#cw: theology

[astrology-bf]

The Necessity of Fiction

A fic dedicated to Sir Terry Pratchett.

(CW: Minor Spoilers for ARR and Hogfather, Theology)

High up in the heavens, a ball of burning gas cast its harsh, indifferent light upon a sphere of stone. Upon this sphere; or rather, sitting beneath a tree near Revenant’s Toll, a magician gnawed his lower lip as he perused a tome in idle study. It was a fair day in Mor Dhona; no clouds, no gloom, and neither heat, nor chill. A perfect day, or near enough as could be found in such a rugged clime.

“Do you mind if I join you?”

Ifan blinked and glanced up at the sound of the voice. “Oh, G'raha.” he let out a little chuckle at the sight of the miqo’te and raised a hand to rub his eye, then shook his head. “Not at all, I was just reviewing a formula.” 

G’raha smirked as he took a seat beneath the tree at Ifan’s side, a grimoire of his own in hand. The comical (if frustrating) circumstances of their initial meeting in the Shroud had quickly given way to a friendship over books, and since then the two had grown accustomed to shared study. “Ah. Doubtless more homework from our dear mistress Y'mhitra. I take it your endeavors in summoning proceed apace?” asked G’raha with a glance at the tome in Ifan’s hands, one ear perked quizzically.

Ifan nodded. “They proceed, just not as quickly as Y'mhitra would like.” he answered, failing to hold in a faint sigh of consternation. 

The ear that G’raha raised flattened quizzically as one eyebrow rose. “She does not strike as the overly impatient sort.” he mused.

“She isn't. I’m simply a little deficient.” answered Ifan, without thinking or looking up from his book.

G’raha frowned. “There is no need to put yourself down, Ifan. If something troubles you, I should be happy to listen.“ he offered with a cant of his head towards the mage, ears splayed forward and open as visual indication of his willingness to listen.

A mirthless chuckle escaped Ifan’s lips. He raised his head and turned it to meet the miqo’te’s eyes. “I wouldn't want to make my troubles your troubles.” he countered with a little smile.

G’raha gave the midlander a coy little smile of his own. “Simply being around the Warrior of Light entails trouble, and I happen to find that one of your more preferable qualities." he teased before his smile took on a more sympathetic bent. "It is no burden, truly. You certainly have been more patient than I merit when it comes to myself."

Ifan snorted faintly, nodding. “Mm, aye. I still haven't quite decided how to get back at you for that whole business with the aethersand.” he snickered. 

G’raha gave the mage a flattened frown, ears mirroring the line formed by his lips. “Do not tell me you are still annoyed by that? ‘Twas an idle jape.”

Ifan stuck his tongue out at G’raha from between his teeth in a teasing little grin. “An idle jape of my own.” Then he gave a sigh and idly cast his eyes upwards towards the leaves above their heads. “Alright... Well, it's sort of a matter of faith.” 

The miqo’te cocked his head at this. “Faith?”

Ifan nodded. “Egis are images of primals after all, and primals images of gods. And…” The hyur trailed off and gnawed his lower lip once more. “‘Tis foolish…” 

“Foolish it may be, but it being so will not assuage my curiosity.” said G’raha with a pointed look.

A laugh escaped the mage. “Ah, so you plan to pester the reason out of me?” he asked. 

“If it should help you arrive at a decision, then I should be happy to confess some thoughts of that nature.” answered G’raha, a playful little grin dancing upon his lips.

Ifan stuck his tongue out at the archon and then gave a little sigh. “In a word: blasphemy.”

G’raha blinked, his ears twitching in surprise. “It seems I must confess some confusion, also. What is your meaning, if I may ask?” 

The magician hummed from within his nose as he gave his words some thought. “Beastmen gods are still gods, and I can't in my heart invoke their image without direct consent or being at the end of need. Even if I may not believe in Ramuh, or Ifrit, there are many people who do. People I respect, so I respect their faith just as I hope they would respect mine. I wouldn’t want the Twelve to have their images used for foul ends, after all.” he said and finished with a nod.

“You believe in the Twelve?” asked G’raha, suddenly. Then he blinked as the impertinence of the question caught his notice. “Oh… I apologize, that was-”

Ifan laughed and leaned over to nudge G’raha’s shoulder with his own. “You can make it up to me by buying the first round tonight,” he teased. “I take it that means you don't?"

G’raha’s humor quickly reasserted itself at the nudge. He grinned a little and gave a nod. “Only the first. And not necessarily, my position is that I simply have yet to see convincing proof of their existence.” he explained. 

Ifan nodded. “Fair enough. That's a good position to have. And to be fair, my idea of the Twelve existing is probably very different from most others'.” he added with a smile at the other man.

“Oh?” asked G’raha, one ear flicking up in idle curiosity at the words.

A deep sigh left Ifan’s chest as he leaned back against the tree, looking up towards the sky between the gaps between the leaves above their heads. “I believe the Twelve are a necessary fiction, in the sense… How should I put this…” he began. “One of the Sisters who took care of us at the orphanage owned this book - I forget the title - but the story really stuck with me when she read it to us. Pretty fantastical tale about Thal and his ‘granddaughter’ needing to perform some frivolous holiday rite, and at the end she asks Thal what would have happened if the rite hadn’t been performed and he tells her that the sun wouldn’t have risen.” A fond chuckle escaped his lips at the memory of the tale; Sister Brazen Briar seated upon a chair, Ifan and the others at the orphanage sitting looking up in rapt wonder at her words. 

G’raha waited a moment for the magician to proceed, then noticed the wistful little smile upon the hyur’s lips. He found himself unable to stop himself from doing the same. “Not so frivolous a rite, it would seem?” he mused, coaxing Ifan from his thoughts. 

It proved enough. Ifan hummed and looked at G’raha with a wry grin upon his face. “Ah, but there was the author’s mastery of words at play, you see. Thal said that instead of the sun rising a mere ball of burning gas would have orbited a sphere of stone. The frivolity was the key; frivolous fictions like holiday spirits teach us how to believe in important fictions like justice, mercy, that sort of thing. I think the words were ‘to be where the falling god meets the rising beast’, or near enough. Fantasy is the essence of what makes us human.”

G’raha found himself a little moved. The tale was simple in profundity; easy enough for a child to understand, yet a lesson sorely needed by adults. “An exceeding wise moral for a mere children’s tale. I should like to read it for myself when I have the chance. ‘Tis a pity you do not recall the title.” said the miqo’te with an intrigued canting of his head.

Ifan nodded, humming once again in fond nostalgia. “I’ll let you know if it comes back to me. In any case, the point is that the Twelve are a similar sort of fiction. Figures of aspiration, comfort, art. I believe the Twelve should exist because it’s better if they do.” he finished with a nod. 

A few moments passed in contemplative quiet, G’raha mulling over Ifan’s words as his tail rhythmically swayed. “Hm,” he hummed, at length. “I had no notion theology was among your many talents.” said G’raha as he returned his eyes to Ifan’s face.

The hyur rolled his eyes. “Pfft, hardly. One just thinks a lot about faith when one is raised in an abbey.” 

G’raha cocked his head. “Truly? I had no notion, you seem so…” Then he paused.

Ifan raised his eyebrow.. “So…?”

The miqo’te flattened his ears and pursed his lips. “Mrm.”

By now, the mage knew G’raha well enough to know that look. “G'raha.” said Ifan simply, with a flattened frown.

“...Worldly.” managed G’raha in a mumble.

"A whore, you mean."

G’raha’s ears and tail shot up. “You-..Pfft!” He sputtered with a glare at his companion. Then he shook his head and sighed. "My meaning is simply that you do not seem the type to have been raised in a religious community.”

“And what type do I seem like?” countered Ifan with a little waggle of his head and a devilish little grin.

G’raha pouted angrily. “Posthumous, if you continue to insist upon putting words in my mouth.” 

“You’re one to complain about teasing, Mister ‘I’m going to annoy the Warrior of Light for jollies’.” bantered Ifan in return.

The miqo’te found the hyur’s humor overly infectious, and he returned a smirk with a small shake of his head. “I suppose I must concede that point. May I ask whom among the Twelve you chose for your patron? I confess some curiosity, given your upbringing.”

“Assuming they exist,” said Ifan with affected sageness. 

G’raha stuck out his tongue.

Ifan snickered slightly. “I jest. I chose the Scholar.” he said with a small nod.

“You did not choose Nald’thal?” asked G’raha with a tilt of his head.

“Not everyone from Ul’dah is a merchant or trying to buy their way into the heavens, G’raha.” snickered Ifan with a small roll of his eyes.

“That is a fair point, I suppose. And I would ask why you chose Thaliak, but it seems obvious given your calling.” said the archon with a nod.

“That, and I had a crush on the icon of him in the library. Very cute.” added Ifan with a kiss into the air.

“One would think a man raised by clerics would not be quite as lewd as you.” said G’raha, tilting his head with a teasing little smile. 

"I've been told that, aye.” Ifan nodded with a grin. “One would have thought the abbey dedicated to Menphina rather than the Warden.”

"Azeyma?” asked G’raha, one ear flicking up as the man’s curiosity was piqued. “It must be quite ancient, given how rare houses of her worship have become in recent days.”

Ifan hummed in affirmation. “Tradition dates it to Belah'dian times, actually. It's survived this long mostly because it's got good agriculture and a long history with the Seekers that live near the desert - temples to the Warden are rare these days, as you said, so they show their appreciation through donations and such. I did think of asking for Azeyma's blessing rather than Thaliak's, but..."

"No icon of hers on which to crush?" supplied G’raha with a smirk.

"I didn't say that. The statue of her behind the altar was pretty ravishing." said Ifan, joining G’raha in a mutual bout of chuckling. “And who is your patron, might I ask?”

G’raha glanced off to the side as he gave the matter a moment’s thought. Then he smirked again. “Perhaps I wish for you to guess.” The archon’s voice took on that playful edge that once had driven Ifan to frustration on his hunt for aethersand, not long ago. 

Ifan rolled his eyes, but a smile was on his lips.  “More games, hm?... Oschon.” he guessed.

G’raha’s ears fell. “...Is it truly so obvious?” he said with a little pout.

“You’re an archer, G’raha.” 

The miqo’te’s breath caught in his throat as some color tinged his cheeks. “...A fair point.” he muttered.

“Again, I jest.” snickered Ifan as he leaned to give the man a nudge again to coax him back to smiling. “'Tis more that you seem the sort to look to the Wanderer for aspiration. To what he represents, rather: adventure, travel, freedom. Much like myself with Thaliak - I want to be wise. Not just know things, I want to do things with that knowledge. Use it, teach it. Do good with it. That’s wisdom.” he finished with a nod, gaze cast wistfully ahead. 

G’raha didn’t answer. His eyes were fixed on Ifan’s face, ears and tail unmoving as he simply watched the mage in silence. His face unmoving, too, save a slight parting of the lips and a softening of the eyes. 

At length, Ifan noticed G’raha’s stare. One eyebrow rose. “Do I have something on my face?” he asked. 

G’raha blinked. He shook his head, then gave an airy little chuckle. “Apologies, my thoughts ran away with me.”

Ifan hummed at G’raha with a smile. “I’ll give you a gil for them?”

The miqo’te shook his head once more. “Mere fancies. They have already passed, and I would not wish to distract you from your studies overmuch.”

“As you say, G’raha.” conceded Ifan with a chuckle as his eyes lowered to his book once more.

“Ifan.”

Ifan glanced back up to meet the miqo’te’s eyes. “Hm?”

“If you would prefer… You needn’t call me more than ‘’Raha’. I should like to think of you as my friend, and I yours.” said G’raha with a smile.

Ifan snorted with a grin. “There’s no ‘should like’, I thought we already were. Even if you can be irritating as sin when you feel like it, ‘Raha.” he teased.

G’raha returned a wide grin of his own, leaning over to briefly grind his shoulder against his friend’s. “Believe me, Ifan, you have not even begun to see irritation.” he said, coaxing mutual laughter from the mage whilst high up in the heavens, the sun shone down upon the earth.

[chelledoggo]

there's too much animosity towards queer people who want to practice their faith/spirituality, both within their respective religions and within the LGBTQIA+ community.

we need to protect and lift up our queer siblings of faith.

our queer Christians.

our queer Jews.

our queer Muslims.

our queer Hindus.

our queer Buddhists.

our queer Sikhs.

our queer Baháʼís.

our queer Wiccans/Pagans.

our queer Shintos.

our queer siblings of indigenous/folk faiths.

our queer SBNR siblings.

our queer siblings of whatever religion/spiritual systems they observe.

you're all beautiful and valid and loved and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. 💖

[hollytanaka]

BLASPHEMOUS (2019) • dev. The Game Kitchen

[thepringlesofblood]

An Attempt at Explaining Bulbian Church Theology

so I watched ACOC a year or two ago, and I watched TRW as it came out, and now I’m going back and re-watching ACOC with that context in mind, and I have many questions.

a few disclaimers

this shit rules. it’s wild how much thought and effort Brennan & Matt put into Bulbian theology and the history and inner workings of the church. at no point am I implying anything to the contrary. this is “tf, guys? (affectionate)” not “tf, guys? (derogatory)”

the order of things is fucked up bc prequel, and bc Matt necessarily did a bunch of it w/out Brennan bc he was a PC. some things have the simple Doylist explanation of “Brennan didn’t think they were ever coming back to that bit” or “it’s a metric fuckload of lore written several years before Matt came onto the project, of course some things are going to contradict.” I know and agree with these reasons. I am coming at this from as Watsonian a perspective as I can - trying to find in-world reasons for things rather than real-life reasons - because I think it’s a fun thought exercise.

at no point am I talking shit about either Brennan or Matt. ik people have a lot of feelings about Matt’s DMing in TRW, but I think he did great, and he added some fascinating new lore about the theology of Calorum which I am eager to sink my teeth into. he seems like a cool dude, he and Brennan wrote some extremely cool lore, and that’s all I’ll say about that.

so. let’s get crack-a-lackin’

Let’s define our terms.

we got our two Big Terms from ACOC - the Prophidian Heresy and the Ramsian Doctrine. The Prophidian Heresy is the only one to re-appear in TRW, as the Prophidian Theodicy. this is bc it was not declared to be heresy (aka fake/against the church’s beliefs) yet, so it was just another theory within the church

we’ve got about four big factions, very unequal in power:

Belizabeth Brassica (& the church under her rule)

the Sanctis Putris

the Archbishop Camille Colliflour (aka the Avatar of Deus Pa’Zuul)

The Few Good Individuals in The Church*

we’re mostly talking about Brassica and Sanctis Putris.

*Saint Citrina, local churches in Candia, certain Bulbians in the Dairy Islands, individual churches here and there across the continent that are mentioned as rejecting the Ramsian Doctrine in ACOC.

The Prophidian Heresy/Theodicy

What it says:

The Hungry One is just as powerful as The Bulb

Reasoning:

this is an attempt to explain the questions of “if the Bulb is good and all-powerful, why are there bad things in the world? If the Bulb is more powerful than the Hungry One, why hasn’t it beat the shit out of him yet, if it is truly a force for good?”

What it means in the world:

this is a part of Brassica’s plot to start the apocalypse, but is not the most important thing for her.

It is however important for the beliefs of the Sanctis Putris, who fight to keep the Hungry One at bay.

Questions/observations:

In ACOC Ep.13, when Brennan first mentions the Sanctis Putris, he describes them as “an order of the Church that did not subscribe to the Prophidian Heresy at all. It looks like they are not about the Ramsian Doctrine and causing the apocalypse.”

I think this is a mixing up of words, and that he meant to say “the Ramsian Doctrine” both times, since the Sanctis Putris is against the Ramsian Doctrine. at this point in the campaign the two beliefs have gotten kind of conflated bc they’re both part of the big Brassica Apocalypse Plot.

the in-world explanation could be that after the war the Sanctis Putris pivoted to a different belief - perhaps that the Hungry One is more powerful than the Bulb. very interesting...

in TRW ep 3 Colliflour says “We know the clarity of the Prophidian Theodicy and the terrible shadow that grows outside of the Bulb's light”

so we do know that before the war at least the Sanctis Putris were into it.

The Ramsian Doctrine

What it says:

The Hungry One cannot be destroyed and the final salvation of all souls cannot occur until the Hungry One devours the world

Some souls are healthy and delicious, but some are unhealthy and garbage - Junk Food (Candians)

The Junk Food souls prevent the Hungry One from devouring the world because it wants a “healthy meal” 

Reasoning:

in order to work towards this prized final salvation of all souls and destruction of the Hungry One, one must first work towards the apocalypse. Junk Food must be eradicated from the world for that to happen - whether by conversion to the Bulbian faith* or by death.

*it’s at least implied by Calroy’s letter to Brassica in ep. 13 that since he “renounced his pagan ways” and wants to be re-baptized in the Bulbian faith, he gets to live. whether this is true or not we do not find out.

What it means in the world:

This is the excuse Brassica needs to invade and destroy Candia and its magic. Fun fact: she was actually planning to launch a crusade on the Meatlands too before she got got.

Meat isn’t junk food (i don’t think??), so it’s clear that what she’s really after is destroying the rest of Calorum’s ability to access magic - making it so they have to go through the church to get “miracles” rather than using the magic of the deities in their homelands. that’s not Ramsian, it’s just Brassica being power-hungry and mean.

In regards to the Sanctis Putris, they believe they are preventing the apocalypse by bringing rot and mold into the world. they don’t want the Hungry One to devour the world, and since they believe the Hungry One is as powerful as the Bulb, they want to work to bring mold and rot into the world themselves, to give the Bulb a leg up on the opposition, so to speak.

so, the idea that the Hungry One could devour the world, and that that would be a sort of apocalypse, is shared between Brassica and the Sanctis Putris. the difference is, Brassica wants that to happen so the Bulb can finally defeat the Hungry One, and the Sanctis Putris does not want that to happen, so they bring mold and rot into the world so the Hungry One can’t devour it.

Questions/observations:

So while it sounds kind of like the Sanctis Putris are buying into the last tenant of the Ramsian Doctrine - that the Hungry One will only eat a “healthy meal” - they’re not buying into the rest of it, because their definition of “healthy” is different from the one outlined in the rest of the Ramsian Doctrine. The Sanctis Putris don’t seem to care about “Junk Food”, just rot & mold.

TRW ep. 3 Colliflour: “Through prosperity and peace, Calorum becomes ripe and pliable. It becomes the perfect meal to forever roil and burn within its belly. The hidden scripture, the Festered Tome, it holds the truth that will save us all. The Hungry One will not eat that which is spoiled...Only through death can the lands be stained and unclean. Only through rot can the world be saved and endure under the Great Bulb's light”

the Sanctis Putris depend on conflict vs peace and rot vs growth across the whole of Calorum, while the Ramsian Doctrine depends upon specific people (Candians) being eradicated

in ACOC ep. 13 Brennan says this “The correspondence between the Archbishop Oliver Onionpatch and the Sanctus Putris saying the Sanctus Putris has located the home and high temple of the Sugar-Plum Fairy, and have found the Ice Cream Temple. The date they give, they say that their expedition should arrive there the morning of Harvest Dawn the seventh”

onion boy is a Brassica lackey - a Ramsian. swapping letters with the Sanctis Putris, famously anti-Ramsian. ???

my question is this - why are the Sanctis Putris running errands for Brassica if they have fundamentally opposing beliefs? why are they sending out an expedition on the orders of someone trying to start an apocalypse that they’re trying to prevent?

3 potential reasons

blackmail - Brassica says “I am the head of the Church, this is what’s happening, put up or shut up. Do what I want or I eradicate you”

quid pro quo - a favor for a favor, Brassica is giving them something in exchange for them doing this for her

common enemy

it serves the Sanctis Putris to have the Church be more powerful since a lot of their people are in the Church, and of course it serves Brassica to empower the Church. Killing the Sugar Plum Fairy is one way to do that.

im uncertain though, as the Sanctis Putris has people from all over the place, and potentially at least one Candian who is against it.

although, if the Sanctis Putris intend to split with Brassica, if may also not serve them to have the Church be more powerful.

Compare/contrasting Brassica v Sanctis Putris

Both beliefs are Prophidian, since for the Hungry One to eat everything it would need to be at least equal in power to the Bulb (both groups believe in the Bulb’s inherent goodness, and that if it had the power it would stop the Hungry One from doing this).

Both see themselves as helping the Bulb overpower the Hungry One, Brassica by causing the Apocalypse and the Sanctis Putris by preventing it.

Both identify an aspect of the world that is preventing the Hungry One from devouring it. Brassica points to “junk food”, while the Sanctis Putris points to mold and rot.

I saw a post a while back that positioned the two terms as Belizabeth Brassica’s beliefs vs the beliefs of the Sanctis Putris. This is not the case. 

The Ramsian Doctrine [in its totality] is exclusive to Brassica, yes, but the Prophidian Heresy does not encompass the totality of the beliefs of the Sanctis Putris. It just says that the Hungry One is as powerful as the Bulb. the rest of their shit is their own. 

the Sanctis Putris do subscribe the last tenant of the Ramsian Doctrine (that the Hungry One wants a healthy meal), but interpret “healthy” as meaning something else, so I wouldn’t say their beliefs are Ramsian overall, even if one idea overlaps. 

plus, Brassica also needs the Prophidian Heresy to exist, since it offers a reason for why the Bulb doesn’t just come down and make everything better - it can’t, since it and the Hungry One are equal in power.

now where the fuck does Deus Pa’Zuul fall into this?

Brennan described the feeling of discovering Deus Pa’Zuul as “eldritch horror” and frankly I agree. A lot of the genre of eldritch horror revolves around the unknown, and specifically the unknowable, so as a result we the audience know very little about it.

What we do know

it’s a garbage disposal, and all the implications that carries, included but not limited to

the place you dispose of rotten food

the physical description - blades, tearing, ripping, whirring

it is a force of pure destruction. the things it destroys are erased from existence. there is no eternity in the Hungry One’s stomach, no salvation in the light of the Bulb, you just end.

it can interact with the world of Calorum through visions and impart magic like the Bulb and the Hungry One do, but does so very, very rarely.

The only two Calorans we know of that it ever contacted directly were Colliflour and Raphaniel.

the rest of the Sanctis Putris had no clue that this was where their leader was taking them - Gemelli straight up fights it.

Speculations

while Colliflour certainly seems to think it fits into the main cosmology of the universe, it feels very clear, to me at least, that it does not.

the Hungry One and the Bulb have next to no physical manifestations in the world of Calorum the way Deus Pa’Zuul does.

sure, a spell might sound like a stomach rumble or emit holy light, but no one ever turns into a lightbulb.

The closest thing is that the Bulb is the Sun, but it remains untouchable and unknowable (until some crazy ass pepper shaker makes a spaceship or something).

the physicality of it makes me feel like it’s a smaller, though no less deadly, force than the Bulb and Hungry One.

there’s also the specificity - we’ve seen the magic of Bulb and Hungry One alike do a million different things. Deus Pa’Zuul’s magic seems less flexible - we only really hear it described or emphasized when Raphaniel casts a more destructive spell, like Shatter, and of course in the finale when it took over Colliflour’s body and the room around them.

(this is also probably bc TRW was a way shorter campaign and thus had much less opportunity to show off new fun ways for it to wreck shop)

The Bulb and the Hungry One are balanced - creation and destruction, light and dark. Deus Pa’Zuul feels like an extraplanar monster. I’d say “demon” but that implies that it’s working for the Hungry One, as he’s the Caloran equivalent of the Devil.

but then again, is that incorrect? in-world, it certainly feels separate from Bulb and Hungry One alike. but if we think about the implications of real-life garbage disposals...people are the ones that operate and control them. if the Hungry One is a person, he would be the one controlling what (and who) the disposal grinds up.

Finally, we have the Few Good Individuals in the Church. 

Saint Citrina, in the limited scenes we have from her, 

encourages Amethar to follow his heart and not divorce Catherine Ghee if he loves her.

creates a holy relic that forces you to tell the truth

has an argument with Archmage Lazuli about the goings-on with the Order of the Spinning Star

Queen Pamelia says in TRW ep. 1 - “Citrina and myself and many others have taken quite lovingly to the Book of Leaves. We just are careful with which sects of the church wish to impose disparate law and rule upon how we worship.”

later we see her sort of disagreeing with her mom as she is steered away from Raphaniel though, and we don’t really know what’s in the Book of Leaves, except that Saint Citrina enchanted it to force truth-telling at some point before her death.

is “useful” to Calroy and his conspirators until Brassica orders her killed. So, one can assume she was anti-Ramsian in some way.

We know that Primsy and most Dairy Islanders are Bulbian, but don’t get much of their specific beliefs. 

There is the scene in the Abbey of the Shimmering Cream with Saccharina, where we basically just learn that that abbey (and potentially area in general) is extremely anti-magic and terrible. We don’t get anything about their feelings vis-a-vis the Ramsian Doctrine though.

Primsy opposes the Ramsian Doctrine & Brassica in general once she hears about it though, so one can assume that she and the people around her don’t prioritize or agree with that in their worship.

We know Caramelinda is Bulbian, and she married Archmage Lazuli, so presumably she does not have the same issues with her use of “pagan” magic as Saint Citrina may have. 

Other than that we don’t have a lot on her religious beliefs, except that she wasn’t super stoked about Saccharina as Queen, but I think that was less because of her magic and more because of how violently anti-Bulbian and generally chaotic Saccharina is.

When Brassica’s whole Ramsian Doctrine plan gets set into motion, she gets a whole bunch of letters from churches across the continent that are like “um no??? please don’t cause the apocalypse??”, mostly from Candians (who we can assume are generally anti-Ramsian because they don’t want to die) but also from all the other countries.

So. There we go. Lmk if there’s any inconsistencies or anything ^v^

[granny-griffin]

wait wait nai was literally reading the bible and the only thing he got out of it was original sin?? is he actually AFO?? reading the captain hero comics and coming out with the conclution that the demon king was the winner??

[egharcourt]

A collage piece I did last week with old National Geographic magazines and a devotional.

[petterwass]

[newtsoftheworldunite]

🚨 Terrible Pun Warning 🚨

Q: How do you know that the United States of America is an xtian country?

A: Easy! Anybody can tell you that American automobile infrastructure is proof of the in car nation.

[chelledoggo]

so was anyone gonna tell me the concept of the rapture was just the idea of some Scottish teenage girl in the 1800s or was i just supposed to go through over a decade of evangelical rapture anxiety only to just learn about that last night?

[wolfprincesszola]

The Fate of the Marked Six Chapter 10

merry holidays everyone <3. as always, reblogs and likes are appreciated! ——————– Summary: Virgil moves into a new town and meets Roman, a ghost that he promises to help in finding the unfinished business needed to pass over. However, Roman's past seemed to be deeply muddled with trouble, an uncurable disease that has started to affect a classmate, and a certain tight-lipped valedictorian. Friendships are made and Virgil finds himself thrown into a situation far more complicated and twisted than he signed up. Hopefully, with the help of his new five friends, he can find a way to bring peace to the town once and for all.

Trigger Warning: None

Content Warnings: Talks about Death and the Theology of Death

<Masterlist>

<Previous> <Next> ——————–

Chapter 10

“Please?”

Virgil turned towards Roman, sighing, “Why? Why do you want to so desperately go into my school and accompany me around? My family already thinks you’re enough to deal with. I already think you’re enough to deal with. Do you really think I’ll be able to entertain you while we’re both at school?”

“I’m so bored here!”

“I’m not restricting you to be here!” Virgil rolled his eyes, swatting Roman out of his face as the ghost went to block his view from his homework. “You can go out and explore the city!” “But I’ve already done that, and you told me that there’s a ghost that’s bound to find me. I’m way too scared to have that.”

“There’s more of a chance of the ghost finding you at school! The person being leeched off is there.” Virgil pointed out.

“Okay, but I want to see what goes on in your school. I’m so bored at your house, and I don’t feel like trying to investigate any more when it’s clear there’s no other ghosts in the city.”

“Shouldn’t you help me find out the reason why?” Virgil raised an eyebrow.

“Now, I could…but I could also hang out with you and we could figure it out together afterwards.”

“Uh huh…” Virgil drawled out, “What if my teacher is a medium?”

“Oh come on, I won’t tell you any answers. If they can see me, I’ll sit perfectly still, and I promise I won’t help you on the test until they’re not looking.”

Virgil rolled his eyes, “I’m not letting you help me cheat on a test! How would your brother react if he found out you were helping someone else cheat?”

“Hey, I never cheated on mine! That’s gotta count for something.”

Virgil paused, “You…remember that you never cheated on your tests? I asked you a couple of weeks ago to account for anything you remember about your school, and you mentioned nothing of the sorts.”

Roman blinked before going back to being annoying, “See? Being at your school could maybe help me recover some of my memories.”

“You’re impossible, Ro.” Virgil rolled his eyes snorting.

“Please, you love me.” He teased, “Come on, sunshine. I promise to be good.”

Virgil felt his heart flutter at the nickname. Roman had stopped using them after Virgil told him to not flirt with him, but he guessed that he was going back to using them because they had become such good friends.

“What did I say about nicknames?”

“Sorry.” Roman muttered, “Please?”

Virgil stared at his unfinished homework, “Fine. Help me finish the math homework before I finish doing my eyeshadow, and I’ll let you come along.”

“Yes!” Roman pumped his fist in the air, floating over to the seat as Virgil went to go grab his makeup brush to dab up the look under his eyes.

It wasn’t even a minute later when Roman yelled that he was done. Virgil raised an eyebrow, in the middle of doing his makeup when he checked on his homework. “There’s no way you know that.”

“Well…I guess past me must’ve been pretty smart, huh?” Roman smirked. “Can I go now?”

“Fine. Pack your imaginary stuff.” Virgil rolled his eyes as he stared at Roman’s clothes, “Do you actually have clothes?”

“Actually, a neat thing I found out about the afterlife.” Roman grinned, “I don’t need to be hygienic, but if I want to change clothes, I just have to think of it and then I change. Like this.”

He spun and he changed from his regular outfit of a white shirt with a red and gold jacket and some brown jeans into a uniform often worn by Disney princes with a red sash across.

"Playing on the Disney prince much?"

"Oh, that would be so wonderful if I could be one!" Roman groaned with a disappointment that he wasn't one. "I mean I look amazing with this attire, don't I?"

Virgil didn't want to admit that Roman was right, so he just shrugged, glad that Roman saved Virgil's heart by changing back to his normal attire soon after. "Not really. But if you can change, then why do you always wear the same outfit?”

Roman scoffed, “No, I don’t. I just enjoy this color. I change the hoodie to a slightly different shade of red every day.”

“Uh huh.” Virgil snorted as he went to finish his makeup.

He came out to Roman wearing his iconic red jacket, but had black ripped jeans, and fingerless gloves on. Not only that, it was clear he had eyeliner on, enough to make his eyes pop and create more narrow eyes.

Virgil’s jaw dropped, unable to stop gaping at him.

“This is the closest you’re getting to an outfit change.” Roman remarked, fixing his gloves. "I thought I'd play up to what you look like, emo."

“Uh huh.” Virgil nodded, hoping his face wasn’t flushing. He didn’t know why he was feeling like this. Maybe it was because for the first time, he noticed how conventionally attractive Roman was. Maybe it was because Roman, his first friend in this new town, was starting to seem like his soulmate by how well they worked together and clicked immediately unlike many of his other ghost friends and other love interests. Either way, he didn’t like it and he hoped the feeling wouldn’t continue. “Let’s go, Count Woe-laf.”

"Hey, hey, that's my nickname." Roman scoffed, “I’ll see you at the gates of the school.”

“Didn't you say you needed to see places before you teleported to it? Wouldn't that apply for the school?"

“Well, considering that you’ve mentioned that I’m probably an alumni from the high school, I doubt it, and also, I’ve explored the entirety of this city. If I get lost, I’ll just teleport to you because I can do that. I can teleport to people and not places, as long as I know their faces.”

“Fancy.” Virgil remarked, “Alright, well, I’ll see you there. Try to avoid Remus, and if you can’t, please for the love of God, don’t touch him. Ghosts can interact with each other, but they shouldn’t touch each other without consent. If they do, who knows what the ghost will do to you?”

“I promise.” Roman gave a loopy grin before he teleported away. Virgil rolled his eyes, getting ready to drive to school.

-+=~=+-

Virgil found Roman waiting for him at the flagpole, and Virgil snorted, grabbing his phone out to pretend like he was calling something. “That’s not suspicious at all. You look like you were waiting for me.”

“I was because I’m a gentleman.” Roman grinned as he stopped leaning against the pole and followed Virgil inside, not caring about whether or not he went through others.

“Uh huh….try not to pass through people.” Virgil snorted, “It’s very rude, and you never know if one of them might be Remus.”

“Right.” Roman blinked, deciding to go through Virgil instead.

“There he is!” They heard a really loud voice.

Virgil turned to see Patton grinning at him.

“Ah, Patton.” Virgil smiled, “How are you doing?”

“No, how’s my favorite best friend doing?”

“Don’t call me that, Pat. We both know your best friend is Logan." Virgil rolled his eyes, “What's up?"

“Did you ever get in contact with your ghost friend? I want to talk to him!"

“What deal?” Roman asked.

“Right.” Virgil nodded before he gave a glance to the side. “Ro, he said he’d tell me information to help you with your unfinished business…in return, he wanted to just rant to you about something that apparently he doesn’t have the confidence to tell me or anyone else.”

“He’s here?” Patton asked before he started spinning around, trying to find where Roman was, “Where is he? That’s so cool. Tell him I said hi-”

Roman gave a small wave, “Right…so where does he want that to happen? Might as well get it over with.”

“Oh come on, at least sound enthusiastic to hear it.” Virgil scolded Roman before turning to Patton, “Alright, I know a quiet place. You just can’t be that loud.”

“Thank you.” Patton gave a small smile.

Virgil didn’t know what was really said in the supply closet he found for them, but all he knew was that when Roman came out of the room, he was excitedly grinning.

“What did you tell him?” Virgil asked, almost horrified, “He’s smiling from ear to ear.”

“I can’t tell you, mi cielo.” Roman hummed, “Man’s oath.”

“You literally looked so deflated in not wanting to be his friend before you walked into the supply closet.” Virgil accused.

“Listen, I made him swear. He even dropped a book to tell me that he wouldn’t say anything to anyone.” Patton gave a look, “You’re not getting a word out of him.”

“He’s right.” Roman shrugged, “I don’t care if he was your supposed good friend, he’s my best friend now.”

“Betrayed.” Virgil gaped, “How dare you steal my ghost friend from me, Patton.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll always be my bestie.” Patton grinned, linking his arm around Virgil, “I feel much better. Let’s get to class.”

“I hate this so much.” Virgil grumbled, crossing his arms.

“Patton’s my favorite of your friends now.” Roman grinned.

-+=~=+-

Virgil noticed that when Logan passed by them, Patton tensed up, but he brushed it off as Patton being weird like normal. That was until Patton started fumbling around Logan that Virgil started to realize what was going on.

“You have a crush for Logan!” Virgil accused when they were in math together. He had gotten so close to Patton that it didn't feel weird to talk to Patton normally. For once though, Virgil was glad that Roman wasn't a part of the conversation because Roman tended to be more on the romantic side and would try his best to help in this escapade. The ghost had mentioned he was bored of the class a few minutes ago, as he knew the material already, and mentioned that he wanted to explore the other math classes.

“What?” Patton dropped his notebook, “No I don’t.”

“Uh huh…explain the hearts you keep drawing then with the whole LS + PM thing. Logan Sanders + Patton Morris. You’re not slick.” Virgil smugly pointed out. “Why did you find the need to hide it?”

Patton sighed, deciding it wasn’t worth keeping in, “Because it’s weird between us. We’re different from other relationships. I annoy him, and he hates it, but still copes with it. Then, I had a dream about him and me being in a relationship, and everything changed my view. Suddenly, Logan's not so bad, and I actually see him as someone that deserves a break from me annoying him. Suddenly, he’s beautiful when he’s laughing, even if it’s forced. Suddenly, I want to be around him every moment, and I hate that, so I start avoiding him because of that. I get flustered when I think about him or talk about him, and I’ve never felt like this for someone before. I’ve had crushes before, but not like this. Not to the point where he is the only thing plaguing my mind day and night. Not to the point where I’m imagining scenarios so realistic that I want to believe is real, but I know he would never tell me that he wants to be the person that makes me feel like I truly belong somewhere in this world because the truth is the universe is cruel, and they don���t care about my feelings for Logan. They don’t care that I feel alone, and they know that Logan won’t be the person to help fix it because in reality, everything in my life is changing right now and Logan was the only thing in my life that was constant, so I feel like I clung onto him like a baby clings onto its pacifier even after they don’t need it anymore. I don’t think I really like Logan because I don’t think I could handle being in a relationship with him, but also…I wouldn’t mind if he kissed me?”

“Jeez.” Virgil scoffed, blinking, “That’s a lot to process.”

“Complicated, right?”

Virgil jumped, turning to see Roman smirked as he laid on the desk. When did he get back?

“Get off the desks.” Virgil hissed at Roman as he pretended to go back to working on his worksheet.

“Sorry. Sounds like he finally told you. Said you were the closest thing to a best friend he had other than Logan, so I tried to tell him to tell you, but unfortunately, it’s kinda hard for a normal human and ghost to communicate together.” Roman snorted, “How’s math going?”

“Horribly. Can you help me with the answers?” Virgil hissed.

Roman sighed, going to stand behind Virgil, grabbing the pencil with him. Virgil felt his heart beating as he realized how close Roman was to him. Even though he had been this close to him when he was annoying him, it was never like this.

“Just follow the movement of the pencil.” Roman whispered into Virgil’s ear, as Roman did the work, making sure to keep it neat and for some reason, despite Virgil not being able to hear anything louder than the heartbeat pounding in his own chest, he was able to make it through and understand all the math problems Roman had done for him.

“No fair, you have a smart ghost to help you.” Patton pouted, looking at his work.

“By the way, Vir, I need you to come with me.” Roman grinned as he let go of the pencil, floating to be in front of Virgil.

“Why?”

“I think I found my unfinished business. You said that it would feel like a tug. Well…this is all what the person feels.”

“Right now?”

“Preferably yes because I know where he is, but I’m sure I’ll see him passing by in the hallways. I’ll just point him out later if you can’t get out.”

Virgil raised his hand, “Can I go to the bathroom?”

“Can you hold it? There are just 3 minutes left of class.”

Virgil sighed, staring at Roman, “Keep an eye on him. You can teleport yourself to me, but go stay with him until I see you.”

Roman nodded, disappearing off to who-knew-where, and Patton raised an eyebrow, “What about you?”

“Hm?“

“There’s gotta be something you’re struggling with.”

“Yeah, trying to get you to leave me alone.” Virgil joked, flicking Patton’s forehead.

-+=~=+-

It was lunch when he next saw Roman. He was following behind who he thought was Logan, and Virgil blinked, not sure if he was seeing correctly.

Logan walked up to the table with Patton, Remus, and Janus.

“Hey, Sanders.” Patton grinned at Logan, “What’s up?”

“Not here for you, Morris.” Logan remarked before he pointed to Virgil, “Heard I’m needed from you.”

Virgil remembered that he had yet to give Logan a rosary, and decided to give it now. “Right…I need you to put this on, and whatever you do, I need you to not take it off.” Virgil warned, holding out a rosary necklace.

“What is it?” Logan asked, grabbing it. “And I doubt it’s practical in the shower, or in bed.”

“Ah, in the shower you can leave it just somewhere in arm’s reach.” Virgil sighed, “You have to wear it to bed though. Especially in bed. It’s a rosary.”

“I’m not religious.”

“You don’t have to be. Just please, wear it.”

“Hey, Vir, this is the guy I’m talking about! Apparently, he has the same last name as me. Isn’t that cool?” Roman grinned, waving a hand in front of Logan’s face. “His life’s way more interesting than yours…but he’s a lot more boring.”

Virgil blinked before turning to Logan, “Please?”

Logan grabbed the rosary and put it on, and not a moment too late, because as soon as Logan put it on, Remus clutched his heart, wincing in pain.

He saw a glimpse of red eyes flash right next to Logan and knew it was a close call.

“Re!” Janus shrieked as he went to check on Remus.

All Logan did was stand there, staring, “Right, was that it…or?”

“Ah, there’s more, but I doubt this is a good place to talk.” Virgil began.

“I know a quiet place.” Logan shrugged, motioning for Virgil to follow him.

“Hopefully more spaced than a supply closet?” Patton remarked, earning a jab on the side from Virgil.

“Come on, Remus, this concerns you too.” Virgil motioned to the boy.

“Ooo, field trip!” Remus clapped as he went to join the two boys.

“Don’t kill each other.” Logan monotonously remarked to Janus and Patton.

“Thanks.” Sarcasm dripped out of Janus' mouth.

With that, the three (plus Roman) soon followed after.

The three walked into the room with the Watari examiner that no one was allowed to touch.

“Alright, this is a quiet area. Go.” Logan crossed his arms.

“Are we allowed to be here?”

“Yeah.” Logan shrugged.

“This is so cool!” Roman grinned, dancing around the room and exploring the area. “Do you think the machine can see my aura?”

“Most definitely. Stay away from it.” Virgil replied underneath his breath.

Remus took the lead, explaining to Logan everything they talked about before.

“That’s what the rosary is for.” Logan sighed, as he went to turn on the Watari examiner. “Hop on, Remus. I need to show Virgil something.”

“Sick!” Remus grinned. "Is it my-"

"No, it is not your private parts." Logan interrupted Remus as he took off his glasses as a way to try and shield his eyes. When it was clear Remus made no effort to strip, Logan sighed a breath of relief and put his glasses back on.

Virgil watched as Roman bounded over to see what Logan was staring at.

“Hey, Logan?” Virgil asked.

“Hm?”

“Why don’t you ever talk about your brother? I saw his work at the art gallery you mentioned I should look at.”

Logan froze, and it was clear that out of all the questions Logan thought Virgil would ask, that wasn’t one of them. It was enough for Roman to turn around gaping, asking Virgil a bunch of questions about why Virgil didn’t tell him, and how Virgil knew, and how Logan might’ve been his unfinished business.

Logan stiffened, looking at the machine, “He was a great artist, wasn’t he?”

“Yeah. His videos were very heartwarming.”

“I stopped talking about him when my parents stopped wanting him to be remembered.” Logan muttered, “They wanted to pretend he never existed, and I was never one to disobey my parents’ wishes.”

“Even if it conflicted with yours? I mean, it’s clear you care about him. Otherwise, who else would’ve donated all the book nooks you did with him? Who else would’ve gotten his work into an art gallery? Who else would’ve gotten a statue memorialized after him to prevent drunk driving?”

Logan rolled his eyes, “Patton really is a blabber mouth. Remus, go ahead and hop on the machine.”

“He didn’t tell me.” Virgil remarked. “I can just see the love you had for him.”

Well, technically Patton did, but Virgil could stretch the truth.

Roman seemed surprised by the statement too, staring at Logan to hear his response.

“Yeah, well love doesn’t do us any good in this cruel universe.” Logan forced a tense breath out before changing the subject, “Look at his aura right now.”

Virgil gaped at the black aura. “It’s swallowing him whole.”

“You’re saying that the black aura is the ghost sucking the life force out of him?” Logan asked.

“Yeah.” Virgil nodded.

“Right, now reach out your hand.” Logan commanded Virgil.

Virgil did just that and Remus grabbed on. Before he could say anything, he felt power surge through his veins, almost making him fall down from the power of his magic. Virgil watched as the black aura disappeared, and it instead transferred to make his magic strong. The ghost aura disappeared from Remus entirely, and Roman’s aura became more powerful too.

Remus glanced at Roman, about to open his mouth to tell Logan about Roman peering over him, but stopped when Virgil tugged his arm to make Remus look at him. Virgil shook his head and Remus let it go, waiting for Logan to speak.

“Is it gone?” Logan asked.

“Is what gone?”

“The ghost aura. I assume you can see it?”

“Yeah, I can. It’s gone.” Virgil murmured, staring at Remus, “How are you feeling?”

“Energized. Better.”

Logan pointed to the aura that was now glowing blue, “That’s his actual magic, hiding behind what I now know is not his cancer, but instead…a ghost.”

“It seems like it’s kinda blowing your mind.”

“It’s just the idea of not knowing what happens to the ghost, and also…what the hell the other cases of this same cancer were.” Logan pursed his lips, “It’s the only cancer that comes from magic.”

“And it’s not cancer.” Remus reminded him.

“Uh huh.” Logan trailed off, staring at the monitor.

Roman went to grab the monitor and Virgil bit his tongue, not wanting to expose Roman for being in the room with them.

Luckily, Roman only shifted it to the side, just outside of the two’s viewpoints, and enough for him and Logan to see fully without stepping back from the monitor.

“You’ve been looking at it from the wrong angle. Look outside the fielsog, and instead look at the entire body. The Watari examiner can look at the body as a whole, and show what’s happening to the ghost, because I don’t see any other ghosts around here.” Roman spoke, almost as if he was expecting Logan to know he was speaking.

Virgil blinked, repeating what Roman said.

“That’s what I just said!” Roman turned to look at Virgil before Logan turned towards Virgil, walking right through him. He blinked, jumping out of his zone, “Oh, right…I forgot, I’m a ghost.”

“You’re so right!” Logan replied as he turned to change the examiner. “Don’t freak out, Porter.”

The machine started to spin around Remus, just close enough that it didn’t hit Virgil in the arm, as Remus was still holding onto him.

Then, Logan looked at the monitor.

“Hey, uh, Logan, I would like to know what’s going on.” Remus spoke as Logan stared at the machine examinations.

“Apologies.” Logan pointed the monitor towards the two, showing every part of his body was filled with blue aura. “The ghost isn’t in your body. I think what’s happening is that you’re expelling them out of feeding on your magic by literally sending out so much power that it takes over and gives it to the other person. The other person is able to filter out the ghost feeding magic because they aren’t the one being leeched onto. Since Virgil has a rosary on, it keeps the ghost from even entering his system, which it could do without the rosary.”

“Okay, so what does that mean?”

“The ghost isn’t using you as a host.” Logan pulled out a whiteboard from behind some area, starting to draw. “Let’s say the ghost is the beehive of all the magic. You walk past the beehive once and accidentally knock it over. The ghost sends a servant after you to sting you, and let’s say that sting also turns you into Beeman, sort of like Spiderman when he gets bitten by a spider and-”

“Off-topic, Microsoft Nerd.” Roman leaned against the whiteboard and Logan cut himself off, staring.

“What’s wrong, Logan?” Virgil asked, wondering why Logan was staring to where Roman was.

“I thought I heard something.” Logan shrugged it off, “Anyway, I know my metaphor does not truly hold as practical logic and it would've been better to correlate the ghost to a queen bee. The main point is that y ou now are ‘infected’ with the host, and so the host can do things to your body like a parasite.”

“Kinda a perv, if you think about it.” Remus snorted.

“Shut up and listen.” Both Logan and Roman snapped at the same time.

“Once a Sanders, always a Sanders.” Virgil smiled, muttering under his breath as he found it entertaining.

“So even when the host is at the beehive, it can check up on you at any time and control your magic, even when it’s not near you. In other words, you’re screwed.” Logan placed the whiteboard marker back down, “Unless you can do something.”

“What is that something?”

“Get an insider into the hive. Right now, the ghost can’t hear us because Virgil’s using his magic to expel the ghost from the hive. Right now, Remus is safe and we are safe too, unless the ghost comes knocking on the front door to come talk to us personally. What you need is a ghost to help get into the hive and pretend to be a servant.”

“That’s extremely dangerous.” Virgil remarked. “If this ghost is as powerful as its aura is, a ghost would never last as a spy in there.”

“I know.”

“And you still want us to do that?”

“Right now, Remus isn’t dying, but as soon as he lets go of your arm, the ghost will continue eating at his soul. Anything we do to the ghost, we do to him. They’re interconnected at this part. We need to find how the ghost even connected with Remus in the first place, and why because it could’ve gone for anybody else. We find the entrance to the sting, we find the entrance to the beehive, and we can take the ghost down. However, that means we need a helpful volunteer.”

“Like who?”

“I know a few people.” Logan replied as he walked over to open the door of the lab, to see Janus and Patton leaning against it, arguing, “Why don’t we start with them as tributes?”

“Hey! Not Janus!” Remus replied defensively, “You mess with him, and you mess with me.”

“Yada yada yada.” Logan mocked as he closed the door, “You two touch anything and I will set you guys on fire, got it?”

“Got it.” Patton swallowed as he looked at the monitor, “Hey, that’s neato. What’s that about?”

“Something.” Virgil remarked.

“We don’t need a ghost to go into the beehive because it’s probably something existent in real life. It has to be in order for this operation to even go down. We can take a few volunteers to go find the ghost. We just need….a ghost to find the entrance, and to take the bait.”

“I’ll do it.” Roman shrugged.

“No way. I’m not risking a friend’s life.” Virgil scoffed, “Any of my ghost friends-”

“We have no choice. You said yourself that usually cities are bustling with ghosts. You haven’t found a single one here. You need to find at least one and take the bait.”

“I’ll do it.” Roman repeated again.

“No, I can’t put someone in danger like that.” Virgil shook his head.

“Then you’re keeping Remus in danger. The ghost is already dead. There’s nothing you can do to harm them.” Logan adjusted his glasses as he began to argue with Virgil.

“You just said it was a beehive. What if the ghost I choose gets trapped in the beehive?”

“It’s a risk we have to take.”

“Do we really though?”

“You’re going to let Remus die?” Logan crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow.

“What? What are you two talking about? We're not letting Remus die!" Janus scoffed, jumping into the conversation.

"I think it'd be fun to see what would happen!" Remus grinned at his best friend, who just shushed him.

“I’m not saying we should let Remus die. I’m saying we should find another way to do this infiltration thing, because I don’t want to risk any more lives than possible.” Virgil groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“This isn’t risking anyone’s life!” Logan huffed.

“I’ll do it!” Roman yelled. Virgil still ignored him.

“It’s risking a ghost’s life. He deserves to-”

“He doesn’t deserve anything, he’s a ghost!”

“You don’t get to say that.” Virgil scoffed, “You don’t know this ghost. You haven’t become his friend. How would it feel if he was someone you knew that died?”

“Low, but even if he was someone I knew, he lived a life already. He knows what it’s like to experience it. Remus hasn’t finished his life yet.”

Patton placed a hand on Logan’s shoulder, “Be a little more compassionate, will you, Lo? What if the ghost was your brother?”

Virgil watched as Logan tensed up and decided to play on that, "What if he was your brother, huh? Would you be saying the same thing?”

“According to my parents, my brother doesn’t even deserve to be talked about.” Logan replied coldly, pushing Patton’s hand off his shoulder.

“I’m not talking about your parents. I’m talking about you. What if the ghost was your brother? Would you be saying something differently?”

“I made a promise to my brother when he was alive that I would help the living. Remus is living. My brother is dead, and that is all he’ll ever be. To me and my family.” Logan’s voice shook, the first time Virgil ever heard Logan’s voice sound slightly emotional.

Virgil nodded, numbly, understanding where Logan stood. To him, it was more important that Remus got better than to wait a little longer and find something that would keep both Remus and Roman safe.

“I see.” That was all he said before he rushed out of the room.

-+=~=+-

It was raining when school was finished. After Logan and Virgil had fought, the five living students had separated, deciding to let the two cool off, but suggesting that they make up soon. It was clear Logan wasn’t going to do it by the way that he seemed distant the entire rest of the day. However, Virgil was still glad that even through all of it, Logan kept his rosary on.

Roman decided to follow Virgil the rest of the day, always trying to suggest to Virgil to run into Logan and talk about what happened. Virgil didn’t understand why Roman was so willing to throw himself at Logan to make it up to him, and why Roman was so willing to risk his life.

Virgil felt the rain and sighed, deciding to call his parents to pick him up instead of walking back home. He had forgotten an umbrella. Roman offered to try and teleport an umbrella from his house and that was what left Virgil all alone at school. Virgil doubt Roman could teleport an item with him, but still was allowing Roman to try if it meant Virgil could get out of the cold faster.

“Here.”

Virgil turned to see Logan offering his umbrella. “What?”

“I’m driving home today. I don’t need it. Besides…rain’s my favorite season.” Logan muttered.

Virgil sighed, staring at the rain clouds, “No, it’s okay. I asked my parents to pick me up.”

Logan nodded numbly, as he sat by the steps, just far enough away from Virgil that it was clear he was still in an iffy situation with Virgil, but not far enough that it was weird.

“I should’ve realized sooner that he was your brother.” Virgil sighed, breaking the silence.

“Who?”

“Roman. You hold him to a high regard, and I should’ve realized that all the places you recommended had him featured. You still want to share his story.”

“You couldn’t have known.” Logan shrugged.

“But I should’ve. You have his quirk of moving your hands when you talk.” Virgil remarked. “I wasn’t lying, you know. He’s your brother.”

“Yeah, I thought so.” Logan inhaled sharply, “I thought I heard him.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Remus’s ability to strengthen magic can be really strong sometimes.” Logan muttered, “I missed his voice.”

“Yeah?”

“He sounds different. Happier.”

“That’s good, isn’t it?”

“Yeah…it just means that the brother I knew died long before the car accident.” Logan murmured, “I’m glad that you’ve brought him the peace he needs. I hope that he finds his unfinished business and is able to move on.”

He stood up, offering Virgil his umbrella one last time. Virgil took it as a sign of peace, and reconciliation.

Logan started to walk away in the rain, not caring that he was getting soaked.

“Have you ever wondered if you were his unfinished business?” Virgil yelled as Logan got to the bottom of the staircase that led to the school gates.

Logan turned around, and Virgil saw the tears that were streaming down Logan’s face. Logan was smiling for the first time, but it was unnatural. The happiness didn’t fully reach his tear-stained face, “If I was, the universe would’ve given me the power to see ghosts instead of the curse to see his death in the future and be unable to prevent it. They chose you for a reason, Virgil.”

“But-”

“It doesn’t matter how many times I wished for my brother to come back. It doesn’t matter how many times my parents and relatives all tried to wish for him to come back. It means that all it takes is for someone not related by blood to find him. It means that all of our grievances were for nothing because he was right under our noses. You don't get to say that it was the universe's calling to bring you here to me. Because if it was truly the universe's calling, and if the universe truly cared about me, you wouldn't have to be the one to tell me my brother has unfinished business. You don't get to say that it isn't my fault when I have slaved away at trying to be what he was and fill the hole in my parents' heart. You don't get to tell me that the universe isn't trying to play a prank on me when I can't even mention my brother's name without tearing up still. The universe hates me, and it's clear that whatever my brother's unfinished business is, it isn't with me because otherwise...the universe wouldn't be so cruel. You have no idea how much it hurts to know that the world chose to give your brother to a stranger rather than his bloodline.” Logan choked back a sob.

“I’m sorry.” Virgil whispered, not knowing what else to say.

“It’s not your fault.”

“I know.”

“Promise me that he’ll be okay for me?”

“You don’t want to tell him that yourself?”

“I don’t think I could face him if I tell him that I’ve been grieving for him for 4 years. Again, love doesn’t fare too well in a universe this cruel.”

Virgil watched as Logan walked away, clearly trying to pretend that he wasn’t crying, and that it was just the rain.

Virgil couldn’t imagine having to go through that pain, especially alone, as it seemed like Logan's parents depended on him to be Roman. He couldn’t imagine having to pretend to be the image of a dead brother that he looked up to. It gave his a little perspective to the way Logan was now. It made sense why Logan was so cold to others.

“Hey, I couldn’t get it.” Roman popped right next to Virgil, almost scaring the wits out of him.

His smile soon faded upon seeing Virgil staring off into the distance.

“Are you okay?” He asked worryingly.

“Yeah, I’m okay, why?” Virgil asked.

“Because you’re crying.”

Virgil went to feel his face, and he realized that silent tears were streaming down his face. He just laughed, “Oh…I guess I am.”

Virgil had sworn to Roman that he would help him find his unfinished business, but now he couldn’t help but wonder whether or not he would hurt Logan if he were to help Roman.

He was in the same dilemma Logan was in. Should he help the dead he had learned to care for or the living who hadn’t truly begun to live yet? ——————– this chapter is PACKED with drama: patton gaining a crush on our precious logan plus logan angst to the MAX? i like this chapter a lot especially the scene at the end where virge and lo make up (platonic analogical >>>)

If you enjoyed this, please consider reblogging! Reblogging helps me a lot and are very appreciated. Check out my masterlist for more, feel free to request any writings, and stick around if you want to see the rest of what I have in store for this! :)

[memento-mariii]

On the flip side, re: my tags on the prev post, being deep in the discourse trenches of Patheos.com made me discover the existence of Side-B Christians, which (counter-intentionally on their part, I'm completely sure) made me realize some people couldn't just "decide to be straight," making me rethink my then-stance on LGBT+ people, unlearn years of homophobia I absorbed from my parents, and become completely affirming in my theology.

So like, it wasn't all bad.

[61below]

I don’t care that this is technically a heresy bc I’ve already excommunicated myself, but I don’t understand why the Church goes so hard to say the Eucharist is Christ’s actual literal body and blood, when to me it makes more sense to think of him saying that bread and wine are so important that he is in every meal. It stems from the (life-changing to me) line “Why do we eat? We eat to live.” It doesn’t need a magic ritual, it already IS. With every meal, we live. Food is sacred.

I don’t pray for each meal just to give thanks as some rote (or worse: some performance), I pray to remember the workers that planted and cultivated and harvested the crops, that processed and packaged and shipped the products, the store clerks who stock the shelves and check me out. We are one body, we are all connected. And today my olive oil from Palestine got delivered, it’s -6°F and my dog damned near barked himself into a stroke bc the delivery driver came up to my deck. The oils are frozen solid. My heart is breaking for the beauty and sorrow.

[sweeter-also-than-honey]

i was reading today from mark and was absolutely struck over the head by the conclusion of the fifth chapter. when Jesus is asked by the synagogue official to heal his daughter and Jesus goes immediately (healing the woman who touches his cloak on the way). the people say that the girl is dead, but Jesus takes james and john and peter and the girl’s mother and father to the room with the girl and He tells her to rise, and she does.

what really got me is that He then insists that no one else is to know about the miracle -- and He says that the girl should “have something given to her to eat.” 

there’s something unbelievably tender and human and attentive about this to me. the miracle was done, He healed the young girl as the man asked, and afterward, He wanted to ensure she ate. He wanted to ensure she was cared for and able to stay healthy. it’s such a simple act of Him staying with these strangers and displaying this human pursuit of healing immediately after performing a divine miracle of raising this girl from the dead. 

this event strikes me as such a beautiful moment that displays both Christ’s divinity as well as His humanity, going hand-in-hand. He doesn’t want praise or celebration for resurrecting the girl, but does want to make sure she’s given something to eat.

anyway. just wanted to share my feelings about this because this made me emotional in the park earlier.

[in-sufficientdata]

Based on this fabulous video

[terrainofheartfelt]

The producer of HOD ripped women today. Sara Hess is confused why females online love Daemon. Which reminds me a little of the whole Chuck love. I think women in our society have a lot to work on still.

Okay I'm guessing you're referencing this Hollywood Reporter line item. But, okay, I read it bc I was curious, and I don't think she "ripped" anyone, she was just saying she didn't get it, because Daemon, though an interesting and complicated character, is not a good person, and has many qualities that are not...shall I say...desirable in a partner. And like, I agree with her tastes, but like the quote the article gives from Clare Kilner (one of the directors), I don't not get the appeal, because I think the sensation has a lot to do with the performance Matt Smith is giving.

and like, I'm not gonna preach to people what they should or shouldn't like. it's fiction. Daemon rides a dragon and goes cliff climbing for dragon eggs, he ain't real. And maybe it's reminiscent of the chip wiskers billionaire dream boyfriend effect (tm strideofpride), by a simplistic reading of the "bad boy" attraction parallel, but they just...do not read the same to me. maybe that's because I enjoy seeing Smith as Daemon on screen, and I get no joy in seeing the other guy.

The difference is Daemon is a well-written, complex, interesting character portrayed by an exceptionally skilled and talented performer. Chuck Bass had none of those things going for his character.

and I don't think people making memes and jokes about lusting after daemon is indicative of some moral failing in women. idk it's something I've thought about a lot, both here on tumblr and in discussions with friends about HOTD and other shows, that culturally we (in the royal sense of the word) are more secular than ever before, and in the absence of a religion to offload our moral weight-lifting to, we now do it with the media we consume and the media and characters we like, as a way to showcase our virtue. and therefore, liking a "bad" or, should I say, "unvirtuous" character, reflects poorly on us. but that's just not how stories work, or at least, not how they should work. To me, the only kind of bad character is an uninteresting one, one that I don't care to get to know or hear their story. and Daemon is not a bad character, and in the hands of an excellent writing and production team, and series of directors, and a world class performer like Smith, he's become one of the most interesting characters in the series. And, it's worth noting, several of the writers and directors of these first ten episodes are women. HOTD's story is women-led in a way GOT wasn't and I find that SO exciting!

[justhereforfandomandfriends]

Persephone and Hades for the myth asks 🌼.

Persephone: What's your favorite season?

Autumn, all the way! It's the death before rebirth and the fall colors and the coziness for me! Today it's misty and gloomy but the leaves are shining and it's so achingly lovely!

Hades: Do you believe in an afterlife?

Oof what an ask! (I love it, btw! Deep soul level conversations are my favorite) I've thought about this for days. I'm a Christian and grew up in conservative Evangelical Christianity in the US, but have deconstructed many (most) of the beliefs I grew up with. (White American Evangelicalism in the US is pretty fucked as an institution, with all the patriarchy and nationalism and homophobia and bullshit and I'm still working through some of the wreckage).

So yeah this ask prompted a massive examination of how my beliefs have shifted over the years, but the (very very) long story short is that I do believe in an afterlife, but for the first time in my life I hold those beliefs with open hands (I've had enough of white knuckling clinging to beliefs for a lifetime). I have a lot more questions and unknowns than certainty these days, but I do think we have eternal souls, i just think grace covers it all and we're all going to be okay and held tenderly in the heart of God.

So yeah. This definitely turned into somewhat of a trauma dump, sorry friend! But thank you for the lovely and thoughtful asks!