gathered on the golden engraved handles, untouched and unloved. A gray hand travelled to the scars his chest. 10 years. 10 years since he had his surgery.

Thirty years since he’d run away from the toxic environment he’d called home. Thirty years since he allowed himself to be resummoned as a Ghoulette, despite protests. He still remembered how he told everyone.

“Can I have everyone’s attention please”

Her soft voice rang out. Ghouls, Ghoulettes, Siblings of Sin..even Papa himself looked at the short Ghoulette stood on the table. Her ears lowered and she smiled

“I have an announcement. I…I’m trans…I don’t want to be seen as a Ghoulette anymore! I want to be seen as a Ghoul”

Mountain was the first to pick her up and hug her. Mountain gave a grin and turned to the others, Flare on his shoulder

“We have a new brother! To Flare!”

Mountain raised a plastic cup in cheers and everyone followed, even Terzo. Flare smiled as Mountain put him down and Sodo and a few other ghouls surrounded him and offered their support. Flare was supported by those close to him.

Sister was a different matter however. She pretended to be accepting, but in reality she would make snide comments when Flare was alone. Telling him it was a phase or that he was just doing it for attention, even going as far as saying he enjoyed being beaten by his Catholic parents. It all made him sick to his stomach, realizing maybe he should have just kept it in.

After surgery, Imperator showed her true colours, and Flares claims against her were proven. By now she’d ‘rid the ministry of dirt’ by which she meant killed the other three Emeritus brothers. Copia was determined to make the Ministry a safe place. When he found out about Imperator he finally found the means to rid the ministry of her ugly ways.

A soft hand on Flares shoulder jolted him from his trance. Looking over his shoulder Copia gave a small smile. Looking back at the door it was clean again, there wasn’t a speck of dust anywhere. Flare looked at Copia confused before tearing up. He’d lost so much Terzo, Secondo and Primo, the three he counted as very close. His tail wrapped around Copias waist and the satanic pope kissed his forehead

“You had another night terror didn’t you?”

The way Copia could tell just by a facial expression always surprised Flare. He was truly cared for by the Satanic Pope, he got rid of Imperator, the new head Sister was much kinder, and loving. Flare nodded and let out a small, upset chirp. Copia stroked his hair with one hand as the other rubbed circles on his back.

“I know tesoro. It’s difficult, you’ve been through so much…Never forget Papa loves you, your his favorite ghouleh”

#the band ghost #the band ghost fanfiction #the band ghost fic #ghost band #cardinal copia #cardinal copia x oc #transgender oc #TW: scars #my art #ghost band oc #Popia X oc #honestly this is self comfort

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fumblingmusings · 1 year ago

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How'd Eva view the Puritans and the general chaos of the 1600s in England? How would she react if America was found/raised in the New England Puritan colonies or in the interim absorbed their more radical teachings?

I would say read Chapters 1-3 of my fic hoho (silly plug). She was suspicious at first, and by the 1660, she held nothing but contempt for them. She likes to have fun at this point in her life. She likes to dance, to drink, to go horse-riding and shooting (arrows or guns), to play cards, to eat lots of rich and fancy foods and sweets, to grow her weird herb garden and cook with them in her weird bubbling cauldron (not suspicious...) and she doesn't see anything morally wrong with any of it. Nothing gets her hackles up then people getting in her private sphere and telling her what to do.

Alfred was found and brought to England before Jamestown and got very sick, so when Jamestown was properly settled, he was sent back with Evelyn intermittently spending time out there with him, or bringing him back to England for small periods too. She keeps him in Virginia for as long as she can.

When her Civil War begins, she gets her brother to go over and move Alfred to Maryland, which was experimenting with religious toleration for Catholics. After the wars end and Charles II has his bum on the throne, Evelyn is with Alfred always. No more weeks where she is in England and he in the colonies. She is glued to his side until the 1690s. They go to Providence (a tolerant colony for Protestants this time) or Philadelphia (Quaker haven), with the occasional stint in Williamsburg back in Virginia after Jamestown is abandoned.

As she was pretty much indisposed for the entirety of the Civil War and a good chunk of the Interregnum, she loses control over his wellbeing. Because the vast majority of the American colonies had declared for Charles II over Parliament save New England, and because she was locked up for a few years, Cromwell moved Alfred up to Boston. Alfred went willingly because the men who came to him said his mum had sent them, and at this time Alfred's only like five or six. He misses his mum, he'll and will do pretty much anything if he thinks it will make her happy or come home. He was away from her between 1639 and 1655. Over fifteen years without his mother. That's not good for a little one to not have a steady caretaker with them. I think it really messed him up, even more so cause he's stuck with puritans (worse - American puritans, the ones who thought Cromwell was being too tolerant).

Moving from St. Mary's to Boston would have been a shock to his system, but Alfred thought it was what his mum wanted, so he listened and tried to learn. It's why he's so confused by the end of the century because he thought she was the one who had ordered him to Massachusetts. Meanwhile, the thing that actually made her get up and fight her way out of gaol was being told Alfred had been moved.

Like, imagine being a parent and thinking, even though you miss your child, you know they're safe, maybe even with a family you trust, only to be told, no, actually, they're with the very people who you were trying to shield them from. Like she really did not give two shits that she had been whipped to death the previous week, she did care of the thought of Alfred being stripped of everything that made him warm and sweet and loving and made to carry a guilt of just being alive and sins that were not his.

She took that rusted nail, stabbed her guard, jumped in the moat and through to the river, stole a horse and rode down to Cornwall before the day was out. She books it to Falmouth, has a rough ride over the Atlantic, maybe falls overboard because docking is taking too long, and washes up on shore to get to Alfred. He runs right into her sopping wet arms and does not let go for days. She probably immediately keels over and dies for five minutes from exhaustion but shh don't tell Alfred that she's just napping.

Eva immediately punts them down to Providence and then it's let's never talk about that again. I think it takes a long time for Alfred to properly digest those years.

Evelyn does not like Puritans. She does not like Calvinism or her brother's Presbyterianism. She will not be hauled up in front of a congregation and lectured for playing cards and walking unaccompanied through town unmarried, nor will she listen to anything which states that her people are damned regardless of their actions and that any form of redemption is a fool's errand (projecting). She's too vain, and is a big believer in being left the fuck alone. What she does is between her and God. No middle man - Saint or Elder - required. So, she's certainly not Catholic anymore either.

She likes Quakers, does not mind Lutherans or Methodists, and is indifferent to Catholicism so long as she isn't made to be one, enough to let Matthew practice how he wants in private, and she herself is - rather reluctantly and mainly out of habit rather than genuine belief - High Church Anglican. She'd never admit it, but she likes the idolatry and superstition that reformers railed over. Makes it rather fun. From my understanding, I think most American churches, the dozens of splinter baptist/reformed/evangelical churches etc. tend to be low church? Or is that an oversimplification maybe. Probably. But I can see how, even to the modern day where maybe Alfred and Evelyn themselves aren't like particularly religious in their day to day lives, the impact of that split is still felt.

Nations and religiosity is an interesting topic, but I really only know so much about Anglo-Scottish religious development to comment on nationhood as a whole, and the world is so much bigger than two thirds of a damp island 🫡😅

The 'problem' with the English Reformation compared to many German states or across the border in Scotland is that it was so deeply led from the top down by a 'secular' monarch and nobility and not particularly by the actual clergy. Thomas Cranmer was put in place by those in power because he promised to get a task done for Henry (marriage annulment) and used the opportunity for his own ends. Meanwhile John Knox across the border was running around converting the Scottish nobility onside with one notable exception (the monarch, but to be fair she was like 14 and in France and we all know how well it went when she came back), if that distinction makes sense.

And I think, because the English Reformation was done for such selfish reasons primarily, then ecclesiastical ones second, things like the dissolution of the monasteries, the suppression of Cornish as a language, the taking over of the Common Land all spiral out from it. From Cornwall to Oxfordshire to Yorkshire to Norfolk to the Lake District, the people on the ground were protesting this hard only to be slaughtered by the thousands.

I think Evelyn would have exited her reformation incredibly jaded. Like of course the Catholic Church was (is) broken. What spilled out of it in England was equally so. I think Evelyn wanted to protect Alfred from that, but in many ways he was impacted by those splinters just as much as she was. It's just another one of her poisons which leaked out its container. English conflicts never have the courtesy to stay in England, it always has to be someone else's problem too. So guilt, mostly, to answer your question. She would blame others, of course, but also blame herself a lot. If she was just a better person, Alfred wouldn't have suffered needlessly.

#q&a #it's sort of related but the plaque at Norwich Castle commemorating Robert Kett & the rebellion I think has perfect wording - it says:#'this memorial was placed here by the citizens of Norwich in reparation & honour to a notable & courageous leader'#'in the long struggle of the common people of England to escape from a servile life into the freedom of just conditions'#like bruh we're *still* trying 500 years later #hetalia #hws england #fem!england #hws america #headcanon #fanfic ask #historical hetalia

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authortobenamedlater · 2 years ago

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@a2on1break this is for you because you sent me that ask last year asking about my long-abandoned Keeping Up With the Raptors stories and got me thinking about those characters I loved so much again.

I’ve had this written for a little bit and in the spirit of trying to get over that dumb hockey game last week, I’m gonna post it. I’m not sure if I’ll ever put this on AO3.

I’m also just slightly irked that Seattle got a hockey team before I could get this series any further along, LOL.

Before we get started: The Catholic/Protestant “argument” is some good-natured iron-sharpening-iron between friends. It’s not meant to be taken super seriously and I won’t entertain people getting mad about it or telling me how wrong I am.

“Ever think about what we’ll do when all this is over?”

Andor Ronningen raised an eyebrow at his defense partner.

“You must have thought about it,” Hank went on.

Andor looked past Hank to the clouds below. “Go back to Bergen, maybe.”

Hank put his Kindle down and faced Andor head on. “You went through all that trouble becoming an American citizen so you could go back to Norway?”

“You asked,” Andor harrumphed.

“You want to live where it’s winter six months out of the year? Nine feet of snow, always dark—”

“You’re from Colorado!”

“Yeah, and I don’t live there anymore.”

“I never said I was going back for good,” Andor clarified. “Just for a little while. You could come visit, you know.”

“That’s a great idea,” Hank said wryly. “Put my wife and our six children on a 24-hour plane ride.”

“Donna and Ashley are basically adults.”

“Basically adults who still rely on me and Katie to pay for the very air they breathe.”

Andor rolled his eyes. “All right, what are you going to do when all this is over, you little ray of sunshine?”

Hank seemed to think. “Maybe I’ll go to law school after all.”

Andor snorted. “Really?”

“Yeah, why not? My LSAT scores are probably still good.”

“Oh, I’m sure,” Andor chuffed. “It’s only been…twenty years?”

“Nineteen,” Hank corrected pointedly.

“Yes, that one year makes such a difference.”

“Hey, you were gonna retire last year,” Hank said. “Now you’re about to play in another Cup Final. A year can make a lot of difference.”

Andor grunted. “Feeling every second of it.”

Hank sobered a little. “Me, too.”

“Gosh, Hank, we’re old.”

“We really are.”

“Did it hurt this much last year?” Andor asked.

“I don’t think I was this sore last year,” Hank answered.

“My knee still hurts from that fall in Minnesota last week.”

“You did go down pretty hard,” Hank mused.

“Don’t try to make me feel better about it. I did not go down that hard.” Andor paused. “How’s your shoulder?”

“Fine.”

“Are you lying?”

“Yup,” Hank deadpanned.

“Huh. If you were Catholic, you’d have to go to confession for that.”

“And that’s why I’m Protestant.”

“That’s the only reason?”

“You also still haven’t sold me on papal infallibility.”

“Are you really going there again?” Andor huffed.

“I’m just saying, I’m not sold.”

Andor chuckled and shook his head. “I’ll keep working on you.” He gave Hank an almost fond smile. “Maybe I’ll bring you back to the fold by next year.”

“Or maybe I’ll bring you over to the light.”

Andor glared playfully. “Don’t bet on it.”

“Well,” Hank picked up his Kindle. “A year can make a lot of difference.”

For anyone who read this far: Hank and Andor were 41 and 43, I think? I’d have to go back through the stories. But they are old by hockey standards and like to play up their grumpy old defensemen act.

That doesn’t seem as old now as it did when I started this series 12 years ago.

#original fiction #hockey #original fiction by atbnl

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phlistopher · 4 months ago

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Come back, Astoria

This is part of a series on my nomadic life following my divorce. Aside from the introduction, they can be read in any order.

The wind whipped my hair, slathering it around my skull. I was standing alone outside my family’s church, looking up the hill to the grotto where the Mother Mary statue stood. We went to a Protestant community church, even though my parents were raised Catholic, and they raised me hair-shirt New Age. My pants rippled against the wind.

The “church” was a rec hall the congregation rented from a convent. We hired a visiting priest every week to give the sermon, and took turns bringing wine and bread for the sacrament. The convent was perched on the New Jersey cliffs overlooking New York City. For a while, Gwyneth Paltrow’s aunt went there.

It was after Service as I stared up the hill. Maybe I was eleven. Wind, dark clouds, the manicured humble grandeur of the grotto and its winding approach; it dripped dramatics.

I lived in my head, a verified space cadet, as my aunt put it. I’d wander around, head down, too scared to look the world in the eye, lost in stories I told myself of saving the day from incursions of Saturday morning cartoon villains invading the real world. I didn’t identify with kids who saw fantasy as an escape. It was fun! Just an interesting place. Why imagine what you already see when you could imagine anything? Why then, did I always imagine a fight?

I was a good boy. Very dutiful. Unwavering dogma at home; things would have to work out if I did everything I was told. “This is my son, of whom I am well pleased,” my mother would coo, reciting the Bible, God speaking of Jesus. Escape was for lesser minds. I was too mature, too knowing, too far down the rabbit hole.

Everything I did and thought and felt needed a definitive ending. A purpose. An answer. Leaving questions open felt like a cop out. No, a betrayal. I had divine expectations to live up to. It was my destiny, an inalienable fact. And yet, I could still fail at it. I was failing. The gap from what I was, to what I must be, was immense. Of course it was. How can that gap ever be closed?

Yet that day, it all fell into place. I had claimed my birthright. There was no one else around to tell me otherwise. I lifted my head, eyes raised, invigorated, a hero. I saw my path—mine! It was snaking up the hill, to the grotto. I knew every curve. I knew it. I would meet The Devil at the top. There would be a fight, of course, and I would win.

I’ve known Byrd and Valentina for over a decade. Byrd and I met doing improv in New York, before we both burnt out. I ended up returning several years later, but Byrd decided he’d had enough of that shit, and became a school teacher. Byrd was always an encyclopedia, and emotionally intelligent, so I can only imagine he’s an excellent teacher. He loves Long Island pop punk, goofy, well crafted jokes, The Knicks, and golf.

Valentina and I met when she and Byrd got together. She’s warm and bubbly, with strong opinions and a stronger belly laugh. She has a background in illustration, and now works trying to make people’s lives better as a UX designer. She loves cute things, tea, books, and silliness.

Byrd and Valentina are lovely people. They converted their second bedroom to an office and exercise room, where they also have a guest bed. I was got to take advantage of that bed several times.

They live in Astoria, the same neighborhood where Laurie and I used to live. We were there for seven years, before Laurie’s art school ambitions and COVID moved us out. We would see them a lot, and I needed to see them again in this new reality, to keep seeing them, to develop a new relationship with the place.

I’d wander the streets, seeing familiar shops, restaurants, street corners, parks, all soaked with my past life, someone else’s life. Putting into context all the memories. So much time. Was it always good? Always bad? Always both? Why didn’t I leave, even as the whole thing crashed. Just trying, trying, trying to pull the vengeance out of the ghosts around town.

There are three cats—Peter, Bernie, and Chantelle.

Peter is the oldest, a grumpy tabby. He is a dick. He howls and tries to fight the other cats, and slops around because, as Valentina sarcastically whines in his pretend voice, “my life is so haaaaaard”. He likes to be pet with wet hands.

Bernie is a large, sweet, shy black cat, who mostly spends his time hiding. He’s very affectionate when he feels safe, which, in my experience, ends up being about six minutes a day.

Chantelle is the youngest, the only girl, lithe, with an orange coat, and a born hunter. She has her own time zone, mostly ignoring the boys, and is not very bright. She has a blithe swagger that demands attention without seeking it. She’ll often be in the closet, not so much hiding, but lying in wait.

There’s a big cat puzzle in the middle of the living room. It’s this big, plastic spiral, with clear tubes wrapping around it. Treats are put in the top, and the cats have to bat them around the twisting tubes through periodic slots to get them down to the bottom and out through a dispenser.

Chantelle was very good at this game. Peter was okay. Bernie would watch from under something.

While Byrd and Valentina were on vacation, I played the first few dungeons of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening for the Nintendo Switch. The game’s art direction is gorgeous, recalling shiny plastic toys come to life, but with a human, lived-in warmth. The whole time I played, I felt a blanketing sense of childhood, in small part from the narrative tinged with innocence, longing, and impermanence, but mostly because it’s a remake of a game that came out when I was a child. Guiding the hero Link through the dungeons felt safe, and I relished the indulgence of the escape.

How long could I allow myself to stay in the fantasy, the enforced hallucination, the tunnel vision of solving imaginary problems, secure in the non-reality, yet aware of the indulgence, aware of the pushing away of the hard table in front of me, the unread emails? I craved the escape, and allowed it—we all need a break, right?—but not for long. It couldn’t be the last thing I did before bed. I couldn’t play in the morning before work, or during a lunch break. There had to be rules. I couldn’t afford to get lost.

I set out with purpose. I could see Satan’s face in the clouds, really see it, just about! I could hear his laugh, right there at the edge of my hearing. The wind grew as I crested the hill, painting my clothes against my body. Destiny, doom, extravagance, purpose. Fear scattered like insects brought to light. I glowered, coiled. My inevitability laid before me. The grotto, the statue of Mother Mary, the view of New York City. Giddy, I slashed the air with my fists. Again. Again. Again.

I was breathing hard. Satan stayed in my mind.

Coward.

The days were short, the nights were long.

I’d wrap myself in the thick comforter of the guest bed, pulling the covers up over my head to block out the first rays of the morning sun. While I slept, Chantelle chewed off one of my watch straps. Turns out, the watch didn’t need it, so I guess I didn’t either.

The strap is looser, but here I am, still in time.

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travelingue · 1 year ago

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North Sea Scotland (9): Three castles

Scotland doesn't lack for castles. The challenge for the tourist is not just to tell them apart but to remember them apart.

There's a reason why they blend into one crenulated blur. It's the same story everywhere: a man who fought alongside Robert the Bruce was rewarded with land; his son built a fortress; a great-grandson extended it.

Making my way through the castles of Aberdeenshire, I found an antidote to this déjà-vu feeling: focus on one historical period and consider how each place experienced it. A narrow angle allows you to see individual fates that are lost if you take the long view.

I chose to zero in on the mid-17th century, a very dangerous time for Scottish aristocrats. The traditional sources of discord (clan feuds, the Highlands/Lowlands cultural split, links with England, etc.) combined with religious tensions in a particularly noxious mix.

I'd learned about the launch of the Scottish Reformation while visiting Perth. In Aberdeenshire, I had to brush up on what happened next. Here's a summary.

Scotland ditched Catholicism in 1560, well after England. Of course, it had to do it differently. For one thing, Scottish Presbyterians were much more austere than Anglicans: big on sermons, short on music, etc. And crucially the head of their "Kirk" was not a temporal monarch, but Christ himself.

Thus Scotland's fire-and-brimstone preachers accepted the Catholic Queen they had inherited: she was irrelevant.

This split between Church and Crown took the sting out of religious differences. Without a state to enforce confessional uniformity, swathes of Scotland, mostly in the Highlands, quietly continued to follow Catholic rites. Calvinist Presbyterians and Papists rubbed along.

Everything changed when the Stuarts acceded to the English throne in 1603. Although the Stuarts were Scottish, the move was bad news for their native country.

The Stuarts now reigned over two separate kingdoms (with Ireland thrown in as a bonus). In one, they were ecclesiastic supremos; in the other, they remained ordinary parishioners. They thought: "It's about time we Scots learned how to run a Church properly."

The first Anglicised Stuart, James (confusingly, he had different regnal numbers on either side of the border), was persuaded to go slow on interfering with the Kirk. He just foisted token bishops on it. The country's religious peace was tested but not broken.

His son was known as Charles I both in Scotland and England. That's the extent of his contribution to harmony between his realms.

Charles was a man of principles. Half-measures were pointless. In 1637, he decided that the Scots would just have to swallow an Anglican Kirk, music and all. Crypto-Catholics were happy but the Presbyterian majority was not. Riots erupted. Presbyterians raised armies. Loyalists did likewise.

Scotland's "Bishop War" of 1639-40 kick started conflicts that engulfed the British Isles for 20 years. In England, the fighting was as much about politics as it was about religion: Parliament objected to Charles's belief in a God-given mandate to rule without consulting anyone.

In the 1640s the Scots were sucked into that civil war. Presbyterians naturally backed the Parliamentarian camp; which was dominated by Protestant hardliners; others stuck with Charles.

Interwoven wars were fought on both sides of the border by a head-spinning succession of shifting alliances. Some Scottish aristocrats proved better at playing this game than others.

Below is a look at the fates of three family estates near Aberdeen. I suppose that similar stories of defiant resistance, opportunistic guile and self-destructive zeal can be found across Scotland.

CRATHES CASTLE

This 16th-century erection, 20 miles west of Aberdeen, is the seat of the Burnetts of Leys. The interesting one is Sir Thomas Burnett, 1st Baronet of Leys (1580s-1653).

He was a leader of the "Covenanters", who opposed Charles's bid to turn the Kirk into an Anglican affiliate. But not everyone was all that bothered. When Burnett went to Aberdeen to raise funds for a Covenanter army in 1638, city magistrates told him to stop agitating against the king.

Sir Thomas informed a Covenanter friend, the earl of Montrose, that Aberdeen was a nest of loyalists. Montrose said: "Leave it with me." He entered Aberdeen with 3,000 men: it's amazing how an army can focus minds.

Burnett found Aberdonians much more receptive to his crowdfunding appeal. Invited to donate to the Covenant or have their property confiscated, locals gave generously to the cause.

Fast forward to 1644: Covenanters are firmly in control. Burnett still supports them but he's pushing 60 and has taken a back seat. In fact, he's a bit miffed that he has received no compensation for the money he lost hosting troops at Crathes Castle.

Montrose, meanwhile, has had a radical change of mind. A rival is in charge of the Covenanter movement. As he sees it, it has become an extortion racket. So the earl has turned coat and is leading a royalist offensive in Scotland, with support from Irish Catholics.

After storming several Covenanter estates, he gets to Crathes. His second in command tells him: "This castle belongs to that traitor Burnett. Let's ransack it." Montrose says: "Leave it with me."

He gets off his horse and knocks on the door. Burnett invites his old friend in.

Over dinner, the ageing baronet explains that he's no longer involved with the government – which actually owes him 100,000 merks for quartering soldiers all those years ago.

"They also forced me to melt down the family silver to lend money to the Treasury," Burnett sighs.

"Greedy bastards," Montrose snorts.

At the end of the meal, Burnett offers his guest weapons and horses, as well as 5,000 merks. "Thanks for the guns and the nags," Montrose says. "But keep your money. We're not greedy bastards."

Burnett and his family were the only Covenanters protected by Montrose.

The earl was eventually defeated by the Scottish government. He was executed in 1650, aged 37. Burnett was quizzed by Parliament and said he'd given a fortune to the Covenanters, but not a merk to their enemies. It's unclear whether he got any compensation but he and his castle were safe.

DRUM CASTLE

Drum Castle, down the road from Crathes, tells a very different story.

It was the seat of Clan Irvine. The ninth laird of Drum (1566-1631) was a smart operator. He was as Calvinist as the next Scot, but he didn't make a fuss over James' bishops.

He even lent money to that profligate king and, in return, he got dispensation to eat meat on Fridays.

His son the 10th laird, Alexander, stuck his neck out at a time when doing so was risky. He was an ardent royalist living deep in Covenanter country. Drum castle became a prime target.

Government troops looted it four times. Alexander owed his life to the fact that he did not put up any resistance.

The two sons joined Montrose's royalist/Catholic army. When they were obliterated in 1645, both young Irvines were captured. One, who had been a fierce fighter, was elaborately killed. The other, who had taken part in minor clashes, managed to escape.

The 1660 restoration should have been a good time for that surviving son, another Alexander. The Stuarts, for whom his family had hazarded their lives and property, were back on the throne. The Kirk was Anglicized. Protestant hard-liners were hunted down.

The new king, Charles II, was keen to reward those who had remained loyal throughout the wars. Alex requested an audience. His friends were not especially hopeful that Charles would respond. The Irvines were only minor aristocrats from the Lowlands.

But the king knew that his gratitude would get a favourable press precisely because of the obscurity of the recipients. Two weeks later, Alex was received at Hampton Court Palace.

"Thanks for coming from so far away," the king said. "I've decided to make you a peer." "That's big of you my Lord," Alex said. "But our crops have been ruined, all our animals are dead, our jewellery and furniture are gone, generations of heirlooms have been burnt or stolen. Our castle has been gutted – because we stuck by YOU." "I've heard about the hardship the Irvines has endured. It's precisely in recognition of this sacrifice that I want to make an example and elevate you and your issue to the highest..." "My brother was tortured to death. My father died of a broken heart in a country occupied by Cromwell. I want full compensation for our huge losses. We can talk about the peerage later."

Charles did not say: "I've got better things to do than haggle with a bumpkin from the glens." The king said nothing. The audience was over.

DUNNOTTAR CASTLE

Overlooking a spectacular stretch of coast south of Aberdeen, Dunnottar Castle is one of the most recognisable landmarks in Britain (recognisable to the eye, but maybe not to the ear: the name doesn't rhyme with "Pat Benatar" but with "an otter").

It is the historic seat of the Keiths, who gloried in the title of Earl Marischal. They were firm Covenanters and helped Montrose (Mk 1) in his campaigns against loyalists in Aberdeen and the Highlands.

But when Montrose (Mk 2) returned to Donnottar with a royalist army in 1645, the earl did not invite him for dinner. He dug in.

Unable to storm the fortress, Montrose torched nearby villages. As Keith watched the smoke rise from his smouldering barony, his Puritan preacher reassured him that "the reek will be a sweet-smelling savour in the nostrils of the Lord".

Meanwhile, in England, the Parliamentarians were crushing the royalists. This led to the mother of all alliance shifts. The Roundheads no longer needed the Scots. Cromwell never really liked them anyway. His army was full of radicals who opposed any organised religion: Calvinism was not their thing.

The Covenanters, for their part, were appalled by the hodgepodge of sects proliferating in revolutionary England. Many suspected that a diminished Charles might be preferable to a hothead like Cromwell.

When Charles was executed in 1649, there was rising Scottish support for his heir. A year later, Charles II signed off on the principle of a Presbyterian monarchy - it was just PR: he knew he was in for a long spell in exile. The Edinburgh Parliament declared him king.

The Covenanters were now full-blown royalists. Cromwell, not for the first time, attacked Scotland.

This brings us back to Dunnottar: as Earl Marischal, Keith had a duty to protect Scotland's Crown Jewels.

They had been taken to the castle after Charles's hasty coronation (he skipped the country shortly afterwards).

The invaders laid siege to Dunnottar for nine months. By the time its defenders surrendered, in 1652, the national bling had been safely removed. The furious Roundheads ransacked the castle.

Over the years, it had been attacked by Scots and Englishmen, by Catholic and Protestants.

Dunnottar is a monument to neither cautious ambivalence nor self-destructive loyalty. It stands for something rarer: the principled U-turn.

#Dunnottar

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locustheologicus · 1 year ago

Video

youtube

"SO FAITH BY ITSELF, IF IT HAS NO WORKS, IS DEAD." -JAS. 2:17

The title of this post is my blog’s tag-line, this quote from St. James’ epistle that Catholics have used as a counter-point to the Protestant position that justification is by faith alone. Bishop Barron helps clarify this Catholic position in the Word on Fire video above. Barron clarifies that Paul in fact never says that we are justified by faith alone? “What does Paul in fact say?” Bishop Barron tells us, “What matter is faith expressing itself in love.”

In defending this position he highlights other Pauline positions including Philippians 2:12-13 - “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and work for his good pleasure.”

Bishop Barron is making a point of defending his point against arguments that he is promoting a form of pelagianism and as he does so articulates that the Catholic conviction recognizes that this cannot happen without the grace of Christ living in us. Barron reminds us that according to Paul the ceremonial and dietary precepts of ancient Israel does not bind us to salvation but Paul does tell us that the moral law remain. Barron goes back to defend the call to love God and neighbor as a way to participate with Christ and here he again reacts again the concern that he is promoting pelagianism. In doing this he reminds us that:

Love is not a feeling, it i is not just a benevolence, not just a sentiment, To love is to will the good of the other as other. Can you do that apart from grace? I think the answer is no.

One other point I want to add here, while Bishop Barron defends himself against pelagianism I feel that he would very much see the Catholic position accepting divinization (deification) and a participationist soteriology. The link I added here shares the insights from my research on this traditional model for salvation for early Christianity. Deification/divinization is the model that many early Christian theologians adopted whereby Christ’s redemptive act reminds us of our original divinity and invited us to participate with this act of grace to live out our divinity. I would be interested in seeing him address this topic directly but in the defense he offers above and in raising this passage from St. Paul’s epistle to the Phillippians and Matthew 25 I personally cannot see how he would disagree with this model.

One of my favorite patristic quotes for this model comes from St. Gregory of Nyssa who describes the climb that we are invited to do and tells us how Moses shows us the way.

Scripture teaches us by these things the nature and the number of things one must accomplish in life before he would at some time dare to approach in his understanding the mountain of the knowledge of God, to hear the sound of trumpets, to enter into the darkness where God is… The knowledge of God is a mountain steep indeed and difficult to climb - the majority of people scarcely reach its base. If one were a Moses, he would ascend higher and hear the sounds of trumpets which, as the text of the history says, becomes louder as one advances. (The Life of Moses, #152 and 158)

The Christian path is the one that chooses to follow Christ and accepts his invitation to be one with him and God the Father. Divinization teaches us that we are invited to to become one in all and of all, this is where we accept the grace that Chist gives us to let the Divine Will reside in us. The moment we do this however we are compelled to participate in this mission to serve one another and co-redeem the world with Christ. So what James expresses in my favorite tag-line is that the proof of our Christianity does not exist with simple declarations or ritual practices but in the way we serve one another and call on each other to recognize thier own God’given dignity. This is the moral code, the works, that continues to make a demand on us, that we become a witness to the love of God and others. In this way, we participate in climbing the mountain along with Moses, the prophets, and the saints who have gone before us.

#youtube #Scripture #participationist soteriology

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catholic-character-tournament · 1 year ago

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Quarter Finals - Catholic Character Tournament

Propaganda below ⬇️

Shadow

In sonic destruction (the AI generated fan thing snapcube made a while ago) shadow was catholic or something which I think is reallyyyyyyy funny

There is a debate on the lovely website tunblr that Shadow T. Hedgehog is an allegory for Jesus Christ.

Vote for Shadow the Hedgehog

There seems to be some confusion in the notes. He is Catholic. It may not be explicit, but it can be inferred.

Shadow was created by Professor Gerald Robotnik, and for the early part of his life, lived with Gerald and his granddaughter, Maria Robotnik.

Now you may be wondering to yourself: Does Catholicism even exist in Sonic? The answer is yes, at least in the Archie comics, where Protestants are explicitly mentioned.

Couple this with the fact that several characters, including Shadow, have canonically taken the Lord’s name in vain, it is reasonable to infer that Christianity, and therefore Catholicism, exists.

So… while Shadow’s own religious beliefs may not have been explicitly addressed… at minimum:

Catholic is a cultural designation that Shadow will always be allowed to claim based on the family that made him.

Now that we’ve established that Shadow has as much of a right to be in this tournament as anyone else, there’s one very important reason you should vote for him:

It would be funny if he won.

Thank you.

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.

#cct polls #tumblr tournament #tumblr bracket #tumblr polls #polls #r6 #sonic the hedgehog #Sonic Destruction #shadow the hedgehog #harrowhawk #harrowhark nonasigmus #tlt #the locked tomb

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lindajenni · 1 year ago

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aug 17

a biblical world view

"heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away." matt 24:35

"a large share of the nation's moral and spiritual challenges are directly attributable to the absence of a biblical world view among americans. citing the findings from a just completed national survey of 2033 adults that showed only 4% of adults have a biblical world view as the basis of their decision making."

"the survey discovered that only 9% of born again christians have such a perspective on life. the numbers were even lower among other religious classifications: protestants (7%), adults who attend mainline protestant churches (2%) and catholics (less than one-half of 1%). the denominations that produced the highest proportions of adults with a biblical world view were non-denominational protestant churches (13%), pentecostal churches (10%) and baptist churches (8%)."

exactly what is a biblical world view defined as?

Jesus Christ lived a sinless life

God is the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator of the universe and He still rules it today

salvation is a gift from God and cannot be earned

satan is real

a christian has a responsibility to share their faith in Christ with other people

the bible is accurate in all it's teachings

i can easily see how an unbeliever would deny these views, but honestly, i was more than shocked at the number of those "claiming" to be born again believers who also were deniers. they sit in services as empty shells, absorbing whatever the leaders may spout. "they are blind leaders of the blind. and if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch." matt 15:14

where are all the bereans of our day who receive "the word with all readiness, and search the scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so." acts 17:11 they don't just accept anything as gospel but search to see if the things expounded line up with scripture or not. is your eternal salvation that light of a thing you would hang it on the words of another?

i know we are not all biblical scholars trained in hebrew and greek, able to tear apart the meaning of scripture. but all those belonging to our Lord have the Spirit of truth living with them. "however, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come." john 16:13

the Holy Spirit will not only enable you to discern truth from falsehood, He will tell you things to come, if only we dare to listen. He is very much like our Lord Jesus in that way. "He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street. a bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench." isa 42:2-3

you have to listen to Him in the quietness of your spirit. He is that still small voice whispering "a word behind you, saying, 'this is the way, walk in it,' whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left." isa 30:21

you see, Jesus is "the way, the truth, and the life. no one comes to the Father except through Me." john 14:6 it's not through any of the prophets, idols or so-called gods expounded by many. it's not through mary, His mother or any of the saints throughout the ages. "for there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus." 1 tim 2:5

this should be the biblical world view of all professing to be born again. Jesus is the sinless, all powerful Creator who battled satan to win and freely give salvation to those who would believe. we earnestly share that truth, laying hidden in the old testament, revealed in the new to all those not blinded to see. Jesus is the only way to the Father and eternal life with Him.

#prayer #hope #jesus is coming

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back-and-totheleft · 1 year ago

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Oliver Stone is late. It's been almost 40 minutes since we were supposed to meet on Zoom and I'm still waiting for him, afraid to step away in case he appears. Did he forget about our meeting? Did he change his mind and decided not to be interviewed? Or did I maybe send him the wrong link?

"I'm sorry," he apologizes immediately upon connecting, "I'm on vacation in Italy with my wife. Too much pasta, too much ice cream, too much everything. I completely forgot that we were scheduled to speak. I'm sorry you had to wait."

I don't tell him this but for the opportunity to interview one of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th century, I would be willing to wait much longer than 40 minutes.

Stone is, after all, the man who wrote "Scarface," who won his first Oscar for adapting "Midnight Express" to film, and two more for "Platoon" and "Born on the Fourth of July." He directed "JFK" and an array of provocative films such as "Salvador," "Wall Street," "Talk Radio," "Natural Born Killers," "The Doors," "Nixon," "U Turn," and others that have become an integral part of American cinema of the 80s and 90s.

I speak with Stone, who is turning 77 in September, ahead of his arrival at the Jerusalem Film Festival where he will be awarded a certificate of appreciation and present his new documentary, "Nuclear Now," which argues that nuclear energy is the solution to fight climate change.

"I'm very much looking forward to visiting Israel," Stone says, "I've visited it several times in the past, and I'm coming back because I'm curious. I received a very nice invitation from the festival. They wrote to me that they want to give me a lifetime achievement award. I don't see it as a political thing. It is given to me for the films I've made. It comes from a place of deeper critical and artistic appreciation of my work, and I'm happy to share it with the Israeli and Arab audiences, and with anyone who comes.

"I visited Israel 20 years ago. I came to film a documentary called 'Persona Non Grata', which dealt with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I interviewed Shimon Peres and [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu. It was crazy because during the conversation with Netanyahu, a bomb exploded further down the street and everything became very dramatic. I also interviewed [PLO leader Yasser] Arafat and the al-Aqsa [Martyrs'] Brigades. Then I almost got stuck in Ramallah. The Canadian ambassador managed to get us out of there at the very last minute, a second before a siege began. Lucky, because otherwise we would have been stuck there for a month."

Q: Your father was Jewish. Growing up, was Jewish culture present in your life?

"I was raised in between. My mother was Catholic, and my father was Jewish, but they decided as a compromise to raise me as a Protestant. They put me in Sunday school very early on. So no – I never had any knowledge of Judaism. My father was a tough man and he hated the Old Testament. Well, maybe 'hate' is a bit of a strong word, but he didn't find any use for it and thought it was bull***. In my opinion, it's actually a very exciting and historically interesting book. We studied it in Sunday school."

Q: Do you keep track of what's happening in Israel politically?

"I don't really know or understand what's going on there. It seems that Netanyahu is doing the best he can, but he has undoubtedly chosen some strange partners. Fundamentalist types, I would say. I can't say that I have respect for these people."

Q: As we speak, tens of thousands are protesting against the government. There's talk of a civil war. So perhaps you should bring your camera along.

"Oh no. Last time I almost got stuck in Ramallah. Don't tell me I might get stuck in Jerusalem this time. What are the protests about?

Q: About democracy.

"I see. Democracy is beautiful, beautiful and important."

"I'm coming to Israel because of my films"

The decision to invite Stone to the Jerusalem Film Festival garnered a lot of criticism in the media in recent weeks due to the director's several controversial statements throughout his career, such as statements viewed as antisemitic he made in 2010 while promoting his documentary miniseries "Oliver Stone's Untold History of the United States."

"I am not an antisemite," Stone clarifies firmly when I tell him that many in Israel still remember his remarks. "I was never an antisemite, and I don't think the things I said were antisemitic. I apologized for the things that were said, and various Jewish organizations in the US cleared me of any guilt."

Q: You said at the time that Hitler was misunderstood and that Jews control the media.

"It sounds really terrible when you say it like that, but it's out of context. If you watch the documentary series I made – 12 hours long – you can see exactly what I think and say about Hitler, Germany, and World War II.

"But most people haven't necessarily seen the series. Most people feed on headlines and soundbites. The series speaks for itself. It provides a very interesting and unorthodox view of WWII, among other things. So what else do you want me to say?

"I'm coming to Israel because of my films. I'm not coming to make a documentary about the ongoing political bull***, that's not my goal here. I'm an older man. I'd rather talk about other things, and not degrade my career by bringing up things I said In the past. I prefer to talk about nuclear energy."

And indeed, "Nuclear Now" is very different from what one would expect from Stone, both due to the subject and the direct and matter-of-fact tone used to convey the message.

According to Stone, he became interested in the subject after reading "A Bright Future" by Joshua S. Goldstein and Staffan A. Qvist. Stone originally thought to adapt the book to film, but eventually decided on a documentary approach.

"As I see it, the matter goes beyond parties, countries, and continents. Conservatives, liberals, Republicans, Democrats, Right, Left – this is relevant to everyone. There is a clear conclusion that nuclear energy works, and that it can be a solution to the climate crisis. Many years ago we foolishly turned our backs to something that works.

"We show in the film how nuclear energy was shunned. We deal with the reasons why people are afraid of it – Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Chornobyl disaster; the horror films produced in the 1950s, with all the monsters created as a result of radioactive radiation: 'The China Syndrome' with Jane Fonda, 'Silkwood' with Meryl Streep, and of course the HBO series, 'Chernobyl', which shows an exaggeration of what happened.

"In movies, nuclear energy is never a good thing. From the beginning, people made the wrong connection between nuclear bombs and nuclear energy, but the two are so different. It's a glaring lack of understanding of the matter."

Q: How come?

"Because even if you don't believe in global warming, I would argue that nuclear energy is the cleanest and most effective type of energy we have. This is not to say that solar energy and wind energy are not effective, because they are. But they don't work all the time, and their hours of activity are limited. Nuclear energy works around the clock. You can't do that with the other energies. For example, in winter, when there is no sun or wind, the substitutes used today are methane or coal, and methane is one of the largest pollutants. It's a terrible solution. The oil companies love it, of course."

Q: And what made you make this movie specifically now?

"I'm older. I have children, and hopefully grandchildren soon. What will happen to them in 2050? The world is spending trillions of dollars on renewable energy, but according to the reports coming out in 2020, when we started working on the film, carbon dioxide levels are still rising. So we're not doing enough, it's not working. The change is not big enough. The world needs to shift its consciousness. Nuclear energy should be put back on the agenda, it should be encouraged.

"We were in Davos last February. All these important people, sitting there on the stage talking about the future of the world and blah-blah-blah. They never talk about nuclear energy. Why?"

Q: Do you think humanity is ready for such a shift in consciousness?

"Yes. Radioactive radiation is a fact and a part of life, and we should stop being afraid of it. There is radiation in dental clinics and is part of cancer treatments. It is all around us whether we like it or not, and we have to accept it. President Eisenhower praised nuclear energy. Kennedy also supported it. It was already on its way to happening. In the 1970s we aimed to make America a nuclear nation by the year 2000. But as we show in the film, the oil and coal companies lobbied against it. They tried to say that any amount of radiation is harmful to us, but that's not true, it's been proven. The film is about facts, not opinions or theories.

"I like to compare nuclear energy to Cinderella. She's the ugly sister who stays at home and cleans the floors, while her sisters go out and have a life. Then one day we all find out that Cinderella isn't ugly at all, she's actually beautiful. That's how I feel about nuclear energy. It's a misunderstood topic that got a bad reputation undeservedly."

Although he hasn't made a feature film since "Snowden" in 2016, Stone has been very busy in recent years. Besides "Nuclear Now", which premiered at the latest Venice Film Festival, two years ago he released "JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass," a documentary that brought him back to the conspiracy surrounding the assassination of Kennedy, 30 years after the monumental feature film he directed on the subject.

Stone also took advantage of downtime during the pandemic to write a fascinating memoir titled "Chasing the Light" about the struggles, disappointments, and successes that characterized the first decade of his film career.

"It was very easy and fun for me to go back in time to write the book," he says. "It gave me an opportunity to step aside for a moment and step outside of myself. It allowed me to examine my life as a philosopher. As a writer, you look at the things you've done in your life and examine yourself. You think about the meaning of your actions. This is the Socratic method – to look for the best way to live. That's what I try to do. I don't always succeed, but I try."

Q: Your book ends with you winning an Oscar for "Platoon," based on your experiences as a soldier in Vietnam. Are you planning to write the rest of your story?

"Yes. The book ends when I'm 40 because so many things happened to me until then. I would like to go back and tell the story until the end because it's a piece of a story. This book is about the dream, about the person who dreamed it, and about the first great fulfillment of the dream, that happened with the release of 'Platoon' and 'Salvador.'

"I wanted to show the reader that there is a lot more to this business than success. I wanted to write about the lessons I learned. To tell how each of these films was made and how difficult it was to make them. There was nothing more difficult than making these two films.

And of course, there are also all the scandals and stories surrounding the 'Midnight Express', 'Conan the Barbarian', 'Scarface' and 'Year of the Dragon', which I wrote for other directors. I saw so much along the way and felt like I had a lot of insights into life that I wanted to share. I tried to be as honest as Ron Kovic was in his book, on which I based the movie 'Born on the Fourth of July.'

Q: Almost all the films in your filmography were very difficult to make. There is no way they would be produced today.

"I agree with you that the atmosphere today is very different. My breakthrough happened when Reagan was in the White House, I was part of the reaction to it. But even so, during my career, there were more films that I wasn't allowed to make than films that I was allowed to. So maybe I became too dangerous at some point ".

Q: And yet, you have directed at least 20 cult films.

"I was very lucky, I guess. But these days it's so expensive to make movies and market them. That's why most movies have to be blockbusters, and those movies can really be very boring and repetitive. The Fast and Furious franchise, for instance. How many car crashes can we watch? Or the 'John Wick' movies. Keanu Reeves kills 400 people there, and you don't believe anything he does. It's so easy for him to kill people. It's ridiculous."

Q: I'm sorry, but how is that different from the movies of Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 80s?

"True, I guess you're right, but don't compare me to them. In ' Natural Born Killers' I made a satire. I had to say it over and over again because people didn't understand. The murders in the movie were ridiculous and intentionally extreme, like in a cartoon. The idea was that America was going crazy and that the media makes the violence sensational and a major news subject. I started to notice it with the OJ Simpson trial and all kinds of other cases that happened at the time. But I never made a movie with that kind of violence again."

Q: You've known many successes during your career, but also some painful failures. When you look back at the films you've made, are there any that you feel didn't get the fame they deserved?

"Many of them," Stone says, laughing. "I think 'Alexander' is one of my best films, but people weren't ready to accept it and it received very harsh reviews. In my opinion, undeservedly so. I released another version of it in 2007, which lasts three and a half hours. There were places where it was successful, mainly in Europe, so they didn't forget it. But in the English-speaking world, it was scorned and it wasn't fair in my opinion. It obviously hurt a lot.

"I really like 'Heaven & Earth', which I think is a beautiful film, but no one has seen it. I also really like 'Talk Radio' and 'U Turn' – a kinky and crazy film. I think 'Any Given Sunday' is a classic football film.

"The movie I made about the events of 9/11, 'World Trade Center,' didn't do well either. They said I was conservative, and all the attention was directed to 'Flight 93,' which presented a complete fantasy because nobody really knows what happened on that plane. But my film was authentic and showed the truth behind what happened. It was very difficult to make.

Professional and personal scandals accompanied Stone throughout his career and became one of his hallmarks early on. Over the years, he has also been accused of racism, misogyny, historical distortions, the glorification of serial killers, and a fondness for conspiracy theories, and the list of people he has clashed with in Hollywood is endless.

However, in recent years most of the criticism directed at him is related to his unusual affection for Russian President Vladimir Putin. In 2017, Stone directed a four-hour documentary series, which consisted of interviews with Putin, and the result was severely criticized due to the director's forgiving and flattering attitude toward the Russian leader.

"I hear a lot of criticism from overconfident people who say, 'Stone got old and went completely crazy. He used to make good movies, but at some point, he took a wrong turn.' All this sh**. That's what people want to believe about me. But it's too early to tell whether I'm on the right side of history or not. History is still in the making."

Q: A year and a half following the invasion of Ukraine, do you still believe Putin is a great leader as you said before? Or has your opinion changed?

"Putin is protecting the interests of his country. The conflict needs to be understood in a different way. If you don't recognize that the NATO alliance threatens Russia's territory, you ignore reality. He is in a difficult position because many Western countries are facing him. To tell the truth, I am surprised by the lack of understanding and the lack of empathy toward Russia. Very surprised even."

Q: You said in an interview once that you hated dictators and thugs. But in your political documentaries, such as the ones about Putin, Fidel Castro, and Hugo Chavez, you seem to be drawn to them. How do you explain the contradiction?

"There's something very important to understand in this context. The reason I went to talk to these people is because they all stood against the imperialist policy promoted by the US. I didn't go to them to interview them about what was going on in their backyard. What interested me was how they stood against this empire, against America. That's my perspective."

Q: I'm also very curious to hear about your prediction with regard to next year's presidential elections in the US.

"The upcoming election will be the craziest election we've ever had. I don't know what's going to happen. Biden has become very militant and is under the control of people who are worse and no less crazy than the fundamentalists in your government."

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

Q: Do you think there's a chance Trump will return to the White House?

"Yes. I don't support him and I never voted for him, but like Netanyahu, the fact that he is so attacked and hated only ensures that he will get more attention. Because a lot of people are really tired of the so-called mainstream media. Anyway, we have become a polarized and broken country and that's a real shame. The American Civil War was 150 years ago. What's happening now looks similar. I think the problems started in 2000 when George W. Bush was elected. I don't think he was elected legally. I had a feeling that evening that something strange was happening. Since then everything has been messed up."

Q: To sum up, would you ever make a film about Netanyahu?

"As you know, I have already interviewed him before. But no, I would not make a film about him. He does not fit my profile. He is very much in favor of the American empire. Trump played into his hands and gave him everything he wanted. It is Biden who stands in front of him and confronts him on vital issues. It makes me laugh to see how these things work sometimes. We live in a world that no longer has black or white. Only shades of gray remain."

-Yishai Kiczales, "Oliver Stone visits Israel – and speaks his mind," Israel Hayom, Jul 16 2023

#oliver stone #judaism #israel #nuclear now #jerusalem film festival #persona non grata #benjamin netanyahu

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the-firebird69 · 2 years ago

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Watch "WARHAMMER 40K Tyranids Pissed Off Space Marines Fight Scene (2023) 4K ULTRA HD" on YouTube

youtube

I tried to stop him from infiltrating the shadow dome and getting the giant robots and robot armies and I did but tell my own detriment and the robots deteriorated just as everybody said they would and I could not help it the second I took them out he would start trying and his computers are varied and it takes over computers and uses different formulas just like our friend says he's a Master formula it is working very well for him now I have to figure out what it's doing and our friend said it's fine and easy it said fortress that I described to women bill on Titan and it's really a system of computers and one person can run it but you have to have a whole bunch of laser light computers and what we're saying is all sorts of malarkey and ridiculous and we have to get to it and it makes sense that jhwb defeated him and he defeated him back and also makes sense that Max after it but our friend says that it's a lot more to it and he says he's asking me how many churches there are on Earth that are Catholic and I said about 450 million and then Protestant would be about the same and then there are temples and cathedrals that are not churches the add it all together this 5 trillion of these places with alters each and every one of them probably has something under it and alien each and every one of them are to raise others and maybe even raise something larger they knows how to so we are in a lot of trouble these monsters are all over the place we found them as gargoyles this is going to be chaos and that's what he wants I don't I don't get why he's doing it yes I do he was persecuted and blamed for everyone's crimes it's because he was a sinner and disguising himself but everybody else is but what he does is horrific he says his body and skin can transmutate into just about anyone and he can probably sit there and do it with blood with special with some chemicals and some radiation and not much else and nobody can and his granddaddy did a little to an extent and family and race but he's different just like her friend is and his DNA proved it and thank heavens he mentioned it he didn't know what to do he said he's a giant and I am but I've never been Giant so he's kicking my ass so he has to tell someone this is the story and I'm sticking to it I'm losing and everybody is losing and these Giants came out of nowhere and kicked our robots ass and I had him juiced up okay and we had some teams in there they have to be really bad now these new robots will be hard but I don't think impossible he said what made sense as he took it three or four tier mutant which exist with us and The Rock says Yes and then there's been like he'dora which are higher and have lasers out of their eyes and you mix it with one of the humans and somehow and there you have it Galactus and he says it's amazing please and I do see it too he's got to look the look let me know that we know how to fight these guys these things okay there's someone human and they do feel pain and there are ways to hit them even if they're robotic and I'm not going to disclose where but several places at the same time and I've seen people do it that was The Rock and he said he's valuable and here it is

Not to go on talking but we have to do something

Tommy f

#Youtube

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mari--lace · 2 years ago

Note

🍋 Share a scene that involves love (platonic too!) and/or friendship

🍈 Share a scene where your character opens up or confesses something

🍑 Share a scene where two (or more!) characters work together

(👀)

Thanks for the ask, Fran 💜

🍋 Share a scene that involves love (platonic too!) and/or friendship

I love this one and, well, couldn't pass the opportunity for some platonic Matt/Nat 🥹

“Hey, Nat.” He turns to her with a smile—she can barely make it out in the poor lighting provided from the billboard outside, since the flat’s lights are off—and offers her a cup. “Cinnamon tea. It’s good for you.”

“Yeah?” Nat shakes her head but accepts the cup, brushing Matt’s hand in the process. She tries sipping the tea, but it’s still too hot. She heads to the sofa. “Thank you.” She doesn’t ask how his day was—small talk isn’t why she’s here and they both know it. She sits down, Matt joins her soon after.

She feels Matt’s warmth by her side, the hot cup heating up her hands; it’s comforting to just sit in silence like this, slowly sipping her tea. She couldn’t tell how long they stay like this, quietly enjoying each other’s presence. After she sets her finally empty cup on the coffee table, next to Matt’s own, Nat sinks back into the sofa and rests her head on Matt’s shoulder, closing her eyes.

🍈 Share a scene where your character opens up or confesses something

Apparently this game decided Matt&Nat is the answer to everything xD My two options for this one both involved them. Here we go:

He sits down, crossing his legs. “You asked about souls?”

The woman mimics him, sitting down in front of him. Matt feels the air move (she’s nodding), but after a beat she also replies vocally: “Yes. Do you believe in their existence?”

It’s an unusual question, but not a hard one. “I’m a catholic.”

The woman leans her head to the right, and Matt wonders what kind of look she’s giving him.

“I do not have one.”

Matt raises a brow behind his mask. It’s true that he doesn’t even know her name, but after all the nights they’ve spent together he feels like he knows her some. He’d never guessed her to be a guilt-ridden type, even if… The way she just stated to not have a soul was very factual, emotionless. Maybe not guilt-ridden, then.

“Everyone has a soul.”

“I lost mine.”

Again, the woman isn’t lying, or her body doesn’t let out anything Matt could interpret that way. She really thinks she lost her soul, whatever that means.

“How?”

“Swapped it for an orange rock.”

🍑 Share a scene where two (or more!) characters work together

Matt reluctantly had to accept to team-up with other vigilantes to take down a drug ring, but when he arrives with Peter to the roof they agreed on, there isn’t just Clint Barton waiting for them. He focuses on the unknown heartbeat; long hair, a bow and a quiver.

“Is that… a little Hawkeye?” Matt asks, tilting his head curiously.

“Not as little as your sidekick,” Clint replies, smirking. “Figured I should take a page from you and find my own pupil.”

“I’m not little!” Peter squeaks in protest.

“No, Clint’s right, you’re tiny. Not my sidekick, though.”

Clint gives him his best skeptical glare, unaware that it’s completely wasted on a blind man. “I know you give him lessons.”

“Someone had to.” Daredevil crosses his arms defensively. “I found him bleeding in a dumpster, it’s not an experience I want to repeat.”

“A dumpster? Clint ends up in one pretty much every week,” Kate pipes up, taking her chance to enter the conversation. “Also, I’m 22, not little at all. How old are you, Spider-Man?”

Peter coughs. “Shouldn’t we get a move on and get to the pier?”

“You know that’s, like, super suspicious, right?”

“It’s not!”

Daredevil sighs. “Let’s just go. You sure you know the risks?” he asks, tilting his head towards the young woman.

“Of course I do. I’m Kate, by the way.”

Neither Matt nor Peter follow up with their actual names. “Alright, let’s go.”

Kate seeks Clint’s eyes, but he just shrugs. “Vigilantes” he mouths, barely a whisper.

“I heard that,” Daredevil’s voice comes from the next roof over. Clint and Kate freeze, surprised. “Huh.”

The povs in this scene are kind of a mess, but I had a lot of fun writing it. I hope it fits!

#writing game #ask game #daredevil #daredevil fanfic #matt murdock #natasha romanoff #peter parker #clint barton #kate bishop #matt/nat

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bismuth-209 · 2 months ago

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an additional specific anecdote on how titles work on our world:

this example starts in like. 1533 and in western Europe, whereas i think the Witcher is mostly inspired by Poland and that area? but i don't know about that! and i know about this!

so. 1533, the guy known now as Willem of Orange / William the Silent is born at the castle of Dillenburg as the son of the count of Nassau-Dillenburg/Nassau-Siegen. basically both, English wikipedia says Siegen, dutch focuses on Siegen, both are basically in Nassau, which is in Germany now (and also Germany then mostly, but the German state as we know it know did not exist yet. The area now known as Germany is many, many principalities, duchies and counties (ruled by a count, like Nassau), who swear fealty to the Holy Roman Emperor, who has limited control over them

and the Holy Roman Empire isn't just places we'd now recognise as Germany or close by. The principality of Orange in modern day France is also among the places that fall under his "control"

so, when in 1544 eleven-year-old Willem's paternal cousin who is the Prince of Orange (which he inherited from his maternal uncle, he is from Breda, in the Netherlands, and i am not sure if he like. actively ruled Orange, ever), dies, Willem is his heir

so Willem, born in Germany, inherits Orange, in France, and that is a big deal. Getting a principality basically puts you on the same level as royalty, and Orange is a valuable territory to Charles V, who is Holy Roman Emperor (and also lord specifically of a bunch of other holdings, he has like at least a third of Europe under his direct or indirect control

he's also like. super Catholic, and would like the Prince of Orange to be Catholic. Willem's parents are Protestant, and so in return for getting his inheritance for realsies he is raised at Charles's court, as a Catholic (but he remains sympathetic to protestants. he's just kinda chill like that). He never actually goes to Orange, but he is Prince of it, and his heirs inherit that title, as well as the title of Nassau. He also kinda accidentally becomes a major figure in the Dutch revolt, and his heirs usually also get v important jobs there

in ~1815 they get the very important job of King of the Netherlands

still, the monarchs of the Netherlands carry the titles of Orange-Nassau, and presumably at least some of them have been there now, but they have no reason to besides it being kinda interesting. they don't even officially have any control over those areas. just the name

the current king participated in a famous ice skating marathon as W.A. van Buren, his initials and a common last name, that in his case actually refers to the title of Count of Buren, that he has because of aforementioned William the Silent's first wife

for context for the distance between Orange and Nassau and the current Netherlands. these titles are carried by the same people now (although there's other Nassaus still, i believe the dukes of Luxembourg are (the first 3 kings of the Netherlands were also dukes of Luxembourg, but the Kingdom was inherited by a woman and the grand duchy couldn't be, i believe they've fixed that now. but that didn't retroactively make Wilhelmina inherit in 1890))

this is a lot of info on . not the Witcher

i don't know that much about the witcher. i know more about early modern European history

oh and, 'de', 'von', 'of', 'van' and etc. basically mean the same thing in different languages. maybe the writer(s) of the Witcher made a distinction based on whether someone was actually from a place or just inherited the title somehow, but like. that's not how it works in the real world

also! from what i can tell occasionally English monarchs would just pick a random place when wanting to give someone a title, with not necessarily any power in that place (doesn't go for all English titles, but from what i gather, sometimes, like, around Elizabeth I. i don't know a whole lot about English titles though. but you don't necessarily need to have a second great uncle once removed who is from there to have the title "Duke of Leicester" . maybe someone liked the vibes)

i hope this is useful as headcanon context for people who know more about the Witcher

So is Lettenhove part of Bremervoord? Jaskier is from Cidaris? What is happening with the lore?

#i watched 4 episodes #and enjoy fandom #but longer fics set in canon are a challenge #considering watching the new animated thing though #always considering #bis speaks #is this just an excuse to infodump about what i need to study? maybe

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